Miffy and I have a walk . . .

 

I am getting back into the habit of a daily walk again, and planning to work up to 4 miles a day or so, depending on weather and whether my gammy knee stands up to it!  As I set off yesterday there was a series of loud miouws from behind me and Miffy was telling me she wanted to come too.  She is mum to our two remaining boys, Jarvis (Little Whale) and Alfie (Wild Thing).  She is also resident Nutso Cat and hurtles about the garden sometimes like someone's set alight to her tail!   She is a sweetheart.

She soon caught up and overtook me.  You can see where Alfie gets his ginger and white colouring from.  I love her "Tartan Trousers"!

She became uneasy when we reached the bend at the bottom of the hill, and began to yowl her worries to me.  This was strange territory.  I carried on walking, but she declined to follow and was back at home long before me.

The view downstream from the bend near the caravan.  The first amber tints of autumn are gilding the oak tree on the bend.

The view downstream from the bridge.

Looking upstream.

Beside the river, the beech leaves are starting to fall.  Soon there will be little rafts of leaves borne along by the river in a long rusty chain . . .

I never tire of watching the river fling itself over the rocks in a river-cut channel by the old Mill.

I popped in to see our friends at the Mill, and to thank them for some recent advice (e.g. CHANGE ESTATE AGENTS!!!)  My husband actually listened this time (he turns a deaf ear to me!)

How's this for a view to wake up to?

Right, this won't do.  The New Agent has been supplied with the historical details of our house and work is ongoing here to get it looking its best for the video tour . . .  Pansies needed to give some colour to the fading garden, windows need cleaning (if it ever stops raining) and we need to take another pile of plastic bits to the Dump.  The remains of G's boyfriend's caravan got towed away yesterday, which is a great relief.  We are waiting for the paddock to be topped now, so it will look tidy.  Progress . . .  Oh, and I have hoiked out the Courgette plants, so I don't need to feel guilty about the produce any longer - apart from the Courgette Mountain still in the kitchen!

I am looking at houses in the next price bracket up from where we had been looking (and had found so very little to tick the relevent boxes - even the best ones meant a LOT of compromise).  Now we are finding the size of property we were looking for.  I looked at one on line this morning with the most delightful address of Mudford Sock!!  One of the strongest contenders is a thatched cottage we viewed in August - further North and West in Devon than we had originally planned on going, but it IS nice . . .  I have also fallen hook, line and sinker for another thatched cottage, right in the centre of my Devon roots, but once the emotions calmed down a bit, have noted to self that two of the stables are actually bigger than two of the bedrooms . . .  Hmmm.