Misty Mountain

Winter Festival 2014

You know the holiday time is almost over when you find you're down to the last 2 luxury face wipes in the packet.  I had to add a drop of water to the luxury body wash himself bought me to use over the holidays in the shower this morning in order to make it last for the final three days.

It has been a good Winter Festival.  Starting with the Winter Solstice.

I wore my Winter Solsice Poncho, which I love to bits

We made one of the best Christmas dinners we've made for years.  Everything worked and tasted delicious and there were no left overs, nothing to throw away.

We spent quiet evenings by candlelight

With excellent drinks

Rose Petal Martini complete with dried edible rose petal! And himself able to drink properly for the first time for years which meant he could really enjoy the scotch I bought him and we had a splendid bottle of Running Duck red with our Christmas lunch.

We managed to make both sitting rooms look festive.  The Christmas tree always goes into the more formal sitting room so that it is out of the way of the dog and where more room can be made for it, but that always used to mean that the dog den, where we probably spend most of our time looked a little neglected so it gets the wreath and the bunting and once again I made a twig tree.

We tried to be sensible with presents this year.  Not sure we entirely managed it.  Yes that is a retro style pink radio in the first picture on this post and my new PIP Studio rucksack has been peeping into some of the crochet pictures I took for the crochet round up.

And speaking of round ups...

I'm not a great one for looking back, it tends to lead to looking back in anger and I'd really rather not but 2014 was an odd kind of year.

On the home front for us it was quite definitely the "year of the garden."  We bought this house partly because of the garden, all the trees and fruit bushes and green was the perfect balm after life in the centre of the city surrounded by nothing but bricks and neglected council trees.  But those tress and fruit bushes had become a serious problem over the years.  They were old to start with and the maintenance factor was just too high.  The idea of trying to do anything in the garden was fraught with difficulty for both of us, because just clearing the ground to be able to actually do anything resulted in two worn out middle aged hippies with chronically bad backs.  So after a couple of days wrestling with the strimmer and the branch loppers resulted in himself being flat on his back for a week I decided it was time to call in the cavalry and engage a gardener.  Best. Decision. Ever.  I had the money from last years bonus to be able to spend a few bob getting the garden into something we could manage and it was worth every penny.  It's sleeping now of course...

But it is no longer overgrown.  The path is visible and useable all the way to the top.  There is new trellis replacing the tress that had to be cut down and the bushes that we removed.  The green house has been repaired and the old shed repainted and all the borders cleared so that we can plant things.  I can stroll all the way up to the newly planted meadow at the top without having to fight my way like Livingstone through the jungle.  I love it so much!

I guess for this to be the first part of a complete round up I must mention the job.  2014 was in the end a year of tremendous change.  We moved offices in London to two grand new buildings within a short stroll of each other in Kensington and whilst the main building may have a fabulour restaurant, a bar and an indoor garden complete with swing the new IT building has the most fabulous art deco loos.  They are actually listed and cannot be changed in any way!

It's not a grat picture but I think you get the idea.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that the last 3 years at work have been far from easy.  The change of ownership of the company resulted in some changes in IT that have left most of the old legacy IT folks, myself included, feeling very battered and left some of us, again myself in particular, asking some very hard questions.  Like 'is it time to perhaps move on.'  Despite the fact that it was lovely to hear many of my colleagues from the business side telling me to please just hang on in there, and things would change, I admit I came very close to putting the house on the market and seeking employment (including significant salary drop) elsewhere.  Well two weeks before the holiday I was glad I'd stuck it out.  Changes were made at the top of IT that resulted in a lot of us heading into Christmas with much lighter hearts and a great deal more optimism about the future.  Let's hope it stays that way for a while.

