Farmer Tom…Also, credit card rewards…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 26, 2019 with 0 Comment

In the rain, Tom was using the wheelbarrow to bring the wood to Pond Cottage.

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall: From this site:
Devon has the world’s country’s bakery
“I know what you’re thinking. The clue’s in the name. But like they don’t get cream teas right, our Cornish cousins didn’t invent the pasty either. The earliest recorded recipe for the pasty was discovered in 2006 and dated back 500 years. Yup, it’s in a Devon book. So, you can go to Europe all you like and get them to say Cornish Pasties have to be made in Cornwall. Doesn’t make it so. If you like, we can also prove we invented Cornish Piskies, the Cornish language, and the writer and director Joe Cornish.“

With the weather in the 14C, 57F range, the past several days consisted of almost constant rain, and it became pretty cold in the Pond Cottage. It’s been so hard. Using the woodstove was our best option to warm up. We’ve been bundled up in our sparse warm clothing.

The past two nights, I wore socks to bed. It makes us wonder how cold we’ll be when we get to Minnesota in November, with the winter season rolling in. We recall a blizzard on Halloween in 1991 as described here and below:

The woodshed…a building on this 500-year-old farm.

“In eastern Minnesota, the Halloween Blizzard shattered many of the previous October snowfall records. The 8.2 inches that fell in the Twin Cities on October 31 was more snow than had ever been recorded in any October in its recorded history. Over the next two days, the snow continued to fall, leading to additional snowfall of one to two feet (30 cm to 60 cm). By the time the snow ended on November 3, the storm had dropped 36.9 in (93.7 cm) on Duluth, the largest single snowstorm total in Minnesota history at that time. The Twin Cities received 28.4 in (72.1 cm), setting a single-storm record for the metropolitan area. In all, at least one foot (30 cm) of snow fell in a swath approximately 100 mi (160 km) wide from south-central Minnesota, northeastward into northwestern Wisconsin, and into the Minnesota Arrowhead. A more narrow band of 2+ ft (60+ cm) of snow fell from the Twin Cities to Duluth and northward.”

As it turns out, my son Greg and wife Camille have offered to loan us winter clothing while in Minnesota. If necessary, we’ll also buy a few items, such as warm jackets, sweatshirts, and sweaters, leaving them behind when we depart.

As mentioned in a post a few days ago (see the link), we were awaiting a credit from Easirent Car Rentals in Ireland. Over six weeks had passed, and we’d yet to receive the EU 2100, US $2308.71 they’d charged to our account. It was not a “hold” but an actual charge.

The dry woodpile from which Tom collected wood. The kindling is to the left of the woodpile. The owners encouraged us to use all we wanted. We’re using the wood-burning stove/fireplace to heat the house.

The credit appeared on the card last night. We sighed with relief. We didn’t want to deal with the negativity of the threatening phone calls for one more day! Fortunately, after pressing them with the threat of reporting them to the Irish equivalent of the Better Business Bureau, they finally came through.

While I was reviewing our various credit card balances online, which we generally pay off in full on the first of each month, Tom suggested we use accumulated rewards points on our cards toward any credits we may be paying off in a few days. We hadn’t done this in a while.

When we used the points this morning, we paid off $1397.37 on the cards. We’ve recently become more mindful of only using cards that provide the most reward points.

With all the vegetation and rain, it’s not unusual to see moss growing on the trees.

When we shop, we use a card that offers the most points for groceries. When we pay for travel-related expenses, we use two other cards, one in Tom’s name and another in mine. It’s working well for us.

The sun was shining when we awoke this morning, but it was raining again when we had our coffee. We’re looking forward to getting out. Most sightseeing venues near Devon require a drive of one or two hours on the narrow winding roads, which we aren’t willing to tackle in this rainy, windy weather.

We’ll continue to wait patiently for a sunny day or at least a day without too much rain. In the interim, we’re enjoying the cozy fire in the woodstove while continuing our research.

May your day be sunny and bright!

Photo from one year ago today, September 26, 2018:

This male lion was cuddling up to this female. For more of our lion photos, please click here.

The narrowest street in the world…Heavy rain keeping us in…Update…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 25, 2019 with 0 Comment

See the description below of the narrowest official street in the world. (Not our photo).

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall:
“Devon has the narrowest road in the world (from this site):

Parliament Street in Exeter bears a plaque claiming it to be the narrowest street in the world. At its thinnest, it is about 0.64 meters (2 ft 1 in). At its broadest, it is 1.22 meters (4 ft 0 in). It used to be called Small Lane but was renamed Parliament Street to poke fun at the Government for passing the 1832 Reform Bill Funny,? The German’s claim they have the narrowest street in the world – but that’s just a gap between two houses. Parliament Street runs from High Street to Waterbeer Street. In 1836 the residents of Waterbeer Street paid to have the street widened. The council hasn’t done that yet. Maybe after the new pool.” (See the main photo).

Before I started preparing the post, we tackled the pouring rain and made our way from the house to the car. Needing a few items from the grocery store, it made sense to only drive to nearby Witheridge rather than head back to Tiverton, a 40-minute or more drive in the rain.

With it raining as hard as it has, added to the reality we were totally out of photos, we’d hoped to take more photos in Witheridge. Doing so was tricky when both the camera and I got soaked even while wearing my rain parka. It was not a good day for taking photos and attempting more sightseeing.

Sheep grazing near Pond Cottage. This paddock is where the older rams reside to live out their lives.

Instead, we purchased the few items we needed and headed back to Pond Cottage to build a roaring fire and hunker down for the remainder of the day. In checking out the long-range weather report, it appears it could be raining for the next ten days.

We apologize for the lack of good photos for today’s post. We did the best we could under the circumstances. On Monday, if it’s raining when we return to Tiverton to shop, we’ll visit a few museums in the area. Rain or shine, museums are always a good option.

