A HUGE Positive

I am grateful for a few small things which add up to be a big smile at the end of the day.  I have something metal to glue back together and thought I would have to fork out £8 or so on some Gorilla glue.  I decided to check Keith's workshop, just in case.  Found a bottle but there was no movement inside it.  Looked to have set solid.  However, when I cut the tip of the lid off and put a piece of wire in, there was still some usable glue in the middle.

I did have to go out for a few things for when my friend is staying next week, and went into the Charity shops.  I found a Seasalt teeshirt in my size, and also a Seasalt 80% wool stripey top.  Perfect for my NZ holiday.  Some lovely wools for Tam too, so a real Positive there.  Oh and across the road they were selling all their clothes at 50p each and I got a pretty dress which I can use for patchwork (or even Rosie frocks).

I am grateful to see wildlife using and thriving in my garden.  It has been slow progress, as the last owners used toxic chemicals to kill weeds and I think these take a while to be washed away. Certainly the last 3 years have shown increasing numbers of insects, reptiles, and birds.  I have planted lots of perennials and roses which draw them in too. 

The runner and hunter beans are finally pickable (my fault for not watering enough), and cucumbers and tomatoes are doing very well with supplying me with salad.  Free food is good - and my little orchard has quite a few apples this year.  Not huge because of the dry weather and the youth of the trees, but no complaints.

I had a two-for-one offer whilst still a member of Audible and chose one I had never heard of before - author or title - The Keeper of Stories by Sally Page.  Well, I finally started listening to it this week and I am enjoying it SO much and can heartily recommend it.  Coming up to the anniversary of Keith's death I had to stop listening to the Diana Gabaldon book I was half way through, as death scenes and the like were too distressing.

I sat down this afternoon and began making a Christmas present for a friend.  It's a little wall-hanging for her kitchen (and I will probably make a bigger version too as it's turning out quite petite).  Knitted using white cotton garden string, it has a felt Sunflower on the front.  I watched several I Escaped to the Country programmes I hadn't seen - most restful.

After the rest I had the energy to make Chocolate Blackberry Brownies (neighbour here to continue upstairs painting tomorrow and he won't say no to a couple of slices!)  So that's 8 oz of last year's blackberries used up and a tiny bit more room in the freezer now.

So, a few little things make quite a big positive.

Oooh, nearly forgot!  Rosie had her 16mth assessment from the Health Visitor today.  She was gobsmacked by Rosie's progress.  Tam said her face was a picture :)  Rosie has achieved milestones which they don't expect to see until the 27 mth check!  She said she was clearly empathic and caring too.  She even asked Tam had they thought about which school she might go to later!  She said Rosie was an old soul, and she's not the first in the profession to say that.  So we are really delighted with her - we knew she was making great progress - as in handing me a book recently and saying "Granma read book" and coming down the stairs standing up - we try and get her to hold our hand, just in case, and she can now run too and open doors, and knows how a key fits in a lock etc, and she's always trying to do up the straps on her car seat.  She quickly copies what we do - like in blowing on my hot cup of tea last week.  Smarty pants she is!  That is a HUGE POSITIVE.

Wildlife and a trip out

Spotted on the stable wall yesterday evening - the Purple-bordered Gold moth (a first for me).

Below, earlier in the day, this Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar was marching across the gravel, intending to find somewhere to cwtch up as a pupa over-winter.  So I imagine he is now under one of my bigger terracotta planters which will protect him from the winter weather.  Their feedplant is the Willowherb, of which I have plenty here.

 

I needed more paint, so decided to go to Merthyr Tydfil, which is the same distance from here as Hereford is and - it turns out - more convenient.  The sun was out and it was a lovely drive through the mountains (Pen-y-Fan and the Brecon Beacons looking beautiful in the sunshine).  It's a good road from Brecon too, past Llywn-Onn reservoir.  