On a personal note 2014 was the year of a realisation that I never expected in a million years.  A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a much younger me went through an experience I would never wish on anyone ever in a million years.  I dealt with it as best I could at the time, but I have always known that it was a big contributory factor to a lot of stuff in my life, including the breakdown of my first marriage.  I have also always known, that had what happened to me happened, say at work, I would have handled it a lot better than I did.  The fact that it all happened in a religious/church environment put everything in a different context and left me floundering.  It is strange how totally unrelated yet similar events trigger realisations that suddenly bring a level of clarity and release you never expected.  One evening after watching the news about yet another round of trials of old men on trial for sexual misconduct with young women I suddenly turned to himself and said.  "It's only just occured to me that I could go to the police about what happened at church all those years ago."  Himself grinned and replied "I wondered when you'd realise."  He then asked if I wanted to.  I don't, of course, but just knowing that I could, that men are going to prison for doing far less than what happened to me at the hands of a so called christian man, in a so called christian setting has made a boat load of difference.  I was abused by a man who should have known better and it wasn't all my fault, the way I was lead to believe it was at the time.  I truly was innocent.  I might have been a married woman, but I was innocent in so many ways and he was the sinner, the one doing wrong, the one who many years later was punished in a way, kind of, but not enough, never enough.  But... the best revenge is to live well and oh boy do I live well and I have done it all my own way, on my own nickel with himself beside me every step.  Life is pretty good here in the delapidated old farm house, half way up a mountain in the middle of rural Wales.

Well that was all a bit cathartic and probably needed saying so I will be back tomorrow with the rest of 2014 and my thoughts on the biggest happiest event of the year along with my thoughts on the world of crochet blogging and other... stuff!

Love O. xx

Waterfalls!

I decided a few weeks ago that this was to be the holiday of Welsh Waterfalls.  There are quite a few of them and we have lived here too long not to have visited at least some.  So a bit of Google research and I discovered that we live within an hour of Waterfall Country on the edge of the Brecon Beacons - so that was it, our days out were decided.  Now all we needed was some half decent weather and to be able to persuade Phaolin into the new car!  Well the weather duly obliged and we have had some splended walking days... And the dog?  Well lets just say he will get in the car with a lot of encouragement from himself and I (I bought him a hammock for the back seat) and once in, he tolerates the journey as best he can.

So last week we set out on our first waterfall adventure and headed for the Waterfalls Centre at Pontneddfechan.  Our day began early as our days usually do.  Picnics are an essential part of walking with a large dog.  We can't go 'into' cafes and you can't always guarantee that there will be outdoor tables or that pubs will deign to serve food outside even if there are, so we learned early on to take picnics and cater for ourselves.  We cooked up our standard picnic fare of sausages, (pork and leek for me, vegetarian for himself) hard boiled eggs, soft bread rolls, cheese of some kind, home grown cherry tomatoes, and something sweet, on this occasion Twix for me and an Eccles cake for himself.  And we were ready to go...

There are three fairly major waterfall walks in the area around the centre and in my usual inimitable style I decided we would try the hardest one first.  So after a quick call into the centre to buy a map and a set of guides we followed the road out of the village and up the mountain and eventually (after 3 tries) found the car park we had been advised to start from.

We were following the Four Falls trail (we actually only saw two, deciding to leave two for another visit) which is described as needing a spirit of adventure to tackle!  And I would say that was accurate!

I have a balance problem and the first thing I did when we got home after this walk was order some trekking poles off Amazon!

However, it is a truly lovely walk along the river...

 Especially for inquisitive little malamutes!

It is also a very long walk when encumbered with wobbly woman and dog... but we finally made it along the initial trail to the bridge. (More about this **** bridge in the next post!)

And stopped for a drink and a brief consult with a signpost and the map.

If there is a choice of trails I can usually be guaranteed to pick the harder one and this was no exception.  The real trail wended away from the river and up, I decided to follow the lower one along the river and left us with a steep climb over rough ground to get back up on to the right path so needless to say there are no pictures as I cannot climb and take pictures without risking serious injury and himself wasn't too keen on that.

Eventually though we made it to the first waterfall.  Sgwd Clun Gwyn is an actual fall rather than a cascade into a pool below...

There are no pictures of the falls taken from further round because the viewing area isn't exactly fenced and himself was having kittens every time I went within 3 feet of the edge.  Wobbly woman remember.

By this time the path was starting to get a little busier.  Schools are back so we were walking in the company of either other professionals taking their annual vacation or small groups of retired folks who I swear were part mountain goat!