With our taxes done, our recent “paperwork” completed, and various supplies ordered that will be shipped to us from the mailing service. We now have more free time to begin researching our upcoming trip to India in five months.

When we didn’t feel like driving in the pelting rain, we went 10 minutes to this small market in the village of Witheridge. They had everything we needed at reasonable prices.

All we’ve booked for India to date has been the exciting train trip on the Maharajas Express departing from Mumbai on February 2, 2020, ending in Delhi on February 8, 2020, and also the fabulous cruise embarking on April 3, 2020, from Mumbai, India and arriving on May 2, 2020, in Greenwich, England, a 29-night cruise.

We need to begin further research on staying in India from February 8th to April 3rd, almost two whole months. We haven’t decided yet if we’ll rent a series of holiday homes or stay in hotels. If you’ve visited India in the past few years and have any suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated!

Tom had suggested we wait to book anything further for India until we had a better idea of how I’d be feeling. Now, after being off the three awful medications and being able to walk for the past month, my strength is quickly returning.

St. John the Baptist church is located in Witheridge.

It is no longer painful to walk, and the breathing issue (aka dyspnea) I was experiencing has diminished each day. The wounds on my legs and the hematoma on my right thigh are almost completely healed, and my sternum continues to be less and less painful when I move specific ways.

Overall, I feel tremendous and hopeful for plans for the future. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, I’m good to go anywhere we’d like to go in the world. We’ll continue to purchase global insurance, which is available annually for long-term travelers at a much better rate than we’d paid in the past.

Ultimately the international insurance we had all these years proved useless when they refused to pay my medical bills, claiming I had a pre-existing heart condition, which I did not have nor was aware of.

Row houses in the village.

We could commence a lawsuit against the insurance company, but we’ve decided we don’t want to make our lives all about a legal matter, constantly on the phone with lawyers.

Life goes on. And, we’re grateful that “life goes on!” We’re thankful to have survived the trials of the past seven-plus months, and feel free to return to our world journey with peace of mind and contentment.

May your day present you with peace of mind and contentment!

Photo from one year ago today, September 25, 2018:

The baby tried drinking from the river on her own while mom stood nearby to watch for predators. Giraffes are vulnerable to predators in this position. For more photos, please click here.

Reviews of rental car companies…The good and the not so good…Photos of our new home in Witheridge…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 24, 2019 with 0 Comment

Renate and John took all the lovely photos we’re sharing today. This is our holiday rental, Pond Cottage, at night.

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall:
“Devon has the slowest roads in the country (from this site):

Not only do we have more roads than anyone else, but it also takes you longer to use. A survey by international travel experts Inrix, who provides live traffic information to people like the BBC, this year named Exeter the slowest city in the country during rush hour. Yes, slower than London. Traffic crawls through the city at just 4.6mph at the busiest times of the day. You can walk faster. Businesses in Exeter spend more time stuck in traffic than businesses in London.“

Over the past three days, it’s been raining around the clock. Yesterday, it was cold. We started a fire in the wood-burning stove to keep us warm and kept it going all day, well into the evening.

It’s too cool to use the beautiful pool.

It was delightful to see the roaring fire and to hear the crackling of the dry wood. It reminded us of cozy cold days in Minnesota, although it certainly isn’t as hard here as it was there.

There is heat in this house, but we don’t use it to help the owner keep costs down. The fire was an excellent alternative, especially when all the firewood comes from downed trees on the 150-acre farm.

The living room where we’re currently situated as I prepare today’s post.

On another note, over the past several weeks, we’ve been dealing with a frustrating rental car issue resulting in countless phone calls to resolve it.

On May 12, 2019, we rented a car from Easirent (a rental company in the UK) in Dublin for our three-month stay in Connemara, Ireland. We were shocked at the rental office when a deposit of EU 2100, US $2308.71, was required along with a tax of EU 712, US $826 (neither of which were mentioned when we rented the car online). This huge sum was not just a “hold” on the credit card, but they actually “took” the amount from our credit card.

There’s a freezer on the opposite side of the kitchen (not shown in the photo), which is the same size as the under-counter refrigerator shown here.

We returned the car, filled to the brim with fuel and with no damage whatsoever, on August 9, 2019. We were told when we booked the car and then again when we returned it. We’d see the substantial refund within ten business days. That was 46 days ago. No refund.

After three weeks had passed from the return date, I started calling, inquiring as to when we’d receive the refund. First, I called the location we’d rented it to ensure they’d properly processed the return.

The master bedroom with skylights with a remote for opening and closing their shades. Each of the two almost identical bedrooms has en-suite bathrooms.

They stated, “Deposit refunds can take as much as three weeks. You should see it in a few days.”

From the original “10 business days” to “21 business days?” This was not acceptable. However, we knew we had a backup plan if they didn’t refund the money…we could contact the credit card we’d used for the rental and request they handle it.

We’re a little too early to see the leaves turning.

On one other occasion, we’d gone through the credit card company when we were to receive a refund from an airline when they’d canceled the flight. It took months, contacting them over and over with no results.

Finally, we took the issue to the credit card company, and they resolved it in days, not months, giving us a full refund. Now, we were faced with doing the same, with the same credit card company.

An aerial view of the two houses and farm buildings on the 150-acre property. Pond Cottage is closest to the pond shown between the trees in the forefront of the photo.

We preferred not to have the credit card company handle the refund if we could help it. It’s possible they’d flag our account showing multiple requests for refunds.

I went up the line…searching higher up at Easirent to find the appropriate management to speak to. Yesterday, I had no alternative but to threaten with the prospect of contacting an attorney and muddying their name on our site.

A few hours ago, I was told by a “higher-up” that the credit was processed at 8:51 this morning. No apologies.

Many ducks and geese reside on the farm. They enjoy the pond and daily feedings.

