We took a small trip into Crediton on Wednesday afternoon. It was not the trip I had wanted to take. Meaning, it was not enough for me. I had wanted to do some shopping and somewhere there was a communication breakdown because that did not happen. I’m privy to blame the English language. Heh. Daniel and I did get to do some grocery shopping at Morrison’s and that always makes me happy. It was a mellow evening in for us; Daniel working, me reading. Oh, and we forgot peanut butter at the store. In the sates I did not eat a lot of peanut butter, for some reason here neither Daniel nor I can get enough of it. Hmm.
Thursday was a good day. We got up early to do our chores and travel into the woodland with Jan to help him tend to the trees. It has been really sunny here, and really cold too. There has been frost on the ground when we get up to take care of the animals and we’ve been having to break the ice sheets covering their water containers. At the woodland it took just about two hours for me to finally feel warmed up moving, lifting, pulling, pushing, and stacking branches. And I kept all my layers on all day. We made really great progress; Jan was pleased. It’s amazing to look at the work that still needs to be done, right next to the work that is almost complete. I told Andrew sometimes I feel overwhelmed at one of the jobs Jan asks me to do. I feel like I do not know where to start, so I just have to start and eventually it is accomplished. Daniel took some video so soon you will know what I’m talking about. I’ll just tell you for now that the point of all our hard work is to save the young healthy trees. We have to clear out all the old unhealthy trees so that the others get sunlight and continue to grow strong.
For lunch we all sat around the table in Jan’s cabin to eat and visit. After the food, came the coffee –I learned my lesson- so instead of partaking I took myself outside to lie on a wooden bench that Jan made to soak up some sunshine. It was honestly the happiest I think my face has been since we’ve arrived here. I could just feel my skin devouring the vitamin D and I would have laid there an hour if we didn’t have more wood to tackle in the forest. After another couple hours out there our day was finally finished. The four of us were all quite tired and ready to go home. Daniel was so hungry when we got home we ate dinner just before five. In the states it was normal for us to eat dinner around five. We also went to bed very early and woke up early. In Devon our schedules have slightly changed. We wake up later, around eight [how lucky are we?!?!] we have breakfast after our chores which is usually between nine and nine thirty, lunch is around two in the afternoon and sometimes has been as late as four! And we make dinner between seven and eight in the evening. We fall asleep each night betwixt eleven and midnight. It has been a natural progression for us and it works.
That Thursday evening Jan came in our room to invite us to Bredsell at half past six for a sip of champagne in honor of Simon’s birthday, which was the day before. I asked Jan where Bredsell was and he told me it was downstairs. Remember all the rooms here have names? They are actually referred to by name. I would have called it the dining room.
Simon told me he did not want us to sing to him when I asked. Then Simon told Daniel to “shut up” when he started to sing anyway. We had a really lovely and fun evening. We consumed the bottle of champagne along with laughing conversation; I feel that Pat is really getting to know who Daniel and I are –and vice versa- which makes us all the more pleased. Everyone here has such a different personality and they each bring a unique perspective to the table. [I know I do not go into what we all talk about often and that is because Pat, Jan, and Simon are very private people, which is also why you do not see photos of their faces on the blog, so it’s just out of respect.] After the champagne Jan opened a bottle of wine –because we just weren’t done- and we shared in that as well. He then informed us that Pat refers to all of us as the “Mumbling Clique”. Pat of course chastised Jan for spilling her secret, but that only made us laugh more. What I appreciate about Jan is that he is honest. You’ll always know where you stand with him. And he said it in front of Pat so obviously he doesn’t talk behind anyone’s back, and in addition he told us something that will help us be clearer when we’re talking to or around Pat. She wants to know what we’re saying so in essence Jan was telling us to speak more clearly. And there is our accent to take into account. An accent that Simon finds fascinating; he kept repeating certain words I used. He thought the word “Gross” was hilarious. He knows the word, he just never uses it. [I can’t remember what I was calling gross]. I asked him which word he would use instead and he told me, “Vile” “Wretched” or “Revolting “. I let him know that all of those words to me seem slightly more intense. He wants us to work with him so he can improve his American accent. Also he and I made an agreement to do a trade! I will do Theta Healing on him; he will throw the I Ching for me. We’re both excited about that.
Friday the hot water wasn’t working that well so I took a very quick bath. My book from Amazon UK arrived so I started reading that. I’m notorious for reading three books at the same time. Yes, it’s slightly confusing and I just can’t stop!
This morning there was no sunshine in the sky. It’s cloudy, cold, and dry. Jan is at the Crediton Farmer’s Market selling firewood and charcoal that he makes. Andrew is there as well selling his spars. Daniel and I both wanted to go because going into town is fun for us. We also wanted to buy peanut butter at Morrison’s and sit in a café drinking hot chocolate and taking advantage of good bandwidth!! However, Jan had his backseat full up with wood so only one of us could have gone. We both opted to stay here together. Plus, as I let you know it’s very cold today and right now I’m so happy underneath our electric blanket, it’s worth the slow internet.
Enjoy your weekend and thank you for reading the blog. Whenever I hear someone is reading I feel very delighted and grateful.
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