A World of Furniture - Blog

Having just come back from my hols in glorious setting of the Devonshire countryside you have to ask the question – why would you want the hassle of jetting abroad?

Having chosen a great cottage (The Roundhouse near Hartland is an old mill that has been converted and it is quite simply lush, have a look at their site, get the family together and check it out)  on the North Devonshire coast in the little village of Hartland just north of Bideford (and yes sadly I did pop in to see the guys and gals of Devonshire Pine…… but they do a great cup of coffee (and cake!)  - cheers Charmaine!) it was time to set off last week to our destination and at this point you will probably say “well its no wonder that it was glorious, a heat wave in March….”.

This may be the case but who was it that coined the phrase a bad day on holiday is better than a good day at work (in my case I probably enjoy one far too much then the other) and therefore it could have been peeing it do………. well ok the trip was enhanced by the fact the temperature did not actually fall below 20 degrees all week and I came back with a tan, I am sooooo sorry if I am rubbing it in for all  all of those people that were working this particular week, having to watch the sun from behind a computer screen, desperately clinging to the hope of fair weather during their Easter break only for these dreams to be dashed when the wind turned and we seem to have slipped back into winter again – no really I mean it, I feel really guilty writing this…..

Nothing can beat the UK when holidaying, I know for most this kicks up thoughts of knotted hankies, white socks and sandals and the usual cats and dogs (where did this saying come from – in the middle east in bygone times they had it raining frogs, fish, locusts and the like – really dramatic stuff , here we get cats and dogs, I mean the others are lets face it just as far fetched but there some tenuous links to water and flying, when was the last time you saw a cat flying through the air?) anyway you get the idea that  holidaying in the UK would be as interesting as counting the pebbles in your driveway, although I have heard of an Australian that liked collecting belly button fluff, but you will have to check out our youtube video for that.

But actually when you go you realise that, especially near the coast, what a great country we live in, the walks along the North Devonshire cliffs are no exception, the views are quite literally stunning, huge breakers crashing on to wide sandy beaches, or even the rocky ones where the surfers gather to mock individuals like myself and fellow idiot/ brother in law Clyde after we had a harrowing experience with our Kayaks, they really are not designed for anything more than a ripple – near death experience number one!

But as you walk further there are even more fantastic scenes, Blackchurch rock for instance a bit of a trek to get to but well worth it,

Blackchurch Rock, A quite incredible formation especially when you are stood underneath it - each of the holes is about 30ft high!

which is situated just south of the Village of  Clovelly an entirely closed off village built on the side of a cliff  or the amazing Spekes waterfall just around the headland from Hartland (near death two, turning into Spider Man to get a better view is really not the best of ideas) but even if all of this walking is not for you and kayaking does not float your boat….. (I know comedy genius!) then how about cycling, well in actual fact you probably would not want to try this either as when it was suggested that we pop down to the local at Hartland Quay I jumped at the opportunity – well the view over a pint is very nice – and so off we set.  Near death number three, not just the van driver on the tiniest of roads driving like Petter Solberg but the holy cow (it’s family friendly show….) the gradient on the way back was hellish! A pleasant cycle in the early eve was promised and it was more like doing a stage in the Tour De France – I’m sure Cldye’s got it in for me!

Things did calm down mid week and so to the beach at Crooklets near Bude and a well deserved vegetate on the sand, well for a couple of minutes before we once again broke out the kayaks, buckets and spades and went for a paddle, built a sand castle to end all sand castles (although my niece did decide that we needed a torture pit for all the workers who misbehave… she is a bit odd!) but once again the sun was shining and it was absolutely gorgeous!

I know that we had exceptional conditions (sorry to bring this up again….) but I would rather spend a holiday in the UK, even if you get the odd day when it is a little on the wet and blustery side you would be unlucky to have this all the time you were out and about and lets face it, the wet and blustery bit would, probably, be as long as the queues at the airport, the couple of hours spent on a plane or the bit in A and E having a skin graft from 8 hours a day sat on the beach going crispier than a side of bacon!

There, that’s that sorted, now to get my back hander from the UK tourist board……….

It’s not too far away now is it….. you know that Olympics thingamy, people running around the place, jumping over things and various other sporting pursuits and I feel that we should in some way be supporting the Olympics with great gusto, well everyone else is….

Now I realise that there are all kind of pitfalls, so this has to be approached with caution, just jumping on the band wagon will not do, there are a whole range of things that one must avoid so as not to upset those who are running the show, for instance I could not possibly mention London or the year of our lord 2012 in too close a proximity to A world of furniture, that would just be silly.

