Whodunnit?

The is the motley crew that turned up for the Sorley Ring post grand prix dinner on New Year's Eve.  As is usual at this kind of event, someone died and foul play was involved.  Any ideas whodunnit?

Shiek Djuluvme (Darren), Marsha Ull (Sue), Penelope Bust-Op (Claire), Gracie Nipelle (Rachel), Ivor Bigend (Simon), Max Speed (David), Slik Tyres (Jenny), Minnie Cooper (Diane), 

We're generating!

You might know that we have been trying to get some photovoltaic (PV) panels installed for a while now.  Well, to cut a fairly long story short, our panels were finally installed on the roof of the big barn last Saturday and they have been connected up this week.  This means we should certainly be able to get our installation reigisted before the government halves the feed in tariffs on 12th December!  We have been generating up to 1.5 kW of power.  This is not bad for the end of November and on a good day we should get 4 kW.

Happy Christmas

When we moved down to Devon, they told us they rarely get a frost and it never snows.  They lied!

Happy Christmas,

D3.

Dazza's 40th

We are just back from a super weekend near Shepton Mallet where we were helping Darren to celebrate his 40th birthday (yes, some of our friends are that young!).  Darren had found a restored farmhouse which was a fantastic location for a country house party.  Most of us arrived on Friday evening for a chilli followed by a game of "Who's in the Bag?".   On Saturday, I had planned to go up to Bath to watch the rubgy and the most of the others were going to go horse racing.  In the event, the racing was cancelled so we all went up to Bath - the boys for the rugby and the girls for some retail therapy.  It was a good game with Bath having a thumping 37-13 bouns-point win over Worcester. 

 

  

 Saturday evening saw some rather strange attire and some even stranger hair-do's as we all took part in a murder mystery dinner party - "The Champagne Murders". At the end of the evening, after plently of bubbly, it transpired that it was the dastardly Brian Sewer (a.k.a. Mark) who dunnit (hardly surprising, with a name like that).  

On Sunday, we all went clay pigeon shooting.  It was a first for many of us but, with some good instruction, we were all able to hit a few clays despite the targets getting harder to hit as the session went on.  The final result was fairly close but, as it was his birthday, we naturally had to let Dazza win.  It was then back to the house for a nice roast dinner and some more games.

On the piste again

Last week we were off skiing again with Claire and Darren.  This was our second attempt at cross country skiing  and this time we went to Dobbiaco in the Dolomites.  The village is not the prettiest we have ever been to but it is all very well set up for cross country skiing with a brand new World Cup stadium and once you get onto the trails the typical stunning Dolomites scenery soon becomes apparent. As always in this part of the world, the food (and the grappa) was plentiful and superb!  We had lessons on five mornings with a couple of rather nice young lady instructors from the local ski school.  We were doing the classic technique most of the time and did some fairly long trips (>20 km) on a couple of days.  We only came home in the dark once, though.  Just when we thought we might be getting the hang of it all, we had a go at the skating technique for the first time on our last day.  This felt really strange at first but, amazingly, we were all able to make progress after a couple of hours tuition.  At the end of the day, Diane decided to stay in the stadium and practice while the rest of us went for a little excursion.  During this, Claire and Darren forced me to wipe out on a steep descent but I had the last laugh when, for reasons best known to herself, Claire decided to stop to eat some snow on the way back. When we got back to the stadium for the last time, of course we had to have a little race.  Clara was so keen for her man to win that she laid down in front of me just after the start, giving Darrren an unassailable lead.  However, despite being the first over the line, he still could not take the trophies for the over forties (just), the over fifties or the ladies!  Unfortunately, the ski race to Cortina took place on the day we had to leave (so we did not have to wear our stretchy lycra suits for breakfast in the hotel) but there is always next year, and our feet might have recovered by then, too!

Apple Tree, Apple Tree, I Wassail Thee!

Last night, the entire Sorley contingent and a few special friends left the comfort of their firesides and went out wassailing.  This is an ancient custom in these parts whereby any evil spirits are driven out of the orchard and the apple trees are exhorted to fruit well in the coming season.  The general idea is that a procession of people carrying lanterns goes down to the orchard and generally makes a lot of noise and kerfuffle .  Some cider is then ceremoniously poured on the roots of the trees and toast soaked in cider is placed in the branches for the benefit of the robins.  Meanwhile, more cider (this time, it is mulled cider) is poured down the throats of the reluctant wassailers.

I am not sure what tradition then demands but, last night, everyone came back to the Brewery for a sausage supper and the consumption of yet more cider.  If you are getting the idea that the whole thing is just an excuse for a party in the middle of January - let me tell you it is a very serious business, indeed.  I am a bit concerned, though, that the whole thing is just a bit too close to Morris dancing for comfort!

The scholars among you might be interested to know that the word wassail derives from Olde English words waes hael meaning "be healthy" or "be whole" and it probably relates to the modern English term "hale and hearty".

Wassail!

Latest new craze hits South Devon!

Well I guess it had to happen eventually but the new craze called "Bagging the Dog" has arrived in South Devon.  It is a fairly simple game really requiring only a wet/dirty dog and a large bag with a zip.  The point of the game is to get the dog into the bag without getting wet/dirty yourself.  Points are awarded for speed and style and deducted for the use of foul language.  The really clever part about this game is that when the dog is let out of the bag it is miraculously dry/clean.

Diane managed all this, without the benefit of a safety net, at the end of a New Years Eve trip to the Erme estuary with Digger and Sue.  Actually, Mr Digs did not seem to mind this new game too much although he did have to be restrained from jumping out of the car en bag when they got home. 

Our early exitement about this new game was slightly tempered yesterday, though, when Mr D got so wet and muddy on a new walk by the river at Ivybridge that he had to get hosed down in the bath when he got home despite having being "bagged" on the way home.  This lead to our first attempt at another new game called "trying to climb out of the the bath backwards whilst being hosed down from the front" but this one clearly needs a bit more practice.