BRRRRRRRRR! The first proper frost of winter

 

This morning we woke up to the first cold snap of the winter and the first really hard frost of several winters I think.  Mild and wet has been the order of the day here in recent times.  Here is the view across the bottom of the yard into the edge of the field where there was an Iron Age enclosure (until Next Door "modified" it with a bulldozer.  

A corner of our paddock, which is about half an acre, but still larger than the little corner for the planned Orchard and wildlife area at our new home.  There the house and stables and garden stand in probably just under an acre with a big fishless pond which the wildlife love.  I'm looking forward to seeing what birds we will be feeding.  I wish I could feed the ones here, as always, but I don't know if the new people would be doing that, so don't want to get them to rely on feeders, only to have them removed.

I've just had two more or less resting days (watching the racing!) although I did some sofa cooking when I brought in a big wok full of windfall apples to peel, core and chop and then cook up yesterday. On Friday it was sofa baking, and I mixed a Lemon Drizzle cake.  My dear friend of more than 50 years has sent me The White Ship by Charles Spencer (as in Diana's brother) which I am looking forward to settling down with in a quiet moment.  Having read the Eleanor of Aquitane books recently, this dovetails in well.

Having nagged Keith to walk more, I now need to do the same as my steps are down this week, partly due to wet weather.  Today I have NO excuse but will wait until it warms up a bit.  I think this is a pan of soup day so will see what vegetable goodies I have in the freezer shortly.

Not a lot is happening at the moment, it's a case of plodding on really.  Putting this away, that out for the Charity shop etc.

 

    I hope we are at the final hurdle with the selling queries now, though I will not bet on it all going forwards without a hitch . . .  going from recent experiences as our buyer is just a trifle demanding.

    Now we are waiting to hear from the Removal company about when we can collect boxes and packaging.   Communication is not their strong point and it is VERY frustrating as you can't get through by phone and they have been lax at answering emails.

    Christmas is going to be something of an afterthought this year.  We have got some of the Christmas decorations down and put a couple of bits of tinsel up so far but as we always have a real tree I don't like to get it too early or it will be bald by Boxing Day!  We had a Nordman Fir last year and that must have been "old stock" as it dropped, and I've never known them do that before.

Hah - the view was meant to be the thing in focus through this cannon hole at the castle the other day!

Socially distanced cats - and Lemon Pudding

 Here is the rather scrumptious Lemon Pudding (slightly scorched) which I was persuaded to make the other day.  Here is the recipe:

LEMON PUDDING

Preheat oven to 170 deg. C/325 deg F/Gas mark 3

4oz (100/125g) sugar

2 oz (50g) butter or margarine

1tblspn boiling water

2 oz (50g) plain flour

Juice and grated rind of one large lemon

2 eggs, separated

8 fl oz (225 ml) milk

Cream the sugar and butter, adding the tablespoon of water to make the mixture workable.  Stir in the flour and lemon juice and zest.  Whisk the egg yolks in the milk and add, a little at a time, to the creamed mixture.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.

Pour the pudding into a buttered 2 pt (1.1 litre) pie dish and stand in a roasting tin half filled with warm water.  Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes.  Serve hot on its own or cold with a little cream (or ice cream).  The light topping covers a lemon curd base when cut and is delicious.

    The recipe comes from Farmhouse Cookery (Reader's Digest) - a book I have had for many years.

Here are Sam and Miffy, doing Socially Distanced Hunting in the paddock!

    Sam is being a proper PITA right now.  He is the biggest of all the cats here, and he knows it.  He tries to bully the indoor cats - he knows all about cat flaps and is our weather Barometer as he will come inside when it is the least bit inclement.  He makes sure that he sleeps for a time on every seat/place beloved of the indoor cats, and has been found upstairs on a pair of jeans left on the hall coffer, or a favourite windowseat.  Little Whale and Theo are stressed by this.  Little Whale didn't seem to mind until recently so there must have been a spat in the night and a change in the pecking order and we have had a territory marking in the back hall, which I can well do without.  Girl cats NEVER do this!  All our cats are neutered, but even so, we do not want "calling cards" thank you very much.  We will be glad when we have moved and are just down to the four house cats and Sam stays here.

