Herding Cats: September Notes and Texts

9/1
An afternoon at the Social Security Administration, trying to get the 2014 contributions recorded: task not completed. Aaaargh #bureacracy #ihatethemall
They promise I can mail the docs after all. Even gave me an envelope. We shall see.

Instead of wasting
3 hours in a plastic chair
I make art. Sorta.

Eve at WEC, visiting Walter after an excellent meal

A plate of pretty
A stair corner of awesome
A bit of gobsmack

9/2
Breakfast at San Marcos with E! Warm. Monsoons in the north. Now back in ABQ w G at his house sit. I'm going out to the pool.

New jamberry nail wraps: these are called London Bound. I couldn't resist

Bailey, Dog #2 of 2, snuggling

Pix taken for Esther

9/3/17

P shared this with me, so I'm paying it forward!

Couldn't sleep last night, so sleepy today. Had a nice potluck at P's home in the mountains and met G's new girlfriend. They are sweet together. She gave me a guardian angel pin for my travels. Tomorrow I finish packing, Tues I fly out.

9/4/17
G is pet-sitting in a nice house on the west side of ABQ. I'm taking a break from packing

Angst and avoidance
From repacking bags: like me
They are overweight.

Ash falls on my friends
While I play with a sketch app:
Updating Nero.
9/5/17
Texting on my trip:

No my passport was declined
I didn't get the details. something about the computer thinking that I was from another country
Personally I think it's all the anti-trump petitions I've been signing

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away

They seem to have figured it out. However I only have a ticket to Dallas. I need to get another boarding pass at the gate; the luggage, however, is booked all the way through😀
I have a couple hours so I'm drinking coffee and eating the leftover molasses bread before I brave the security gate line

Got it down to 49.3 lbs.
I took out some clothes and at the airport
I pulled out binoculars keyboard and jewelry
so I'll carry them on. Was 1.7 pounds over 50

More problems at Dallas, but at least I got my stuff mailed! A traveling companion took care of it for me while I fussed at the gate.

At Dallas, getting ready to board. The big bag was checked in ABQ. It weighed in at 1.7 lbs over the 50 lb limit, so I had to take out a few items. I had plenty of time to do that, as my passport was denied for no good reason. The computers said I was not a USA citizen. Huh. Then at Dallas they couldn't find my seat. Hopefully I won't be held up at Heathrow: I have a tight connection for the train to Plymouth. It'll be awhile before I can text again; I think I need a SIM card. I'll try to send email on 9/6, but I'm 6-8 hours ahead of you. So I'm not sure when you'll get these
On the Great West RR, 2 hours out from Plymouth. I met Erik (who had my ticket) with 6 minutes to spare! Tired, didn't sleep much on the plane.
Saw the White Horse!

9/6/17
Mind the gap! On the Heathrow Express. Got questioned strongly about money, contacts, and return ticket, because of the 3 month stay. But otherwise, a smooth entry. Looks like I can only text to iPhones with this SIM card. Or through FB messenger.
So, email it is!

Dirty with echoes
But oh I so love this place.
Paddington Station

The view from my upstairs bedroom. It's lovely here, although there are rumors of rain to come.

9/7/17

My host drove me around a bit: she leaves tomorrow for the weekend. She gets the credit for finding me magical spots! .

She sat in the lay by nursing a turned ankle while I climbed the tor to look down on Neolithic village, Grimpound (a circle of stones surrounding grass covered stone circles, the remains of homes.) Very steep, very windy. Met two mean hiking the moors, which are criscrossed with paths

At a tea/craft room I received a nice lecture about the distinction between Dartmoor Hill Ponies and the Dartmoor Pony. It's a thing.

9/8/2017

Today my host took me on a test run of the car she is loaning me. She was a patient and calm instructress, and she hasn't said that I should NOT drive, but...
She took off around 6 and the dog with separation anxiety is cuddled up with me. Occasionally he gets up and looks for her and howls, and then I go pick him up and he settles back into sleep. sigh. The others seem fine.
This home is a bit chaotic, but I like the hostess and her dogs, and it's comfortable. And, she is providing me with food as well as the car, which is more than other places do. And the area itself is quite amazing. Trees growing out of walls, heather-purpled hills, curvy lanes, stone cottages, bracken-browned tumbling water. Even though it's raining, it's wonderful.

