I can best describe July as meh… and that meh doesn’t even deserve the effort of capitalisation. I think the weather has had a part to play but with 3 days to go it’s cloudy and cooling, at least in the mornings, so I thought I better make an effort and write something.

Lyn and I finally found time to do a National Trust Day Trip. We did a double header of Finches Foundry (although it’s never been a foundry) and Castle Drogo (not really a castle). Finches Foundry is unusual in that to visit it you have to book it and you then get an hour’s guided tour. Being the last working water-powered forge in England you can understand why. The opportunities for a numptie to lose a finger/eye/arm are countless. The jeopardy even starts before you get in with the type of narrow entrance to the car park that makes YOU breathe in when you drive through. As interesting as The Foundry was, and they do a really cool passport stamp, it was not very photogenic so in the afternoon we went on to Castle Drogo.

Only a few miles (as the crow flys) from Finches, Drogo is somewhere we’ve been before but it was autumn and very misty so it was nice to see it in sunshine. It’s also nice to see that a lot of NT properties are getting electric charging pods now. I quite like them because whilst you have to plug in and charge, the parking spaces are bigger and in many cases are closer to the entrance of wherever you are, be it a supermarket or a stately home. Drogos claim to fame is that it is, at least for now the last castle to be built in England. It was built between 1911 to 1930 and given to the National Trust in 1974. Given when it was built I would have liked to have seen a bit more art-deco but despite that it’s still worth a visit and the gardens are very pretty as well.

We’re doing a couple of open-air theatres this year and the first was at Clovelly Court Gardens. The show put on by The Pantaloons was The (almost) Complete History of Britain. I would say given the nature of it and the excessive amount of time given over to the Tudors, outside of summer they normally perform sections of it at schools. To be fair, if I were 12 I would have absolutely loved it. It wasn’t helped by the fact that it was performed in the shadow of a tree in the shade and a brisk wind from the north coming off the sea. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to be cold. Lyn had sensibly bought a jacket but more than a few people put on coats and wrapped themselves in blankets. At least I hadn’t just come in shorts and a t-shirt as some other poor sods had.

In other news my favourite sofa has gone :( I contacted the council to pick it up as unlike modern sofas this was a solid lump of wood, metal (springs) and (real) leather. A mans sofa. It didn’t want to go, we even had to take a door off its hinges to get it out of the house. We left a note on it saying “Free to a good home. Council picking up Wednesday AM” and when I looked at 5 the next morning it was gone so somebody had a bargain. I will miss our afternoon naps.

Finally, I bought some external cameras for the house and can now sit in front of my TV watching the world go by while pissing into jars… it’s a hobby. Hopefully next month will be a bit more interesting. Quis Autem Reformationem.