Her Man's Ramblings

To try and bring y'all up to date since Sharon's last entry, summer has now gone and we are well into autumn (fall) .... cooler, duller, and less daylight hours ......... already looking forward to next year !!!

We have visited a Military Heritage Day at Okehampton Camp ........ a fun day out with glorious weather. Amongst much other stuff, a display of old military vehicles included some WW2 US vehicles, and Sharon got some authentic looking photos.

At the beginning of September, Sharon and a neighbor went to Plymouth Navy Days, a bi-annual event held in HM Naval Base Plymouth.......... she got to see lots of ships (including getting on a few), lots of military displays involving the Royal Marines, Royal Navy, submarines, helicopters, assault boats, etc. Unfortunately I was working this day, so collected a very tired wife at the end of the day for the journey home !!!

During September, we also spent a weekend in Warwickshire, visiting the Irish Draught Horse Society Breed Show. I've been their webmaster for a lot of years, and although I've spoken to lots of them by e-mail, there are many that I hadn't met. It was great to meet them all, and of course they all wanted to meet 'the wife' !! A really fun weekend, and once again blessed with glorious weather.

During October, I took Sharon around the Naval Base for another look at the ships, submarines, etc. We also visited the gazebo on 'King's Hill', from where King George the Third reviewed the fleet in  1820, and the 'Hangman's Cell', (in)famous for it's part in the Napoleonic Wars.

Sharon went to 'Goosey Fair' in Tavistock, an annual tradition since 1105, with a girlfriend (once again I was working), and once again I collected a 'very tired wife' on the way home.

Throughout this time we have had various day trips on Dartmoor, including a day at Castle Drogo, and a memorable visit to Buckfastleigh Abbey. On wet or windy days, a trip to a Garden Centre for lunch is one of Sharon's favorites.

Needless to say, all the photos taken of the above probably total over 1,000 !!!

For many years I have regularly attended the 'Holiday On Ice' show, and Sharon and I attended it earlier this year. A couple of months ago I received an e-mail asking if we would like to appear in the commercial for the new show. Of course we accepted !!! We duly attended, along with approx. 30 others, and had our ten minutes of 'lights & cameras'...... now we wait and see. They seemed to like what we did though.

Throughout this whole period we have been having a new insulated roof fitted to the house. This has completely scrambled our TV signal, just at the time of the UK digital changeover. Total chaos !!! This resulted in us having to get a new external aerial (which is now done), and we are now receiving many more channels and programs - including some that Sharon used to watch in Tulsa. Finally, about three days ago, the scaffolding from this was removed, and we are now flying our combined US/UK flag outside the front door.

Last weekend was Okehampton Carnival ....... for once, the weather stayed dry !!!

To wind this epic up .......... some weeks ago Sharon found a church that she is pleased with - I won't say any more now, as I'm sure that she will want to. I attended last week for the first time (due to work commitments), and found it very warm and welcoming.

So much has happened since either of us last wrote ....... I don't know where the time has gone !!! In a couple of weeks Sharon will have been here a year, we will have been married nine months, and our grandson, Alfie, will be celebrating his first birthday.

Life just keeps getting better and better ........... today, on TV, we heard a saying that kinda sums things up .....
...........'Perpetual Bliss' !!!!

"Bore da" (pronounced 'Bore-ray dar'). "That's 'Good Morning' in Welsh".
"Hi Y'all, how are ya". "That's 'Good Morning' in Oklahoman"

So started the conversation on a recent visit to the Border Agency Offices in Cardiff, South Wales, Sharon had to attend to give biometric data for her visa renewal now that we are married. As Cardiff is about a three hour road trip, we decided to go deeper into Wales and spend the weekend in Brecon, about 40 miles from Cardiff and in the heart of the Brecon Beacons.

Since returning home we have had another day on Dartmoor, including a visit to Dartmoor Prison Museum, (After 1812 when the United Stated declared war against the UK American prisoners were housed there.)

Following this, Sharon had a 'girls day' out to Minehead, on the north Somerset coast, including a ride on a West Somerset Railway steam train, something she has wanted to do since arriving here,

Back at home, 'Ol' Glory' flies proudly outside our front door. This is a story in itself ..... the first flagpole bracket buckled twice (in two days) with the wind .............. not to be beaten, the replacement is fabricated, welded, and heavyyyyyyy !!!!! Eventually we intend to fly our 'combined' flag ..... as seen at the bottom right of this page.

What with all of this, the gardening, the photography, etc ..... and taking very good care of her man, life is very busy - but no doubt she will eventually get around to writing something herself again.