Sunday 19 May 2024

Noises in the night . . .

 I didn't have a very restful sleep last night. Keith was coughing and I was worrying and lay awake 3 hours (the standard length of time for insomnia for me).  Finally I nodded off and then there was a cacophany in the top hall - Shadow-cat hurtling up and down, brief pauses and then more hurtling.  I swore at him, got up and found him proudly sitting by a large dead mouse!  NOT what you want in the bedrooms.  I think it must have come out from behind the wooden panelling as cats have been spotted sat by a room corner in the past (K's bedroom).  Anyway, it was a Harvest Mouse - I would have preferred a dead House Mouse as Harvest Mice are so pretty with their chestnut coats and white tummies.  I removed said mouse and dropped off again, only to hear a loud lamb bleat outside the bathroom when I got up for the loo.  Well, of course that was IT  for the night then - I had to go and check. The nearest sheep are two fields away.  I noted from the window that our new neighbour was also up and surveying his vegetable plot.  Perhaps he'd heard sheep too. Couldn't see hide nor hair of any sheep but oh gosh, what a beautiful sunrise and morning it was.

I visited Tam and Rosie yesterday and did gardening, sweeping, clothes sorting and lots of washing up.  Tam can't wash up as Rosie won't be laid down without screaming the house down.  Jon hates washing up . . .  I imagine they were close to running out of plates and bowls and things to cook in!!

A rather misty view up in the mountains yesterday when I took the "scenic" short cut home via Devil's Bridge.  Tam set the Google maps satnav on my phone so I didn't get lost (without that I certainly would have!)  I found it surprising that there were so many farmsteads literally right out in the middle of nowhere and that marshy land not much good for anything.

As I said, short cuts like this one through the mountains (Tam calls it "over the top") are scenic.  Not many passing places though.  


A misty view of the back of a mine building up in the mountains.  These were primarily mining lead and zinc, though silver was found in a mine nearer Aberystwyth. You can still have the Silver Mountain experience (for a little under £20 for an adult).  Wouldn't mind doing that sometime.


Here's a nice "doer-upper" for you . . . Not that there is a for sale sign, I might add.


Today I have been very busy in the garden planting things, watering, weeding etc. Danny's gone to Cardiff to see some friends, and "I" and her mum went to the Smallholder's Fair on the showground, the highlight of which for little "I" was not the pony scurry, or the motorbikes, or the many animals, but the fact that she saw a goat poo into her water bucket!

Wigmore Castle tomorrow, I promise!





11 comments:

  1. I love the fact that the most bizarre things tickle little kids- sweet days indeed. Mice arghh! For the first time EVER we have had them in the let’s here?! No idea why they’ve suddenly decided to enter them.
    Tam/Rosie tell her to get a sling, it will transform life for her. I used to have two laid back little chairs that sort of bounced up and down, they sat on the table and worktop when I had to get stuff done! You can whizz past and shoogle them and give them a little stroke whilst passing with the other arm stacked with food/dishes!
    Lovely photos x Danette xx

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  2. She's got a couple of slings - they are a soft jersey fabric and tie round you, tieing baby close. She sleeps like that but Tam says she still can't get anything done. I've just sent her a link for a little rocking /bouncing chair which I am sure would help Rosie, though she is a colicky baby and that is probably the main problem. Anyway, she is 7 weeks old now and so hopefully another month and she should be growing out of it.

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  3. Jon is going to have to learn washing up!!
    Rosie will get there...two of my four were like that, one was 24/7 to start with...but like you say, with time it does ease as they grow!!

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  4. I see so many of those abandoned farms when out walking in the Hinterland. But apart from no services they don't seem to have any land good for growing crops even just for a family so not much use for self sufficiency people.

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  5. Certainly sounds like it’s time for the husband/father/man called Jon to step up and do his share no matter how much he ‘hates’ it.
    Shame Tam can’t do anything with baby in a sling - generations of women has plodded through life carrying babies that way and managed to do things. House perfect is necessary/ sometimes not possible when there are new babies.
    Anyway she’s a lucky girl to have a lovely mum like you who is able to help her out

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  6. Children find the oddest things so very interesting. Glad the mouse was caught even though it was one of the prettier ones.

    God bless.

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  7. Jon needs help even with chores he dislikes--that's what adult parents do. A clean home is essential for baby 's health. I feel so bad for Tam. [Will she return to work soon? ] What a blessing you are---so willing to help everyone. I read somewhere that colic stops by 10 weeks, so by midsummer, maybe R will be sleeping and cooing like a good girl.

    I kinda love that the ''new'' cat is trying to prove himself, proudly catching mice and securing his place in the new home. Pretty smart boy!

    Take care of yourself.

    lizzy

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  8. I don't know if they are a 'thing' over there, Jenny, but have you ever heard of Mamaroos? My granddaughters were both the sort of babies who would not be laid down. Brittani just 'wore' those babies. They were cuddled close and slept through dishes and vacuuming, meal preparation and walks. It was a game changer for them. It might work for Rosie.

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  9. PS: There are a lot of different versions of that sling, but a stretchy wrap is what Brittani used when they were new.

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  10. Oh dear. I see that this was suggested straitaway. Rushing through blogs, no time to read comments. I should shush!

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    Replies
    1. I don't seem to have much spare time to even read my favourite blogs any more, let alone comment! I would have loved one of those stretchy slings when my kids were babies.

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