    Now it is time to put some slap on and go to the PO, and yes, I am vain, or not confident in my skin - I always put some eye makeup on when I go out.  Just makes me feel like me, I suppose.

Plodding on

 

The sky this morning reminded me a scene from Gone With the Wind. It was amazing.  I rushed quickly to the craft room window to get a few shots before the colours faded.

Today has been another busy day - Llandeilo again for an Optician's appt. for Keith, then back and load the car for tomorrow's Trip to the Tip.  Mostly mirrors today, all of them barone, heavy.  A giant piece of foam.  More scrap metal.  More bits of plastic.  Getting there.

    Then I tired myself out by sweeping up leaves in the stable yard, and taking 2 or 3 barrowloads to the bank of the stream, along with yet another barrowload of bruised windfall apples.  It seems never-ending. 

    I managed to sit down and watch an Escape to the Country (a repeat, and one I had seen before), and I did some "sofa baking" which means I combined the ingredients for - in this case a Lemon Pudding - whilst sat on the sofa.  The egg whites took ages to whip, but worthwhile as the Lemon Pudding just floats on top of a wonderful lemon curd sauce.  I had promised it to Tam for her birthday - then ran out of time - so made it today instead.

    This won't do.  Off to go downstairs and rest but I think I shall be asleep before long tonight!

    

Friends

 

Carreg Cennen Castle

I had a phone call from an old friend yesterday - we had lost touch when she had changed her mobile number and now we are no longer going to Malvern, we couldn't pop in and say hello on the way back, so it's been two years since we spoke.  You would think it was yesterday when we last met up and we just carried on our conversation!  Good friends, really good friends, are like that.  It cheered me up no end and we look forward to meeting again when it is safe to do so.

Our other more local friends, P & D, are kindly storing my Fair china for me as I was worried about it getting damaged in the main move.  I have bribed them with Lemon Drizzle Cake, but there will be a better "thankyou" later on.

View from Carreg Cennen car park

Today Tam and I had to take some more "stuff" to the Green charity shop in Llandeilo, and after that we went on to Carreg Cennen, which is just 4 or so miles away, at Trapp.  We had a slow walk up to and around the castle - we were the only ones there, and it was lovely to have the place to ourselves.  Lots of photos were taken but I shall use most of them for future postings.

The selling shennanigans carry on - one step forward and often two back.  We have to take a deep breath when that happens.  We will get there . . . eventually.

Fed up with channelling Worried!

 I've not been enjoying this week very much - I have been channelling "worried" like no tomorrow.  We thought we were all booked and ready to roll with our removal when we had a completion date, but no end of emails to the removal chappies bore fruit.  Eventually we had a phone call in reply to one and we asked for the invoice so we could pay, as we thought until we had one we weren't properly booked in, but still nothing.  Last night at midnight I woke and my brain was hurtling round like a psycho rabbit and worrying about the move.  Did they regret the price they had given us, did they want the offer to expire and then they could withdraw?  Were all the boxes of books a REAL issue? I had been trying to get an invoice for nearly a month after all!  It was Looking Dodgy to me, especially after I had been awake for hours.

A faint rainbow from the other day.

Anyway, my head was NOT in a good place this morning and I went nutso with work (how I cope with stress) and removed another 3 big boxes of books from the Junk Room bookshelves.  I put another dozen historical novels (Barbara Erskine and Philippa Gregory) in a book-bag for my friend.  She can keep the Barbara Erskine and baby sit the Philippa Gregory books, which I will have back when we are settled in our new home.  I spent half the afternoon, whilst watching the racing, going through my boxes of stock, and properly wrapping the contents, and removing any treen or leather pieces which might be damaged if stored in a barn.  The same friend will look after the boxes of stock until we have moved too.  Less chance of china being damaged in transit when we move it ourselves later.

