Farewell 2010 - What a Year!!

Farewell 2010 - What a year it's been, what a flipping year!!!! It's almost like an inventory when you look back on previous years isn't it..??? The good the bad and the ugly - and this year I'm so happy there's been so little bad or ugly!

In 2010 there have been great moments of joy and pure pleasure.......not least of course our marriage in March! Apart from the birth of my beautiful children my wedding to Tim was the greatest day of my life.....

I loved every moment and if I could live it all again I would!! Someone said to me that it was the most incredible informal / formal wedding they'd ever been to - it was everything we wanted it to be.. it was our dream come true!

I've proved to myself that if I really want to, then I can put my mind to do anything! I really concentrated on getting fitter and healthier this year - and the result was I lost almost 2 stone and was so fit at one stage I could do a good hour of exercise with 15 minutes of steps.

2010 was the year I decided to stop hiding behind different hair colours and show my true colours - and again, I wish I'd gone grey a long time ago!! Everyone comments on how it suits me, it's cheaper and it means I'm not spending valuable time sitting in hairdressers chairs - as much as I love you Leah!!

I also showed that by really concentrating and conquering an innate lifelong nervousness that I COULD learn to drive - and I did!! Passing as you know first time.

We also got our little Archie - a perfect playmate for Rosie and two little dogs who couldn't be loved anymore than they are......... and 2 little loves who give us so much joy and pleasure.

The Victoria Inn grew even more business this year and we cemented great friendships with people from all over the country. Considering we've been in the worst recession in living memory, business was frankly amazing at times. We are also both so grateful to all of our amazing staff at the Vic who deliver our vision of a fantastic pub.

Captain Morgans is at last finding it's feet and we have found our way with it........ some hiccups and frustrations along the way, but it's now feeling like it's ours in it's own right! Again - huge thanks must go to our staff over there who are making it work how we want it to work!

So what for 2011?? Firstly and as always in my life: My son, and now of course his wife have always been my top priority - so as always I hope that life continues to be kind to them in 2011 and that good health and happiness (and maybe just a little extra money!) continue to be theirs.

For SOH - I hope that he achieves things he has planned and that the love we have now continues and grows even more!

For the Vic we hope that customers continue to like what we're giving them.......... we already have some great ideas for the next year, which we'll uncover as we go on. We never rest on our laurels and we are constantly seeking to improve.

I hope that for my friends it's a year of joy - for one in particular I hope it's the start of the best years of your life, you so deserve love and happiness.................YOU know who you are!

For me? Well I have 3 resolutions this year:

To stop giving a toss this year about what people do or don't think of me

To live every single day that God gives me this year as fully and as joyfully as possible

To lose another 2 stone and get even fitter ....................!

I hope you have great New Year celebrations and that 2011 will be good for all of us - giving you all good health, fair wealth and huge happiness.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Happy Christmas everyone.........

Well, I don't know about you dear readers but we had a perfectly splendid Christmas..... hope you all did too!

After such a truly awful trading week last week as the rest of the country struggled with freezing cold temperatures and unprecedented snowfalls and people were unable to travel, it was looking as though we were in for a quiet Christmas - and we had resigned ourselves to it being so........ but no, on Thursday the faithful Salcombe visitors started to arrive and what a welcome sight they were! Following a couple of Christmas parties the Victoria quickly got it's Christmas sparkle and a lovely 'buzz' went through the pub. What followed was a couple of days with old faces popping in and saying hello, I had a great time with my staff behind the bar spreading joy and goodwill(!) giving out packets of Christmas sweets to the children and generally having a lovely time as pub landlady.

Christmas Day we opened our pub from 11.30 to 2 - and my goodness what a great session!!! We were packed out and had a fantastic atmosphere in the pub. After that we were able to take our lovely Archie and Rosie out for a quick walk before going home and having OUR lunch...... Roast Duck (cooked by my handsome Husband) and all the trimmings followed by one of our chefs Xmas Puds............ some gorgeous pink fizz and a big snooze!! Pure heaven........

Talking of heaven, I did my bit at Church on Christmas Eve. My new found spirituality is fast becoming so very important to me and there is a communion service most mornings which I try to go to at least once a week. In that forty minutes or so I find great peace - I am at last learning to lose myself into Him. We sadly have a funeral next week for someone in our community who was very much loved and respected and I'm 'doing' it as Church Warden......... so I'm hoping that God will guide me and look after me and help me do the best job I can.

