Some church bothering - St Brides, RHayader (locked) and St Gwrthwl at Llangwrthwl

 

I was very disappointed to find St Brides was locked, BUT in the porch . . .

Isn't this amazing?  A wonderful very early Medieval stoup.  I was delighted to find this and it was so unexpected.  The current church is Victorian, but this clearly survived (thank heavens) from a previous church.  Strictly speaking, the church is not in Rhayader but in Cwmdauddwr, as it is the other side of the River Wye.  I shall return in the summer as apparently it is a very wild flower rich meadow in the churchyard, and is only mown biannually to allow the plants to set seed.

This almost totally underwhelms with its casual mention of the Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Griffith, of Dinefwr Castle in Carms) gifting a vast area of land to the monks of Strata Florida in 1164.  Mind you, he had SEIZED vast tracts of Ceredigion so was able to be very open handed about giving it away again!  Just to imagine him standing there though - SUCH history in one small area.  Plus, just as I was driving out, I noticed what was originally a Holy Well (now a tap!) beside the road, so this site really is ancient.

A family table tomb grave of about 7 burials, with the memorial slabs on the top.  Not seen that before.

Then it was back towards Newbridge-on-Wye , and Llangwrthwl, the little church with the huge standing stone in the churchyard.  Keith and I visited it when we first moved here, but it was Covid times and the church was locked.  That was a shame as it has a stunning font . . .

This has been a special site for thousands of years.  There are many more standing stones on the common (I will explore this summer), but this one must have been a pagan site to have the church built there to Christianise it.

The view down to the altar. Then turn around and . . .

Isn't this an amazing Medieval font?  It has four carved heads on it - I presume Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  Originally it graced the interior of Abbey-Cwmhir, above Llandod.  At the dissolution of the monasteries, however, it was rescued and brought here.  The pillars from Abbey-Cwmhir went to be used in St Idloes church at Llanidloes.  They were apparently made by the same craftsmen who worked at Worcester Cathedral, as well as Llandaff and St David's, so it likely that they also were responsible for this font.

Some lovely stained glass windows.

In memory of the fallen of this tiny village.

Memorials on the end wall of the church, from the late 1700s.

Opposite the church, a drystone barn survives well still.

Yesterday it was sunny all day and I spent an hour or more out in the garden in the morning and half an hour later.  I alternated between pruning and weeding about 6 or 7 feet of the stone chippings path up to the polytunnel - prior to digging and ripping up all the grass on the left hand side of that.  I am going to plant raspberry canes up along there.  It will be a slow business though.  I pruned the Buddleias, the apple trees and a couple more roses yesterday.  Progress.

Now it's off to my Quilting Group for the first time since I went to New Zealand.  It will be lovely to see everyone again but I probably won't get much quilting done!

How to get rid of worry . . . Just W.O.W.!

 It was dry and a hint of sunshine this morning, so I decided I would cheer myself up with a run out to the Elan Valley (about 20 miles from here).  I had seen a photo on Facebook of Caban-Coch reservoir hurling itself over the Dam and wanted to see if it was in a similar state today.  Water levels had dropped overnight but even so, it was still tumbling over and quite impressive.  I got splashed just watching.  And it roared!

As you can see, full to the brim.

It was mesmerising watching the water cascade down.

It was just terrific!  Attached to hydro-electric power on the occasions when this overspill happens, it would power Rhayader for a bit!  I walked down to the end of the zig-zag path and couldn't hear myself think :)

Through the gates is the lovely flat walk I always take.    A great place for blackberrying in the summer.  I wanted to get some fresh air and give my body some exercise, though that gland is still up and quite painful - hard to tip my head forward as that puts pressure on it and it hurts.

Looking across to the car park.

Normally a barely noticable rill down the hillside, there was a fair bit of a stream hurtling down today.

Little steps of mini-waterfalls.

I stopped and bothered a couple of churches too - one in Rhayader (locked) but the other was open.  Last time I went with Keith when we first got here and it was locked because of Covid.  Today open - and a marvellous historical font in there.  Photos soon.

Now it is raining again but I am determined to plant my garlic (it says spring, but the longer it has to grow, the better, and also my Purple Haze Dahlia, which Tam ordered when she got one for herself.

A hint of a church now . . .

And yes, that is a standing stone in the churchyard . . .

Oh, and the worry . . . I had bad IBS last night and the symptoms gave a nod towards the Pancreas being bothered.  As my grandfather and aunty both died of Pancreatic cancer, that is always in the back of my mind.  Not a good worry to have.  Since Keith's death, my health has taken a downturn, from the worry and stress of nursing and losing him.  Grief takes a heavy toll.

