SPRING - Jan 2014

My plan was to write about the goats again, but we have been interrupted by something far more important . . . 

I am excited! Why? because the sun returned today and we weren't expecting it until February!

No, this is not the same photo as shown previously, showing the last day of sun. 

As I have mentioned before, it disappears behind the mountain from the middle of November and I wait longingly for its return as an indication that Spring isn't far away. As it has appeared well above the mountain ridge, we guess it has been up there for quite a few days/week, but due to the continuous cloud cover and rain we have had since the beginning of December, we hadn't noticed.

Other indications that spring is on its way ...

And as I write this, we have our first hint of snow of the season. This time last year we were just recovering after having spent 8 days cut off from the rest of the world due to the snow. Any precipitation this winter has chosen to fall as rain. Fortunately we have come off very lightly compared with much of Wales.



Next blog - Goats & Sheep AGAIN

THE HOBBIT - Jan 2014

Films generally come to our local town about 3 months after they have been released. The Hobbit, however arrived quite quickly and we went to see it at the beginning of January. This coincided with us taking a walk up the nearby mountains on probably the only decent day we have had over the festive season. 

When walking in this area, it's easy to feel like little hobbits in a vast relentless landscape, and difficult not to make comparisons with the treks which Bilbo & his friends took. (My apologies to those of you who haven't seen the films/read the book)

Spot the hobbits!

There are views over Mirkwood

and possible sightings of Gimli?

A solitary raven circling overhead resembles a screeching Nazgul

We even have our very own Weathertop

The real Weathertop

We have located Gandalf's white horse along with those belonging to the rest of the crowd . . .

. . . including Bilbo's

Bird tracks in the mud resemble Elvish writings

In November we have our own Durin's Day - our last sun until February!

And as for Smaug living under the mountains ... well who knows where the Welsh dragon lies!!!

Red blurry dot indicates roughly where we live

Next blog - Goats, and sheep . . . AGAIN!

ONE YEAR ON - Dec 2013

So - just before Christmas we celebrated having lived here for one year.

Although progress seems slow and at times we even appear to be heading in the wrong direction, photos of 'then and now' prove that in most cases that we are in fact moving forwards.


Last December, this was lurking on our kitchen wall . . . 

 I'm pleased to say it and its colleagues are now a well and truly a distant memory!



A mixture of builders, diggers and a very soggy 2012 had transformed the drive into a mud bath

It still needs a lot of work, but is no longer a soggy mess

This was the view from the front door . . .

At the time, I had difficulty envisaging where we are now . . .

Only one year ago, this was the kitchen. At this point we wondered just what we had taken on

Fortunately a roof, a floor and windows which open and close, make a lot of difference

The sun room was virtually non-existent

It has transformed to this . . .

This was the guest bedroom . . .

It was important that our guests had somewhere reasonable to sleep, so we decorated it as soon as we could

and this was the conservatory . . .

One year on . . . 

Where would we be without photographs? It's surprising how easily we forget how things were - maybe some things are best forgotten, but in our case, a reminder of where we were a year ago, gives us motivation to carry on.

 We look forward to the next 12 months.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda (Happy New Year) to you all.

Next blog - The Hobbit