Blue Skies & Beer

Today’s blog is more of a picture blog than babbling tales. I had a busy day yesterday, after dropping Phil off I headed in to Chard for a spot of shopping. First stop was Tesco’s followed by Lidls then the Library and the Tourist Information office for a map. There were a number of shops which were closed on a Monday and a few that have shut down since the last time I was here. New Look had a sale and I managed to pick up a tracksuit and a pair of sunglasses. I brought a steak and ale Cornish pastie for Phil and sent him a text to say that I would meet him at his work at lunchtime at 12.30. I had already made him sandwiches but I figured he needed a Monday treat. As it happens his sandwich had gone a bit soggy so he welcomed the pastie, the only trouble was that it was chicken and ham and not the steak and ale that I had paid 40 pence extra for. Never mind he still ate it.

I’m not sure what the weather was doing in Milton Keynes but it was a beautiful day here in Somerset with clear blue skies and endless sunshine. So instead of doing my ECDL I decided to take myself off to the seaside. The man in the tourist information office told me the village of Beer was really pretty so I programmed this into the sat nav and off I went. It took me 40 minutes to get to Beer and when I got there I was glad I had made the effort. It was a lovely fishing village, quite unspoilt although I’m not sure what it would be like in the summer. I had a walk down the steep hill down to the shingle beach and then walked back up and checked out the shops in the high street. Beer has an array of chocolate box B&B’s, a handful of pubs as well as a chippy, a deli and a post office. I would have like to have had a drink in the pub on the corner overlooking the sea but figured I would look a sad lonely old woman so decided to get back in the car and head for Sidmouth, 7 miles further along the coast.

Sidmouth was much, much bigger than Beer. Same shingle beach and reminded me a little of Weston-Super-Mare. The shops were varied and interesting and I did delve into a few of the little back alleys. I treated myself to a cone with a single vanilla scope which was massive and then made my way back to Chard. Although the coast is only around 12 or so miles from Chard, all the bendy, windy, narrow roads make it feel a lot further in distance. I was knackered when I got back. When I got back home and uploaded the photos on to the blog and then had a go and putting together the laptop table I had brought for Phil but the screwdriver I had had brought was too big for the little screws. With not much time left before I had to collect Phil, I popped to Focus to get a small screwdriver and then went to the leisure centre to check out the gym. It’s tiny compared to David Lloyd but cheap. The only down side is that you have to have an induction before they will let you use the equipment. I booked an appointment then dashed to pick up Phil.

Phil fancied a pint at the pub nearest to the estate where we are staying so we ditched the car and headed out on foot. Unfortunately the pub was closed so we had no choice but to head into town. Weatherspoons was the nearest pub that we came to so we decided to have a few drinks there. It’s so cheap and they have some amazing deals. The barman gave us a number of a taxi but none of them answered the phone so we no choice but to walk back. It’s not so bad walking there but it felt a long way going back home.

This morning I dropped Phil just before 7am and then headed to the Leisure Centre for my induction. I have to say I didn’t feel much like being inducted, which was just as well; because the gym was shut and I can only think my appointment was for 7pm and not 7am. I will pop in later and rearrange because I don’t much fancy going out in the dark.

Most of the photographs in the blog are of Beer; it was such an enchanting place I couldn’t stop myself from snapping. The last photo is taken f

rom a street in Sidmouth looking down to the seafront.

I’m having a lazy day today and the plan is to study Excel from my ECDL CD but somehow I ended up in Google and am doing anything else bar from study! Also its blue skies out there again today and somehow it feels wrong to be cooped up in this room staring at the computer screen.