The trail wound up through the trees...

Some of which were very interesting...

It was a really glorious day, warm but not too hot for walking.

With some interesting peeks at the views that would probably be more visible on crisp winter day.

As we tramped on through the trees we decided to bypass two of the falls that required a detour off the main track that the sign said was fifteen minutes which for us would have meant half an hour each way.  So we headed directly to our final destination. Sgwd yr Eira, a rather splended waterfall with a very interesting feature.

To reach the falls you have to wind your way down the steep valley side to the river at the bottom and it is not the easiest of paths but oh so worth the effort.

On reaching the river bed this is what you see!

 To be honest, by this point we were all feeling a little wobbly so we decided that sitting on a large rock, in the warm sun, by the river was the perfect place to have lunch as we listened to the roar from the falls.

But there was something I wanted to do first, so I left himself and Phaolin in their lunch spot and headed along the river to do something I've never done before.  The water plunges over a ledge into the river.

And if you pick your way carefully over the stones towards the water you discover that the path goes all the way

behind the falls... and that was where I was headed.  It's a tricky path and a nice lady had to hold my camera for me while I clambered somewhat unsteadily over the rocks but I made it and it was really rather incredible.

The following sequence of pictures were all taken from behind the water looking out, back along the river...

Eventually I found my way out the other side of the falls...

Once I had all the pictures I wanted I clambered my way back behind the falls and along the river to himself and Phaolin and sat down for a very very welcome lunch.  I needed the fuel for the return journey!

It was a long walk back along the trail to the car park and we were all done in by the time we got there!  Poor old Phaolin didn't even have the energy to climb into the car and had to be lifted into his back seat hammock!

We drove home tired out but very satisfied with a truly splendid day out!

Sunshine weekend, The Ashes, bunting triangles and a blanket

So it was another week of blisteringly hot weather!  Whilst I am not quite ready for it to be Autumn yet there were a couple of days this week when I wouldn't have minded it being a few degrees cooler.  I find the heat very draining and so good intentions to 'get stuff done' fall by the wayside in a puddle of melting ambition and depleted energy and at times a feeling of being almost ill.  I do not do well in the heat it seems.

The work week was busy as ever, and I am still getting used to not having to look over my shoulder anymore after what happened a few weeks ago. Now I just think that it's sad that a person's major contribution to other people's job satisfaction is to leave, but it is oddly satisfying when other colleagues go out of their way to tell me how much they value what I do and that it was only a matter of time before things swung around again.  I don't expect the current peace to last but it is extremely good to not be feeling on edge and worried all the time.

Life has it's ups and downs and this last few weeks have been specially down for one of my closest and oldest friends.  I can't say that other folks problems don't affect me because when it's someone I care deeply about they do.  I wish there was a way to fix everything for everyone, but sadly I have no magic wand, just an available ear, the capacity and strength to ask the hard questions and the offer of a place to run to should it become necessary.  

So it has been a contemplative week, reflective and strangely peacful here on Misty Mountain...

at the house in the trees.  I always think the contrast between our rampant over grown trees and my neighbours well manicured lawns is oddly amusing.

The weekend has actually been very restful despite the heat.  Helped of course by the start of the second test of The Ashes series on Thursday.  My enjoyment of cricket is one of the few things I share with my Father, so it is always cool fun to call him at close of play, or lunch or tea to discuss the day's cricketing events.  Helped of course by the fact that several of the current team's stars are Yorkshire men!  Saturday was truly glorious and I shared a couple of excited enthusiastic calls with Dad where we talked about Yorkshire vs Australia and the fact that Joe Root doesn't look old enough to be out of short trousers let alone scoring a hundred and eighty at Lords!

This morning we did our usual hot Sunday thing of getting up early and heading out to the beach with Phaolin so he could have a good walk before it got too hot for him to want to do any more than make a den in the shady bushes in the garden and lie in it for the rest of the day trying to keep cool.

This morning we went the other way, from the car park and along the pier to the newly painted lighthouse...

