A Down Day

 Not at my best today.  No energy, no positivity.  I just felt very alone here and missing Keith so.  On days like this I daren't think too much about him.  I eventually dragged myself out into the garden late afternoon and thoroughly weeded all the couch grass roots out where Danny had taken the top clumps off for me, so I could put a clump of Rudbeckia in which Pam had given me.  (I have 4 so will spread them out at the back on the bank).  Shouldn't have watched Outlander tonight - too much love and death.

Anyway, back to the Quilts for a bit of cheerfulness.

Isn't this gorgeous?  Very slim bars on the Log Cabins.

I am trying to find the description for this, but some I took sideways and haven't turned them yet.  Eyecatching isn't it?

So, another little glimpse into historic Welsh quilts.

Phew! Thought I was locked out forever!

 Gabby set up my new computer this morning (an Acer Aspire 3 this time) but I have just had to do some Desperate Technology, as I couldn't find the proper password etc to get into my blog.  For 10 minutes I was going round in circles, but finally cracked it and am breathing a big sigh of relief now.

I have had a lovely birthday, and all my family were here yesterday.  Danny set to and dug a couple of holes for me to plant a rose and a birthday present plant from my friend Chris, so they are in now and well watered.  I was expecting Gabby to arrive this morning, so imagine my surprise when she turned up yesterday evening!  It was SO good to have her here on the day.  I wondered why Tam had been peeling so many spuds for roasties!  We had belatedly put a chicken in the oven, so were late eating, but Tam and I had gone to the garden centre so I could get some more Rose Feed as I'd run out, and in having a slow wander round, were late back, and then I had a phone call from Keith's cousin in Cornwall.  

Then I had a new problem.  I tried loading photos from my phone and only 7 or 8 loaded.  Another attempt 5 minutes later has worked . . .  Yes, more Desperate Technology but I managed it.  The first photo shows some quilts for sale.  I think one was £125 but it must have been small as one of the cushions made from damaged quilts was £65.

Some Welsh blankets were for sale too.

I took SO many photos it's going to be 3 days of posts, so I will try and spread them out a bit for the sanity of my followers who aren't quilt orientated.

Here are a couple of my favourites though:

This intensely quilted "Butterfly" quilt just caught my eye as it was so colourful and beautifully quilted.  Kept for best, I reckon.  American Jen Jones started collecting Welsh quilts in the 1970s, when prices were negligible as quilts weren't desirable then.  The wholecloth one below would be heading towards £1000 now I reckon.

Then there was this darling wholecloth quilt - just look at the quilting skill in that.

Of course, Calico Kate's patchwork shop is next door, so the girls and I went in there.  Tam bought me some fabric, and got a couple of rather whacko Kaffe Fassett fat quarters to turn into cushion covers.  I have decided to go for plain navy waffle duvet cover and pair of pillowcases, but got some definitely NON-NAVY fabric to make pillowcases from.  It goes well with the Verdigris green, and has pink in too, both colours which will tie it in with the wallpaper and paintwork.  Photos tomorrow.

Wendy - thank you for the heads up about the Florian print bedding.  I loved it, but thought with the import tax etc it would notch up the price, plus not too sure if the green was a little too olive to co-ordinate.  Lovely site though and gorgeous bedding :)

In agony

 Well, if I was sore yesterday, today is 20 times as bad.  In fact, so bad in my left hip that even after taking Ibuprofen, bending to put wallpaper below the dado rail made me squawk with pain, as did coming downstairs - in fact, I have been up and down stairs perhaps 25 or 30 times today.  You know the way it goes - leaving scissors/ruler/wallpaper in the wrong room, with a stair case in between!

You may like it or hate it as you wish.  Tam and I like it anyway.  In an ideal world, the Verdigris green would have been a little lighter, but I think the wallpaper tones it down a bit. I ordered new curtains from Dunelm this week, cream voile curtains with a pretty macrame border and they will neutralize the green.  They should arrive on Thursday and Tam is bringing a white wooden curtain pole to put up for me.  I shouldn't have gone looking for new bedding as I have found the exact match for the wallpaper - ONLY £115 the set!  So that won't be happening!

Well, I have done all the way along the wall behind the bed, bar a tiny bit beneath the wall cupboard where the waterworks enter the room for the tiny sink.  I have to do trimming tomorrow.

I am awarding myself the rest of the afternoon off and am very glad that I did my walk first thing, visited the Library, plus two loads of washing hung out to dry, and tea is going to be something from the freezer.  I may sow some seeds - at least I can do that standing up.  

Pippi is being a little ratbag and keeps bringing back Slow Worm after Slow Worm.  I thought they were dead, as they were stiff and not moving, but I have noted where I put them and they have been gone.  In fact, the baby I've just put out began to move the minute I lifted a tuft of grass for it to slide safely into.  

Right, I have seeds to plant (many packets!) so will get out in the sunshine.

