Monday, Mail and Me - Just a bill, nothing to see here

We didn't think much of the weather as we tootled off for our ride on Saturday. It was cloudy and dull and very slightly oppressive. The weatherman said it would brighten up by 10am but once again he got it wrong.Somehow we found ourselves going across the mountain from Ebbw Vale to Llangunyder so that we could go over the very narrow bridge and on up the hill to the Venison Centre for a good cuppa. 

The view from the mountain was shut. Somewhere I have a picture of this bit of road without the curtain of cloud and you can see for miles. We had this same thing happen when we went up Snowdon - the view was shut there too. 

 We asked Ms Satnav to take us from Builth Wells (we arrived there because a nasty driver in front of us turned left where we were nearly going and as he had really made Mr M a bit cross we turned right) to Leominster. She took us across a small road we had never been on and in a huge circle back to Builth Wells so we went to Talgarth instead. The idea was to get a bite of lunch and a cuppa at the Talgarth Mill. It was full. The menu on the board wasn't that appetising for someone like me who doesn't care much for vegetation that makes her break out in what are, I believe, called Hives. We watched for a moment as the lady carefully wiped three items off the menu and then we went back out, crossed the road to the Co-op supermarket and bought sandwiches, a container each of pineapple and a bottle of water each. We sat in the car and ate them with great satisfaction and I managed to get a quick snap of a pied wagtail as he had a drink from the stream.

Then we came home and got the meat out of the freezer for our Sunday dinner with Miss Boo, Mummy and Daddy. That was lovely. I put the meat (Hoggett lamb) in on a low heat in the morning and left it to cook gently for most of the day. Mummy cooked the vegetables and provided the pudding and we ate at around 7pm. It was good to sit and relax and talk. Miss Boo sat next to her Grandpa and we were all able to laugh and chat. Then I was able to go sit in my chair and elevate my legs while they cleared the table.
The only mail I had this week was a bill so nothing to share.

My thanks to Sian for inventing this meme and keeping me writing - and taking pictures.

Monday, MAil and Me - Yarn and trousis have arrived!

We do like our days out. I get to snap pictures and Mr M gets to indulge in his hobby of driving. This time he turned left and headed deeper into Wales. Sometimes we take the coast road, which takes us through Cardiff and on to Penarth then out into the wilds of Glamorgan.

 We have driven past Ewenny Pottery many times but this time I recognised the road and said "OOH, Ewenny Pottery" "Do you want to stop?" he asked "Yes, please". So we did. I already have a little vase from there that was given to me about 50 years ago but I might have bought a present for someone there this time

 We headed onwards to Franco's in Aberavon. They do small portions! yes, look at the size of that fish. That's a small portion. I managed to eat the fish, the peas and one onion ring. The chips I had to leave. Mr M had Cow pie, mushy peas and chips He ate all of his and one onion ring so they gave us a container to bring the others home. They are just so delicious!

 We arrived in Swansea and needed fuel so that meant Morrisons. We asked Ms Satnav

 "The route has been calculated, please follow the highlighted route to your destination" She is very polite

 Then we headed to the Gower. Paused at a traffic light and saw that the Sketty sign was still there - one mile and half a furlong - isn't that just so cute?

 We sat on the bench looking down across the beach in Port Eynon. We had icecream... correction I had icecream while Mr M had a lolly a fruit pastille lolly. probably laden with sugar but we weren't going to eat for quite a while and that's our excuse

Mr M said this is a cartoon road, I kind of expected to see RoadRunner heading towards us. By the time we had negotiated our way back off the Gower we were ready to go home so we said thank you to Ms Satnav and turned her off, then headed up the M4 getting home just before the eastbound Tunnel was closed. By the time we had made a cuppa and sat down the traffic was stacking up outside the house so our timing was excellent

Mail? oh yes. I forgot to take pictures of my new trousis (I only had to shorten them by an inch ) and my yarn is already being made into ... things for gifts for people for birthdays perhaps or maybe for Christmas, my lips are sealed

My thanks to Sian for inventing this meme and keeping me writing

Monday, Mail and Me - dispatched but not received

Not much mail this week and all of it seemed to be for YS

 It rained! The garden was so grateful and when I opened the window to take a picture of the raindrop on the honeysuckle I swear I could hear the ground sucking in the moisture. I am quite proud of my picture because I was standing still when I took it - so unusual.

 We went out to a garden centre on Saturday. Now keep in mind that we live in south-east Wales and we were, I thought, just popping out to the Wyevale down the road. We went to Cadbury Garden Centre in Congresbury. That's over 'The Bridge' in England. Mr M had a plan you see, because he had a voucher (or a vulture as YS said when he was six) for 30% off at any Hungry Horse pub.