Looking very smart and rather sparkly in the morning sun.

There were a few more clouds in the view looking over the Gower this weekend. 

And a little boy who has limited patience with all this view gazing lark and who is raring to get on with HIS walk along the beach.

So we put cameras/iPhones away and headed off for a stroll in my case, run and bound in Phaolin's case along the beach.  There was much sniffing, some paddling and of course lots and lots of hole digging.  (We gave up on the garden years ago when we realised Phaolin wasn't ever going to stop digging large holes in everything he could dig holes in including lawns, flower beds, herb gardens and shrubbery.)  Malamutes are world champion diggers and the beach is the perfect place for Phaolin to get the days digging requirement out of his system!

After the beach we strolled past Shoreline, the rather grand caravan park hidden down by the beach behind the pickle factory.  Yes I do mean the pickle factory, Parsons Pickles of Burry Port to be exact.  Seriously good pickles if you like pickles, which I do.  Walking past the really quite lovely static caravans at Shoreline always makes me wonder... should we invest in one, would it be worth it. We had a caravan at Swithland Woods when we lived in Leicestershire and it made for some great memories... or would it just be another overhead I can do without in these days of tenuous job security at best?

Anyway after the beach and the dunes and the caravans we walked back across the park past the pretty coloured houses to the car.

And home for a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea for breakfast before it got too hot!  And another day of cricket watching and crocheting.

And speaking of crocheting I promised a propoer 'ta-dah' post for Tara's blanket so...

After the girl's (Tara and her girlfriend) had been home at Christmas and showed us all the pictures and plans for their new house in Brussells himself asked if I would crochet them a blanket so he could take it as a housewarming present when he went over.  Yes, I said, of course, no problem, crocheting blankets is what I do!  So I looked at the various pictures we had of the house and the new furniture and realised everything was very modern and... white... Well I could make a white blanket but the practicalities of using it and constantly washing it made it seem pointless.  The only colour I had to go on was the rusty orange of the draft stopper they had asked for for Christmas.  I thought about making something like a Flowers in the Snow blanket but that requires a variety of bright colours set off by the white border and I wasnt sure that a rainbow of bright colours was really the way to go.  Bright colours in large varieties did not really seem to be the girls thing.  So on a trip to Cardiff with a friend earlier in the year I took a punt and bought some Rowan baby merino silk dk in cantaloupe, strawberry and sunshine.  The strawberry and cantaloupe were the colours of the Christmas draft stopper. Then I decided on Lucy's Interlocking Ripple pattern and got to work.

Here is the result!

I was so happy with the way this came out.  Here it is on our bed!

And a close up of the white border.

Himself took the blanket with him when he went to Belgium at the start of the month.  I will admit that I was vrey nervous as to how it would be received.  I am very aware that not everyone likes hand made things, many people consider them a cheap alternative when you can't affford to buy something rather than the labour of love they actually are. So I was really chuffed to receive a very enthusiastic thank-you phone call after he had handed it over, pointing out that the colours I had been so concerned about toned in perfectly with the natural wooden floors throughout the house.  But what really had me dancing with glee was when the girls called the other week and talked about how lovely it was to sit side by side on their new couch late in the evening watching TV snuggled together under their handmade blanket!  I was just so pleased!!  I have since received a lovely thank-you card so I am pretty sure my work is well appreciated.  It's kind of a good thing seeing as I have already made their Christmas presents for this year!

And one final picture of the blanket all folded up ready to head to its new and very appreciateve home.

The other thing I managed to get done was my Yarndale bunting.  I only did a few triangles because I had real problems with the tension but I was rather pleased with how they came out.

I need to get them in the post this week now there is an address to send them to.  Not going to bother to try and personalise them. I am sure I'll have better things to do that weekend than spend time trying to spot one of my triangles amidst the thousands that will be fluttering at the Yarndale venue.  I am strangely looking forward to my solo visit back to the Dales.  It's been years!  I will stop off at the folks on the way and then head off to Skipton on the Friday.  I'm staying at the the Woolly Sheep.  I really couldn't resist, although its actually a pub and I'm a bit concerned about how good the accomodation will actually be, but I figured I'm going for the event and to see the Dales again not to spend hours in my room!

