Nightmare x 1 (As In Living Nightmare!)

Hello all, well, here I am in Devon (at last).

It was a hell of a journey down. I took over on the A3o3 until the cottage, driving on fast, furious roads for the last 170 miles. It was all going so well when we ran into some traffic and actually switched the engine off as it was all at a standstill. A couple of miles to the M5 junction, and we hadn't a clue why and could we find any traffic news on the radio? No, not a sausage! Of course it was an accident and a pretty nasty one too, involving a couple of lorries and cars. One lorry was a right- off, I've never seen a lorry so smashed up before. So instead of the usual 5 hours, it took us just over 6. My Dad said I had driven very well! Well, that's something.

The garden, as usual, is over-grown. But full of birds and butterflies. We had fish n'chips for a dinner, our usual tradition for first night there and fizz! I couldn't see the cows anywhere, but I could hear them. So I went into the field to find them and where were they? In the woods, they had broken out of the fencing (the farmer who owns them is not famous for his good fencing!), so I left them to it. Yesterday the farmer, his son and a few helpers tried to get them out but failed! Well 15 hefty heifers and bullocks in a over-grown, tangled bramble wood is a little difficult. I assume they are gorging themselves on the leaves right now. All the flowers look beautiful and the animals are beginning to come back to us, they love company!

Yesterday we went to pick my Mum up from Exeter station and then onto a small place in the suburbs (Yes Exeter has them too!) called Pinhoe to get the car assessed for the insurance over the accident last time (Yes, it's still going on) and then home for a sleep because niether of us slept last night, we don't work very well apart! Then on to our local pub for a relaxing dinner. Well, it started off ok but then a chain of events brought it to a swift close:

1 I have a Pimms and lemonade to start off with (lovely summer drink)
2 I eat a piece of apple which gives me a sore and itchy throat. It passes though.
3 Time of the month starts and so I take some painkillers to stop the pain.
4 Within 15 minutes my hands start to itch something chronic and I start to feel paranoid.
5 We leave and in the car my WHOLE body starts to itch and tingle.
6. Home and I run to the bathroom, scratching and rubbing cream everywhere. Nightmare.
7 An hour passes and it's getting worse. Mum sits with me with her medical book reading out the possible causes. Food allergy or drug or just the combination of both of them. Thing is those painkillers I've had before and NEVER have I had a reaction.
8 It's still not going away and Dad says that maybe we should go to the nearest casualty in Bideford (12 miles away) and I say no, I'd rather sit this out then spend four hours waiting!
9 FINALLY a rash comes up, all over my body accept for my face and I begin to rub more cream on it and FINALLY it gets better and the itching stops.
10 I full asleep exhausted.

Great aye? Perfect start for a holiday in the best place in the world!

That's all right now, only that I missed out on having a pudding in the pub and my folks went to the supermarket today and bought something nice for tonight. That and my period is AWFUL and I took DIFFERENT painkillers for it, so it has been a lazy day doing nothing. Though I have been in the studio to check it out and see what I have, it's ALWAYS on my mind (somewhere!)

The next post will, hopefully, bring joy and happiness and photos. The weather here is pretty poor, dull and overcast and a little windy, but least it's comfortable to sleep in as London was awful, too hot and sticky to sleep.

Lots of love to one and all,

Emy xxxx