Aside from all of this I've only managed to go out in my little Betsy once........... I was quite nervous to start with as it was a little icy, but I settled int o it after a while and all was good. Such a great freedom to be able to just hop into her and go to the shops.... no more waiting for buses at cold bus stops or asking SOH for lifts! My next big challenge will be when I eventually get to go to Portsmouth to visit my son - a 3 and a bit hour drive...........

So for now that's about it - I'll do a quick blog before the end of the year, but in the meantime there are New Year menu's to sort and finalise, staff rota's to finish, business plan for 2011 to start and at least another dozen tasks to do!!!!

Let it snow, let it snow etc, etc................

And so on and so on................... my goodness what disruption the recent snowfall across the UK has caused, and as much down here as anywhere I think?? Salcombe has certainly seen it's fair share of the snow plus hailstorms, thunder and lightening storms and some of the coldest winds I've felt in a very long time!! But worse still (and in common with a lot of the country) what a dreadful effect it's having on our business (as well as the rest of the town)! We regularly do between 70 - 90 covers every Sunday lunchtime - what did we do this last Sunday?? 8! Yes 8 - EIGHT!!! Yikes!!! Visitors of course have been unable / unwilling to take the risk of getting down here and then worry about being able to get home. Exeter / Halden way has been blocked and the outlying villages around us have been completely cut off. 15 minute trips into Kingsbridge have spread into an hour and cars being abandoned became less isolated incidents. I drove a little in the snow and ice - but called it quits at an early stage......... no point denting a confidence just yet!!

Local people have been slipping and sliding their way around and who can blame them for not wanting to break a leg getting down into town. However, I'm really pleased to tell all of you potential visitors to Salcombe this Christmas and New Year that things down here are slowly but surely getting back to normal - snow is still on the fields but roads (particularly the major roads) are fine and even the minor roads are far easier to get through on than they were, so please don't be to worried about travel when you get down here

So then moving on - Salcombe had it's first ever Christmas Street Party on Saturday and what an amazing day it was........ the picture above from http://www.explosures.co.uk/ is my SOH dressed up and ready to man our Mulled Wine / Roast Chestnuts and Hot Chocolate stand with James our chef, and they were kept very busy thank you! The picture of Whitestrand (opposite the Victoria) gives you a flavour of what had to be done to get the area cleared of snow and ice to able to lay the ice-rink and erect various marquee's / stalls etc.

The Victoria held a children craft 'shed' upstairs and my goodness, we were very pleasantly surprised how many children visited....... that was a great success!! The children made Mint Creams and craft'y stuff!

Father Christmas made an appearance in the square by sledge and stayed for several hours - and for me, it was the start of Christmas, particularly when I took little Franscesca's hand (main picture at the top - her Daddy is Father Daniel my friend) and took her up to him to say hello...... I had to gulp back a sob that threatened to escape :( The magic of Christmas that is children!!

But everyone played their part in the day and it all came together exceedingly well. It was especially fantastic to see so many local people, whole families out enjoying themselves and making for a great atmosphere! Hopefully it's the start of a bigger and better Christmas Party next year and maybe, just maybe also some sort of regular street market, which would be absolutely amazing for Salcombe, but there's a fair bit of negotiation and work to be done yet.......... so watch this space!

In common with many thousands of people, my own travel plans were disrupted and I wasn't able to go to Portsmouth on Sunday to see and have an early Christmas with my son and his wife, so SOH and I took ourselves off to the Harbour Hotel (formerly the Marine Hotel)

www.salcombe-harbour-hotel.co.uk for a rare Sunday lunch treat. We had a lovely large G & T, a very nice bottle of Rose and an even nicer 3 course lunch, (very tasty!!) followed by liquer chocs at home, a delicious nap and snuggles watching dreadful Christmas slush.......... but it was a great way to make me feel less miserable!! Even if at about 5.30 I remembered why I no longer drink in the day time!! Closely followed by a beautiful Carol Service at Holy Trinity Church that evening, and the spirit of Christmas slowly but surely came into our home on Sunday...........

We also had a really nice impromptu evening last week with our friends Donna & Micha from Catch, whose travel plans to Germany were also disrupted, where I cooked far more food than was needed but somehow all got ate! Don't you think that those times when it just happens are often so much better than the planned events??