He explained it could take a few days to appear on our credit card. I don’t understand why a credit would take so long when charges appear immediately, but we’ll give it a few days and see what happens. Frustrating, to say the least, and also time-consuming.

When we rented the first and second of two cars here in England through Europcar at the Exeter Airport, we were thrilled with the cars, the customer service, the low deposit, and the ease of the entire process on both occasions.

We’d used Europcar more times than any other rental company over the years and always had a great experience. Why did we choose Easirent this only time? For some odd reason, pricing in Dublin was considerably higher at Europcar for the three-month rental than Easirent. We chose Easirent without doing enough research on the company. Our error. We’ll never do this again!

Pond Cottage during daylight hours.

So now we wait to see if the refund comes through in the next few days. If it doesn’t, we’ll ask the credit card company for assistance. We’ll report the outcome here in the next few days.

Yes, traveling can result in situations such as these, whether over the short or long term. We learn as we go and carry along with us the knowledge we’ve acquired along the way. Even after almost seven years, we still don’t always get it right. We continue to learn from our experiences as we enthusiastically look to the future.

May your day be filled with peace and contentment.

Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2018:

From this site: “The giraffe’s main predator is the lion, which can accelerate to almost 50 miles per hour. His second worst enemy, the hyena, can reach 35 mph. If a lion and a giraffe ran a race side by side, the lion would beat the giraffe to the finish line. However, the giraffe is not about to give a predator an even start. He uses his great height and excellent eyesight to spot a pride of lions as far as half a mile away and gets a head start. Lions can sustain their top speed for only about a hundred yards, so they run out of gas before the giraffe does. Hyenas can be more dangerous because they hunt cooperatively. They can take turns sprinting to keep the giraffe from slowing down to catch his breath.” For more photos, please click here.

Continued…Life on a farm…An experience like none other…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 23, 2019 with 0 Comment

John was excited to share details of this rare tree with us. “It is a Wollemia Nobilis. Wollemia is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. Wollemia was only known through fossil records until the Australian species Wollemia Nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges 150 km north-west of Sydney. The genus is named for the National Park.”

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall:
“Devon has the country’s oldest bakery (from this site):
It isn’t only pasties we’ve been making forever. We’ve also been making bread and biscuits since before America was born. How do we know? Jacka Bakery on the Barbican made biscuits that went onto The Mayflower for the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers. It is the oldest bakery in the country, even older than those sandwiches you get in South West Train buffet cars. Just think, if Jacka hadn’t been there all those years ago, we might not have the USA today. You’re welcome. We also used to have the oldest hotel in the country, the Royal Clarence in Exeter, but that is temporarily burnt to the ground.“

Yesterday morning, we jumped into the car and took off for Exeter Airport to return the vehicle and get another car. Having decided we’d only rent cars for one month because our credit card insures the car for 30 days only.

The pond next to our house, Pond Cottage with a few ducks and geese.

Since we have no home or car in the US (or anywhere else in the world), we can’t use those policies to cover rental cars. Over the past few years, we’ve taken a chance to arrange 90-day rentals without added insurance, although the rental agreements cover a portion of the loss if the car is damaged.

There’s no way we’d be interested in paying an extra GBP 10 (US $12.43) or GBP 15 (US $ 18.65) a day for added insurance when we often don’t pay those amounts for the rental itself. Also, I don’t drive in foreign countries when the stick shifts in on the left and driving is on the left side of the road. I’m not a good enough driver for that level of coordination!

Wet logs on the bottom, dry logs for our use in the fireplace, at the top of this pile.

Nor do we want to pay equal amounts per day by adding me to the policy. When we go to the US in 46 days, we’ll most likely rent two cars, enabling us the freedom to visit with the family at our leisure.

As a rarity, we’re staying at my friend Karen’s home in Eden Prairie, which she kindly offered. We’d stayed with Karen during our last few weeks in Minnesota before leaving to begin our travels.

There are numerous barns and paddocks on the 150-acre farm.

We kindly refuse most offers to stay in the homes of others throughout the world when we have our routine, which may not work well for our hosts. Having remained with Karen in the past and the ease we felt in doing so, we’re comfortable staying with her again.

Of course, we’ll be busy with family most days and evenings and plan to eat most of our meals out to ensure we don’t impose on Karen, family, or friends. With my restricted way of eating, it’s too much to expect hosts to figure it out. I’m sure we’ll have a few meals with Karen and her significant other.

Lush greenery is prevalent on the 150 acres.

Anyway, back to the car rental… With heavy rain and an inconsistent GPS signal, it took much longer than we’d anticipated to make our way to Exeter Airport and then, once there, to find a petrol station. Sure, I asked my phone for assistance. With the poor signal, each time indicated the closest was 10 or 12 miles from our current location.

We continued to drive around the area of the airport until we finally found one five miles away. We’ve never had such problems getting from one location to another in any part of the world due to the lack of a consistent internet signal.

Renate, the owner, suggested we keep the gate closed and the front doors. Otherwise. The ducks and geese will enter the house.

However, we chose to live in the country, and it’s a small price to pay for the beauty of the area and our joy in living on a farm. We have good WiFi (although slow) at the cottage, for which we are grateful.

We stayed calm. We finally headed back to the airport to return the car and collect another. We asked for the exact vehicle with the new contract, and this was accomplished at ease. We’ve had great rentals and customer service at a company we’ve used time and again, Europcar.

A handy feeder for sheep and other barnyard animals.

At last, we were back on the road. We decided to shop yesterday when we realized how far it is to get to Tiverton from the farm to the grocery shop, which we’d planned to do today. We easily found the Tesco Superstore, comparable in size to a Walmart of Costco.

We’d planned a couple of favorite recipes to make during the week. Still, we could not find the ingredients, including Italian sausages or any well-seasoned sausage without wheat or sugar.