Udate: sowed some more Runner Beans, a tub of Pot Marigolds, cleared most of the brambles and dried stems from the corner by the stable, repotted two Strawberries, Gorilla-glued some broken terracotta pieces back onto the pot which shed them this winter, and read a bit of my book in the sunshine : Carol Cole - Murder in the New Forest.  Being upright has helped my aches.

Aching bones

 However many hours I garden right now, they are never enough!  Each day at the moment is spent in the garden, with a bit of decorating in the guest room, a short walk, and bits of housework.  Today it was he grocery shop too.  I was quite tempted to go and explore Merthyr Tydfil but there is so much to do here, I decided to just go to Llandod as normal.

I had a Night Out last night, when some friends asked if I wanted to go to the cinema to see "Six".  I said yes, thinking that it was a film about Henry VIII, but it turned out it was a Musical!  I live a sheltered life here and hadn't heard of it but apparently it has been touring internationally.  Anyway, the girls who represented Henry's wives were brilliant singers although their costumes were a bit like Snow White meets the Queens from a game of Solitaire. . .  Despite my age, I quite enjoyed it but had I known it was a musical aimed mostly at youngsters, I wouldn't have gone.  Anyway, the photos are of the Wye after we came out.

I have been making good progress with the garden but there is still SO MUCH to do.  I need to try and crack on with removing tussocks of grass before May gets here and everything goes mad with growth.

This is my "path" up to the polytunnel, so I have to clear this too.  Did just a little bit yesterday as I was working in that area, clearing grass from around the Rhubarb.

Definitely have one of our Swallows, but not sure that the other two it's flying with aren't House Martins from the stables in the next field.  I dearly hope it hasn't lost its mate on the journey back from Africa.

I've been sat for half an hour or so resting my back, and enjoying the sunshine, and reading a new Murder Mystery book - Murder in the New Forest by Carol Cole.  So far, very enjoyable, especially as I know the New Forest, having grown up in Southampton, which is half an hour by car.

Time to rest now and so I will depart to the living room.  

I may well be going to Spain with Tam, Rosie & Jon in September.  His uncle has a house out there and the family regularly go to stay.  I just have to see if friend Pam will come and feed the boys for me, and get recommendations for a cattery for the girls to cover the few days we're away.

Unknown - you are wasting your time . . .

 Unknown - I moderate all the comments on this blog, so yours are all in the bin forever . . .

Blackthorn in full bloom beside the narrow gauge railway line which runs from Aberystwyth up to Devil's Bridge.

And to my friends - I've had a busy day today, visiting Jon and Rosie and giving him some moral support.  Rosie's been ill all week with a high temperature and Tam back at work today, so I went to give cuddles to Rosie and give worried Jon a break.  Last Friday, when she must have been coming down with this, she was unconsolable with Jon and Tam had to come home from work as Rosie wouldn't settle or sleep.  She was better today and even had a bottle (breast milk) for the first time and lots of little sips of water from her cup with a straw.

I popped into Charlie's on the way there and found a rose support with blackbirds on.  It opens on two sides so it was what I wanted to encircle a rose which was already becoming wayward.  Photos above and below - the obligatory layby photos.

I have decided to abandon the Heirloom pattern for that quilt.  I just don't have the experience for it and quiltmaking is supposed to be a pleasure after all.  I am, however, taking an element from it to make up into a block which I found when browsing old quilting magazines last night. I will share it when the first block has been tried out.   

There were golden ribbons of gorse hedgerows today - so beautiful. The best home made wine I have ever had was Gorse Wine - it was like liquid sunshine. When I tried making it though, it was chucked!  

Celendines and violets on my walk to/from the garage again yesterday.

This was by a garden pond edge. Like Lords and Ladies but bright lemon yellow.  Unusual. Still Arum maculatum though, but a domesticated version.

Tomorrow I'm out early and back early as my new computer is being delivered.

The Hell and Damnation Quilt!

Photo of our house for Debby,and below, the design of the William Morris (Heritage) quilt.  Debby -  that is the weekend  after we moved in, 4 yrs ago.  I still hate that chocolate brown paint.  This is the year to change it to something brighter.  There is an awful lot more in pots and planted there now.   Below, a couple of years later, in summer, taken from up on the bank.

Now I can't find these photos again. This computer's driving me nuts!

 

 

As for this blardy quilt, it's nearly putting me off quilting for life. Whoever planned it, has used such ridiculous measurements and once again, when I HAVE finished a block, it is 11 1/2" or 113/4" and not 12".  I worked on the easier block last night and this morning (this is the four patch corners/centre one), concentrated hard, cut and sewed accurately, but no . . . it's still too small.  Morning's Minion kindly worked and and shared her measurements for the other block, but it is a 9" block and I don't know how to scale it up.  I had planned to go and lay it all at the feet of Alex (patchwork teacher) today, but the class wasn't being held.

Below, note points cut off on first practice block and the blocks around the 4-patch blocks are wrongly placed as they should form a star. These will end up as cushion covers.  I sewed these weeks ago now.

It's very windy today, so I haven't gardened either, but I DID go to the Tip with a big boot load of rubbish, and drove on to the small garden centre near X-gates, looking for rose supports, but nothing doing and so I just bought two half price terracotta pots and a red Saxifrage.