Arriving at the double roundabout at Merthyr, I could see my first destination - B&Q - on the left, so straight into there, and had another litre of blue paint mixed for the outside windows here.  Then straight across the road and into Cyfartha retail park containing M&S, my next port of call.  I had to exchange a new bra for a different size.  I also went into the Food Hall there, but my shopping list was VERY strict - a stir fry and Soy/Ginger/Garlic sauce for my tea (2 nights) and sandwiches and a drink (an indulgence, permitted as I have decided I will give up on getting any newspapers at all now so that will save £2.80 a week).  I didn't allow myself to browse, lest I be tempted!  

I then went across the roundabout again to check out the gigantic Trago Mills.  It is apparently 1/4 mile long.  I didn't have all day or want to be tempted, but gosh, you can buy anything from a motorbike to a tent to clothing to paint.  I stupidly forgot the woodfiller in there (and in B&Q) so have to go out again for that today.  I just bought some Purina cat biscuits as they were cheaper than Tesco.

In the afternoon I painted the French doors, bar the panels at the bottom.  They need some wood filler, but I put undercoat on the top half of the panels and they will be finished today.  That's the whole front half of the house done.  I have saved probably £500 in doing the bottom windows and doors myself.

I am needing to be frugal this month anyway as I'm paying out to have the top windows painted.  Eating from the freezer is the order of the day.  I had cut all the meat off a roast chicken we had recently and frozen it.  Half of one bag has gone to accompany the stir fry, and the rest will be chicken curry (4 portions) and chicken pie (4 portions too).  I have a friend coming to stay next week so she will just have ordinary grub - we shan't be Dining Out. We will be having trips out so there will be a biggish spend there on fuel and entry fees, but I think after going to Eastnor Castle and Lower Brockhampton (same day to save on fuel as they are 25 miles apart) it will be very much more local and free!  Tretower Court is having a re-enactment at the weekend, so we will go there and perhaps into Abergavenny and visit the church and the castle, the market etc.  Probably a walk in the Elan Valley, taking a picnic.  On the Monday she will get to see the delights of Aberystwyth, as I am babysitting Rosie in the afternoon, so will pick Rosie up and leave G in Aber, then take Rosie home for a nap and meet up with G when Tam gets home.

Right, this won't do.  I need to stir my stumps, as mum used to say.

A Shave in a Lion's Cage

 

(Reproduced from the George Wombwell collection.  This is dated 1930, two years before the circus ended, and taken at Marlborough).

Yesterday I had a lovely afternoon - mainly because I was waiting for the return of a phonecall about my travel insurance.  I sat ALL afternoon, but no-one phoned.  Glad to say I got it sorted this morning.  So having spent yesterday morning on housework - bed changing/making, and vacuuming, as one must, it was good to sit and remember what Granny C (ma-in-law) had told me about the family.  Tam wanted me to write it down lest it be forgotten.  I wrote up about 4 pages.  Keith's grandfather, who he took after in looks and cheeky personality and a slight tendency to live life on the edge at times, was always short of money.  When not working as a barman, he was a Bookie's Runner - though there were occasions when he didn't put a bet on for someone because he thought the chap had wasted his money on something that could be beaten by a horse with 3 legs.  Sometimes the blardy thing WON and rather than giving the chap his bet back (which he would do when the horse had lost, as no-one had money to throw away), he had to try and find the winnings from somewhere and went to the Boxing Booths, to try and win it back.  He must have been a pretty tidy boxer, as he always did. (He died in 1916 on the Somme, so this was all prior to 1914).

Anyway, on another occasion, he had a shave in a Lion's Cage. Granny C said it was for a bet, but I imagine they offered money to any member of the public brave (or foolish) enough to do it.  Good publicity for them, that's for sure.   Idly, I asked Mr Google about it and this photo turned up.  It was undoubtedly Wombwell's travelling circus which had been in Manchester and it was in a cage this SMALL that grandad C had a shave within paw's reach of one or more lions.  Wasn't he brave?  Hah - can you imagine what Health and Safety would have to say about this today?!