What else?? Well thats about it really...........just hope that all our planned visitors are able to come down for the festive period. We have quite a few bookings for the Christmas Eve and NY Eve, but it's all in the lap of the Gods of the weather at the moment, so it's fingers crossed and a keen eye to the weather forecasts!!

Wow...... I passed!!!

Wow - I passed my driving test today!! I can hardly believe it........

My biggest thanks go to Guy Parfett who was my instructor - I've spoken before on my blog about him & I couldn't have wished for a better instructor. No messing around, make it simple and don't make mountains out of molehills....... that was my Guy!! Despite having had three nearly four weeks of being really terribly unwell (ending with acute bronchitis at the end of last week!) I was totally fixated on getting to do my driving test, in fact it really gave me the impetus to get better almost! A mock test 2 days ago was a fail and I was on the verge of cancelling, but a 3 hour lesson yesterday saw me drive like an old hand and my confidence soared................. This morning it was like preparing for a job interview, a high level of excitement but not nerves until about 10 minutes before the test and then the nerves hit me like a steam train!!

Six of us waiting to take the test - I was by far the oldest, the others were really young men & women, slightly bored looking instructors, and then the examiners walked in and picked us off one by one! It turns out I had a senior examiner who tried really hard to put me at ease (reminding me to breath at one stage!!) and off we went. Both questions about the car and how it worked done, turn left onto the dreadful Pen Inn roundabout (Newton Abbott, Devon) hoorah we did this the other day and that was it really.................. a turn in the road (Thank you God for not letting it be a parallel park!!) drive back round the Pen Inn and off on the dual carriageway to Exeter...........it was here that I convinced myself I'd gone wrong but it was only here that I picked up 2 of the 3 fault points for late signal and a mirror. After that, I figured I couldn't do much more and just about relaxed when we got back to the test centre.

He said congratulations - I screeched, burst into tears and he said I'd had 'a good drive'............ You're not advised to drive home after a test, whether you fail or pass, and I can see why now!! I don't think I stopped shaking for about 3 hours afterwards..........So that's it, the fun really starts now doesn't it. I would quite like a Guy cardboard cut out to have in the passenger seat, but I will just have to put up with talking to myself the first few times I go out.

A huge thank you then to Guy - who kept saying it was just his job - well, yes it was, but he was genuinely nice, very good at instructing and I have his number if anyone local wants a great instructor.

Secondly and as always to SOH for encouraging me and also putting up with me (!) and now lastly to ME!!! In future in my life I just have to remember that there is very little I can't do if I put my mind to it - the only person stopping me achieving anything in my life in future IS ME!!!

Now then - where did I put my car keys............................. X

Good Morning Salcombe...........

Its nice to be back!! Oh sorry, you don't know do you???? I've been back in to the delights of the hospital in Plymouth known as Derriford......... Went downhill from writing my last blog and feeling fairly positive to gagging for breath and wondering if I'd see Christmas this year! Of course I will - but I do love a bit of drama!

Seriously - this is all getting a bit repetitive isn't it, but I think my mental attitude (and physical aptitude) is a whole more different to January when I was last in for any length of time.

So then, Wednesday started with me feeling rubbish and practically unable to keep a breath in me - so a quick, (well, nothings quick down here in Salcombe really!) quick'ish trip to the chest clinic, a couple of tests confirmed my breathing ability had been reduced by about 2/3rds (yikes!!) and then a 7 hour wait in MAU to find me a bed............... SOH agreed to stay with me - that in itself a bit of a feat as he's not best keen on hospitals and there he observed that in previous ramblings I hadn't exaggerated one bit about the horrors of the NHS! In fairness the staff are battling against 'the system', the lady sure ain't for turning and almost nothing goes out of the routine procedures and system.

If I was asked 3 / 4 times my whole symptoms and medications etc, then you may understand why I snapped at a Nurse on the umpteenth time of asking if I took 'blue and brown inhalers dear?' that surely she had my notes to read... (oops, sorry Nurse!)

Despite having been referred to MAU by a hugely experienced (and absolutely lovely Asthma Sister - Beverley) I still had to be 'assessed' by a junior (very) Dr who then had to 'present' me to the duty Consultant many hours later............ who in several short sentences advised (as by the terribly lovely Beverley even more hours earlier) that I needed to be admitted for a little while! Sorry, but no shit Sherlock!!!!!!!!

