Saturday 29 June 2019

Bats, bees and baking



Well, we are on with the agent now.  (The Smallholding Centre if you want to be nosy).  All we can do is keep on top of keeping it clean and tidy and W.A.I.T.  That last word is the hardest part.  Everyone loves it but not everyone can afford it.  This is our final move and we need every penny we can get . . .  A little will come in from selling the furniture we will not have room for, but that will only pay for part of our removal costs.  Anyway, I hope to find private buyers (and better prices) for some pieces and am going to take photos of everything we have for sale, make up a catalogue and take them to the next Fair.

We went and saw friends in Hay again yesterday, and viewed a property whilst we were over that way.  It was very much in the style we favour and would work on many levels, though there are  a couple of stumbling blocks regarding WHERE it is.  Tam is being very encouraging though, but of course it depends if it's still around when we are in a position to buy.




Whilst we were out and about, we stopped a little while at Bredwardine Church, where the Rev. Francis Kilvert was buried.  He was the incumbent at the time of his premature death at 38 from a ruptured appendix and peritonitis.  He wrote wonderful diaries, still being published, although sadly much of his writing was destroyed by a family member (may actually have been his widow in her later years).




Over a blocked doorway is an intriguing carving, possibly 12th C.  The right hand figure looks very like a monkey, but some consider it to be like a Sheelah-naa-gig - though not obviously so in the normal way! The left hand figure looks to me to be rather like a bird-headed man, such as you find on some Pictish stones.

Kilvert called this door "the Devil's door" . . . and elsewhere it is mentioned that this is a half-humanfigure with its tongue out (like the Devil in a similar representation at Hereford cathedral, some 12 miles away).  The other figure is considered to be a woman with a "fanciful head-dress" and two clear nude breasts, and could be Luxuria - connected with the vice of Lust.  See LINK.



Looking across the orchard from the church.




The new header photo shows the orientation of this tomb - possibly on the gap between the end of Hay Bluff and the hill (must see which one it is) to the left of it. 











The bats, the bees and the baking?  Well, Tam always asks when she arrives, "There are no bats around are there?" as in the summer we occasionally have one in the house.  August is the usual time, when windows are open etc.  Anyway, I said "No, too early." Damn me if there wasn't an eldritch shriek when she went upstairs the night she arrived - a bat was about.  It made its way into our room and we had to get up, open the window, and wait for it to make its escape.

The bees - well, they found their way into the house AGAIN, and the attic was full of them when we returned yesterday.  Most of them dead on the floor, sadly, but we let out the ones who were still alive.  Can't find out where they came in, but I have just gone around and vacuumed them all up (we were out at a car boot sale earlier and didn't get back till after lunch).

Baking - I tried a new-to-me recipe for Energy Bars.  They are tasty, filling but too crumbly so I shall have to try again with more honey/oil mixture.  Recipe to follow.

10 comments:

  1. What a delightful house BB - perfect for bringing up a young family. I suppose that is a stumbling block - people who can afford it want to downsize.
    When we lived in the Midlands we used to go on Music Courses in Wales and we always stopped to look at Kilvert's grave - so sad. He had not been married all that long when he died.

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  2. Well, it offers business opportunities -the Granny Flat would be great for Air BnB, and the Master Suite in the attic too . . . plus one of the huge stables could be transformed into another Air BnB des. res. Extended family etc too.

    So sad that Kilvert died when he had only been married for 3 weeks. His widow must have been devastated.

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  3. Your house and gardens look so beautiful - I really do hope someone will fall in love with it. All your hard work has certainly paid off.
    Thanks so much for posting the Kilvert photos - it is still on my list of places to visit. His diaries were just so wonderful - he was a really good writer. As as you and The Weaver of Grass say it is so sad that he died so soon after his marriage.

    Love the chambered tomb - it is my one regret re: Anglesey that we didn't have time to fit in Bryn Celli Ddu!

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    1. Have a Kilvert day RR, you won't regret it. We drove past the lovely church at Clyro which is involved in a big chunk of his diaries. It never changes and is so beautiful and peaceful there, just the other side of the valley from Hay. Bredwardine is equally tranquil. Incidentally, he would have known/visited the house we viewed . . .

      Bryn Celli Ddu is still on my bucket list - shame you didn't get there - this time!

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  4. Thanks for giving whereto see the estate agents ad for your house. Your house is amazing !! The agent did a supreme job of photographing and describing it. It is perfect for a bed and breakfast, airbnb. The colors are fabulous !!

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    1. Thank you Marlane. Everyone says the same, that his enthusiasm for the house shows and how good his photos are. We like warm colours in this house to hold the light - it is NOT the sort of house where Magnolia looks right, and white only works in the bathrooms which face south/have more light.

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  5. Oh, no! The gorgeous photo of granny cap Acquiligias is gone from your header. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen in years. I scrolled through your posts all way back into Jan. hoping to bookmark it, but couldn't find it within a post. It was such a boon to me during weeks of a very difficult time that I kept it open. I'm so sorry it's lost, but thank you for it. Barbee, Kentucky, U.S.A.

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    1. Barbee - sorry, I change them all too regularly. I always feel a pang of regret when I take one down and replace it. I am glad that it brought yousolace when you were having a difficult time. I will find the photo again and put it up in a post. If you can send me your email address I can send it directly too you and then get rid of your comment so I am the only one who sees your email.

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  6. Love your house. It is so very big!
    I love how the agent has added all the history of the house to the description and so many photos.
    Now you just need someone who isn't daunted by the amount of furniture needed to fill such a beautiful house!

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  7. Well Sue, we could certainly sell them some of the furniture!! It IS huge and now you can see why it took me so long to get everything just tickety-boo!

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