It HAD snowed overnight, not much but I didn't want to be on the roads the moment the garage opened (car going in for MoT). As it happened, the cats woke me up around 6 a.m. and wouldn't stop pestering and by 8.15 my brain was choosing sleep over wake mode, so I had a snooze on the sofa for an hour. My friend Pam was happy to pick me up and bring me home anyway.
I have been feeling guilty that I have not done jobs which need doing since Christmas arrived. So this morning I glued two handles back on my old wooden cantilever sewing box (cost us £16 at Cottees Auction in Wareham nearly 40 years back now.) Then I tended to the ornate frame on a fabulous pre-WW1 drawing of a horse by a young lady called Freda Rickard. She was born in 1899 and lived at the Three Salmons in Caerleon, Monmouthshire. Clearly a very talented artist, who went on to become a Milliner. Bits of the frame had been knocked/broken off and although I had tried to Gesso the design back into a degree of shape again, I'd got as far as I was able. So this morning I dabbed them with black acrylic paint, and will dry-brush stipple it with gold to match the rest of the frame.
This was done in 1913 when she was 14 years old, and clearly a talented artist. It will be going to the Botanic Gardens Antique Fair with me next month.
Those pesky power lines always get in the way, but this is Carneddau and part of Llanelwedd Quarry this afternoon.
To the right of the Quarry, looking towards Gwaunceste Hill, with the end slope of Aberedw on the right hand edge.
I've just had a surprise visitor, a chap who is doing some work on the end cottage whilst Ed is away. He wanted to borrow a tin opener, and we had a lovely chat and I sent him off with a map and the route to St David's Church if he wants to get out and stretch his legs.
The car failed its MoT - I knew it would as it needed a replacement rear numberplate. The water pump also needs replacing too, so I've left it down there overnight and will collect it tomorrow afternoon. Last year it needed new tyres and work done on brake wotsits and cost an arm and a leg. This year a good bit cheaper by the sound of it.
Here is the guest room which I am currently working on. I took a photo of the painted walls but they are still wet and much darker than the finished colour, so you will seem them later. I either need to be a foot taller, have arms the length of an Orangutan or a ladder a step taller . . .
This is the sink corner. We put up the neutral wallpaper (left) when we had the big corner sink replaced with a small one.
Not much else to report. A cup of Earl Grey and some stitching beckons.
Power lines spoiling photographs happens to me quite a lot. Shame about your car. I hold my breath when I take mine in for the MOT. Always expecting the worst. Thankfully ok at the moment, but £524 just paid out for insurance!
ReplyDeleteWell, it was going to fail purely on the replacement number plate needed. Glad they discovered the pump needing replacing, as that is fairly important. I saw there was a huge chunk "added" to what I had paid for car insurance last year, so checked around and went with AA Gold, which was considerably cheaper.
DeleteSince my back has squished down by three and a half inches but my arms haven't I do have arms like an orangutan. Comes in handy when riding.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, that's not good by the sound of it. What caused that Ruta? Theceilings here are tall and I am vertically challanged!
DeleteWe are going to get massive pylons crossing the fields between my village and the next, they will spoil the view for lots of people but having lived with them at the smallholding I can't be bothered to get all enraged - rather pylons than a motorway! Although hills and rivers would be nice!
ReplyDeleteWe struggle to have decent A roads in Wales. The only M-way is the M4, which stops at the Carmarthenshire border. The pylons will be in my line of sight and ruin future photos, that's for sure.
DeletePesky power lines indeed. Sometimes, but not very often, they do add a degree of interest to a picture. At one time, I had a very good post-editing programme, and I could remove them without trace. Then I started applying the same technique to removing my ex husband from pictures. LoL. He wasn't wanted in the photos any more than the pesky power lines.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the car. At least it wasn't completely unexpected and out of the blue, but it still means more money to find. And where you live a car isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.
A car is an absolute necessity in Wales. Nothing is ever "local"! Last year it cost nearly £800 as there were brake problems/tyres needed. There may well be a way of colouring out the power lines, but I can't be bothered :)
DeleteI can't really avoid them, looking across in that direction. Still, I mustn't complain as there are plans for gigantic metal pylons marching across our beautiful Welsh landscape, and of course that g*t Starmer supports pylons in the countryside, as he hates the countryside (it is actually cheaper to bury the cables).
ReplyDeleteI have had house insurance and car insurance within a month of each other, plus the MoT, and the heating boiler is due a check up.
Sorry, this was for Ilona but has ended up half way down the page. I did write another comment.
DeleteWhen we lived in Vermont all vehicles had to pass a yearly inspection and have the validating sticker in full view on the windshield--could be fined if past due. Neither Wyoming or Kentucky have that law, although I suspect that if an accident occurred due to failed brakes there might be a citation issued. Our home owners policy and auto insurance are with the same company but different policies, which always come due within weeks of each other.
ReplyDeleteHow strange it isn't adhered to right across America? The only place I know they don't require MoT's is the tiny Channel Island of Alderney, and believe me, there are some rough old cars there - or were when I visited in the early 1980s.
DeleteThe bloody bills just don't stop do they lass, ah well at last your power line photography is coming along nicely...
ReplyDeleteNo, they seem to hunt in packs John! I was quite proud of all the drops of rain on that bottom power line :)
DeleteI am curious about 'a sink corner'. Is there an actual sink there? The colors you chose are soft and restful. And the picture matches perfectly.
ReplyDeleteYes, just a tiny one as the en-suite is just like a corridor and doesn't have room for one! There were originally two BIG sinks in two of the bedrooms from the pre-bathroom days I assume.
DeletePower lines always get in the way of a good photo.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Too true.
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