Still at least I had a bed in MAU ( a feat in itself!!, off toddled SOH (about £10 lighter due to parking charges - thats another whole new story!!) and I thought I'd attempt some kip.......... nope! Just couldn't..... totally exhausted, eyeballs hanging out with tiredness, but no such luck! About 1.am I felt my eyelids start to be successful in closing - then guess what? Yep, they come to tell me they've found a proper bed for me on the chest ward - so at 2a.m I'm off!!!!!

I have to say that on this stay I have felt quite well looked after, as opposed to my previous experience. I guess it helps that I saw my own consultant both days - Dr Matt Masoli - and he's not only very good at what he does, he has a very 'human' face and approach and he's quite dishy as well.............But the NHS continues to have its challenges. Still no where near enough staff - the majority of those I saw were very dedicated to what they did, but they are (as so oft reported) rushed mad off their feet, just completely chasing their tails. There needs to be far more privacy, and there has to be a line of accountability. I saw several patients having to wait far longer than they should for meds etc.

On the plus side, I thought the ward was kept far cleaner and I saw much more evidence of addressing infection issues by hand cleaning etc. Some bonkers stuff though - a new inhaler Dr M wants me to have - the hospital don't stock it!! Have to wait now for my GP to prescribe it. Running out of bedpans for the elderly who can't go to the loo......?? Having to wait nearly 4 hrs for meds to take home - but not being able to release my bed????

So then - now I'm home again, rest, rest and a bit more rest, but already (I think) apart from retaining the cough (that'll last for weeks now) I'm pretty much on the road to recovery........... and the one single thing spurring me on is my driving test!! Very close now (not saying quite how close to you lot though) and I'm absolutely totally determined to take it.!!!

Keep warm, safe and dry lovely readers - till the next time and a whole lot less drama in between - God willing!!

De-Ja-Vu.............. or what!!

Well I should have blogged a good week ago - but you know what? Life has a funny way of going 'just stop right there'! And so this last couple of days has seen me bouncing in and out of hospital again with my chest playing silly buggers already into this winter. Back from Jersey just two days and a quick treble nine into Torbay hospital to try to get me breathing properly, followed by another visit Sunday. This is the third time my chest has been poorly following flying, but what are you supposed to do - live in a bubble??? Anyway, as I sit here in our office snuggled up in scarf, thick socks and long woolly pully, (as well as other clothes of course!) my breathing is showing signs of being a bit more normal today and so hopefully I'm on the road to recovery again.

So lets start with that irony of irony's - the fundraising night for Salcombe First Responders - my very own personal ambulance service - or at least its starting to feel that way..... a fantastic night with £1500 raised and a photo and write up in the local paper the day after I had to use them again.......... Local traders and hoteliers, St Austell brewery and individuals were so very generous with gifts and customers were buying £20 - £30 worth of tickets at a time. We donated every single penny or prize money as well as providing the buffet and entertainment, and everyone agreed that it was a totally splendid night. Here are two of my friends JD and Debbie enjoying a chat at the bar of our newly re-furbished function room.

After that, well off to Jersey for a nice long romantic weekend together - Jersey at its best? Well maybe not at it's best but it was certainly nice enough. Mind you for what we spent we could have had a week in the Maldives probably but let's not dwell on that shall we!!

We stayed at a superb hotel - Hotel de France - in St Helier. I should know better than to believe what Trip Advisor says given my previous love / hate relationship with TA but the hotel had certainly had a couple of dodgy reviews, but I'm relieved and delighted that any fears I had were completely unjustified!

The hotel was very central and whilst not quite a 5 star in my opinion it was an excellent 4 star. Lovely staff, great food and an end bedroom away from the lifts........ A previous bad experience next to a lift has scarred us for life!!!!!! There is nothing worse than laying awake at one in the morning listening to lift shafts clanking away!

The main restaurant in this hotel is 'Saffron' a spice / Indian themed place, in which we had some of the best flavours ever in that style of food. But it was Saturday that was to give us the most incredible food experience ever.......... And that experience was 'Bohemia'!

Set in the main area of St Helier, Bohemia is a Michelin star restaurant led by Sean Rankin, one of the better celeb chefs. With the best customer service I've experienced
In a long time, our evening started with the most delicious canapes and pre-dinner drinks, and the whole evening was one of pure food theatre.

My personal favourite was the smoked Chocolate Tortellini with Venison - all I can say is wow!!! And a Cheese board (to die for - see pic of my choices....... can't you almost smell it???!). SOH's favourite part of the meal was the whole package - but his pudding which was a Pear / Frangipan dish was just fabulous and my pictures in no way do the food justice.

