Decisions faced Ghengis. Should he roll in the just-weeded much-depleted Catnip or just EAT IT?! He decided to do both . . . The Head Gardener has realized that she was not saving the Catnip by putting it in a planter, on a step, on the bank but actually giving the cats a walk-on cat nip bed! Ghengis and Alfie LOVE cat nip, Theo was a bit ambivalent and Little Whale Doesn't Do Drugs!!
The canal basin in Brecon (which is in front of the Theatre).
This narrow boat just came in, turned and left again.
Successful shopping trip as Pam got new boots, more socks, boot proofing and had an initial in-house proofing of her boots so she's ready to go now! It was nice showing her round the town, and we then went to B&M Bargains, ostensibly "just" for a big box of suet balls for the birds, but of course, other things were bought. Pam had never been to this chain of stores before and was delighted at the household items you could buy at sensible prices.
Now, my day is unfolding, so I will drag myself away from the computer and do some work.
Love Brecon.
ReplyDeleteOnce we were on the car park down by the river and son said "oh look There's Paul W from primary school" - we all said " don't be silly" but sure enough there were a family from the same village as us in Suffolk on holiday in the area and happened to pull into the same car park at the same time. - weird.
We have always had a soft spot for Brecon too. Pam had been told by someone local that it was a dump (or words to that effect). Someone else I used to be on a Forum with called it "semi derelict" (!) but then she was from Oxford. We love it.
ReplyDeleteFancy seeing folk from your village in the car park! Talk about coincidence.
Thanks...your post reminded me I need to weather proof a pair of boots and a pair of shoes for a trip next month. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of assistance Mary!!
DeleteI love the pictures of your cat. And...I love that mirror behind your wrought iron table. I would not object to any of those magically appearing at my house. :)
ReplyDeleteHe is such a sweety - especially as he arrived as a man-eating feral intent on rape and pillage! Neutering made all the difference.
DeleteOh dear. I have a small band with the same intent! I wish that I could neuter every stray.
DeleteI have only been to Brecon once years ago when we first started going to Wales. I keep meaning to go and visit the cathedral there
ReplyDeleteDo go back - the Cathedral is well worth the visit, and it's a lovely little town.
DeleteWhat a lovely place to go shopping, or for just a stroll. Love the kitty in the catnip.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Kitty in catnip would have been a real "wild child" had he been human - imagine Hell's Angel!!! Brecon is lovely just to wander round, and has an excellent museum.
DeleteI like Brecon too, the gateway to the Beacons. My old cat used to make a nest in a clump of cat nip in my old garden. Here I dry the cat nip and while daughter was here I knitted a couple of meeces stuffed with cat nip for her handsome black and white boy cat Peppermint. Caught up with the Jeremy Paxman show and what a curmudgeonly depressing character he is. My mother in law had the exact white painted cast iron furniture you photographed. Son brought home a pair of exceptional quality old teak chairs which someone had left outside their house in East Dulwich for anyone to collect. He has acquired most of his furniture this way. He has the ‘eye’ as Philip Serrell would say! And yes it is time to dubbin the walking boots - could be a job I put on Tom’s list. He is still in London and due to rail strike not coming home until Sunday. I am working this morning and planning on lighting the woodburner in the shop which is our only form of heating. We are so green - virtually a carbon-free enterprise! Hope you’re having a good weekend and are able to log in to some of the Edward Thomas events. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Paxman. Couldn't live with that morose personality. Gosh, your son did well with his chairs - one man's meat is another man's poison as they say. Sorry that the rail strikes are so disruptive for you. We were only affected when Danny planned to come one Saturday and couldn't due to the strike, but we just rearranged it.
DeleteI hope you have more than just a woodburner at home! I wish we had a fireplace here - then we would think about fitting one, but have had a quote and as the only chimneyed-fireplace has cables running down it and a window at the back (don't ask!) it's not suitable! That's in the kitchen. We have a faux fireplace in the living room - just a surround and tile centre. It would cost £2000 or so to fit a woodburner as double liner needed outside of course. Then another £2k for a decent woodburner (Clearview). We will just have to manage without if there are power cuts.
