Lighthouse

Orchis mascula, Early Purple Orchid.

It's not rare, in fact it is quite common in this part of the country, but hundreds of people a day pass by without a second glance.

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Mother nature at her best.

I'm being cyber bullied! I won't say by who, but she knows who she is ( ''Ian...enough frolicking in the woods already...POST!!!!!! :)''). My back is broad, my shoulders are used to carrying the weight of the world. I can take it!!

I've been busy. It was a hectic weekend. Saturday was my mother's birthday, a special one with a big zero in it. We knew we would have visitors, quite a few had threatened to call. Even the vicar from Torquay fulfilled his promise and made the journey down to see her. Plenty of flowers, plenty of chocolates, and enough cake to last a fortnight.

Sunday was an early start because Cag and I had to make the trip to Torquay. More lifting, shifting and debris to clear. Hopefully, just one more trip and all we can do will be done. It will then be a case of meter readings, passing over the keys and waiting.

It took until Wednesday for me to recover. I will be so glad when we can get back to something like a normal life with not having the worry of the empty property hanging around our necks. I'm still quite surprised at my mother's reaction to what's happening. Nothing, or if there is she's not showing it. She's seems to have totally resigned herself to the inevitable and is glad to let someone else get on with it.

I've spent the last couple of evenings looking around recipe sites. I want to expand my culinary talent, or at least what I do with vegetables. Cag will only eat what she knows, my mother will eat anything that's put in front of her, and I feel the need to experiment a little more, hence the potato, onion, tomato and cheese bake on tonight's menu.

And very tasty it was. A good accompaniment to chicken.

Yep! Chicken again!!

Recipe for above.

A layer of thin sliced red onion, a layer of thin sliced floury potato with thin slices of tasty tomato, sprinkle with cheese (mature cheddar would be good) and season with salt and pepper. Repeat the dose for the second layer, add two table spoons of water and some basil leaves ( I sprinkled the cheese with a little Italian seasoning for extra flavour).

It needs a moderate, preheated oven (gas 5) for about an hour or until the potato is cooked. (I usually microwave this type of dish for a couple of minutes to give it a start. ).

Good luck and enjoy.

Our Spanish friends, but what a show.

This is the hamlet of Daccombe. Winding lanes, high hedges, farms, barns, thatched cottages and all the smells of the country. On a clear day you can see Liverton and beyond that, Dartmoor, some twenty miles away, but the haze has rather spoilt the view today. To the left of the farm in the foreground is a lane leading up to the Daccombe Treacle Mines. These are natural caves and caverns formed during the last Ice Age.

The health giving treacle slowly drips from the roof of these caves and is collected in stone jars by dedicated workers. The jars are then decorated and sold to the many visitors, or grockles (a Devon term of endearment), that the area attracts. Just one of the little industries that helps support the local economy. An enterprising lot, us Devonians.

Don't be seduced by it's beauty. It has a strange scent, rather like strong pee! An aroma that I am very familiar with. Can't get away from it, even in the garden. Ha, ha!

I'm modifying my Blogs. With the limited time I have available and the way I feel when I do have the time to attend to these entries, I've decided to simplify things.

I have deleted User Error and am going to do the same with my other Blog, just keeping Lighthouse open for now. I'm finding my mind isn't so active as it used to be, a little more fatigued, a little slower than it was.

I know what the cause is and I don't think it's permanent. It's the extra work, physical and mental, I've taken on in the last few months. Once the settlement of the house in Torquay is complete, I shall be able to devote more time to deal with what's happening, and what needs taking care of here.

There are no real problems. Most of the pressure comes from me, wanting to get thing right. Needing more hours in the day............... and another couple of hours at night zzzzzzzzzzzz! I'll get it sorted............ I usually do.