Nor could I refer to the aforementioned year in its own right, I have liked other years in the past and I quite like this one too so it would be nice to able to support it but this would frowned upon if done directly so to start it would have to be referred to as the “Second Year After The First Decade of the Third Millennia” a bit of a mouthful but I reckon it could work.

Now for the second problem, sporty peoples, not to say that sporty peoples are a problem, I am sure that the Olympics are full of very nice sports men and women it’s just another support thing again, I mean I couldn’t just come out with the fact that A world of furniture is a great supplier of furniture to the Olympians of this particular year, because, well we don’t – directly, but I am positive that a sporty person has probably bought some furniture from us at one time or another and I am positive that with all our customers someone must at least know a sporty person who is actually in the Olympics or (even more tenuously) must know someone that is at least working on the Olympics who went to the gym once.

I feel that the only other pitfall is the Olympics themselves, now I can mention it quite a bit (fairly good count on this blog so far…… Olympics – just squeeze another in for good measure…) but to say that we supported it in any way would send sports directors running to No Win No Fee lawyers quicker than I could type Olympics (although it did take some time so maybe they could just stroll instead..) so we have to look at that in a different way too… mmmmm this is trickier than I thought but after much deliberation I think that I have finally come up with something.

A world of furniture Furnishing the Homes of Sporty Peoples Who Are Running Around a Lot During The Second Year After The First Decade of the Third Millennia!

Ha! Who needs Saatchi and Saatchi…….

Well Autumn is now upon us and there is a definite chill in the air, but it really is my favourite time of year, leaves start to turn those gorgeous Autumnal colours, the slightly chillier start to the mornings warded off by wrapping up snuggly and rain…. well for the most part its a great season!

So its been a little while since we last popped anything on here so I thought it was about time to have a quick ramble and such a lot has happened in the last couple of months.

Dale Farm has obviously been big on the agenda, it has cost so far in excess of 18 million quid to try and evict these “travellers”, well spent, probably not, but I have to say that if these guys want to put down some roots and build themselves a little community then who are we to stop them…..

If they would like to then contribute to society and pay their way, adhere to the rules and laws that we are all guided by, stop treating those around them with the contempt they do, then sure, why not give them the benefit of the doubt and let them keep their little enclave, but until then they deserve to be treated in the same way as everyone else.

I do believe it was not all that long ago that a farmer (and tax payer) built a very expensive house without planning but it did not take 10 years of legal ranglings to demolish it and make him homeless….and I am sure he is not the only one.

Also in the news Colonel Gaddafi after 40+ years of tyrannical rule has been summarily executed…. oh I mean accidently shot, or as the all new democratic council said “he was like that when we got here…”.

The UN informed us that they will be doing an investigation, with the aim of doing what – marching in on Serte and demanding that the population go to bed with no tea as they have all been very bad, because the alternative of arresting people and putting them on trial (for doing what the West did to Saddam..) is not a far cry from doing what the dictator was doing before.

I did love the reaction of the USA’s Nanny Hilary Clinton though – simply “wow….” – sums it all up really, they will probably make a film of it next year, but I suspect that she will show a little more interest when the “For Sale” sign goes up around the vast oil wealth that the Libyans have in their possession.

Of course there was the summer of love, however unlike it’s 60′s predecessor rioting seemed to top the bill at this particular event,  but it was the shooting of Mark Duggan that sparked it all off, this lovable rogue who would not say boo to a goose was fatally shot by the police….. doing a covert operation against gun crime……

It then digressed into the younguns (god, I am getting old now!) out in force complaining about…… well pretty much everything, and the reasons behind the beginning of this explosion of unrest were soon lost as people across the country joined in the fun and started some good ol fashioned arson with a dash of looting and friendly rumble with the ol bill.

I think some of them, trying to look slightly intelligent (hoodie up, face mask adorned, petrol bomb in hand), tried to pin this great event on the yoof being ignored by the geezers in charge, that the usual excuse of nothing to do, no jobs ‘n’ that, cuts to free hand outs to students were reason enough to go looting, pillaging and destroying the very businesses trying to put tax money into the system that supports them, an excellent way of helping your plight and making the general population stand tall and support you in your cause….

On a lighter note we had the rugby world cup …. oh yes I forgot….. we lost..

…and the weather is sweet!! Sorry could not help myself  it is such a gorgeous day,  if only it would remain this way,  but then this is hopefully just a teaser for a lovely summer to come!