Well the weekend is nearly over so I'm going finish off my weekend jug of Pimms.

And settle down for a bit more hooky time before bed.  So I'll leave you with another picture from our morning walk.

 O. xx

Nothing but blue skies...

What glorious weather!!  So much to post about and yet so little time to actually post about it all. Splendid weekend, England going okay in the Ashes and something happened at work a week ago that has made life much improved, for now anyway and I finally finished Tara's blanket but I think it deserves a post all to itself because I really am very please with the way it came out.

The above was taken yesterday morning on our walk.  We left it too late, my fault entirely, and by the time we were halfway along our usual walk on the coastal path it was far too hot for Phaolin so we turned around and came back.

A very hot dog, just before we turned around and headed back.

Needless to say I spent the rest of the day with my lovely crochet, in front of the Ashes.  Got a bit worried there for a while but the latter end of the day picked up tremendously.

And so, not wanting to make the same mistake as yesteday we were up at 6am today and by 7 we were on our way to the sea for an early morning walk in the cool(er) part of the day.

We parked the car and headed towards the marina... I didn't have my camera with me so these pictures were all taken with my iPhone!

Which looked really lovely and sparkly in the early morning sun.

Round the marina and down on to the beach where Phaolin wasted no time in finding a 'paddling pool' to cool his hot doggy paws.

The tide was out so we didn't go right down to the sea, it wasn't really necessary when there were plenty of pools and channels for Phaolin to play in.

Because it was so early we had the beach mainly to ourselves...

It really was a beautiful morning...

The view across the bay to the Gower Peninsula...

Back towards the lighthouse and pier at Burry Port...

And further round you can just see the taller masts from the marina...

Finally it was time for a drink and to turn round and head back along the coastal path towards the car.

A quick look back towards the Gower...

And then it was back to the car and home for breakfast in the garden with an early treat of one of the classic tastes of Summer...

And a brand new crochet project - well 2 actually... aren't those colours absolutely yummy!

O. xx

The snow in bitter cold fell all the night...

Well from about 3am onwards apparently.

And we woke up to a 'white world.'

Phaolin loved it...

 

Of course he totally overdid it and we had 3 legged dog for the rest of the day, but considering that by the following morning he was raring to go and play in the snow some more I guess there was no real harm done.

I am so in love with this picture of Phaolin laying in the snow :)

Actually it was a pretty good week.  Friday was himself's birthday so I baked

36 miniature cupcakes!  I iced some as you can see and left the rest plain in case the iced ones were too sweet for the birthday boy.  They weren't and significant inroads have been made into the sweet feast.  Himself wanted to know why I had waited nigh on 20 years into our relationship to start baking regularly!  After the shortbread and gingerbread at Christmas he seems to be quite taken with my baking!  I'm taking it as a win!  In reply to his question all I had to do was look pointedly around our farmhouse kitchen... I'd defy anyone to not want to cook/bake in it.

I took the actual day of himself's birthday as a holiday from work, which coincided with our major snowfall so we had a splendid day taking Phaolin out in the snow and then cosying up inside.  We had bought all the necessary ingredients for us to make home made pizza for dinner and they were truly splendid and when we weren't stuffing our faces with pizza we played our latest MMORPG together or sat curled in front of the fire and TV.

Well we still have snow and being half way up a mountain we are somewhat cut off and if it doesn't thaw soon we will have to resort to using the powdered milk.  Not that I mind, I'm kinda partial to powdered milk if the truth be told, but it would be useful to be able to get to the end of the road at least

In complete contrast to the snow, on the final shopping trip before it all came down I bought these...

They were only a pound a bunch in Marks and Spencers so I bought two and they've been sitting on my kitchen table and in my conservatory cheering me up through all the cold snowy days this last week or so.