This is the area where the sheep are sheared once a year. John and Renate have a company with workers from Australia or New Zealand in their “off-season” (Southern Hemisphere) that shear their sheep.

One of the second recipes required coconut flour, almond flour, and flaxseed. When we saw the sizes of the bags of each, we decided it made no sense to have leftover ingredients we’d have to dispose of when we leave England in 31 days.

Instead, we revised our grocery list on the app on my phone. We decided on preparing easy dinners for this remaining month in the country: a protein source, a variety of vegetables, and a salad (and rice for Tom).

There are acres of orchards on the property. Over this hill is a garden from which we can pick whatever we’d like that’s remaining from the growing season.

We didn’t return to the Pond Cottage until 4:30 pm, put away the groceries, prepared an excellent dinner, and settled in for a quiet evening. It’s cloudy and rainy again today. Should the sun come out, we’ll get out to further explore the farm to take more photos.

We want to thank our readers for the kind and thoughtful messages we often receive by email from many of you. Rather than use the “comment feature,” many prefer to share their stories via email to maintain a level of anonymity. We never post the contents of any email we receive without the authorization of the sender. We love hearing from YOU!

Have a great week ahead!

Photo from one year ago today, September 23, 2018:

It was hard to believe we captured this scene close to sunset at the Crocodile River. For more photos, please click here.

Life on a farm…An experience like none other…Once again, adapting…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 22, 2019 with 0 Comment

John, our exciting and attentive host farmer, has beautiful stories to tell. A former physician and world traveler, he’s a wealth of information. He took us on a partial tour of the 150 acres farm. On another day, we’ll see more.

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall:
“Devon County Council is responsible for 8,000 miles of road – the longest network in the country. The county is home to everything from single track rural lanes across Dartmoor and Exmoor to major highways like the A38 and A30 – as well as the M5.”

There are chickens, ducks, and geese on the property, along with many Dorset sheep. (Photos coming soon of these adorable sheep which are kept for their wool, not for slaughter.

Many of us have ancestors that farmed. In Tom’s case, it’s undoubtedly true when both of his parents, grandparents, and some of his siblings were born on a farm. I would have no idea if any of my ancestors were farmers.

We both love living on a farm. It must be in our DNA. It’s hard to imagine living in a typical city when over the past weeks, we’ve lived on two farms, reveling in every aspect. Of course, part of the enjoyment is based on the fact that we don’t do any of the work.

The acreage is diverse and beautiful.

People we’ve met along the way have asked if we “house sit” or work on farms as compensation for living quarters. As much as they may be appropriate for some travelers, it is just not quite our thing.

We travel as retirees, although we spend hours preparing and working on our posts, taking photos, and conducting research. As we mentioned many times in past posts, we don’t feel our site is a “job” based on the enjoyment and benefit we derive from writing our stories each day.

If the weather were warm, we’d certainly use this pool, but it is very calm and frequent rains, as it is today.

Should our level of enthusiasm or interest in continuing to post each day ever changes, we may have to reconsider. But, for now, we can no more imagine ending this process than we can in ending our world travels.

We can only strive to be healthy, diligently watch our budget and be adaptable to the many nuances properties and locations present to us along the way. Nonetheless, we’ll always encounter situations that aren’t ideal.

A small pond near their house and the barns. Soon, we’ll share photos of the pond outside our door of the “Pond Cottage.”

In this new location, a well-built former barn renovated to perfection still has some nuances which we must adjust to, primarily small things such as a difficult-to-navigate stairway to the second floor where the bedrooms and bathrooms are located.

There’s a tiny under-counter refrigerator that requires bending over to access (although there is, much to our delight, a separate under-counter freezer). The bed is somewhat low and not as comfortable as we’d like. To avoid being nitpicky, there are other small things not worthy of mentioning here.

John planted 600 sequoia seeds many years ago, and now there are over 400 trees.

But, we’re living on a gorgeous farm and in a beautiful house, and we appreciate being here more than we can say. The owners are over-the-top wonderful, and the nearby villagers are kind, welcoming, and friendly. We couldn’t ask for more.

Funnily, neither of us feel compelled to get out sightseeing right now as we’re immersed in the quiet solitude on this gorgeous property. Tomorrow we’ll head to Tiverton to check out the bigger of the villages in the area.

No doubt during our three weeks here, we’ll get out to see the local points of interest, most of which is beautiful scenery. There is so much to explore here at the farm that we can stay busy for days. Also, the hills and rolling terrain are ideal for me to build strength in my legs.

This is a young sequoia tree, but it may become as massive as many seen in Northern California in generations to come.

Yesterday, our tour with John was exciting and informational. His and his lovely wife’s love of their farm is evident in every acre of land, the well-kept nature of every building, and the loving care of their barnyard animals. We’re honored to have the opportunity to be here, with them only a short distance away and all the beauty and wonder surrounding us.

Soon, we’re off to Exeter Airport to return the rental car and get another. We’re hoping the rain stops and the sun comes out so we can explore on the return drive.

May your Sunday be blessed with joy and wonder!

Photo from one year ago today, September 22, 2018:

“Gee…the eggs are all gone, but I think I’ll lay in the bowl to let them know we want more.” Bands of mongooses came to see us almost every day. Tom would scramble raw eggs for them and serve them in this bowl. When the eggs were gone, lying in the bowl was an excellent way to express their enthusiasm. For more details, please click here.

We’ve arrived in Tiverton, Witheridge, Devon…Another beautiful farm…Balance of Bodmin Moor photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 21, 2019 with 0 Comment

An otter was lounging in the sun.

Fascinating Fact of the Day about Devon, Cornwall:
“Devon is a county in southwest England. It encompasses sandy beaches, fossil cliffs, medieval towns, and moorland national parks. The English Riviera is a series of picturesque, south-coast harbor towns, including Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham. The South West Coast Path follows the coastline, taking in the towering cliffs of the northern Exmoor Coast and rock formations on the fossil-rich southern Jurassic Coast.”

