After a few days in Cardiff it was time to head for our next house-sit. We were heading for Exeter for a short stay to look after Kyie, a border collie husky cross, for his owners Kate and Gav while they had long weekend break to attend a wedding in Ireland. For some of you out there who may think we were embarking on a 72 hour half price drinking session that is not quite what my “happy” hours means. Although not alcohol fuelled it was fairly full on couple of days.

Hello Kyie!

Kyie was very excited to see us and the cross led to a very striking handsome looking dog but,despite his size, he was as soft as putty.

Kate messaged before we arrived to let us know that Kyie had had a health scare a few weeks before. He had collapsed and lost the use of his back legs. The vet suspected epilepsy so he was on medication and so far the problem had not reoccurred. We were given the low down on his routine, medication and recommended walks before Kate and Gav headed for the airport.

A 45 minute walk combined with stocking up on groceries and we were set for a restful evening, although Kyie had other ideas and insisted on dropping his ball at our feet every 30 seconds. He soon settled down though and he seemed content to sit at our feet while we watched TV.

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Exmouth Bound

The good weather was holding so we decided to take the train from the station at the end of the street to Exmouth. Kyie had never been taken on a train before so Kate and Gav recommended leaving him at home for such a trip. We waited at what seemed like an abandoned station, Polsloe Bridge. There were no ticket machines, no seats and just one short platform alongside the single track. After a short wait the two carriage train arrived absolutely rammed full.

The trains are only once an hour and the previous one had been cancelled so it was full to bursting with people heading to the seaside for the day, as well as a whole bunch of new recruits getting off at the aptly named Lympstone Commando. They were all in their best suits with number 2 hair cuts and most of them had big holdalls and an ironing board under their arm. The train took us along the edge of the River Exe and past the lovely small villages of Topsham, Lympstone and Exton.

I think we must have chosen the windiest day of the year. There were clear blue skies but after the 15 minute walk from the station to the sea we were nearly knocked off our feet as we arrived at the beach. The kite surfers were struggled to control their kites but there were a few stalwarts trying to sunbathe. We had a brisk walk, found a sheltered spot for our picnic and then partook in an ice cream. Well you have to don’t you when you are at the seaside. It was not an easy job to eat as my hair kept swirling around but snickers flavoured hair is not such a bad thing!

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Exeter Quayside

Our last stay in Exeter was in April 2015 a couple of months before our eldest son’s wedding (An English Country Wedding) and I used the visit as a chance to do some serious dress shopping and get an outfit for the wedding. We saw a lot of time in the city and I spent a lot of time trying things on that definitely looked better on the hanger than they did on me.

I ended up with a dress that was aptly named “confetti” although I refer to it as my paint splatter dress. Once the pressure of saying “yes to the (mother of the groom) dress” was over we took a walk down to the Quay which is a lovely part of Exeter to spend time. There are some lovely restaurants, antique and crafty type shops and stalls.

Being totally organised as we are, I had contacted my brother Jon who lives in Devon and his wife Julie to try and arrange a get together whilst we were in Exeter. So it was that we had a lovely lunch sitting outside The Prospect Inn and only had to dash for cover for the last few minutes.

That gave us the excuse to take a look at the crafty shops which run along the quayside. These are varied and sell really nice things. Julie was tempted by a couple of items but brother Jon said more than once “I could make that“. All too quickly it was time to say goodbye and head back to give Kyie his second walk of the day. I love it when I can meet up with family and friends. Catching up in person is so much better than messaging or talking on the phone. Thanks though to them both for making the fairly long drive to meet up.

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Shortest HouseSit Yet

Sitting for Kyie had been the shortest we have even taken on. We are usually in one location at least a week. This is partly to warrant the travelling costs but also so we get a chance to see the area a little. This sit had been shoe-horned in to fill a little gap that we had so after 3 nights we were packing our bags to head for the station and another lesser known (to us) village in Wiltshire, Tisbury. Allegedly one of the top 10 places to live in the UK according to The Sunday Times.

Remarkably with only 2 whole days in Exeter we had done so much and thankfully there was no repetition of Kyie’s health issues. Being on the move all the time, sometimes it would be nice to shut the door on the world and just flop for a day but I think when time is short we make the effort to get out there and see something. Even if we did flop I think within 30 minutes we would be looking for our boots and grabbing the coats. Maybe at the next place? Don’t put money on it though.

19/09 – 23/09/2019