Spur-of-the-Moment

At the beginning of this month we thought we'd check to make sure that our central heating was in full working order before the colder weather arrived...sadly the radiators refused to heat up, so an engineer was called...he came, but couldn't fix it. We were told that the system needed flushing-out and we'd need to book an all day appointment, but that a plumber couldn't come out for at least a fortnight.

That appointment finally came round and our central heating system was flushed through...but even after that, we were still without heat when it didn't solve the problem, so another engineer was booked to call on the Friday just gone...
The man that came on that occasion actually made things worse; not only did he not fix our central heating, but her broke the hot water system too! He said we'd have to be without both all weekend, as someone else with the spare parts wouldn't be able to attend until Monday.

That was the last straw! We'd got used to wearing an extra layer and lighting the fire in the living room every evening, but to not be able to have a hot bath all weekend...
So on the spur-of-the-moment hubby and I decided to book a B&B and go off for the weekend. Luckily our youngest had already arranged to stay with her friend over the weekend, so we were free to choose where we'd like to go...not a difficult choice...it had to be Devon, didn't it? A few quick clicks on the www and we were booked in for the Saturday night at Ashburton.

Bright and early on Saturday morning we headed off on our not-so-long-anticipated holiday!
We arrived in the town mid-morning and after a quick cuppa in our favourite cafe it was time to visit the lovely Ros at 'The Snug' - My absolutely favourite shop, run by this gem of a lady.

Sat in the window at the back of The Snug is this gorgeous and glamorous gal (not for sale, or I would have been first in line...;-))

A beautifully put together red and cream corner...

and a lovely assortment of vintage treasures next to it...some of which came home with me!

After saying our farewells to Ros, we took a leisurely wander along the rest of the high street.

Ashburton really is a relaxing little town, where all the shop keepers are very friendly...we even managed to get some insider information about the local car boot sales that would be running on the Sunday from the lady in 'The Shambles' - a fab antiques shop near to Sara's Lavender Box.

The weather made us feel very welcome too...hours of warm sunshine and blue skies.

Later in the afternoon we checked-in to the B&B, then went for a short walk along one of the public footpaths before our evening meal.

(That night, having a centrally heated bedroom took a bit of getting used to, but the hot bath was most welcome!)
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Sunday dawned and we checked out of the B&B and headed to the car boot sale at Newton Abbot racecourse. There was a mixture of stalls, some very expensive, but I did come away with a few treasures.

After that we then went to Totnes and a walk along the ramparts to The Guildhall.

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Then back to the high street for a light lunch.

It was then off to another car boot sale, near Paignton, which opened at 1pm (very civilised!) I bought a very pretty pair of Victorian hand painted pictures on glass, which I shall show towards the end of this post. It never ceases to amaze me what turns up at car booties!

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And was that the end of our little foray? No, we packed in more!! (Sue is always saying how one night away equates to one week in her book, as she has so little time-off from work, and I can see what she means...its surprising what can be done with a few hours away from it all.)

Our next stop was Stoke Gabriel, a pretty village where we have holidayed before, and a hot cup of tea sat looking out over the estuary...

Whilst we were there, a RNLI lifeboat was called to rescue the ferry boat, thankfully not the ferryman, which they towed out to safety.

And then all was quiet once more...

Finally, our journey home had to begin, but we did so by calling in at Budleigh Salterton for a quick walk along its pebbly beach before the sun went down...

Bliss.

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Back home and the gas engineer came back again today (this time bringing the boss as well!) and we now have heating AND hot water!! Joy! We have to invest in some new radiators, which will be fitted next month, but at least for now we are warm.

Whilst they were in my workroom working on the boiler, I sorted through my purchases from the weekend. This is the pair of Victorian paintings on glass that I mentioned. I'm very pleased with those...

A pretty pair of paisley eiderdowns came from Ros.

As did this beautifully hand embroidered linen tablecloth.

This adorable plaster figure was from The Shambles.

And some of my other treasures included some striped cotton sheets and pillowcases...

A framed wedding photograph from a century ago (wouldn't you just love to be able to see what colours these ladies were wearing? - I'm sure they would have all been so pretty in their lace embellished outfits and millinery creations)

And an old book from a similar time to the wedding photograph was another of my favourite finds and the perfect souvenir of a special weekend away with my lovely hubby.

Hope you had a fab weekend too!

Now I need to catch-up on some work after having so many days with central heating engineers working in my space this month...I have two more rag dolls I really need to finish off before the V&H fair on the 14th. Working on them without me having chilly fingers will be most welcome!

Niki x