The drive from Treveighan to Witheridge consisted of narrow roads requiring 30 turns, according to Maps. We only made one wrong turn when we encountered a detour and had to get back on track without a signal.

Although this bridge looks wide in the photo, it is only the width of one car.

Of course, I’d saved the directions on Maps, but with 70% of the country, roads unmarked, it was a guessing game. However, it’s a small price to pay for the opportunity to live in these four country homes in Cornwall, England, and the last, in Wales.

As we drove toward Witheridge, we encountered many historic stone houses.

When we arrived at Pond Cottage in Witheridge, the treat awaiting us was reminiscent of our arrival only two weeks ago at the Tredarupp farm after our fantastic two weeks overlooking the sea in Falmouth.

St Petrock & St Keri Church in Egloskerry, Launceston.

This visit to Cornwall, England, consisting of these shorter stays than we’ve been used to in many other countries throughout the world, may have sparked a new level of enthusiasm for both of us. Could this be our unique way of traveling the world, shorter stays but more locations to explore? We’re beginning to reframe our thinking.

On a narrow road, we carefully passed a woman on a horse.

As we further research our upcoming two-month trip to India in a little over four months, we’ve decided India will undoubtedly be an ideal location to live in four different areas giving us a broader view of the world than staying in one location for three months.

Bodmin Moor is a 208 square mile area. Many farms adjoin the area.

This is not to say we’re sorry we’ve stayed three months (or more in a couple of cases) in various holiday homes. We were blissfully able to immerse ourselves in the culture and the community while gaining a sense of “belonging.” We have no regrets.

These birds remind us of the Helmeted Guineafowl we had in our garden in Marloth Park.

However, with the current reality of my ongoing heart condition, it makes sense to expand our horizons and see all that we can over the next few years until we can’t carry on, which is inevitable, based on our ages.

A common Fallow deer, often seen in the wild in the UK.

We haven’t unpacked. We took out the single plastic bag with the bare minimum of toiletries and could riffle through the blue bag if we needed something additional. The bulk of our clothing remains in our luggage after we’ve dug out the few items we’ll wear in the three weeks we’ll spend here.

The grounds at Tamar Wildlife Centre are tree-lined with lush vegetation.

The most significant part of the unpacking here was putting away the foodstuffs we brought with us, both perishable and non-perishable. But, this was no more time-consuming than a return trip from the supermarket.

Not indigenous to the UK, there are several wallabies in the open wildlife area.

We won’t have to shop over the weekend based on what we have on hand, although I’m looking forward to doing so by Monday when we’ll have a chance to explore further in Tiverton, one of the larger villages in the area.

A wallaby and possibly here, joey.

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll share photos of our new location. We’ll travel to Exeter Airport at noon to drop off the current rental car and execute a new one-month agreement. We’re planning to keep the exact vehicle, if possible since it easily holds our bags.

This morning we awoke to the sounds of the ducks and geese and roosters crowing in the pond the house overlooks. Soon, we’ll tour the property with the owner taking photos to share tomorrow.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Photo from one year ago today, September 21, 2018:

No expression on this cape buffalo’s face can more clearly illustrate his disdain over the hot weather and lack of water nearby. For more photos, please click here.

Back at the farm…Pygora goats…Nutrients

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 18, 2019 with 0 Comment

Posing for a photo atop the picnic table. “The pygora goat is a cross between the pygmy goat and the angora goat that produces three distinct kinds of fleece and has the smaller size of the pygmy.”

Fascinating Fact of the Day St. Teath, Cornwall:
“The first recorded mention of cricket in Cornwall is an advertisement in the Sherborne Mercury on 18 June 1781 for the sale of cattle at St Teath, near Camelford. The advertisement was dated 14 June 1781 and signed by Nathaniel Long. Whereas the annual sale for cattle at St Teath, near Camelford, Cornwall held on the first Tuesday in July had for several years feeling rather neglected. This is to inform the public that the Gentlemen farmers, etc., of the neighborhood, will produce a large show of cattle of the said day being the 3rd day of July next.”

Yesterday afternoon, farm owner Lorraine walked with me out to the paddock to see the pygmy goats and take better photos than I’d taken from a distance. It was a pleasure to get up close and personal with these adorable animals.

They had no fear of me. Lorraine and Graham acquired them at an early age, and not unusual for goats. They are friendly, playful, and hilarious in their antics. They plan to keep them as pets rather than for any other purpose.

I was able to pet them, unlike the wildlife in Marloth Park, and then even nudged me for more when I stopped. Below is additional information on these adorable animals:

The four of them continually hang out together.

From this site:

“They are generally quiet and docile, but there is some variation, as one would expect with goats. Housing requirements are less demanding than for the dairy breeds since the goats are so much smaller. Kids are reared on the dams, so milking is only rarely necessary.

Castrated males (wethers) make ideal pets, but entire males should not be kept unless separate accommodation can be provided for them. The goats like company, so keeping single Pygmies should be avoided.

Pygmies need a high proportion of dietary fiber daily (80% by weight of the diet is a guide), hay being the main feature; they also need small amounts of low protein goat mix twice a day. They graze and browse well, but tethering Pygmies should be avoided.

Each of them has a name, taken from the TV series Poldark. “The Pygmy Goat Club has set breed standards regarding size and type and organizes show classes for Pygmy goats. It has its registration and pedigree system aimed at improvement by selective breeding. The adult Pygmy has a maximum height at the withers of approximately 56 cm for males, less for females, short legs, and cobby bodies that give an impression of perpetual pregnancy. They can be any color except completely white, with white Swiss markings on the face not allowed.”