Today's pic, however....

Stone architecture,
Winding lanes, green hills; and yet
I photograph slugs.

9/9
A busker singing
"The Raggle-Taggle Gypsy"
A market sighting

A visit to
The subscription library:
Nice old blokes and books.

Art on the Viaduct trail

The old subscription library: they did daily meteorological readings, using the ceiling compass, not realizing that the instruments placed on the roof were influenced by the surrounding buildings.

Bingeing on British TV: "Tattoo fixers on holiday". Now that's reality TV I must see.

There is a show called
The Ghost Within My Child. Yes.
I am not kidding.

Among the playthings
A long stuffed creature she calls
A Bundle of Yuck.

9/10/17
A Sunday Morning
Listening to the bells while
Online tutoring

Sunset walk along the Tavy: a leaf cleaner and a Devon fisherman

There's a story behind this, but what?

9/11/17
They aren't Balthazar, but these ponies are adorable! They hang out at the golf course above Tavistock.

Took the dogs up Brentor in a really strong wind. It's a short drive from home, and we made it with only a few exciting moments. Some sun breaks. Now I have a headache: probably from the cold and the wind.

9/12/17


I glance up and see The white horse running swiftly Along the hillside

E and I the the long walk around the cemetery to pick up V: we see foxes.

Can you see Mr. Fox?

Recap for the day:
Started with a train ride from Plymouth to Paddington and thence to the underground, where I discovered none of my credit cards work and I was out of cash. I was waved through and they called my final stop, Leyton, where Erik met me. Then a walk to pick up Violet where we saw foxes in the church yard. A family mealtime, and now to bed. Erik is sorting out some Oyster cards for me, and I'll sort out the finances tomorrow.

Erik pointed out that I would not have been so fortunate if I'd been in work clothes and spoken with a Polish accent. He's right, of course.

9/13/17
Day at the Tate Modern, Zeid exhibit courtesy of R's card. Evensong at St Paul's. Wine and cheese watching The Great British Bakeoff: bread week.

9/14/17
Spent the day at home, joined my hosts at a local called Yardarm (celebrating R's 36th bday), and then enjoyed bath time. G, we're watching The Expanse, Season 1. E just discovered it!!!

9/15/17
Parsons Green Tube incident: I was nowhere near.

Listened to a free noontime concert at St Martin in the Fields church, visited National Portrait Gallery, just put Violet to bed: Erik and Rachel let me babysit while they went to Christies to attend a fundraiser for Eriks school. They looked smashing. Violet crashed early.

Took me quite awhile
To suss out this window art...
Waiting for music

The portrait asserts
"These boots are made for walking."
Worst. Ear worm. Ever.

That poet John Donne
Was one very handsome man.
He wrote quite well, too.


From lunchtime concert To sidewalk art, to portraits, To fashion statements.

9/16/17
I'm back in Tavistock! There was a pouring rain, with puddles, lakes, and streams in the road. Fortunately, R did the driving.

Tomorrow I resume my house sitting duties.
Sept 17

Lydford Gorge, 3 miles of narrow sloppy trails, full of huge mossy trees, ferns and dripping rocks. A hike worthy of the Pacific NW. I get strangers to take my pic at the big viewpoints but am mainly enthralled by rocks and textures. I take a ridiculous number of photos and love them all! So much for bracketing.

Now watching the darts championship at Cardiff. Because I can.

Following the hike
I watch the darts tournament:
Only in England.

She barks frenziedly
At the television ads:
Strange dogs in the room.
9/18/17

Had a cream tea at the Two Bridge Hotel. The dogs were allowed in the bar parlor, but Pekoe (white poodle) started barking at a cocker spaniel, so away with them!

I found this place (East Dart meets West Dart) and then got lost on some really narrow windy roads. Chip (the old dog) sat in my lap, getting in the way, and I killed the engine 4 times dodging oncoming traffic and downshifting up steep hills.