After lunch I fell asleep for the length of 2 Time Team programmes.  Not enough water drunken today, plus a carby lunch, and I woke at 4.50 a.m. and didn't sleep after that.  Now I feel groggy.

Work in the garden has gone well, though I can't share photos as they've not been loaded.  I discovered that this is because  the port on the left side has now died and must have been dodgy when loading the holiday ones.  I will try again with the new computer.

I've nearly finished edging and weeding the gravel arc  by the Rhododendrons, and planted the Armeria (Sea Thrift) there.  I've just about finished weeding and de-leafing the main bed and will plant the new rose tomorrow. I'm going to put the Hollyhocks in the new and one older terracotta pot out in a little group in the yard, where they will appreciate the sun.

Then I shall get my stitch ripper out . . .

This will be an expensive week - and Disserth Church

 Well, the car just about limped down to the garage this morning, 2nd gear all the way as it wasn't having any in 3rd gear and 1st/2nd v. dodgy.   I said I needed it back today, but was told there are no guarantees (as in something else might need doing).  Best part of £500 going out there . . . 

A pretty cottage on the walk home from the garage this morning.  Pretty cherry blossom too.

I have also made an executive decision about my computer.  It's about 8+ years or so old now, and support for Microsoft 10 runs out this year.  Several keys and the space bar are sticking despite running repairs, and the sound system has had it.  As has whatever runs the video call system as I have poor sound, and no camera on that!  Plus the main port I use on the left has copped out. I use my laptop a lot, so time to invest in a new one that WORKS! I am not convinced that the holiday photos problem was a corrupt SD disc either.  So now waiting to hear from Danny/Tam which one to go for.  Another Lenovo I reckon.

The pretty row of cottages I passed on my short cut.

The 2nd church we visited on Saturday was at Disserth.  HERE is a link to when Keith and I went there in 2022. I will trust you all to visit that for the words, and I'll just add a couple more photos on here.  Typing with a stuck space bar is driving me mad!

The venerable Parish Chest.

A very plain Norman Font.

Right, back to try my hand at cutting out a block for the Hell and Damnation Quilt now - aka the William Morris Heritage Quilt. Many many thanks to Morning's Minion, who has sketched out the layout and measurements for me.   Oh, and the girls and I are having a return Birthday Visit (mine) to Calico Kate's wonderful patchwork shop in Lampeter next month, and to Jen Jones' 2025 Quilt Exhibition "As Time Goes By".

Church bothering en masse - St John Divine, Cwmbach

Yesterday was a welcome day out - having been tied to the locale for the last fortnight as the car is off the road, and my friend P gave me a lift to and from town so I didn't have to walk. The trip had been organized by a lady in our town History group, and we were to visit 3 churches, have lunch at the Elan Valley visitor's centre, and come home via Cors-y-Llyn bog.

This is the Church of St John Divine, at Cwmbach, between Builth and Newbridge-on-Wye.  It has been closed for the past five years because of problems with the bells and the back chimney, which rendered it dangerous.  Keith and I stopped to check this one out a couple of years ago, but it was shut then.  The bells(which came from Switzerland, as did the original ones) have now been replaced.
 

It was sponsored by a local philanthropist, Miss Clara Thomas of Llywn Madoc, Breconshire and nearby Pencarrig.  Our host told us that the church was built in memory of Miss Thomas's mother (also named Clara) who died in 1877, and it apparently cost £12,000 to build in 1887, and has definite Italianate influence, because Miss Thomas had visited Italy many times. Apparently the small carved heads inside and out of the church showed this Italian influence, as did the use of Italian marble inside.  The company of J B Fowler of Brecon undertook the construction and the stained glass was by Burlison and Grylls.

The beautiful outer wrought iron door was donated by a friend, and I loved these strapwork hinges on the wooden door.

Sorry this isn't very legible, but says that the iron gates were wrought in Italy.

Stained glass windows in the porch.  Stained glass by Burlison and Grylls. There was a similar window opposite.

Beautifully inlaid with squares of Italian marble, this font gives a design nod to Norman times, with the multiple legs.  I don't think I've ever seen one with inlays like this.

This is the huge and detailed glass of the West window.

A memorial window on the North wall of the church.

Above and below, the altar and the absolutely lovely  carved marble rerados and the gold and lilies Alleluja plaque, made - as you will recognize from recent posts of mine - as a mosaic.

These stained glass memorial windows had a much bolder design style and were added later. The bottom one is 1905.

                   

Our host also told us that the benefactress would spend the winter in one house (Pencarrig) and then transport all the livestock and necessities (including her grand piano on a gambo - a sort of cart) across the rough lanes to her other property, Llywn Madoc, over the Breconshire border, for the summer. If you do a search on these properties you will find photos of how they look now.  Lovely houses.

Then it was onto the next church, Disserth, which Keith and I had first visited when we moved here.

Billy Blue Eyes - the church has now been opened for services again, but you would probably have to turn up on the day when it was holding the service to see inside.