The Pygmy Goat Club publishes an excellent booklet, “Pygmy Goats,” that describes all aspects of housing, feeding, breeding, and general welfare of these goats. It is recommended that this booklet is purchased and read before deciding to go ahead with keeping Pygmies. The P.G.C. has a website: http://www.pygmygoatclub.org, where further details can be obtained about the Club. There is also a network of P.G.C. Regional Advisers.”

Lorraine and I chatted about the farm, wildlife, and our travels as we stood in the bright sunshine. I loved the feel of the warmth from the sun, which has been a rarity of late, with the typical cloudy, rainy English weather.

After the walk on the farm, I returned to the house to prepare dinner. I’d sauteed mushrooms, garlic, onions, and aged white cheddar cheese to stuff the cut and flatten chicken breasts which I neatly wrapped in bacon and baked in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes at 190C, 375F, depending on how hot the oven cooks.

They approached me without hesitation. “Pygmy goats are miniatures, genetically dwarfed; they are kept mainly for enjoyment, interest, and companionship.”

With rice and salad for Tom and salad and cooked watercress for me, we had another great meal. I’m rarely able to find watercress in markets throughout the world but found it here. It’s a nutrient-rich “superfood” described as follows:

One cup (34 grams) of watercress contains the following:

Calories: 4
Carbs: 0.4 grams
Protein: 0.8 grams
Fat: 0 grams
Fiber: 0.2 grams
Vitamin A: 22% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
Vitamin C: 24% of the RDI
Vitamin K: 106% of the RDI
Calcium: 4% of the RDI
Manganese: 4% of the RDI

It’s not that I regard the RDI (the British version of the US RDA) in the highest regard for its recommended daily allowances. We need a higher amount of nutrients than they suggest as a minimum.

As for watercress, it is not the most delicious vegetable eaten raw but cooked for a few minutes; adding a little butter and salt makes it quite tolerable, if not delicious. Once cooked, one large bag results in two servings. It’s like spinach…cooked down. There’s not much there.

In the evening, we watched the final episodes of season 2 of Seal Team on CBS All Access on Amazon Prime, which is GBP 2.37, US $2.95 a month with commercials, or GBP 4.78, US $5.95 without commercials. It was an excellent series that we hope returns for another season.

“The pygmy goat, also known as the miniature goat, and African pygmy goat, is a breed of miniature domestic goat. The pygmy goat is quite a hardy animal and can adapt to virtually all climates.”

Today, we’d planned to head to Bodmin Moor but have decided to go tomorrow instead. We’re caught up in handling some financial tasks and resulting “paperwork.”

We’ll be back with more tomorrow with two days and counting…

Be well. Be happy.

Photo from one year ago today, September 18, 2018:

When the hornbills were satisfied with their day’s work, they headed back to the birdfeeder for a bit of sustenance. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…A Sunday morning drive in Cornwall didn’t disappoint…Three days and counting…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 17, 2019 with 0 Comment

The side of the Parish Church of St. Tudy. We walked on a narrow stone rain gully on the side of the church to reach the cemetery.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About St. Tudy, Cornwall:
St. Tudy is a picturesque village and parish located close to the western edge of Bodmin Moor, five miles northeast of Wadebridge. The village grew around an original Celtic graveyard still referred to as ‘God’s Acre.”

Sunday morning’s visit to two churches was not only exciting but highly entertaining when we entered the Parish Church of St. Tudy to find several parishioners and Reverend David Seymour sipping on coffee and tea with what appeared to be homemade biscuits.

We wandered into the church a short time after the service ended when several parishioners had coffee, tea, and biscuits.

The moment we tucked our heads to enter the short door to the historic 17th-century church, we were welcomed with open arms, offered to partake of the drinks and biscuits, and immediately engaged in lively chatter.

The cemetery was filled with history.

Whenever Brits hear our American accents, they can’t help but share stories of beautiful experiences they had visiting the US, most often to New York, Las Vegas, and various parts of California.

Birds are nesting in this louvered window.

One of the parishioners was excited to share his story of having his wedding vows renewed several years ago performed by an Elvis Presley impersonator at a chapel in Las Vegas.

Others inquired about our travels, but we didn’t share as much as usual, preferring to hear their stories about their lives in St. Tudy and their love of Cornwall.

The church’s bell tower is similar to those in the “Game of Thrones” series and other historical movies and TV shows.

The pride the English express about living in Cornwall, is evidenced in each person we’ve met. One of the gentlemen, a gentleman indeed, walked me over to the plaque on the wall commemorating Captain William Bligh, proud of the bit of history bestowed upon this community and church.

A stone plaque on an interior wall in the church to commemorate Admiral William Bligh, 1754 -1817 depicted in the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The original movie was filmed in 1935 (see here). Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty’s launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men reached Timor, a journey of 3,618 nautical miles.”

He explained that the famous Captain was buried in the church’s cemetery, but he wasn’t exactly sure where the headstone was placed in his honor. We’d have loved to read his tombstone, but there were hundreds of headstones, and it would have taken hours for us to find it.

Simple yet beautiful pipe organ.

The grass in the cemetery was thick, and the underlying soil was uneven, making such a trek a tripping hazard. However, Bligh died in London, where his official burial monument is located. Below is a photo of his tomb.

Captain William Bligh’s tomb is located in London. (not our photo)

From this site:
“Bligh died in London in December 1817 and was buried at what was then St. Mary’s Church, his family’s local parish church. It is now the Garden Museum, and Bligh’s tomb is surrounded by lovely plantings.”

He wrote the following to his wife, exactly as it was written (including typos): “Know then my own Dear Betsy, that I have lost the Bounty…on the 28 April at daylight in the morning Christian having the morning watch. He and several others came into my Cabin while I was a Sleep, seizing me, holding naked Bayonets at my Breast, tied my hands behind my back, and threatened instant destruction if I uttered a word… -William Bligh to his wife, c. June 1791″

It has stained glass windows at the altar.

