Trying to be patient

Just a quick gallop through to say thank you for snail mail, texts, carefully-orchestrated mobile conversations in unheated icy bedrooms (mine!) and for your kind thoughts.  As an Aries, patience is a virtue which does not come easily to me.  In fact, I don't really possess an iota of it, to be truthful.  You can then imagine how difficult it is for me to wait for BT to finally resurrect our line.  The 8th February can't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.  They have told my MP that they have diverted any incoming calls to my mobile, so they obviously think they have done their duty.  Since we have house walls three feet thick and live in an area of very poor mobile reception, this is not a lot of use to us!

I do hope that the "circle of three" - as in things going wrong  - isn't starting all over again, as we have just had to have the plumber out to replace a length of ancient copper pipe in the kitchen which had been worn very thin from years of contact with acidic water flowing through it, and had started hissing and leaking.  These things are sent to try us.

I have now created a new bedspread from the large piece of factory pre-quilted material I got at the weekend, and have enough for pillow sham FRONTS, so I shall cheat and just have a plain white pillowcase behind them I think.  Leftovers have so far made a very thrown-together bed for little Banshee, who thinks it is Christmas all over again as she likes to be warm.

MANY many thanks to Thelma for the loan of the McFarlane book (though just a brief glimpse at it has underlined the fact I shall have to buy my own copy).  I shall look after it carefully and cannot WAIT to get back this afternoon and start reading it properly.  As for the Blue-Face Border Leicester wool, I just can't wait to spin it and was amazed at how soft it was.  I feel thoroughly spoilt today.

I spent the morning at our local horse sale.  Not many horses forward, but one pen of wee Shetlands who were packed in like sardines.  Some of the other horses had obviously been left there overnight, judging by the mire underfoot in their pens, but at least hay had been provided (though no sign of any water . . .)  I spent my time at the tack auction though, so I can't report what sort of prices the ponies made - very low ones, if recent prices were anything to go by.

I had sunshine for my journey, and it was lovely being on top of Llanllwni Mountain (think big hills really), though it was too misty to see as far as the Cambrian Mountains or back across to the Brecon Beacons.  The sun shining on the soft grey-gold of the mountain grass was so pretty.  I admit to parking up in the little layby by the Laburnums, just to sit and relax.  The Laburnum trees beside me started off as fencing poles when wood was in great demand (WW1) and had put out roots and grown well.  Not the best thing to have around a field for stock though, as their seeds are poisonous.

I will be back tomorrow afternoon, if all goes to plan.

Back to rain

I am very relieved, in a way, that the cold spell has passed and whilst we were barely affected by the snow - just a smidgen on the fields around us and more on the surrounding hills - the house temperature dropped to about 11 degrees away from the fire, and that is chilly. Now we are back to rain.

Anyway, I have some indoor craft jobs to do which will more than keep me busy this coming week.  I am still restoring the 1930s rocking chair (£1 at the boot sale recently!) - have repainted it in ivory, made a new cushion and now need to do the rest of the reupholstery using the last of a bolt of upholstery material a neighbour gave us.

Then yesterday I got a really good bargain - a huge suitcase and contents.  Contents were a huge piece of pre-quilted material - big enough to make a throw for a king sized bed; single piece ditto; some wool and a 3/4 finished crochet cushion cover, and cylinder type cushion cover to go inside it.  All for £5.  I am currently doing the first edging on the king size piece - trimming, pinning and then I will slip-stitch it.  The only problem is I lay it out over the kitchen table and across the chair backs and Theo then makes a bed in the middle.  I have told him if he is patient I will make cat beds from the offcuts but he doesn't believe me!  When I remove him, he then goes into the hall and uses the long Medieval style table my husband made as a playground, knocking off everything that was carefully put on the top . . .

Anyway, I have been in the internet cafe for about an hour now, so I shall return home and do some work.  Hopefully I shall be able to pop in tomorrow.  Many thanks to those of you who are keeping in touch with me by snail mail - it is wonderful to hear from you, and great when the posty leaves me letters in the old bread bin by the front door.

S.M.S. (Save My Sanity!)

Well, as per the title, in the interests of saving my sanity, I have decided to use the internet cafe daily.  I need to keep in touch with my friends - family I can just about contact if I hang out of the attic window, phone them two rings, cancel and then they phone me back.

Anyway, we have finally been given a date for the telephone pole to be replaced (8th February) but I'm not holding my breath.  There was no assurance that the line would be restored at the same time but it had jolly well better be - I shall be down there to make sure it does!  This has seemingly come about because I contacted our MP (Jonathon Edwards) by e-mail from the internet cafe last week, and a friend of mine, who BT seem to be dealing with in preference to me after she has been trying to get them to deal with my case, mentioned that I had contacted our MP.  Within half an hour, we had a voicemail and a date.

Anyway, watch this space.  I will be coming here daily, but don't like to appropriate the one computer here all day long, so it is just a short visit.  Right now, I would like nothing more than a complete morning's indulgence, catching up on everyone's news.  I shall try and go to a different couple of blogs each day, and keep up with your news that way.

Meanwhile, this won't do.  I need to research something about Edward Thomas - though I suspect the only chance I get of seeing the manuscripts I need is to have a vacation in Vancouver, B.C. where they are held . . .

Back tomorrow.  Keep warm all of you in the snow (we are green, but hills around us have a sprinkling of snow still).

NO PHONE LINE STILL!

Just dashing through quickly.  Some of you know we have been without a phone line since 22/12/2012 - a month now.

Although we are now a priority case with BT, and are being "escalated" daily, we are no nearer getting the line fixed and can only communicate with the outside world by letter, or by hanging out of the attic window to try and get a mobile signal.  I have now learned how to text . . .

I have just emailed our MP, from desperation, so let us hope something will start moving soon.

Missing everyone and I would love to share recent photos with you.  We had our 25th wedding anniversary last week and went into England for the day and visited Lacock Abbey.  We had beautiful weather and thoroughly enjoyed our day out.

Now there is snow on the ground, but we were fortunate in being on the edge of the weather front and just have a smidgin.  Elsewhere in Wales folk are badly affected and snowed in.  Our cupboards are full, fortunately - we just stocked up on cat food.

Back when I can - this is sent from an internet cafe . . .