A harrowing drive
Through one-lane hedge-lined moor roads:
I can't take pictures.
A good day. ;)

Took these pix from a layby, as I recovered from the scary roads and figured out where I was. Combining standard transmission, left hand drive, and moorland roads makes Kari an unhappy camper!

I haven't gotten tired of this yet.

9/19/17
To my hostess: Today I was very sleepy, but we had a good walk at the golf course. The car is almost out of gas: where is your favorite petrol station? Is there a particular type of petrol I need to get (unleaded? 87 percent?)

Old boy Chip and I
Both wanted to doze inside.
Young pup dragged us out.

The hill ponies leave,
So we take a look around.
It's a bit smelly.

At the cricket pitch,
Modern day circle of stones
On the windy hill.

The clouds are coming in, and it looks like we have rain for the next few days.
Chip is being very cuddly, and he howled last night when I went into the bathroom. Pekoe is full of energy. Teaser got away from me at the Two Bridge parking lot and the other people in the lot laughed at her name: it's so apt!

To M and V:
If you check Facebook, you'll find several haiku and some pix for today, but mainly I've been hanging around the house. My eyes are scritchy and want to sleep, and the dogs are cuddling close. It's difficult to be productive or explore when I'm so tired.
I did do some research and writing.... as well as dozing and tutoring a bit. And the dogs are happy, so that part of my job is going well.

To G and P:
"It's just a bad ball,"
Comments the calm, quiet voice.
I'm not watching golf.
(Bowls championship)

To E:
Some personal whining

9/20 An introspective day...Spent the day tutoring and writing. It started pouring rain mid morning, so no walk for the dogs. Except Pekoe:

She frets, so we walk
Through a cold drenching rain and
Now she's crackerdog

Racing through the rooms,
Growling, shaking off water.
The others stayed home.

Are you enjoying your stay?
Yes, it’s a beautiful and interesting area of country. I feel sorry for the dogs and other motorists, because I freak out when I meet cars on narrow lanes. But I don’t want to leave the dogs alone for too long because they get upset...so they come along and get bounced around the car and dragged up windy tors. I think that’s preferable.And the se rainy days are great because it’s an excuse to stay inside and read and write and vegetate.

Did you figure out what I was watching instead of golf? Hint, it’s like curling without the ice.

9/21
Hi! It was supposed to be rainy today, but it was instead cloudy and windy. So, I took the dogs for their walk and then, as the rain held off, took a drive. I was looking for Drake's castle, but ended up back in Princetown and thence to Merrivale. I have yet to find the ceremonial complex, but found some pretty cool views. Dartmoor is full of neolithic sites, most of which display as a tumble of rocks. And there are mossy walls that indicate a more recent habitation. It's a lovely place to walk, except when Teaser the Maltese escapes the leash and won't come back. ;(

If there’s a car park
There’s a trail to something old...
Or a training range.

9/22/17

Dog sitting triumph:
The skittish one sat in my lap
Of her own accord!

View from the window,
Not a red sky at morning
But we’re socked in now.

Rainy, so I stayed in and listened to books and etched in the really nifty book that R gave me. On HER birthday. She's such a hobbit.

9/23/2017

Stopped by the market after walking the dogs, then after lunch drove with the dogs to Okehampton Castle. I don’t like leaving them alone but the dogs certainly cramp my style. Fortunately a nice gent carried Chip up the hill while I carried Teaser.

Still looking for stone circles and three hares at various Dartmoor locations.

At Tavistock's St. Eustachius Church

I really like the moors. They have stone walls and large bare spaces filled with bracken and heather and broom. Today the ponies were running, and the sound and sight were awesome.

And the skies are almost as huge as the NM ones. I do miss that.

Main problem is an incipient cold or headache, but the only thing I have to do is let the dogs out and feed them. A day out in the crisp autumn air is icing on the cake for all of us.

Okehampton Castle:
The three dogs are not in sync.
I get tangled up.