It has been a seriously picture postcard world for the last few days.  Been along while since we had snow like this here, being so close to the sea we usually miss out on all the powdery white fun, not this time.  There's an unusual peacefulness to a world free from traffic, where almost everyone chooses to stay home.  It's as if the snow forces the world to move at a slower pace and in my view that's no bad thing.  The only slight drawback for me is that because I work from home there is no such thing as a 'snow day.'  :)

I think I can honestly say I have never seen so much snow on our trees.

And finally...

Snow dog in snow.

O. xxx

Sunday...

Began with a bagel and cream cheese!  Yum!  I really should never be allowed to visit New York, bagels and cream cheese for breakfast will do nothing to assist with any kind of diet.

After that I took myself off to Dunelm to buy cushion innards.  I love love love that shop. Besides the cushion innards I also bought two new tape measures while I was there.  My capacity to lose tape measures is tuly extraordinary.  I have no idea where they vanish to.  Personally I think they disappear through wormholes in space to some weird alien tape measureland.  Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  Also in the shipping was the new yarn basket pictured above for the Stylecraft Special DK, some lemon yarn, because I thought it might make nice doll hair, some wooden coathangers that I intend to make covers for, 2 cintronella candles in little pink buckets and two pink tea light lanterns and this...

I have wanted a chair like this for ages.  My Mother has a 'real one' in their bedroom but steadfastly refuses to get all my hints about wanting to bring it home with me so when I saw this chair I had to have it.  I will probably do it up a la Lucy at Attic24 of course.  (That is if I ever find the still missing sewing machine.)  And then it can reside in the bedroom where I will enjoy using it.  So, so happy with it especially for less than twenty quid.

I made a wonderful and so easy lemon sauce to go with my Sunday chicken which I ate whilst watching Rafael Nadal give Robin Soderling a lesson in how to play tennis at the French Open final.  That young man really is such a delicious guilty pleasure.  :)

And of course there is this...

My granny stripe blanket is coming along nicely and I am loving the colours.  They aren't easy and I don't have the greatest colour sense in the world so there have been one or two hiccups along the way but I am very happy with it so far.  It is also decidedly snuggly, much to my surprise.

In other crochet news I decided to call a halt to my Rowan Handknit Cotton ripple.  I loved that yarn so much when I bought it and I had such great plans for it, but knowing that so many of the really vibrant colours are no longer available seem to have really taken the delight out of using it.  Silly I know, but I can't help the way I feel. However, when I put it over the back of the leather couch in the big sitting room I couldn't help but smile.

It seems I have stopped at exactly the right size and it brightens up the leather couch and protcects the wall behind.  It is also big enough to be a lap-ghan if needed.  Now, seeing it in situ so to speak, it makes me very happy.  I just wish the light in the big sitting room was better so I could get better pictures.

Well I hope everyone had a good weekend and I think it is time for a glass of wine and some more crochet.  Love O. xx   

Sunshine on My Shoulders

Makes me happy

 
I just love the way the sun sparkles on the water!

This morning we got up early and went down to the sea

It was a lovely bright sunny Spring morning. The first real chance we have had to get out early and get a good walk all holiday. We went to our usual favourite spot - the lighthouse at Burry Port, where the walking is easy for Cloud (the 14 year old husky) and Phaolin and I can go off and run along the beach...

 

 
And get very wet

 
We had a splendid time, great fun!

The marina was looking very pretty...

 
With all the different coloured cottages in the background. Sadly the only thing I had with me to take pictures with was my iPhone so the pretty coloured cottages aren't all that visible. Nonetheless they are there and they did look very pretty in the early morning sun.

It was a grand morning, I guess living 10 minutes from seven miles of some of the best award winning beaches in Europe has its advantages... especially when those seven miles of beach are all but empty

 
Anyway after all our exertions on the beach Mum needed a sit down... and Phaolin looks an absolutely gorgeous colour in the sunshine.

 
This morning reminded me why John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders" is one of my favourite songs.

 Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

 

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

 

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

 

If I had a tale that I could tell you

BR>I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile

If I had a wish that I could wish for you

I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while

 

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

Sunshine almost all the time makes me high

 

Well now I have to run away and make my special lamb curry for dinner. It needs a good while to cook slowly so I want to get started now. *hugs all* O. xxxxxxx