I have had a phone calls and paperwork sort of day today.  The phone call was fine, but the paperwork was I thought, just a case of putting in the special number for Probate and then it would go ahead, as we had filled in endless forms for HMRC.  But no, Gov.uk wants to know everything again, and practically asks what all the executors had for breakfast and it was running me ragged.  I gave up (pages saved) when it clearly expected me to have the Will in front of me as it was asking had it been stapled, were there watermarks on it, was it this, that and the other, and clearly I need to get in touch with the Solicitors and go in with my passport and driving licence for identity, so that I can take the Will away to forward it on to gov.uk for probate.  Crazy because I already had to have a copy to go with all the probate papers.  

I have rubbed down and masked up the French windows now, and then done some tidying (long overdue) in the long border, and cut back all the spent Cranesbills.  There is a LOT more to do out there - I remember when I used to have the energy at Ynyswen to garden 8 hours a day!  Not any more.   Now I'm waiting for my chap who cuts the grass to arrive as the lawn is getting on the long side.

Enjoy your Wednesday.

Church bothering - St Bilo's church, Llanfilo

 Whilst I cannot hope to challenge Billy's photographs of this lovely church, here is my take on it.  Keith and I went there when we first came to Builth area, but sadly the church was locked.  He would have absolutely loved it too, as it has an amazing Rood Screen and other things of interest including the old wooden parish chest. 

Its earliest roots are in the 5th C, when it was dedicated to St Bilo, one of King Brychan's 24 childen (a daughter).  It's earliest roots are in the 12th C - guess who missed the ornamental lintel in the back of the church.

It "rivals Partrishow and Llanelieu in its beauty, peace and holiness" (Griffiths).  Having been to both these amazing early churches, I agree but think that Partrishow has the edge on holy atmosphere.

The stonework of the church mostly dates from the 14th and 15th C, and the tower was totally rebuilt in 1882, apparently as it had looked prior to this.  Work began on much-needed repairs just before WW1 (the lychgate was repaired in the 1920s, and dedicated to 3 local boys who went to War and never returned.)  Since the amazing rood screen dates back to Tudor times, it would have been a huge loss had it deteriorated still further, quite apart from the wonderful vaulted roof and many memorial stones inside.  W D Caroe carried out a sensitive restoration in the 1920s.

This area of carved wooden frieze over the Jacobean bible box shows that water ingress had taken its toll.

Inside the porch . . .

These two marks made on the door springers, are a rounded cross and a Maltese cross, both marks of consecration.  These would have been sprinkled with Holy water by the Bishop.

This is apparently the earliest thing in the church, as it predates the actual stone building, and is dated to around 900 AD, so pre-Norman.  Caroe was rather distainful of it, considering it "a rather ancient example though rather featureless . . .".   I think it's a shame it was limewashed . . .

Looking down the nave towards the Rood Screen and the chancel beyond. It's always good to see the original pews still in place - 6 of them are Jacobean and made of oak. One is dated 1630.  The Havard pews recall the family and its Norman ancestors.  The beautiful ribbed barrel-vaulted ceiling gives an airyness to the church. It dates to the 15th C, with some wood replaced as necessary.

This is a Rood Screen dating from Tudor Times (Henry VIII), although by the time the 20th C repairs were carried out, the figures of the Saints needed to be recarved and replaced.  This was sensitively done by Nathaniel Hitch, an expert in early church carvings.  You can see the lighter wood demonstrates the carvings above the vine and pomegranates which had to be completely renewed.

I just love this evil-eyed Wyvern, spewing out the interlace of Vine leaves, grapes and pomegranates. (The Pomegranate was the device of Catherine of Aragon).

A carved heart with two hands and one foot (the other being missing).  I have never seen this anywhere else.

