Monday 13 September 2021

Weekend with guests

 


Our son D visited on Saturday - staying slightly longer than planned after his train back got cancelled, so he had to catch a later one.  This gave us time a get a good walk in, down to the wee church, which he'd not yet seen.  This is one of the stained glass windows.  The lights either side are the original gas lights from Victorian times.  No electricity here!


The sun was bright through this window but if you look carefully at the top roundel between the angels, you can just see an almost photographic image of Winifred who, poor girl, died when she was only 13.  Next time I go there I will try and get a close up - this was with D's phone.  That left hand window glass has buckled at the bottom and is slipping down so I am hoping that the generous collection recently will help a little way towards the repair on this.


Three young men from the parish, who died during WW1. Lt.-Cpl. Davies was local (I often walk past the house) and died of wounds aged just 20 on 4th December 1917 in El Quahira, Cairo.  He was in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.  His father was a local farmer and he was one of 8 children (they all survived to be adults).  

Alban Davy Crompton was a Cardi (Cardiganshire) boy.
It looks like he was a Rifleman, and he's mentioned as dieing, aged just 18 (SO young) 12 April 1918.  He is buried at Vielle-Chappel.  He must have been working at Pantyblodau farm when he joined up, though the 1911 census still places him near Newcastle Emlyn.

Private Hughes didn't die until 1921 -I am wondering was this of wounds or mental problems? (P.S.  My husband said it could have been the effects of the mustard gas).I was intrigued, and decided to research him.  He was one of a big family.  Through the 1911 census, I found out his mother had given birth to 13 living children, but 3 had died prior to 1911.  She was born at St Harmons, well before the short time that the Rev. Kilvert spent there though. Her husband had been a Farm Bailiff in the 1901 census and they lived in a nearby farm, the track to which is where I always stop to draw breath after slogging up the nearby hill.  Two of his sisters, Catherine and Mabel Jessie, became school teachers, presumably at the little village school which was closed around 1964. By 1911 she was widowed, and reduced to earning her living as a Charwoman and had two children named William Gilbert under her roof - one her son, who was 13, and the other was a boarder, surname Jones and born in Merthyr.  He was only 9 mths old and I wonder if he was her (illegitimate?) grandson . . .  The duplicity of names surely means a blood relationship.  Anyway, I have wittered on long enough on that topic.
 


As D was staying for lunch, I put some bread on a dough mix in the breadmaker, took the dough out, and made 3 breadrolls with half of it and a quick tear-and-share type loaf with Cheese and Pesto.  It was SO tasty.  D took the rest of it home with him along with half the Chocolate Blackberry Brownies, pictured below.  They are SO nice and I just nipped across our lane to pick the last few blackberries on the bushes there (the rain had done for many of them.) I need to go further afield to pick some more for the freezer, though there's not a lot of room in there as it's just the top half of the fridge-freezer.




For the loaf - standard white loaf mix dough, roll it out, spread with some pesto, sprinkle with grated cheese (I used about 4 ounces (115 g) of Cheddar) and roll up and tie in a knot, then glaze with egg or milk and stick in a hot oven for about 25 mins.



These are the little free Mirabelle plums I foraged in Brecon on Monday, stewed up to go with some Plum Muffins I made yesterday.  These turned out a little sad-looking - they didn't rise much as I only had 2 eggs and the recipe called for 3, so I added some stewed apple to replace the egg and was over-generous with the apple!  They taste fine though.


Insects LOVE this Actaea simplex.  It will grow considerably over the next few years so I will have happy insects - the entire garden seems geared towards them.


Yesterday I had a visit from a friend and her son, who called to collect the big Gas cannister we no longer had a use for - I can't use the little CI gas stove in the kitchen due to my asthma (plus it was somewhat condemned by a workman here who knew it and said it sooted up rapidly).  We had a good natter, tea and cake and showed them round the house and garden.  They reckon we have a lovely house here.  We agree!

Right, better get on with my day.  Have a good one.


20 comments:

  1. I do like the stained glass angels, especially the multi coloured wings.
    Delicious looking baked goods indeed, your son will come home again soon for such treats. Been on a bit of a baking blitz here lately, with my new love ~ Spelt flour.

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    1. Aren't they gorgeous? Surely if angels exist, they have wings like a prism - just like that glass. I enjoyed the baking, but will enjoy it twice as much when my new cooker is installed! Haven't made spelt bread in ages. Or sourdough.

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  2. The bread looked so tasty, it made my mouth water. The cheese and pesto particularly appealed I must give that a try.

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    1. Believe me MM, it tasted every bit as good as it looked!

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  3. Yummy food & an unexpected extended stay of a loved one.... life doesn't get much better than that. I'm so glad you enjoyed your visit. ~Andrea xoxo

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    1. It was lovely to see him again Andrea. Hopefully he's coming next month too and has said he'll help with the autumn round up in the garden.

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  4. No - you weren't wittering on! It was all so interesting to read. The image of Winifred does look like a photo. So pleased that you had a lovely time with your Son and a happy visit from your friends. Your baking looks scrummy!
    Wendy (Wales)

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    1. Hi Wendy. Glad you enjoyed it. That image, close to, is just amazing

      It was lovely having D and then my other friend and her son here - made life feel more normal.

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  5. I was settled in for more on the families of the young soldiers lost to the Great War. I don't need to know the people involved to become intrigued--always jumping into ancestry.com to track down some individual.
    We were gifted a small basket of Stanley plums which I think are a variety of prune plum. I'm not a plum fan, but pitted and stewed the last of these, sweetened and slightly thickened they made a good topping for French toast.
    Connecting 'Winifred' and Wales I hark back to Brother Cadfael's martyred girl saint.

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    1. Indeed, perhaps she was named for St. Winefride and her well . . . (only know it's spelt differently in those days as I just looked her up as I wanted to see where it was). Gosh, such a long time since the Brother Cadfael books and tv series. We used to watch every week and love that programme.

      Well done with your plum topping for toast - Keith is eating the Mirabelles with ice cream and my rather wickedly-good chocolate blackberry brownies!

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  6. Your brownies look sublime! And your breads make me wish I still had a bread machine, tho it is far too hot here for baking right now.

    lizzy gone to hhe beach

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    1. Know what you mean about too hot for baking. I lose my appetite when it's hot and live on salads. For the good of my waistline, it needs to be hot more often!!

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  7. The stained glass is beautiful. I am always amazed at how intricate some windows are.

    I like the idea of adding fruit to brownies.

    God bless.

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    1. Some of the stained glass I have seen down the years is just amazing.

      I generally make cakes with fruit in - manderin orange cake, lemon drizzle, various apple cakes, keeps them nice and moist.

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  8. The stained glass is lovely and I particularly like the angel with the blue wings. Your research into names on the memorial tablet is fascinating. So pleased you have seen your son and the bread and brownies look delicious :)

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    1. Aren't they lovely? I enjoyed doing the research, I must say.

      Family is important and it was lovely to see D again, and he was delighted with the cake!

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  9. Must have been lovely to see your son and take him round the area. Delicious baking fare but all fattening for me ;)

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    1. It was great to see him again. I sent him home with my baking - less temptation that way.

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