Again, for more on this story about William Bligh, please click here.

Once the conversations ended and the parishioners began to leave to continue their day, the Reverend welcomed us to stay and take as many photos as we’d like. All of a sudden, this church had a special meaning to both of us.

Cushions for the parishioners.

We were anxious to learn more details about the church and were able to find some morsels, as we’ve included today.

From this site:
“The parish church is dedicated to St Tudius, a sixth-century monk and missionary who has a strong association with Brittany and may even have been the important Breton Saint Tugdual. The church, whose graveyard contains an interesting ‘clink’ building and a pre-Norman carved stone, dates back to the fifteenth century.

The side altar with a square baptismal font.

The family of Captain William Bligh, of “Mutiny on the Bounty” fame, lived in St. Tudy for many generations at Tinten Manor. Captain Bligh was born here in 1754, the fateful voyage of the HMS Bounty took place in 1787. The church town is the only village in St Tudy parish, characterized by rolling farmland and woods.

The village of St Tudy is just two miles from the start of the Camel Trail and within easy walking distance of Bodmin Moor.”

Tom next to the main door of the church, the only entrance we could find. “In some churches in the UK, the “Devil’s Door” is a small side door, a structural feature found in the north wall of certain medieval and older churches in the United Kingdom. They are widespread in the historic county of Sussex, where more than 40 extant churches have one. They have their origins in the early Christian era when pre-Christian worship was still popular and were often merely symbolic structures—although they were sometimes used as genuine entrances. Before and during the Middle Ages, the north face of a church was considered to belong to the Devil and to people considered heathen. Churches were invariably built to the north of roads and tracks, to ensure their main entrance was on the south side.”

Speaking of the Bodmin Moor, tomorrow, on a predicted sunny day, we’ll be heading there to explore the many sites in the area, which will be our final outing in this area of Cornwall. Tomorrow’s post will be several hours late.

More stained glass windows.

On Thursday, we’ll pack and get ready for our following location in Witheridge, Devon, Cornwall, and on Friday, we’ll make the two-hour drive to our next new home. We love these short stays in England!

May your day bring you joy and fulfillment!

Photo from one year ago today, September 17, 2018:

This toad spent months with us. Some nights, she faced this way, and other nights, she faced the wall. A male joined her months later, and days later, they were both gone to make a family. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…A Sunday morning drive in Cornwall didn’t disappoint…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 16, 2019 with 0 Comment

As we approached St, Michaels and All Angels, Church of England, we were awe of its beauty.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Michaelstow, Cornwall:

“Michaelstow is an attractive village and parish located about three miles south of Camelford in North Cornwall. The name means ‘St Michael’s Holy Place,’ and the parish church is dedicated to ‘St Michael and All Angels.’ The River Camel runs along the eastern edge of the parish. Helsbury Castle, an ancient, circular Iron Age hill fort, lies half a mile to the north on Michaelstow Beacon.”

Yesterday morning, we were entirely out of photos. We haven’t been out as much as we would have liked with all the rainy days lately. Although it was dark and dreary with rain on the horizon, we decided to get out anyway.

A sign identifying this particular Church of England.

The goal was to explore a few nearby villages taking as many photos as possible before the rain started again. Today, we’re experiencing the same kind of weather with rain expected at any moment.

As I write here now, Tom is watching yesterday’s Minnesota Viking game online. For some reason, this morning, the WiFi signal was too weak to allow him to stream the game. Finally, he’s been able to get it to work.

The baptismal font.

The only reason we could think of this difficulty was the Monday morning surge in the use of the internet and the clouds affecting the satellite signal. In our travels, he experiences the same issues resulting in watching the game being frustrating and time-consuming.

I postponed starting today’s post to avoid using the WiFi, perhaps providing him with a better signal. But, this rarely provides much improvement when writing on this template doesn’t use much bandwidth (until I load photos).

Ornate wood carvings at the ends of the pews.

Tom had seen an exciting photo online of a historic church in the nearby village of Michaelstow and searched for directions online. But it didn’t take more than a few seconds upon entering the tiny village of Michaelstow to see the impressive church’s historical tower, a true reflection of English history.

St. Michael and All Angels, Church of England, were truly breathtaking. Unfortunately, we can’t find the exact date the church was built at any of the few online mentions of this particular church. We suspect it may have been in the 13th century, but we did find the following information from this site.

Pipe organ.

“Michaelstow (Cornish: Logmighal (village) and Cornish: Pluwvighal in Trygordh (parish)is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles (5 km) south of Camelford. The hamlets of Fentonadle, Trevenning, and Treveighan are in the parish.

The civil parish of Michaelstow is in the deanery of Trigg Minor and Hundred of Lesnewth. It is named after ‘St Michael’s holy place,’ and the parish church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. There is a fine tall Cornish cross in the churchyard. Its original location is unknown; until it was removed in 1883, it formed part of a series of steps up to the churchyard. Three more crosses are at Trevenning. The River Camel runs along its eastern edge, and the surrounding parishes are Lanteglos-by-Camelford to the north, St Breward to the east, St Tudy to the south, and St Teath to the west.

A side alter.

Helsbury Castle (Cornish: Kastel Bre Henlys, a castle on the hill of the old court’), an Iron Age hill fort, stands on Michaelstow Beacon half a mile north of the village.”

Upon arrival at the church, we checked the vestibule to find the front door locked. As we wandered about the property, we found a side door opened (referred to as the transept) and entered.

The pipe organ is located at the end of this aisle.

Although it was Sunday morning, we didn’t see any visitors or parishioners. Nonetheless, we entered, finding the interior not only historical but exciting in several ways.

No, it wasn’t an elaborate decor as we often see in historic churches, but it had several features that caught our eye, which inspired us to take photos to share here today. We weren’t disappointed and soon forgot about the cloudy day.

