A Short Autumn Break

On Saturday, we decided to go to Devon to visit my brother for a short break. Before we actually arrived at our destination, we took a small detour via Weston-Super-Mare. When we arrived the tide was out, so we had vast expanses of sand and mud to investigate. The weather was typically British, one moment rain, next moment sunny. What was constant though was the wind! It kept blowing the rain sideways!





We then continued our journey through Exmoor to our destination of Totnes, Devon.







The next morning (Sunday) we had a very early start, and made a dash for the coast at Slapton, in the hope of seeing the sun rise over the sea.



















Unfortunately, the British weather didn't quite allow us to see a perfect sunrise. Although what we did see was pretty impressive.

















As the morning progressed we went exploring along the beach, and my daughter decided to sit on some rocks and watch the waves break on the shore.....

















...What she hadn't realised was the tide was coming in, and she got an unexpected surprise!!













Next, we went for a walk alongside the river Dart. This time the weather was beautiful and sunny. It was very relaxing and peaceful walk, apart from the steep climb up the hill to Dartington College! At least it was an easy walk downhill home again afterwards.











Later in the afternoon we trundled off to Start Point, in the hope of watching the sunset! We took a walk down to the lighthouse, and discovered that there was a path that continued along the coast westwards...













This was some of the most rugged countryside I have ever seen. One mistake with our footing, and we could have tumbled down the slope onto the rocks below! The constant wind didn't help matters either!















We eventually found a small sand cove with rocks strewn around. The rocks were absolutely covered with limpets! Although I searched some of the rock pools, I didn't spot any other interesting creatures there. Again, we were thwarted by clouds of seeing the sunset. We also discovered that there would have been another headland blocking our view too.







The next day, on our way home, we stopped off at the village of Beer, so that I could take a look at the model railway exhibition at Pecorama.







Then we continued on to Charmouth, and walked along the

Jurassic coastline searching for fossils. I think I found a stone that had grass seeds embedded into it. We didn't find any real fossils though, as we hadn't brought a hammer with us to break open the stones.









Finally we stopped off at Lyme Regis to see if we could find a cafe that sold fresh locally caught seafood. Unfortunately, the only place we found didn't open until 5 pm, and we were not prepared to wait another 4 hours! So I set the GPS for home and stopped off at Yeovil for some fuel, and a village near Swindon for some fish and chips. We finally got home about 9 pm that evening.

Currently Reading

Synopsis: In the Micronesian Islands, a top-secret, US government-sponsored undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa suddenly disappears. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere is attacked by an underwater vehicle. Stranded half a mile below the surface, its passengers - including Zavala - are left to die. Only Kurt Austin's heroic measures can now save them from a watery grave.

Austin, suspecting a connection between the two mysterious events, puts the NUMA team on the case. He has no idea what he has just got them all into - a hideous series of medical experiments... an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization... a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic... Austin and Zavala have been in tight spots before, but this time it's not just their own skins they're trying to save - it's the lives of millions.

And Pop! Out went all the lights!

Ever since I had the burst immersion tank, I have had problems with my electrics! Because the water had poured through the floor below and affected the wiring to the smoke alarms and the downstairs lighting, I was advised by the boiler engineer to call out an electrician to check the wiring too.

I duly called in an electrician, and he checked the wiring and the fittings, he found that nothing was wrong with them. He did, however, discover that the RCD breaker on the fuse board would not trip every time he tested it. He then replaced it.

That was when my problems seemed to begin!

First it was the iron. I had no problems with it for the years before, now every time I used it, it would trip the breaker! I then called out the electrician believing that the RCD was too sensitive. When the electrician arrived, she did a whole range of tests, and informed me that the iron actually was shorting out, and this was the reason for the RCD tripping. I had to go out and buy a new iron!

On Thursday evening, I decided to clean the oven. First I removed all the metal shelves, and then switched on the self cleaning programme. It takes about two and a half hours to do this. When I open the oven, all that is left inside, is ashes, which can simply be wiped away! It certainly saves on elbow grease!

I discovered the next morning that the light in the oven had blown, so I tried to replace it. That is when I encountered a small problem. The glass cover protecting the bulb wouldn't unscrew! I then sprayed a little WD40 on the thread, and hey presto! the cover came off with ease. I replaced the bulb, and replaced the cover.

I still had not cleaned the shelves and brackets. So yesterday, I started to clean the shelves. It was when I open the oven to replace the clean shelves that I encountered my present problem. When I opened the oven, and the light came on, the RCD would trip! At first,when I removed the bulb, the RCD would keep tripping. At present, I can still open the oven door, without the light in it, and the RCD will not trip. I haven't as yet tried to see if the oven itself will trip the RCD when I switch it on. I was just happy last night to be able to open the oven door without the RCD tripping!

Later today, I will actually test the oven, although I still do not know why there is a problem, with the light. I now wonder if I call out the electrician again, he/she will tell me that there is a problem with the oven, and not with the RCD. I'm not sure if the maintenance contract I have includes repairs to ovens. If not, I then would have to find somewhere that could repair the problem, or worst case scenario, contemplate purchasing a new oven!

An Amusing act

My daughter showed this to me and my wife. We had a really good chortle over this. It is very un-PC, which is why it was amusing. If you are sensitive to jokes about Jews, Catholics, or muslims, then, don't watch this. You have been warned!