Dining in a Michelin starred restaurant is something that I've only ever dreamt about but I loved every moment of our evening at Bohemia. It was romantic, we were looked after, there was absolutely nothing to fault. The food itself was sublime and really reasonable at just under £50 each for the 3 courses, but supplements and of course the drinks made it a night you couldn't afford too often........ But truly a night to remember!

I'm pleased to report that we made a difference to the Jersey economy with a few purchases, particularly in the Jersey Pearl area where SOH bought me the most beautiful Gold, Diamond and Pearl earings and the use of a hire car meant we saw most parts of this pretty island including some of the pretty amazing war tunnels.

So then, for the time being it's continued rest , but hopefully cracking on with the driving lessons later this week and a test somewhere before Christmas, as well as think about Christmas itself...... the planned trip to Portsmouth this week to say hello to my gorgeous son and his wife will have to wait now but hopefully we can find a Sunday before Christmas to have our own little Christmas together.......Till then everyone, keep warm and as dry as possible in this icy snap!

Much Love x x x

Lest we forget..........

It really must be something to do with getting older but for the last few years in particular I have found Remembrance Sunday to be particularly poignant, and I have spent a lot of time today trying to think why that is............There is certainly the element of my new found spirituality, but there is also something I guess about getting older and have a much better understanding of life in general - at least I think that's what it is............





I can remember my dear Mum watching the telly and getting a little bit 'sniffly' over this special Sunday but never wanting to talk about 'the old days' or be seen to be getting to 'soppy' about it. I can also remember being vaguely bored by the whole process of old men marching and much preferring to read a book or go and moon over the latest 'Jackie' magazine...........



Yet nowadays, I feel myself more and more drawn to wanting to know and be able to understand more about the terrible first and second world wars and the conflicts in between and those going on today. I suppose there is also a certain understanding of how dreadful Mans inhumanity to Man can be, and a certain sadness that I as an individual can do so little to stop it happening??



Today up at the Salcombe Remembrance Sunday Service I looked out across the 'Bar' at the entrance to our harbour during the two minutes silence, where the waves where crashing across it, the rain was lashing down and the wind blowing a gale and I thought of my own dear Father: Ernest Samuel Williams. A Welsh miner who served in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for 3 years in the war and then went on to be part of the D Day landings. I can never begin to think what life must have be like for him and some of the sheer terror he would have known. So my thoughts were of my Daddy - they were also for all the Mum's today who have lost their beautiful young sons in more recent conflicts. Those who will never again be able to pick up the phone and say 'I Love you Son'.

So I guess today's blog is a little sad and possibly even self indulgent, but I so wanted to share with you 2 poems that have been written by children from schools in the Ivybridge area and organised (I think) by the Royal British Legion, Ivybridge. my SOH bought a copy at a recent meeting he went too in Ivybridge.

But first, let me urge all of you to consider the great work that the Royal British Legion do for Servicemen, ex-servicemen and their families. The RBL is not a great sexy 'in' charity, this is a long burning charity with great history itself. They work quietly and with amazing fortitude. They help those of all ages and in all circumstances. They help get monies from the Government that otherwise would go unclaimed, they help ex-servicemen & women who have fallen on hard times, who need assistance with medical and housing issues - and sadly as wars continue to happen and our service people get ever more injured or killed leaving families that need their help - then theirs is a Charity needed more now than ever. Please remember to support them as much as possible.


Now to these two amazing poems out of many very simple but incredibly moving poems, written I think by children of Primary School age. If after you've read them you would like a copy for yourself, then they are just £3 and if you send me your address I would be happy to get you a copy.

'Mixed Emotions' - Callum Duffy

Mixed emotion is light Blue
It tastes like sweet chilli sauce dancing on my tongue
It smells like musty perfume
Mixed emotion looks like a rainbow on a stormy day glinting in the sky!
Mixed emotion makes me feel like I am in a tropical thunderstorm
Mixed emotion makes me thank all the soldiers that have lost their lives
Sadness brews in my belly as I put that Poppy upon my body
As I feel the sadness grow and grow
I will know to thank you though

'Remember Me' - Bethany Madge

Seasons may pass, yet I am always here
Underneath this grave I shed a small tear
But do not cry for me my dear wife
Although, I am not alive my spirit is still full of life
Still remembering every kind thing that you do
You remember me and I will always remember you