The Welsh Quilting and Sewing Fair Part II

 

More hexi's. A lovely combination of colours.

Combining painted fabrics (top two), so skilfully designed and executed.

Saris and head ware.  The turbans really lend themselves to this.

Some more small quilts.  I'd quite like to try my hand at picture quilts like the little scenery one on the left.

This is one of the fabulous old quilts from the Quilt Association's stand.  They are based at Llanidloes, and I joined and volunteered when I first moved here, but it was a bit far to go weekly.  I like the 9 patch in the centre of the log cabin surround.  I've not seen that before.

I loved this combination of quilting and red work stitching.

This was one of two splendid Welsh dragons - I meant to take a photo of the other, but got distracted.

If you go to Facebook and look up The Welsh Quilting and Sewing Fair there are lots of photos of stands and quilts there.

I would like to put my own design on this little cushion.  My house, Rosie and 4 cats!!

This was Elmhirst Fabrics where I bought the little bird pictures.

Finally, Fine French Linen where I bought 3 fat 1/4s.  I wish I had bought more now to make something bigger, but may treat myself for my birthday.

I am missing my family already (and Rosie said "Miss you grandma" when we were getting her in her car seat, which breaks my heart!) and I was worrying about health issues last night.  I may take myself out to the Elan Valley today for some fresh air and to see the recent rain levels pouring over the reservoir wall.  It is currently dry with a little sunshine.  Watch this space.

The Welsh Quilting and Sewing Fair - part I

 

They had the quilts on display in a separate building, so I will deal with those first.  Lovely Hexy ones here.  The one below cleverly had hints of that pink up in the left hand corner, elsewhere in the quilt to balance it and lead the eye.

More big hexi's, this time in the form of a One Block Wonder.  This reminds me of the whimsical paintings on jigsaws but I can't recall the name of the artist.

Here is one that Ilona will recognize.  Sue Jennings' One Block Wonders were there in all their glory.

I liked this seaside themed hanging by Gillian Travis.

This is also by Gillian Travis (Journeys in Stitch is the name of the quilts in this display). So cleverly done. Nepalese women I believe.   www.gilliantravis.co.uk

There was a lovely display of small wall hangings.  This was my favourite.

What I bought.  The theme for me yesterday was blue. £5.50 each.

These beautiful pieces were from French Linens.  I was very tempted to buy a quilt pack (£60) but stayed my hand.  They are beautifully soft to touch and will be a joy to work with.  These were 3 for £15.

I have turned this within my photos, but it still insists on being sideways.  

Finally, a lovely ball of DK yarn for E/Bunny's basket, which I was knitting last night.  The actual green is a little deeper.

I am glad it was yesterday we had our outing, as I am not feeling 100% today.  One neck gland has been up and very tender for about 3 days now, so clearly I am fighting some sort of cold bug.  My legs aren't voting for a long walk today either!  A take it easy with some knitting sort of day I think.

I have no set plans yet for the new fabrics, but I couldn't resist them!!  Such pretty colours and designs.

Part II of the Fair tomorrow - a few photos of stands (there were 40) and more quilt photos.

Off to the Quilt Fair today

 It is down on our showground, so no lengthy journey.  Yesterday was the first day, and it closes at 3.30 today, so Tam got the afternoon off work and travelled over yesterday.  Rosie was being very loving and delighted by the new farm animals I bought her.  I did some baking and made a chocolate apple cake and pineapple upside down cake, though being a dozo, I forget the brown sugar over the pineapple slices.  Many years since I last made it.  Never mind, it will still be nice with custard.  I made a big dish of cheesy potatoes too, Rosie's favourite, and she had a big portion for her tea, but carrots were Off the Menu for her.  One chomp and then the carrot was put back on the plate!  She was relatively early to bed and Tam and I watched Small Prophets (she'd not seen it yet) and we enjoyed a glass or two of wine.

Bathroom window view on Thursday morning.

I don't know how big the Fair will be today.  The entrance is where we go as stall holders,  around the back, so they are clearly keeping folk off the grass which must be literally floating over on the showground after 6 weeks of non stop rain.  I shan't spend much but will check what colours I needed from Doughty's - I think I needed some more cream and some soft greens for a project.  Not that I have touched quilting for months - since coming back from NZ.  I have done lots of embroidery and knitting though.  I definitely need stuffing for Elderberry Bunny, who is a lot more labour intensive than I realized!!

Anyway, I am really looking forward to going.  It's nice to have something to look forward to.  I had best wash my hair now.  Enjoy your weekend.

P.S.  L. Whale mending but steadfastly refuses to eat food with his medication on.  The paw/claw area looks to be healing well anyway.