It's Me. I'm Back

Oh My Word, what a business renting a house is. I have never rented one before and I am shocked at the hoops you have to jump through to do so.

I have filled in countless forms, both real and on line, I have answered questions that seem completely irrelevant and some quite impertinent ones.

Even though the landlord is quite thrilled at getting a tenant who has the money to pay 6 months up front, plus a deposit, the letting agency have to follow standard procedure.

Then of course there is the question of moving, I have rung a few local firms and 1 is coming this evening to have a look and work out what size vehicle I will need and give me a quote.

One chap said "give me 5 minutes to work out a price" called me back and gave a quote. Now for all he knows I have a cottage stuffed full of old fashioned solid oak furniture and 3 garden sheds full of things, Equally I could have just enough to fill a long wheel based Transit van.

Then there is the packing and weeding out of non essentials and not required any more things. The charity shop has done well, I can not face another car boot sale. I enjoyed the 2 that I did but time is of an essence and I just want to get sorted.

The house in Wales is a typical stone fronted house, quite tall really with lovely high ceilings. The kitchen is bigger than mine here and has a utility room off and a massive under stairs cupboard that is shelved.
This opens into a dining room which is large enough to hold my crafting things as well as table, chairs and cupboards
The front room is slightly larger and has lovely deep window sills, the walls are almost 2 ft thick. The entrance hall is wide enough to take coats and boots and a brolly or two. Just in case it rains. snigger.

There are 2 double bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor  and all the windows are tall and wide so the light floods in. There is just enough garden at the rear and a small lawn in the front.

I will be 5 miles from a swimming pool, library. large Tesco, Lidl, Home Bargains, Pound stretcher and Argos. I have not ventured into the town center for a look.
 There are 2 butchers in the village, a Post Office, 2 small shops and a fish and chip shop. It is 1 1/2 hrs from Cardigan and the journey takes me through Cross Hands which has a yarn and fabric shop and round the side of Carmarthen which has wonderful shops.

There is no pub in the village but that will be a boon, no loud revelers on the street at closing time, rather than a problem.

I could not take photos as in typical Welsh fashion it rained the whole time we were there. I did have a mostly dry Sunday with James, Cerys and the children though.

That is all I am capable of writing now, I have some new crochet on my hook and will show and tell tomorrow. I have had lots of positive comments on my Bird in the Window and have 3 to make before I move.

    TTFN                                                   Pam

Adrift in the Doldrums

I am still waiting for the last steps in the sale of my cottage, it is all becoming stressful. I have a cash buyer who wants the cottage and has agreed a price subject to survey. All is waiting on the surveyors report, they have paid for this but it still has not happened. I know that there is nothing major but still I worry at it like a cat with a mouse, turning it round and round in my mind until it has reached gigantic proportions. 
I have planned a trip to Wales this weekend to rent a house for 6 months, this will give me time to look round at leisure for a house to buy. I intend to move on May 1st, now I am getting the collywobbles. I can not move until the  cottage sale is complete, I don't want to leave it empty and if I do not take the house in Ammanford I may lose it.
I have been so busy that I am bone achingly weary and my mind is so busy that I have trouble sleeping, I wake frequently in the night and when I give up the ghost and get up I am tired. So it goes on, round and round, I have almost reached the point where I may not buy again just rent.
To add insult to injury I have put on more weight and have had to become extremely careful over what I eat. My ankle although not as painful is still stiff and prone to swelling up so walking is slow and restricted.
I am off to do some blog reading and cheer myself up, an hour reading should help me get a grip.

                      TTFN                                       Pam

Sunday Sunday, so good for me.

What a start to the day, rain and grey. Ben took one look and turned tail back to his bed. By the time i had boiled the kettle and made a brew the rain had stopped and if the sun wasn't exactly blazing it was there. We had our first walk and came back to prep a meal for the family. Cerys has to work this afternoon so James is bringing them all over for a roast at 5.
 My well laid plans for yesterday were pretty much adhered to with one change. Instead of a visit to the CS we went to the toy shop, Junior absolutely adores cars and Kaitlin is a full on doll lover, she is just about 18 months so it is to be expected.
2 toy shops, 1 car, 2 boxes of Lego and 2 dolls later we popped into the wool shop and it was heaving, there was not room to move so we beat a hasty retreat.
We all came back here for lunch, sticky barbecue chicken, breaded strips of chicken breast, home made chips, sausages and salad.
The children had some cheese as well and both tucked in well, Kaitlin discovered that she likes cucumber.
Vanilla cheesecake went down well for pudding, that is Juniors favourite , with some milk to wash it down.