 So we went to Cadbury, bought a trowel and some new gloves as the old ones had gone mouldy during the winter, and some pretty flowers and two cucumber plants for me to kill try and nurture. Then we went to The Super Mare for an early lunch. I had the scampi and he had the giant gammon. I didn't eat the fries. I seem to have trained my stomach to accept smaller portions these days so I leave the fries until last and as soon as I feel full I stop.

 We then came home via Gloucester ... actually we didn't stop in Gloucester we carried on past and then stopped in another garden centre where they do a fantastic cup of coffee and, so Mr M says, a lovely cup of tea. We like the way they bring the milk to the table in little stoppered bottles. Excellent when it is summertime and the flies get into everything.

As we were on the homeward stretch we saw this car and it didn't seem to have a driver. I wasn't able to get a clear view but there was no sign of a head on the driver's side.
When we managed to pass him a little further on it was a tiny little man who was peering through the gap in the steering wheel with his eyes just above the dashboard. I am so glad we don't want a wedding car.

Dispatched but not received? That's my yarn order and the trousis order. I bought some sock yarn for a scarf pattern that I like it was dispatched on Tuesday but hasn't arrived. Curses on the Royal Mail!
I also ordered some lightweight trousers for the summer and they haven't arrived either. Fingers crossed for this week

My thanks to Sian for keeping me writing

Monday, Mail and Me - The things we see

Let me say right away that the mail bit is a distinct fail bit as there were no letters or anything exciting in my mail last week. 

However, we did manage a little ride around on Sunday. We all have hobbies don't we? Mine is choosing which pictures to use and then cutting and sticking pits of paper onto other bits of paper and telling the story of our life together in a scrapbook. Mr M likes driving. Sometimes we go out and he will drive 200 miles while we talk and point things out to each other, and talk and talk and talk. There is never enough time to say all we want to.

I practise my 40mph photography while Mr M drives - perfect.

 He is pointing at the fruit trees in blossom and telling me to "Look at that mistletoe, even on such young trees"

 We somehow found ourselves in Leominster so we paused for lunch at the OK Diner and I saw this gentleman through the window. I think the hairstyle suits him. He had the look of someone who had adopted that style some time in the early 1960s and never needed to change

This was a quick snap of a suicidal motorcyclist. Actually there were four of them who all crossed the double white lines to over take us and the cars in front. Motor cyclists wonder why they get a bad press. This, this is why. They put their lives at risk and the lives of everyone else in this line of cars and for what? To arrive at the cafe 30 seconds before we do. We took the next left because we couldn't face the thought of being stuck in a traffic jam while they scraped them up off the road. This meant we travelled a different route and saw some very pretty places - camera totally forgotten as we admired the scenery.

My thanks to Sian for inventing this meme and keeping me writing

Monday, Mail and Me - Friends make everything brighter

We went out for a little ride and took some special People with us. Yeah, yeah I hear you say. So what, you've done that before. The thing is the lovely lady in these pictures in only now getting back to reasonable health after a ten year battle to wean her body from its addiction to topical steroid creams. You know the sort that doctors prescribe for just about any skin condition? well they darn near killed her and the withdrawal caused adrenal failure and goodness knows what else. We thought we would lose her but she is a fighter and after several years being bedridden and blind she is now rebuilding her life and getting back to her art. She is always a joy to be with and now her health is improving slowly we can go out and do stuff!

 This is Newent. There used to be a lovely little museum in "the Shambles" but now it is no longer a museum and the shops are real shops that sell stuff. We wanted to show them the museum but we settled for looking at the shops. I might have bought some yarn.

 On to Clive's Fruit Farm where we had tea, coffee and cake before I popped into the shop and collected the Ham Hocks from the butcher and also a few other bits and pieces - flour and pork scratchings and a scotch egg, a minted lamb pie and a big pasty.
We then detoured to Leominster and introduced H and P to the OK Diner ( no you don't want to go there, it's not your thing... no really)

Then it was a simple thing to go home the Welsh way and to pause to take in a castle - Bronnllys Castle near Talgarth. H is doing her Rapunzel impression but she said we might have to wait a while for her hair to grow a bit more. She photographed a jackdaw's nest up there on a window ledge in the tower so we told Cadw incase they want to stop people disturbing the birds

Mr M had aching knees by this time so we stayed at the bottom of the stairs while the more intrepid adventurers went on up.

It was a delightful day out and we laughed a lot.

Mail? nope nothing to see there.

My thanks to Sian for inventing this Meme and keeping me writing