9/24
Tutored for 3.5 hours. Actually, tutored for 1 hour, sat around waiting for someone to request a session. So, I did some blogging and emailing. It's rainy today, so I stayed in until 3 and then took the dogs on a short walk up the viaduct. Spent the rest of the day writing book reviews for Goodreads.com (catching up the books I read in August and September) and watching a Firefly marathon.
from a letter to a friend:
I'm having some unexpected expenses, what with train tickets to London costing close to $70 one way. Fortunately, I haven't had to pay for the last two trips, and Erik has found me a good site for cheaper fares.
"I'm smelling a lot of if coming off this plan." (I'm watching a Firefly marathon, and Jane just said that...seems apt!) It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since that short-lived season of wonderfulness.
It's interesting how laid back this trip is being. I spend a lot of time hanging with the dogs and driving around, and even more time reading and writing. Not so much time tutoring, sadly. But my ability to make myself at home anywhere is coming in handy. And, I find I don't miss the stuff I've left in storage at G's. Maybe I should have him sell it all for me. ;) No, I know that eventually I'll want to find a place to settle down, and that stuff will come in handy.
I am very much enjoying Dartmoor, but it's quite scary driving those narrow roads, especially with standard transmission. Yesterday I thought I was driving towards a main road, only to end up 4 miles later at a gate with HUGE cows on the other side and no space to turn around.
But I managed.
Still, I don't really have any news. I'm just hanging around. Later!

9/25
In the personal FB news: Landers-Paisley wedding: lots of great pix over the next few days. Sorry I missed it.
In the global FB news: #45 attempts to deflect attention from the post-hurricane debacle in Puerto Rico (the "island in the middle of the ocean"). He focuses on NFL player protests, "taking a knee" during the anthem. I share the Royko column about the whole concept of singing the anthem.

So wonderful to wander the moors at sunset. Sadly, Chip fell into the stream that runs between the two stone alleys. I had to dry him with my coat and carry him bundled up until he dried. Poor old boy.

Fernworthy reservoir and drive there: I’m getting more intrepid, but when I met the Land Rover in one of these roads and the driver insisted I do the backing up, it was pretty sad. I kept running into hedges and killing the engine. Finally the driver gave up and backed up herself. :)

Sadly, a photo can’t capture the green-gold light and the mossy turf covering rocky mounds and walls.

Watching Welsh TV: can’t understand a word, but it’s a bunch of muscular young men training for tug of war competition.

9/26
Road closed until 2 pm: the construction of the past week finally boxes me in. I take Pekoe for a walk the other direction through a second RR viaduct while I wait to take off to Brixham.

Nice little fixer upper: actually still lived in, per my host

Mystery trash from the tip under the viaduct

Moor roads followed by
Rush hour traffic and missed turns:
Doubled travel time.
Collapsing at the English riviera for two days.

View from and of my room in Brixham, on the English Riviera. Also of the two labs I’m sitting. This is a trial run for a slightly longer stay end of October. It’s an hour and a half drive from Tavistock...if you don’t dawdle over the one lane roads and 20%inclines over the moor, and if you don’t hit rush hour traffic at Paignton. And don’t miss half the turnings. If you DO dawdle and miss turnings, it’s a little over twice that.

But all is well, my hostess left me loads of food, and I am only here to keep them company at night: they spend the day with her mum and someone else transports and walks them. Quite a change from other sits.

9/27

This housesit will be lovely. She’s totally pampering me. She left me chocolate! Today was rainy and I have an incipient cold, so I spent the day texting with P and listening to a long audiobook.

The dogs are sweet and self sufficient. Sweet labs and a good book: nothing much better

9/28

Playing with pix:

I was at the South Devon coast this morning, and, after a harrowing drive, made it back to Tavistock. I may never drive again.

I leave my finds at the harbor wall.

9/29

Alive and reasonably well EOM

9/30

Bad British TV: I'm watching container wars! (Storage Wars on Steroids), as I wait for insomniacs to ask for my tutoring expertise. The dogs are bored by the whole thing, but it's raining so a walk is probably not in the cards.

They had 3 kinds of wild Chanterelle at the weekly market. I’ll have them with eggs for breakfast. These were farmed, and I can’t recall the name. They were clumped into a block that I pulled apart. So, dinner is courtesy of the market: