No Irish holiday this year

Angie's Farmhouse

This year sees our 50th wedding anniversary.  On approaching such a milestone, many couples would plan an exotic holiday in some far-away sun-bleached resort, but not us.  We are a couple with simple pleasures; most especially rambling in remote hill country and relaxing in some equally remote country cottage. Consequently, last January we chose southwest Ireland and paid our deposits on two cottages and a pair of ferry crossings.  Would you believe that the first place was called "Angie's Farmhouse"?  How appropriate was that?

Three month later COVID-19 had arrived and we were in lockdown. "Surely, by August it'll all have blown over," we reasoned, but of course it didn't. The final nail in the coffin for our Irish holiday came last week, when the Irish government confirmed that all people arriving from England (and most other countries) would have to self-isolate for a fortnight. We had little option but to cancel.

Stena Line Ferries and Sykes Cottages were brilliant, and freely transferred our bookings to 2021. Cottages.com, with whom we were to spend our first week, didn't know whether our cottage would be available in 2021, so said they'd return our deposit.  Three days later they emailed to say they were keeping it as a cancellation charge.  Today I wrote to them, pointing out how poorly they compared with their competitors, and questioning whether they really wanted our custom ever again. Perhaps it was just a clerical error.  We shall see.

So where to go instead? It didn't take us long to settle on North Devon – an area in which we have holidayed several times, and loved every one of them. We shall begin with a week in Cheriton Bishop, on the edge of Dartmoor, just as the Dartmoor Walking Festival gets underway.  Even if COVID regulations lead to the group walks being cancelled, it will be fun to find the routes for ourselves.

Then it's on to Barbrook, just outside Lynton.  When, back in 2013, we were looking for somewhere to retire to, the foothills of Exmoor were high on the list, only eclipsed as a place to live (rather than holiday) by the Forest of Dean. We shall, I know, never tire of the scenery along the North Devon coast, and especially around the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth.

We may even manage a spot of voluntary work on our beloved Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.  Perfect.

Trois cent soixante-cinq jours!

Leisurely mornings at Chez Angie have taken on a new pattern.  After breakfasting on Overnight Oats and a large mug of coffee, and before climbing the stairs to get dressed, I pick up Matilda (my trusty smartphone), select the Duolingo app and learn a little French. 

Later in the day I may complete a couple more lessons, but that first one is important as it adds another day to my Duolingo Streak.  Yesterday I clocked up my 365th lesson – a whole unbroken year of learning French.

I've already blogged about Duolingo here, so I won't repeat myself. I confess that most spoken French still sounds like gobbledegook to me, though I realize that it took me a lot more that a year to learn English! I can now, however, engage in simple conversations with people who understand my limitations; people like the French restaurateur a few miles down the road from my home... though he will have his little jokes.

Bonjour madame.

Bonjor monsieur. Nous avons une table reservee pour deux persononnes.

Mais oui... Voici votre table.

Merci...

Je voudrais prendre les moules, s'il vous plaît.

(spoken rather quickly) Encore! La dame anglaise demande toujours des moules. Elle les a tous mangés et il n'en reste plus sur les rochers.

Ehh?!

Duolingo would like me to subscribe at £6.59 every month, but being a tight-fisted so-and-so I stick with the free lessons and endure the advertisements. In the early days these were mostly about PPI, but more recently I've been deluged with offers for new bras.  These mostly come from American companies, who try to impress me with technical 'facts' about the right sort of stitching and elastic. 

They've not succeeded in convincing me yet, though I can't help thinking that the likes of M&S are missing a trick. 

Puis-je en acheter un en français, peut-être?

Churches – open and more open

I've never agreed that all churches should have been locked closed during this dreadful COVID epidemic. At a time when many people have felt greatly stressed, it's seemed to me the height of folly – once they were allowed out of their houses – to deny them purpose-built spaces for solace, reflection and prayer.

Thankfully, the government eventually handed back the responsibility of church buildings to their proper authorities, who sensibly deemed that it was safe and right to reopen some of them.

COVID-19 has its desperately serious side but it's also given us sights that we would never have expected to see in a dozen lifetimes, and I hope never to see again.  In the mean time, though, I've been recording some of them on my camera... especially the churches.

So, on this day when some churches reopen for worship, here's a brief photographic record of a few in rural Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, with their warning notices, and cordoned-off pews and sanctuaries.

In the first week that the regulations were relaxed, I chanced upon Framiload Church, open and spotlessly clean.  The church folk had clearly put a lot of thought into creating a welcoming space and I felt compelled to sit quietly and give thanks.

Foy Church was more cautious about it's welcome. Moreover, should one desire to pray, it would have to be whilst standing or kneeling, for every pew was cordoned off and there were no chairs. O well – at least it was open, and for that I was thankful.

Kings Caple is in the same group of churches as Foy. Again, all the pews had been cordoned off, rather giving the appearance that it had been prepared for a wedding. This time, though, two chairs had been set out for contemplative visitors.

What a splendid pulpit. And what a pity that I couldn't try it out!

Finally, on my wanderings between Foy and Kings Caple, I found myself outside Fawley Chapel. Amazingly, not only was the door unlocked, but inside there wasn't a trace of COVID restrictions.

Though Fawley Chapel is lovingly cared for, it is hardly overused. Their last service was on 29th December 2019 and the next should have been on 29th March. I rather like the Next Service notice, left on display as if the whole building has been frozen in time. They appear to have just four services a year, so hopefully the place will burst into life once more at the end of September.