Sadly, the ET events which interested me are of course sold out! Must organize myself for next year.
That is a shame you have nowhere for a stove - I suppose because you house was once stables and coach house for the big house. At home we have oil-fired central heating (no gas on our lane although there is gas in the village) and a woodburner in the sitting room which I light most days now as soon as the sun goes down. The woodburner in the shop was installed last October and is a secondhand reconditioned model and the cost of lining the chimney was shared with the flats upstairs. My boss is very astute! The bookshop occupies half of the ground floor of what was once a very grand house built in the early 1800s. I think you would love browsing our bookshop. It is now a beautiful afternoon and S is mowing the meadow wearing shorts while I am lying on the sofa in the garden room with the sun pouring in. S x
DeleteThere is a little gas fired stove that looks like a woodburner in the kitchen, but it's been condemned by the bloke that services it. We could replace it and get another set up so that is a possible, especially if it looks like being a hard winter. On my list of "fings to do". Oh I would LOVE LOVE LOVE your bookshop. As a teenager and in my 20s I used to go to Gilbert's Bookshop in Southampton. Floor after floor of books - I could take you straight to the bit that had the antiquarian horse books right now (but none would be there as I think it's a solicitors' now). We used to scare ourselves by going right up to the attic rooms, which were empty and should have been shut off as the floors and last bit of staircase were dodgy indeed!
DeleteWhat a lovely place it is, indeed. I would love to go on a canal boat ride. I wonder how many people pay for one hour and then wish they'd paid for two or three hours. Oh, shopping for shoes is such a pain these days. We've lost all our good shoe shops around here. I think the nearest one now is in Cardigan if it's still there.
ReplyDeleteI'd take a mindless type of knitting project I think, and just relax! There was someone's 60th birthday celebration going to happen when we were there - saw the ladies carrying in the inflatable balloon "60" etc.
DeleteSorry your shoe-shops are disappearing. Carmarthen's a bit of a trek for you. Do you buy on-line at all?
Remember I also don't have any transport, which makes it doubly difficult. I do buy online, but in the last two years I think I have spent enough money on postage and returns on shoes that just don't fit to buy myself two new pairs of really good shoes. Some of the brands, Skechers in particular, the sizing has become dreadful. You don't know where you are, you only have to read the online reviews on QVC.
DeleteOh dear, that is a bind. I used to get online shoes from the Clarkes shop at Street, and if we were nearby on holiday, would go in there too. It's a bit of a problem trying to get shoes to fit well unless you have bought exactly that type before, or buy several more pairs once you know they are OK! It's like buying a bra online when each different company/style has variations on what is YOUR cup size! I can go up/down two cup sizes depending on which brand it is.
DeleteShopping seems to be a fast disappearing habit, unless you live next to big towns. Waiting in for parcels, which I do, is a bind though.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing Brecon again, thank you - we visited life-long friends who have retired there, after farming in min-Wales for many years. Lovely place, interesting cathedral, and a very good cafe in the Arts/theatre centre. Those wrought iron chairs look wonderful - the modern imitation ones are just too flimsy. I'd have checked out those globes in the Antique shop too, elder grandchild loves identifying places on our inflatable globe and I'd love to get him a proper one. It was great to come along for the ride. Thank you. I hope the boots break in well and are comfortable.
ReplyDeleteJust a small thought..you do know that Jeremy Paxman has Parkinson's? It is affecting his facial expressions
ReplyDeleteYes, we watched the programme about him the other night. Keith can be a bit deadpan sometimes, but not all of the time and he still grins like a loon when Del Boy is on! I think the next University Challenge is the last JP is hosting. That will be so sad for him - having to give up his job. Won't cheer him up that's for sure.
Delete