Christ on the Cross, above the Rood Screen, is again a later replacement, I assume by Nathaniel Hitch.

Window in the South wall enlarged, I believe, by Caroe at the time of the major renovations.

The Altar, which appears to have had repairs too.  I desperately wanted to get at it with some Linseed oil, to feed and darken it!

This wasn't mentioned in any of the information, so one can only assume a grave cover from earlier times?

The old (cracked) Gabriel bell ("for ringing the Angelus - a traditional Catholic resurrection prayer") dates from 1410 and was cast in Worcester, and is the oldest bell in the County.  It is marked with a Latin inscription which translates as "I have the name of Gabriel sent from heaven".  

The bible box (on stand) is Jacobean, as is the chair below.

The ancient parish chest, which is divided into two compartments - one for the lesser things, with just one lock latterly, but the scars of where two contemporary locks used to be.  The important records and documents - perhaps the chalice etc too - required 3 key holders to open it.  

Memorial slabs on the walls inside and out.

The old lychgate, originally built around 1680 - 1700.

As you can see, it is set in beautiful countryside.

Well, this won't do.  I have been writing this on and off all morning, alongside making bread (a Granary loaf to dough, in the breadmaker), stripping and washing my bedclothes, and the guest bedroom ones too. It's raining steadily outside and quite windy, and is like an Autumn day except it is very warm and humid.

I have phone calls to make, the Wayleave cheque to pay into my account (that has covered the cost of the Electricity for this month), my bed to make up fresh, vacuuming to do etc etc.  I got the car unloaded and all the boxes of stock put away yesterday, so that was a positive.  If the rain eases off a bit, I'll go out for a walk later.  Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Yesterday

 It was hard getting up yesterday morning (5.30, to leave by 6.30) but it's a 50 minute drive and so an early start is necessary. 

 I took Too Many Boxes.  Trying to get rid of Old Friends here - bits of glass and china I've had since our days at Carmarthen Fleamarket when such things sold. Hey ho. The Australian pieces came from a chap who did the Carmarthen Fleamarket a couple of times.  We passed on his stuffed crocodile, but bought these pieces of Aboriginal art instead - a pipe, a bird and a canoe.  The black pot to the right is an old Nigerian ink pot, which is a rare piece, but of course these sorts of things are a bit niche.  The ink pot was from a sale of the Rakes estate cupboards and attic, from when one of the family members died.  That was definitely pre-Covid, about 2017 or 18.  The little country print used to be on the wall in my office . . .  Hence, my stand is never minimalist and carefully choreographed like the other stands at the Fair.  I have to Pile It High to try and clear things a bit.  Plus you never know what people want.  

The big Norwegian platter, the little Arts & Crafts metal strapping next to it and the gipsy caravan nightlight beyond, all found new homes.

The water colour of Pen-y-Fan is one we bought from a local gallery - well, it must have been 15 or 20 years ago and never got around to framing.  More than time to pass it on.  The little apprentice piece settle in front of it used to live on our hall table (which is now up in my sewing room and I do my cutting out on it).  I have no place for it now, so another bit of family history being passed on.  The metal moulds are all French, apart from the copper one on the left.  

The Welsh lady sold too.  She used to belong to a good customer of ours, who sadly died a few years back now.  We bought her when her husband was trying to have a clear-out of their non-military belongings.  The little wooden container by the Gothic strapping (Keith never did get around to finding the right box to put them on) is a Victorian seed measure.  I can't even remember where that came from now, but it is one of the old friends again.  

Now a few of the other stands.  I loved this painting, but just a bit short of £720!

Those huge Alliums on Beth's stall are gorgeous.  She always has a fabulous stand.

That gorgeous dough bin, on the stage behind the painting, already had a SOLD sticker on it when I saw it.  I'm not surprised.  It's lovely.  

Well, Sunday morning now and I need to tackle Unloading In The Rain . . .  I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.