Friday 16 August 2024

Getting things tidier

I've had a useful couple of days, sorting things out, moving them around, giving stacks of magazines away and moving books so I no longer have piles on the floor in the Library.  Heck - even the Christmas decorations finally made it upstairs!!  You can actually see the carpet in there now!  It had become a dumping ground for "stuff" as it was just a room that we moved through rather than lived in.  Having taken Danny and Emma's books from one of the bookshelves on the half landing, I was able to fill it with my Church books from the kitchen, and some of the books I had picked up from the Co-op Book Donation table.  I know - it's unlikely I will ever read through all of them (some for the 2nd or even 3rd time, in the case of Jean M Auel's The Plains of Passage and Edward Rutherford's London, and 3 of Ken Follett's great epic novels - all doorstop size though!) Yet they are there if we have a hard winter and I need entertaining. (Yes, I'm missing Sky already . . .)



More books are now gone from the table and the head with the Boudoir cap on is now over by the window.  The bearded head with the helmet was another of Keith's favourite things and he'd bearded and painted the head himself - it tickled him pink to have a "Viking" showing off that helmet!  Some of the folk viewing our old house thought it very odd, as he always pointed it out (for badness, as he could tell they were the sort who wouldn't be buying Ynyswen), but hey ho, that was my darling man, who didn't give a sh*t what other people thought.


The little settle which we bought locally has replaced the large oak 1740 coffer which has gone to D in Dorset.  This will probably go in time too, when I get a Unit and can put a decent price on it.  No rush though. It's too big for me to take to Fairs. It's late 17th/very early 18th C.  I will give it a good polish today.


Here is the lovely old coffer which has gone down to Dorset.  Thereby hangs a tale - Couriers turned up.  Told it was a "two man carry" he bought his wife . . .  They came from Birmingham and when there was an immediate problem as English was not his first language and we had difficulty in understanding one another.  Seeing the two mouse-nibbled sun loungers in the yard, he pointed and said "these?".  No, I told him, it's a big and heavy coffer.  Obviously he had never come across antiques before as they carried it out but then stood it on end to travel.  I tried to get across to him it had to stand on its feet but to no avail.  I had to phone D and tell her what he'd done, and how it left here in perfect condition but travelling like that could well loosen joints. Hell, it's nearly 300 years old and deserves respect.  She was going to phone the hauliers and insist it went back onto its feet . . .  I will worry until I hear it's arrived as it left here.  The chair just got strapped to the wall of the truck!  Yeesh.

I got a good walk in around lunchtime, just a couple of miles, but there are hills there and back so it's a good workout.  I do 15,000 steps or so most days now.  All along the lanes, but I need to start checking out more footpaths in the area now I'm a bit fitter and have the time.

I had official post this week - 4 pieces which all arrived on the same day.  Two were a case of reading, and putting on one side until I heard from them again - HMRC being one and pensions the other.  One was a form to fill out for the Hospice who supplied the overnight nurse.  I forced myself to sit down and fill it out yesterday and got it in the post teatime yesterday.  The final one was from Army Veterans about Keith's pension, and whether I am entitled to any (according to K, I should get 1/8, as we married after he left the Army so he only had 6 years' pension entitlement to cover me.)  So, we'll see.  If I do qualify, I shall go for the lump sum rather than a little dribble of money each month.

I also set to with the glue yesterday, and fixed a couple of things which had become loose, and also filled in the holes drilled in one of the low-back Windsor chairs (screws put in to fix wobbly arms at some point in its history).  It was an honest obvious repair, but a bit unsightly.  The glue has settled so I need to add more, with a little bit of the sawdust Keith saved to do little repairs like this.  The little apprentice-piece Welsh settle with its beautiful carvings is also repaired now - the little bobbin in the middle of one arm had come off (and been put inside it for safe keeping) and I'd put off sorting it for years.  Now it's fixed and can finally go to the Fair.  It's a real quality piece and someone should love it. Gorilla Glue rules :) :)

Well, I woke at just gone 4 a.m., was up at just before 5 a.m. and now feel shattered.  I think I will get the heated throw we bought Keith and lie down on the sofa for a bit and get some more sleep before I am off to Tretower Court. The re-enactors (Marcher Stuarts) are there this weekend and I want to go and have a chat and see if they still want me to join them.  With this in mind, when I spotted some lightweight dark emerald velvet at the car boot sale last week (about 1.5metres of it), I paid my £2 and bought it.  I haven't done any dressmaking since I was pregnant with Tam and hat's 38 years ago now!

