A brute of a storm - definitely Dennis the Menace

I hope that you are all safe and warm and DRY as you read this, but I know that many many people are not.  Wales got hit very hard this time, and the poor residents of Pontypridd have suffered, whilst Herefordshire and Gloucestershire also have a lot of flooding and Nottinghamshire has been badly hit too.  The Scottish borders will be bearing the brunt as the storm spirals across them.  We were lucky - our river burst its banks as it often does, flooding the lane both sides of it.  Here were my photos taken around 10 a.m. this morning.

This is the little stream at the back of our house, showing no threat to our home.

Whilst out in the front pond, some chaps who don't give a damn about the rain or the storm, have been making merry . . .

Gloucester Cathedral - Part 1

After planning to visit Gloucester Cathedral for the past year, various things have got in the way, including flooding.  Glad we didn't plan to go this weekend as Storm Dennis is out there causing havoc  and believe me, he is packing a lot more punch than Storm Ciara did last weekend.  We nipped into town first thing before he really arrived, but now we are glad to be hunkered down in the warm.  The river was rising as we came back along the bottom lane and I know there is a storm warning along the Carmarthenshire coastline.  We will see how bad things are in the news tonight and tomorrow.  Keep safe everyone, especially those poor souls up in the Calder Valley in Yorkshire and anyone living near any river.

This monument is dedicated to the memory of John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, murdered for his Protestant beliefs by Bloody Mary, as explained in the panels below.  An horrific day in Gloucester's history.

This is the entrance we went through to the Cathedral.

As you can see, the architecture is stunning.

A long row of Saints, but I don't know which ones.  HERE is the Wikipedia entry for the Cathedral which will give you its history.

Gloucester Cathedral is also famous for one of the Harry Potter films being filmed here (1st, 2nd and 6th) - you may remember that the Cloisters featured.

Such a sad memorial to the children of one family - some made it to their 20s before dieing . . .

Finally, before we set off my husband called me back into the house (I'd gone to start the car) and gave me a package.  A couple of months ago I had chosen a replacement wedding ring as my old one had worn very thin and sharp.  This Celtic triquetra design was the one I fell in love with . . . isn't it beautiful?  Many thanks to daughter G for her input . . .

St Fagans, part II

These two photos are the interior of the Medieval church at St Fagans.  I have taken better ones on other visits, but this time the place was full of school children, so we didn't linger!

This lovely old 15th C farmhouse (with the beasts having been kept in the lower portion) relied on the light from a couple of small windows only.  You can see how gloomy days must have been in mid-winter - almost indistinguishable from nights!

A couple of interiors from elsewhere (I forgot to take a photo of the outside of the house or the info on it.)  I love the Welsh quilt below.

Above, the kitchen at the Elizabethan manor house of St Fagans.  You weren't meant to take photos but I couldn't see that one of the kitchen was going to hurt anything . . .

Finally, another sign of spring with these leaves of the Lords and Ladies bursting through the leaves.

All for now as absolutely shattered after driving to Gloucester and back yesterday.  Cathedral photos tomorrow.

Day out in Cardiff

Yesterday middle daughter needed rescuing from the garage at Bridgend where her car was in for repair for the day.  So Tam and I scooped her up and we went to St Fagan's for the morning.  Tell the truth, Gabby would rather have been somewhere warm and without old buildings to look at, but she survived to tell the tale!

I love these straw bee skeps tucked away in the specially-built alcove.  I suspect they are not welcoming to bees in the summer, which would be just as well with so many visitors.

Inside the house, and below, a photo of a lovely old comb back Windsor chair for my husband's delight.

The parlour, I believe this is.

Last time we were there (2018?) they were still working on this.  It is magnificent inside.

This is the smaller building on the left, with plank and muntin walls, and deemed the kitchen.

A long view of the interior of the main building.

Two long trestle tables were laid out with the accoutrements for feasting, as below:

I liked the way the tablecloth was printed with explanatory notes . . .

Not sure how that filled that water holder - I should imagine the front of his face dropped down and was then clipped back in place.

This jug would take some lifting when full. 

Some splendid and very colourful stitchery here.

This was the Bodyguard's end of the table. 

Finally the painted window embrasure (of course, the wall surround is actually flat!)

After the storm . . .

Photo of the R. Cothi in spate (one spring, judging by the leaves on the trees.)   It was almost definitely about the same level yesterday.