    I also cleaned the car, which had been filthy for ages.  It's going in for MoT soon and green algae around the headlights isn't a good look! Keith always power washes it underneath at the garage, but doesn't really clean the body work, just a quick swoosh over the windows before he's finished!  We have never been clean-the-car-on-a-Sunday-morning sort of people . . . more do it when absolutely necessary.

    Whilst I was out there I set about picking up windfall apples, and raking leaves up from beside the path - that took 4 barrowloads to clear it! and there are still plenty of apples under the tree (for the birds).  Tomorrow it will be the windfalls under the cooking apple tree.

Another pic from the other day showing the river flooding the Towy Valley.

    Anyway, I have had a good chat with a friend of mine (we started off as penpals 50 years ago, then became meet-up friends) and that's set the world to rights too.  

    Hoping that we can get lots more done over the weekend.  Another load of junk went to the Tip on Thursday again and we are hoping there is just one more visit down there.  I have books, blankets and odds and sods booked in at the charity shop on Monday, so we are slowly getting there.

    Enjoy your weekend.

A Primrose in November

 Tam and I went for a short walk up the hill today and were amazed to find a Primrose in flower on a bank!  It was the only one, and had we walked around Colomendy (where we have seen them well in bloom on a mild Christmas Day before) we might have seen more.  Tam took the photo on her phone, and I think it could be sideways, but you get the gist anyway.  A little ray of hope to remind us that the shortest day is not too far away now.  Less than a month.

The morning was spent fielding email questions from Solicitors, seller's agent, etc and as I answered one, another would arrive!, but we're hopefully getting there now.

    This afternoon we loaded up the car for yet another Trip to the Tip (No. 6 I believe) and there will be another (hopefully FINAL) one next week, mainly of old mirrors.

    Our evening meal was Kedgeree, which is always one of my favourites.

    Only one box packed today, which was the contents of a small chest we had offered for sale at the last couple of Fairs, but which were mostly treen and metalware, so could take their chances in one of our normal plastic boxes used for Fairs.  Now the wooden one can have two favourite ceramic vases put in it, wrapped in bubble wrap and then a quilt.

These are the vases, and they are tall and breakable!  The photos in the middle are my lovely horse Fahly.

Below: It is beginning to look very bare in places:

A couple of beautiful plates and a corner of a Black Chintz cup (I have 3 different ones) and the top rim of an old Burleyware jug which came from one of Keith's aunties.  These are all packed away now but once we have moved will be back in pride of place on theArts & Crafts dresser. The little flowers and ferns plate has a big brother in the shape of a meat plate.

Finally, the current reading downstairs.

Tired on Tuesday

 This is the dresser which is now being offered for sale (on a well-known public auction site). Minus all the collectables on it of course and my cupboard contents.  Beneath the white chalk paint it is solid mahogany, even the drawer sides and back.  I expect someone thought it was "too brown" and painted it, before I bought it from a trading friend in Hay-on-Wye.  If it doesn't sell, we will have to try and shoe-horn it in somewhere in the new house.

    I was looking for an old photo of the Arts & Crafts dresser we're keeping, all dressed up, but cannot for the life of me find one with all the Royal Doulton plates and pieces on it.  I will have to take one of it "bare" tomorrow.

    After a dental check up first thing (our first in a year) Keith and I came home and he and Tam started sorting out stuff for another Bonfire outside, and I did necessary emails/phone calls, but didn't get the reply from our Solicitor until very late in the day.

    I am trying to get all my boxes of stock from the back of the junk room to the front of the hall so I can take them to some friends locally who have offered to look after it for us, so we can collect it once we have moved.  That way it all stays together and doesn't get confused with all the other boxes. I also took down all the jugs from the beam and the dressers, washed them, and any "dented" ones are going to the Charity shop this week. This seemed to take longer than anticipated.

    Tam and I got some fresh air when we had a walk down along by the river - we wanted to have a nose at the progress on the demolishing of the lane, which started to happen this morning - I was REALLY shocked to see a digger at work!  We were taking bets on whether it was going to be 18 mths or 2 yrs before work started!

    I finished one book today (Copsford, thanks Sue in Suffolk for the heads up on that one) and am now re-reading another.  Photos tomorrow.