Have a good weekend all.




10 comments:

  1. Your room looks great, I love the character of it. My OH would be the same as your Keith - not giving a **** what others thought!
    The emerald green velvet sounds lovely, looking forward to hearing more about that.
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. Glad that our husbands had similar mindsets. I've unfortunately always cared what people think!

      I'll try and remember to take a photo of that velvet tomorrow. It's such a pretty colour. V. lightweight though so will need lining.

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  2. Getting the house physically tidy does help the mind being a bit more restful...even if there is still Stuff to Sort..best of luck with the pension . I'm still waiting!
    Enjoy your weekend x

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    1. Well, it's been upside down for quite a while now, and it makes me feel a bit more in control again (having felt totally the opposite for so long).

      Got my revised pension increase amount today - matches, almost to the penny, what I will have to pay for Council Tax now it's in my name . . . It feels a bit as if I'm no better off, although of course I know I am.

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  3. Well, you're like a dose of salts with all your clearing. My heart is in my mouth waiting to hear the fate of the settle in transit. It resonates with me, the time a solid wood dressing table arrived having travelled trans Atlantic while one end rested on a nail which ground out a deep and dreadful gouge as the crate bounced along. Then there was the desk that went end up with three drawers full of papers {we'd been instructed not to empty any drawers as insurance dictated the packers must do this} and the drawer column promptly snapped off. The stories I'm sure we could share!
    I am having visions of you a la Scarlett O'Hara in a green velvet gown!

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    1. I am not very tidy as usually too busy to go through the piles of things which arise on any flat surface! I have too many interests is part of the problem. My dad said I had a butterfly mind, but I prefer to think of myself as a just being interested in all sorts.

      Oh gosh, about your furniture being so damaged in transit.

      Not so much Scarlett O'Hara as Maid Marian's kitchen wench!!

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  4. I wouldn't dream of telling you what to do with your money but I qualified for a tiny annuity round about the time of the 2008 crash and I was offered the choice of taking a lump sum ( a very small one ) or have it "dribbling in" once a month ( great phrase of yours ! )
    I opted for the latter and I can't tell you the pleasure I get from seeing it dribble in every month ever since.
    Yes it is a tiny amount but it covers my monthly visit to the hairdresser - almost to the penny - which I find endlessly satisfying !

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    1. Thank you for that Yellow Shoes. I think IF I get offered anything as a lump sum, it will depend on the size of the lump sum. I would like to add to my small nest egg just in case I have to dip into it to get something mended or replaced. I may get nothing at all, of course! Glad you get to enjoy having your hair done each month on the strength of yours anyway. I cut my own hair (from mean-ness!!)

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  5. That is something I need to do is clear out my shed and garage not to mention other things I should do, we have too much junk. Gorilla glue is very good though I tend use something else I found which I find as good. I've stopped off at Tretower in the past but never got into the castle grounds, I must do that. I also went to the church and tried to get photos inside but that day found it very dark so gave up. I keep meaning to return. Have a good day down there.

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    1. Well, I am starting to get to know what is where in Keith's workshop but need to buy another roll of labels to label all those pesky Gold Flake tins with anonymous contents.

      Tretower castle is worth having a look around. It has a long history - back to the Normans and the Picard family. The walls are immense - 9 feet thick! Certainly built for good defence.

      It was nice to have a slow wander round the Court anyway, and take some photos. I get in free because I have a pass - £7.50 for 3 years free entry, as it's my named CADW monument. I have to pay to get in the other CADW sites.

      I remember going to the church (or was it locked?) If I went in, it must have been unremarkable anyway as I don't recall it at all.

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