Stained glass windows at the alter.

We wandered through the cemetery, reading headstones and searching for any relevant historical facts and dates. In many countries, especially in small towns and villages, we’ve found ourselves wandering through cemeteries, searching for the unique and the unusual.

As for the church’s build date, Tom found this information this morning to explain it further. Click here for more details:

MICHAELSTOW MICHAELSTOW SX 07 NE 6/113 Church of St Michael – 17.12.62 GV I“Parish church. Possibly C13 origins enlarged in C15. They were restored in 1826, in 1870-1889 by Messrs Hine and Odgers, and 1982. Stone rubble with granite quoins and molded granite plinth and strings to west tower. Slate roofs, nave, and chancel in one. Plan: Nave and chancel possibly with C13 origins with four-bay north aisle and 5-bay south aisle added in C15. Circa C15 south porch and west tower. Exterior: Unbuttressed west tower of 3 stages with rectangular stair turret on the north. Battlemented parapets with crocketed pinnacles surmounted by crosses. Molded stilted arch to the west door. C19 3 light west window and 2-light belfry openings with slate louvers. C19 tracery in the south aisle, simple 3-light Perpendicular tracery in chancel window, and circa C15 3-light Perpendicular window with cusped heads at the east end of the north aisle. Piscina on the exterior of the north wall of the chancel. 3 C15 Perpendicular windows in the north aisle and blocked 4-centred molded arch to the north door. South porch has a 2-centered hollow-chamfered arch with a sundial of 1684, C15 wagon roof, and molded basket arch of Catacleuse stone with hollow chamfer and carved with floral motifs. Interior: Plaster walls. Unceiled C15 wagon roofs in nave and north and south aisles with carved ribs and wall plate partly restored. Particularly high-quality carving in the north aisle with evidence of pendants at the east end. C19 roof to chancel. 5-bay arcade to south aisle and 4-bay arcade to north aisle with granite type A (Pevsner) piers, molded bases, molded 4-centered arches, and carved capitals of Caen stone and Polyphant stone. Piscina and credence in the chancel, circa C15 font and Royal Arms dated 1727, painted on timber board. Circa C15 bench ends rescued from Church of St Tudius, St Tudy. Other benches 1882. 2 commandment boards dated 1803 and signed Henry Hocken and Wm Symons, Churchwardens. Bell dated 1550. C16 and C17 memorials. Maclean, Sir John Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor in the County of Cornwall 1879 Pevsner, N, and Radcliffe, E The Buildings of England, Cornwall 2nd edition, 1970 Church guide.”

The side view of the historic church in Michaelstow, Cornwall.

We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s post when we happened upon a fantastic social experience during Sunday’s explorations. More will follow!

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, September 16, 2018:

Kudus are usually early morning visitors, although we’ll occasionally see them during the day and evening. For more photos, please click here.

Coffee or tea…What is the favorite beverage in the UK…a “cuppa” what?…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 15, 2019 with 0 Comment

The driveway from our house to the narrow road.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About St. Teath, Cornwall*:

From this site: “The village sports an old clock tower in the center near the church. It dated back to 1920 and was erected in memory of those who lost their lives in the First World War. The clock was built from Delabole slate donated by the quarry and constructed by volunteers to a plan by local mine manager, Mr. Oswald Swete. The four clock faces are driven by a weight-powered mechanism that needs ‘rewinding’ every six days. The village has an interesting history. St Teath (from whom this village acquired its name) came over from Wales, with her sisters, to this area of Cornwall to bring Christianity to those living here. Since then, the village has seen much change with the rise and fall of both mining and the railway. There is plenty of evidence of both around the area. The oldest part of the village surrounds the village square – the focal point of the annual summer carnival, Remembrance day, Christmas lights, and New Year Celebrations.”

We often assume that the people of the United Kingdom are avid tea drinkers and, although they’ve heartily adopted coffee consumption, making it more prevalent than tea, they are still big tea drinkers.

There’s a ticker running at this site illustrating how many cups of tea are consumed in the UK each day. It’s shocking to see how fast the ticker runs into the millions of cups each day.

Storage building on the farm.

Coffee consumption has grown in the UK over the years. Here’s an article described here:

“Stereotypes suggest that Brits favor a builder’s brew over any other beverage, but new figures released by the British Coffee Association (BCA) tell a different story.

Reliant on the caffeine spike a morning brew offers to face the day ahead, the BCA has revealed that the UK’s coffee consumption soared to 95 million cups a day in 2018, up from 70 million in 2008. That’s an increase of 25 million over the last ten years.”

The exact stats on coffee versus tea consumption in the UK is confusing and elusive. Some say coffee is more prevalent, while others claim tea is the preferred beverage of choice.

Pygmy goats were checking me out. Next sunny day, Lorraine will take me out to meet them inside the fences. Photos will follow.

“Part of the research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), included a survey of 2,000 adults in the UK. It found that nearly a third of those surveyed said they didn’t drink coffee at all, while at the other end of the scale, six percent admitted to drinking six cups or more a day, with the average person consuming around two cups a day.

“Interestingly, it also revealed that 65 percent of coffee is drunk at home, 25 percent at work or while studying, and the rest is consumed in shops, bars, and restaurants. “In the last decade, we’ve gone from a country of tea-sippers who enjoy the occasional instant coffee to a nation of seasoned coffee connoisseurs exploring a large variety of roast and ground blends,” said Chris Stemman, Executive Director of the BCA.”

Pretty house in Michaelstow.

In our experience while in the frequent presence of Brits over the years of world travel, we’ve seen tea as the preferred beverage. But then, many of our British friends are regular coffee drinkers. So, who’s to say they haven’t adopted the passion for coffee drinking so common in the US and many other countries worldwide?

Tea’s illustrious influence in the UK has led to various teas worldwide, but there are certain teas the British favor. Favorite teas include:

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