All bets are cancelled

Sadly, just as I was going up to bed last night, I checked my emails.  I had one from our estate agent, saying the viewers loved our house, it was so friendly and welcoming, but they are now inclined towards one of the ones they saw on Tuesday.

I have to say, being given hope (they intimated they would be in touch with an offer) and then having it snatched away is depressing - especially as we had found a property which ticked EVERY box and were intending to go and view first thing in the New Year.  Ah well, we'll just put it behind us and look forward to a wonderful family Christmas.

Well, they liked it. . .

Well the viewing has taken place.  They liked it, and mentioned it was the top of their list, and several of the others they had down to view were just makeweights.  In fact, one cancelled (or they cancelled it) and they phoned up (I'd given them my card) asking to view again the same afternoon.  They were inclined to linger, they were full of plans for the house and garden.  I am hopeful.  We shall see.  I will keep you posted.  I'm trying to keep calm and not raise my hopes to much - many a slip twixt cup and lip, as the old saying goes.

Here is the wreath I made the previous day, intending to hang it on the front door, but it never made it so stayed in the kitchen beside the inglenook, looking festive.  The little dangly baubles came from the Old Railway Line Nurseries at Three Cocks, between Brecon and Hay.  Oh My Goodness - WHAT a tempting display of hundreds of gorgeous Christmassy must-haves.  It was a wonder I just spent £10 - I could have easily added a nought to that!

I've been sat up in my office with the curtains open, looking out into the darkness, and wishing Eldest Daughter and her boyfriend (and cat!) would arrive SOON.  The minute I went downstairs to cook K's meal (we're having stir fry, NOT his sort of food) they turned up.  Phew.  I am a terrible worrywort as I get older and this was T's first long drive with her car - she passed her test at the beginning of the month.  It is taking some adjusting from a diesel car which she learned to drive in to a petrol one, but I am sure it will soon be second nature.

Talking of driving, we went into town today to get the various joints of meat for Christmas, and the ingredients for the Raised Game Pie I am planning for Boxing Day.  As we were waiting at the traffic lights where you leave the Tesco car park, there was some really stupid driving - people just driving across the lights, with a pile of cars in front of them backed up from the next roundabout and we missed one whole set of light changes because we were blocked in. Cretinous driving.  Hah - can't you tell I'm getting older - you should hear me on the subject of headlights, and indicating!

Right, I will go downstairs and sort out a meal for the rest of us, and be back in the morning with some Christmas extracts from a lovely Alison Uttley book I got in Hay recently - Plowmen's Clocks, absolutely delightful.  

Moving on

Thank you all for thinking of me on Friday.  It wasn't easy - I knew it wouldn't be.  When my daughter and I were sat in a little italian coffee shop in Highcliffe beforehand, I was dreading it.  Once we got there though, there were lots of familiar faces - she had a good turn out - and a horsey friend of Tricia's whose pony has shared a field with Tricia's pony for quite a few years now, dyed her hair bright pink in memory of Trish (whose hair turned white very early and so she always jazzed it up with pink or purple flashes.)

I sat by two old school friends of mine (Lin and Hilary) who knew Trish from their teenage years and I'd not seen Hilary since we were 21, but knew her instantly.

It was a lovely humanist ceremony and the man who gave the reading about Tricia's life was really good at his job.  Tricia's husband John had chosen 3 tracks by Curtis Stigers, who was Tricia's favourite musician.  I hadn't read the final line of the programme, so I was totally unprepared when Knights in White Satin began to play.  I had just about held it together up to that point (by dint of biting the inside of my lip and trying not to let my breathing get shallow.) Much nose blowing though, as tears will out and come down your nose if you deny them liberty from your eyes.  That particular song just finished me though - we played it in her bedroom for hours on end (her poor parents must have got sick of it - I know her sister did!)  I was glad when we were out in the fresh air and everyone walked across the grounds to put Tricia's ashes in the place they had chosen.

It was a perfect spot, in a little private bit of wild woodland away from the main burial area.  Birds were singing (in December!) and although I didn't see it, there was a squirrel in the oak tree and her sister said that the squirrel had been there when they had chosen that tree as the focus for the ceremony.  I am glad that the funeral is now behind me, and we can all move on, grieving in our own ways.   

G is based in Portsmouth now, and below are a few photographs from inside Gunwharf Quays.  As you can see, it is all dazzling with Christmas lights - the Father Christmas and his reindeer were spectacular at night.

Sorry, I have run out of time as I need an early night for a very early start tomorrow to finish the last jobs and get sorted before our house viewers turn up.  Positive thoughts from 10 a.m. onwards please . . .

The Spinnaker is very impressive.

Off to Hampshire in the morning

Sorry to be absent, but I have had a busy time of things this past week, as we have our viewing next Monday, and I am losing three days because of going down to Hampshire for Tricia's funeral on Friday.  I'm dreading it as seeing her family upset is going to have me the same way, and I shall be glad when it has taken place and we can all move on.  I am very grateful to our middle daughter G for providing me a bed whilst I am down there, and for accompanying me to the funeral and driving us in a hire car.

Anyway, the redecorating is now done, and the front hall is the same creamy yellow as the kitchen, and there is just a tiny bit of touching up on a filled crack in the shower room wall.

Today was Tackle the Junk Room day, and I am glad to have . . . most . . . of that done.  Just needs another 15 mins or so in there on Sunday to rejig the left hand side.