Well , THAT was a wild and woolly weekend!  Storm Ciara arrived like an express train and lasted for far longer than she was welcome.  I didn't sleep from 1.15 a.m. onwards on Saturday night as it was so noisy, I was too hot in bed and the arthritic bit in my neck was giving me gip because I had been bending over some x-stitch.

We had a Fair booked for Sunday.  The alarm was set for 5.15 a.m. so we could "take a rain check" so to speak.  Outside it was wet and windy but we thought our journey to a Fair was "doable", as indeed it turned out to be.  Trees down - but on the other side of the road - and lots of debris about, some bits of dead branch hurled into the ground like javelins.  There was standing water in parts too.  However, we got there, set up and I got my first soaking just from parking the car half a mile away.  Lots of people had cancelled at the last minute (the sensible ones?) but lots, like us, had braved the weather, including several friends of ours from Pembrokeshire (one had to get up at 3 a.m. to set off at 4).

It started off quiet but then the Fair got very busy and we had customers.  In fact, it was like the good old days and it was very worth while going.  We are trying to get rid of old stock and yesterday was good for that.

The building we were in was peppered with leaks and there was a little collection of dustbins collecting water in one area.  As the day went on, fusillades of hail pounded the roof and it was incredibly noisy with the storm ripping yet more tiles from the roof.  Someone's going to have a bit of a repair bill!

Driving home in the daylight gave us some idea of how the area had been hit by the storm, and there were a lot more roadside trees down (but dealt with).  There was standing water on the roads, and pouring pinkly (the area has red soil) from gateways and through hedges.  In one muddy field, sheep were stood hunched up, pale pink from the soil, in a deep pink gloop of mud.  They looked thoroughly fed up.  The rain, when it lessened a little, was picked up and spun by the wind, like lace curtains in an open window.  The lower fields beside rivers were either under river water or so saturated with rain that they became lakes.  The roadside river was the colour of a mug of cocoa.

When we got home, we watched the news and saw terrible flooding in the Calder Valley (where due to the geography, most homes and businesses are of course in the valley bottoms . . .)  Then the moment the back wall of a riverside guest  house in Hawick was undercut by the floodwater and collapsed into it.  Dreadful flooding up in Cumbria too and other parts of the country suffering.

We drove home the top way as we thought our river might be across the bottom lane (I think the river was just about inside the banks at that point).  

Now I am waiting for BT to come out and replace our Home Hub.  We have had problems with the line and broadband for weeks but two previous visits to our home have not happened.  If this one doesn't I shall tell BT where to get off as there are two local companies who now supply super-fast wi-fi broadband to homes along the Towy valley, and at the present Tam has set up her spare mobile in the window and that is giving me 5 - 6 Mb/s . . .

They are calling Ciara the "storm of the century" - I am sure there have been - and probably will be - worse.  1987 springs to mind - that was definitely much worse.

A frosty start

Looking out to the top field from the sewing room window.

Having said we haven't had much frost this winter, we are having a spell of it now.  This morning I didn't think twice about putting the central heating on the moment we got up.  Normally we just have the heating on for an hour (when both of us are up) in the morning, but if we are going out, we don't bother.  We keep warm in the day by keeping busy, but when we were laid up last month with the "bit of a cold" we lit the wood burner.  Normally it would be lit late afternoon.

Across the stables to the wood beyond.  The little catkins on the hazel tree got a shock last night.

I'm still getting used to the gap where the 3 Ash trees were.   Cutting those up is a job for a dry - and warmer - day.

Today we continue to help Danny move flats from Carmarthen to Swansea, where he has the top attic rooms in a turn of the century terrace house on a quiet road.  Just a 10 minute walk to work, so he will be able to lie in.  As he works in Swansea, the travelling was getting him down and costing some as he had to catch the train to and from work.

We also have the plumber coming out this morning to deal with a minor leak.  I shall stay here to deal with that, but Keith and Danny will be back late morning with D's washing machine and couple of small bits of furniture.  My job this morning is to clear the back place - move everything off the shelving etc - so that it can be moved and the washing machine put where we used to have one, years ago.

I need to get the final coat of paint on the window in the blue bedroom.  Painting the aperture white and the window paintwork in the palest of pale greys (barely noticable) has brightened it up no end.

Tam is back tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to.

Wrist on the mend and I hope to be able to drive by Sunday.

Sad news about Kirk Douglas dieing, but 103 is a wonderful age to get to.  2nd gear in that chariot on the bends now Kirk, 2nd gear . . .