'NEW SKILLS' TOOK A BACK SEAT! - Jan 2015

So ... for several weeks now, or even months, I have intended to inform you of my new found skills but other things keep getting in the way. On this occasion, I blame 2015 which has crept up on my blind side like Stealth itself and hit me smack in the face at point blank range. 

Sometimes it is necessary to write a blog entry which is topical or seasonal, and if it is not written there and then, the moment has passed. However, it can take a while to prepare for publication. Once a topic has been chosen, I sift through folders lurking in the depths of my laptop for suitable photos to illustrate my stories. I read, re-read and spell-check my efforts. If it takes such preparation to create something as simple as a blog entry, why was I ever fooled into thinking something as potentially complicated as Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny show was live? It was only last night as we celebrated the arrival of the new year that I was informed that his show is pre-recorded. So maybe, I should take heed from Jools and prepare my blog entries in anticipation of the event - but that's difficult when I can't predict what could be worthy of an entry.

So, if I were to spend this very moment writing about my 'new skills' and allow my festive entry to take a back seat, I could find myself wishing you a Happy New Year some time in the future when your thoughts are focused on what to pack for your summer holidays. 

Not that I have much to say about Christmas and the new year other than to say,  just like 2014, it's come and gone in a flash!

We have spent the last two winters and Christmas around the log fire in the lounge. But our lounge has been out of use for several months. We had the intention of spending the summer months working on it so it would be ready for us to take over again once the cold weather returned. 

However, summer was unexpectedly hot and dry. It seemed a waste of good weather to spend it working inside a dark, damp room, so a decision was made to only work inside during rainy days, and we would work outside during the fine days. But . . . throughout the whole of the summer, we only had about 4 wet days. This resulted in the cold weather appearing well before the lounge was anywhere near ready.

Approximately 3 weeks before Christmas, this was the state of the lounge . . .

We spent three solid weeks pointing up walls, sanding and oiling ceiling joists and boards before painting any ceiling and walls we could. It is now starting to feel homely.

Then, with only 3 days left til Christmas day, just as we had started tiling the floor, we discovered that what we thought was a soundly rendered wall, which just needed a coat of paint, was in fact far from it. The cement was crumbling and had to be completely removed. This revealed some very wet stonework which needed time to dry out. 

Tiling the remainder of the floor was put on hold until the festive season had passed. So we moved back into a half finished lounge for Christmas.


Each year we buy a real Christmas tree. This year was no different, but as the lounge wasn't ready, we temporarily erected it in the room we had been using as a makeshift lounge. 

As it happened, this small tree fit so expertly into the small space it occupied, so we decided to leave it in its place, and I put an old artificial tree into the lounge.

Now with seasonal celebrations well behind us, and the tree now well and truly unceremoniously dumped outside waiting for the secateurs to come and pluck it like a Christmas goose, into sizeable chunks for the log burner, I am left scratching my head wondering how it is that the fake tree has left more fallen pine needles in its wake than the real one!!

All that's left is to wish every one of you a very enjoyable 2015.




Next blog - New skills ... maybe?

WHY? - Dec 2014

It's December for goodness sake, but has nobody told the flowers?

Why? Just why have all these flowers started to bloom?

Even a long abandoned, thrown out tomato plant has started to produce flowers!

Why???

Maybe you are all experiencing the same? Has Spring come early? Or are they, like me, trying desperately hard to cling on to the Summer? 




Next blog - New skills

MY EARLY MORNING WALK - Nov 2014

Early morning walk? Well, maybe more of a mid-morning walk. I have no 8.00am meetings to attend; no school run; no rush-hour traffic jams to avoid. So why take an early morning walk? Why indeed?

During renovations, I thought I may become fit and lose some weight, but that never happened - no, not even a teeny weeny bit of weight dropped off. I guess pointing walls, and carrying slates and wheelbarrows full of stones and rubble is not as aerobic as I had hoped! Maybe it has something to do with all those coffee/cake breaks.

So, to inject a bit of aerobic activity into my sedentary lifestyle, I take a brisk walk every morning along the lane - just as far as the corner. It only takes 10 minutes and includes some up and some down. 

It has now increased to 15 minutes. Impressed? 

No need! The reason for this increase is not due to me taking a longer walk. 

It is because . . .

 . . . during the walk, I have my compulsory chat with little Stevie the blind lamb who's very small, and still likes to be in the company of his mother. He is always in the same spot and responds to his name with a twitch of his ears, a roll of the head and a bleat (although this week he's been somewhat subdued). 

A rather subdued Stevie

. . . I pick up branches to allow traffic through, well ... tractors and the occasional sight seer

. . . I clear blocked roadside streams and drains of leaves

. . . I stroke the horse who lives opposite

. . . I check progress of nearby Japanese knotweed, which I have been trying to eradicate

. . . I admire the view from the corner

. . . and all the way back

. . . And the good news? I think the weight loss is working!



The sad news is that on this morning's walk I discovered that little blind Stevie has died :-(




Next  blog - Why?

HERDING SHEEP - Oct 2014

Several farmers have grazing rights for their sheep on various parts of the mountains. The sheep - or at least most of them are brought down to lowlands over winter for better grazing and preparation for lambing,

It was the turn of our local farmer to bring his sheep down. We offered him help which he gratefully accepted, as herding sheep from 600 acres of uneven mountainous terrain can be a very long job.