The tree is set up and dressed and looks very pretty.  I will try and get a decent photo of it, meanwhile you will have to make do with a photo of Molly Mouse (or is she a rat?!) and her boyfriend Tommy, who I couldn't resist when shopping in TK-Maxx again last week.

You probably won't be at all surprised to find that I have walked over 5 miles around the house in all my sorting out and tidying up today.

I am fast running out of time to get ready for Christmas, but once the viewing has happened on Monday - and I really DO hope it takes place, as we have had 3 cancellations out of 4 booked "viewings" in the past year, so I am not holding my breath - then I can get presents wrapped and sort out a food shopping list.

The meals will be fairly standard this year - turkey instead of venison for Christmas Day, a Raised Game Pie for Boxing Day, so I will blow the dust off my Elizabethan style Raised Pie tin, and probably a Ham too, as we have our eldest daughter's boyfriend coming to stay this Christmas too.  I haven't made a single mince pie yet, or made a Christmas cake, or done any baking in advance, or . . . ah well, I think the kitchen is going to be red hot next week.

I'll be back on Saturday night, so hopefully will find five minutes to post.  I hope you are all more organized than I am for the Big Day . . .

Mymydd-y-Gwair walk - a few more photos

Madness here today, as we have a viewing of our house in a week's time and I am still busy redecorating, tidying etc etc.  SO much to do.  A few photos here which have taken forever to load.  Some archaeology for you - but all industrial I think, although from where I was standing the banks above were fairly circular and could have been a robbed-out cairn . . . or a pond . . . or a henge!! (Hah to the last!!)

Fair amount of bank left . . . and a lovely view.

Water-holding pond, which was in association with a couple of others not holding water any longer.

Fabulous views in all directions . . .  We plan to walk the ridge on another day.

Sour acid soils extending down into the valley bottoms.  Tussock grass much in evidence. Just out of sight to the left, coal mining was carried out into the past century.

I loved the sun lighting up these rushes.  Just below this trackway was a flatter track which was probably something to do with the industrial history of the valley, and below is the entrance to an old adit which led to one of the pit faces, some 3 miles away, underground.  Quite a walk to work.

One last photo showing the sun on the mossy oak branches.  Magic.  Now I must wield my paintbrush in earnest . . .

Yellow dandruff and a lovely walk . . .

My dear friend Deb suggested a walk today.  I needed a break from painting the kitchen so I joined her up on the mynydd above Pontardulais.  Isn't it beautiful?

We have another walk planned along this bridleway half way up the side of this hill - and a further one along the TOP of it!  I can't wait.  As you can see, the sun came out for us and it was SO warm for December.

Up on the top, looking across at the little homesteads spread out in the landscape.  There will be LOTS more photos tomorrow, but meanwhile I shall leave you with the current state of play in the kitchen - which has jackets abandoned on every chair, (mostly my husband's!), cat towels on all the chairs as they keep bringing their muddy paws in, and chaos everywhere.  One more wall to do now.

See what I mean?!  The painting is the reason for the yellow dandruff!!

There will be an "AFTER" picture . . .

Christmas is coming . . .

It has been frosty this week, but now has warmed up quite a bit and I think rain is forecast.  Here (before I forget which folder they were in) is another frosty picture to start things off.  From 2014 - a Copper Beech near Allt-y-Gog, Whitemill.

As you can see, I had another weak moment in TK-Maxx and this little chap came home to help make Christmas special in our household.  A nice Torquay pottery tray to his right, and my favourite beautifully-decorated big vase (Torquay or possibly Exeter Pottery) behind him.

We have been standing at the Militaria Fair at Brecon today.  On the way home we stopped for some Festive Cheer at Trecastle Antiques Centre.  Whilst my OH had a cup of tea, I nursed a rather large glass of alcoholic punch (yummy it was) and we munched mince pies and looked round at what was on offer.  The green of this lovely 1930s  jelly mould caught my eye (I am having a Green Moment in my kitchen at the moment, for ceramics and enamel items).  It doesn't all match exactly but most of the shades are near enough, when not under direct light or flash . . .  I just HAD to have this mould because . . .

it was made by Bovey Pottery.  Now, Bovey Tracey is where my dad grew up, so of course, I couldn't leave this lovely piece in the shop.  I intend to use it regularly as it is ready to go, as they say, and will give a lovely design to the jelly.

This is Phil Rickman writing in 2001 as Will Kingdom.  The main characters in this book are the same as in The Cold Calling, which is the book of his I downloaded to my Kindle and read at top speed last week.  It is good to see DI Bobby Maiden, the American Grayle Underwood,  Marcus Bacton who runs an ailing paranormal journal and the end-of-the-pier entertainer Cindy Mars-Lewis back in action again.

I blew the dust off some of my Christmas cookery magazines yesterday.  Somewhat baking-orientated, as you can see.  I keep these magazines for years and years and dust them off annually.

Finally, a first for Ynyswen - outside Christmas lights - they were reduced in Tesco yesterday to half price (£7.50), so I thought I would invest in these frosted berry lights.  If nothing else, they help light the way to the car when it is pitch black and we have an early start . . .

So, another fair under our belt, and it was good to catch up with old friends again.  On the way home, the shadows were lengthening across the fields, and the mountains smudged by mist although the road home was still bathed in sunshine.  The last bit of narrow lanes down our valley side held the last sunlight as it sank behind the trees and the mossy central stripe down the lane was emerald and orange, just as it had been white with frost a few evenings earlier as we made our way homewards.

It is nearly the shortest day now and already I have spotted catkins on a small hazel bush at the top of our yard.  Think positive, after winter comes the spring!