The mountains over which the sheep are scattered 

Although herding sheep is clearly a specialised skill, it never appeared to me to be that difficult for those with the know-how, as they whistle while their dogs do all the work controlling sheep across luxurious green pastures. Herding sheep on our terrain is nothing short of near impossible, with no green fields in sight, we scrambled through bogs, bracken, gorse, heather, woods, bilberry bushes, fords, shale and old deserted quarry buildings up and down slopes that would make Ben Nevis quake!

The intention was for me, Will, Jenna, the farmer, his two sheepdogs and my compulsory camera to drive up to the top of the mountain in two vehicles and then 'walk' down, herding sheep on the way, directing them towards an area to be fenced off by the farmer. We soon realised that these mountains hold many hiding places and escape routes, the whereabouts of which, only the sheep know and they (so we quickly discovered) are excellent escapologists. One of the ram lambs clearly had his own intentions, and eloped up the mountain with a stray ewe from a neighbouring farm, never to be seen again!

We were positioned by the farmer in strategic places around the mountain.

As the day passed it was great to slowly observe small groups of sheep emerging, closely followed by one of us with arms flailing madly about. And even better when these small groups became bigger groups, and eventually a whole flock heading through gaps in walls in the direction precisely where the farmer had intended.

As the sheep neared their destination, the aim was to get them all through the gate in this wall.

All was going to plan with us strategically placed like scarecrows preventing the sheep from taking unplanned routes through any gaps.

How satisfying it was to see 70 sheep guided by two dogs charging straight towards the final gate and ... 

... straight passed it and an out-witted Will, and back up the mountain!

Fortunately a very fast-paced farmer with faithful hounds quickly re-negotiated them back around, and through the gate into the small pen.

Gate closed - bang! And they're in!

Next step - to fetch the farmer's 4x4 along with ours from their parking spots up the hill and off-road them down to the pen to collect the sheep and weary dogs while the farmer separated his sheep from the hangers-on we had inadvertently collected.

 Then, up the ramp ...

into the trailer ...

and back to low land enclosures.

It took all day but it was exhilarating and well worth every minute.

Next blog - My early morning walk

HEALTH & SAFETY TRULY GONE MAD - Oct 2014

This is our new kitchen ...

Not bad, considering this was that very same room last year ...

Today's story is nothing to do with moving to Wales, but it is connected to the cooker we had installed in the new kitchen.

The cooker is one of those which doubles up as a grill by using the heating element at the top of the oven. In using ours, we discovered that the grill pan has no handle. So today I visited the kitchen shop to inform them of the missing part, only to be told that cooker companies no longer provide handles for grills due to health & safety. It appears that the manufacturers would prefer us to burn our hands while trying to mess about with oven gloves, than use a purpose built handle!

Our grill pan even has holes for the non-existent handle attachment!!

Health & Safety truly has gone mad - as if you didn't know that already of course!!

Next blog - Herding Sheep

DON't BELIEVE THE POLITICIANS - Oct 2014

Not that any of us do believe the politicians, but if you hear them criticising the Welsh health system - it's ALL lies!

Certainly where we are, we have had the best service ever!

AND we get free entertainment in the waiting room!!

As I walked into the waiting room for a recent appointment, a lady of the 'blue-rinse' variety, whom I guessed to be around 70 years old was talking to the receptionists - and anyone else who cared to listen, about her recent holiday experiences.

She started with the all-over-tan she had gained.

She then went on to explain that there was another lady at her holiday destination who must have been in her mid to late 80s who was topless. 

So, our storyteller decided that if an 80+ woman could do it, then why shouldn't she too? So she decided to go for a topless swim. But as she was swimming, she became aware of something strange swimming alongside her, so she put her hand to her sides to explore what was there . . .

. . . only to find it was her breasts!!

At this point, her audience burst into uncontrollable laughter.

She did not stop there. She had apparently met a Russian who told her that they knew an English song which is "Very important in England". 

The song?  . . . 'Bobby's Girl' !!!!

At which point the lady, the receptionists and the waiting public all burst into a rendition of 'Bobby's Girl'!!



Lady, if you are reading this, I hope you don't mind me stealing your story. I am very envious of you and I only hope that when I grow up, I will have as much confidence as you - not so much to allow me to go topless at your age, but to be able to 'tell 'em like you do'!




Next blog - Health & Safety truly gone mad

A BIT OF BAD TIMING - Sept 2014

A couple of weeks ago we took a well earned break, taking the train from Bangor all the way to Venice. We flew back refreshed, a few days later.

Here's a photo of one of the many bridges, taken just before we left Venice ...

As with many of the Venetian bridges, it was always packed with tourists. 

Two days later, having arrived back home, a very important event took place there - George Clooney's wedding. Here he is with his bride-to-be Amal Alamuddin at that very same bridge (NOT my photo!!)

Note the empty bridge! He clearly has the power to clear Venice of tourists!!

Now was our visit bad timing on our/his behalf? Or maybe it was good timing???


The best part of the holiday was being on the train when an Asian lady told me I had a lovely tan. She thought I had been somewhere exotic. To the amusement of fellow passengers, I was able to tell her that it was a home-grown tan from North Wales!!



Next blog - Don't believe the politicians