The last few pics of the cottage,

There is no bath and the shower is suitable for disabled users and very roomy, the room is quite big, spotless and warm. What more could you want.

The small garden is plenty big enough for children to play in, there is a large table and chair set and a barbecue is in the shed .

Did I mention that I am coming back in September for 2 weeks. I hope that Fran will join me and Jeannie as well.

The  view from the front is fields and trees, just like home, I would hate to look out at houses.

There is a food led pub 2 minutes walk away, I will try it out in September, the nearest shop is about 2 miles away, well within a "Ben" walk, I will also try that in September. Lampeter, Llandysul and Newcastle Emlyn anre decent sized market towns within around 7 miles. Cardigan and Camarthen are much larger  (Camarthen is the largest) and within 15 miles. It is handy being so central, at least it will be next time. I don't intend to hack round the shops but Jeannie will want to have a good look round every CS within 20 miles (at least). You see that I am assuming that Jeannie will come.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. In still have 24 hours in wales.

2. Dinner with the family later.

3. Ben snoozing at my side.

4. Making wedding reception plans with James and Cerys.

5. Only 6 months before I am back in this lovely little cottage.

I keep referring to this as a little cottage, in truth it is much bigger than my own cottage. I have 2 bedrooms and my ground floor is much smaller. The kitchen, bathroom and rear hall here are in a fairly recent extension. 

Oh Oh look at the time, I need to get a wiggle on.

        TTFN                                     Pam

A Wander Round the Cottage, and a plan of action.

Oh My it is early, The thing about being in Wales for me is that I fall into bed and sleep like a bump on a log for up to 5 hours. All that wonderful air and ozone, not to mention the fact that I just have to get outside and walk. Then my eyes spring open and I hit the ground running, this morning I woke at 5 on the dot. Tea, tea and just a drop more tea, a little blog browsing, and signing up to follow 2 new blogs, a recipe or 2 to bookmark and oops 2 1/2 hours have evaporated.

I promised ( threatened ) more house pics, here are a few.

This is the ground floor bedroom, I am in here. It seemed the sensible choice as the bathroom is also ground floor. Note the chocolate is for James, Oh yes, while I remember I popped into Tesco for a few bits last night and they have Easter eggs 2 for £1.50 so I picked up 4 to leave with James and Cerys. Last year I bought them at home and forgot them when I came down in May so they didn't get them till August, tut tut. This year they will have them early.

The dog leg staircase, very similar to mine.

Three bedrooms upstairs, the single is fairly small but perfectly fine for a holiday. The attention to detail is perfectly lovely and everything is good quality.

Before I forget my bed is electrically controlled so at the touch of a button I am sitting up at a perfect angle to read or crochet! Not that I will be sitting in bed today.

That is enough for today. I was pleased to see that work on the Castle is moving on, there are some tours today but very restricted, I will wait until next time. There will be some holiday  accommodation  when the project is finished, how cool to holiday in a restored Castle.

I am feeding the family today so I better get a wiggle on and start prepping up.

Reasons to be grateful.

1 The morning is bright and fine.

2. The day will be full of family.

3. I have a pretty village to explore with Ben.

( still snoring btw)

4. I am going to look at wool this morning.

5. There will be some CS visiting.

I feel another list coming on.

I have a good day lined up, 

1. Prep lunch.

2. Go to Cardigan.

3. Trip to the wool shop.

4. Pop into the CS.

5. Bring the family back here.

6. Fill the day with talk and fun and food.

 Tomorrow is still in the air. Cerys has to work , she does 2 jobs, so I will see how the children are and plan a day for them, possibly the ball park.

Every hour that ticks by sees me relaxing into the slower pace of life. My body and soul are tuning into Wales, I really will start the moving process once Fran qualifies.

Have a good day my friends, take time to smell the coffee ( well it's too early for roses).

                    TTFN                                                  Pam

Wales turned on the sun to welcome me.

We are here, Ben slept most of the way and completely missed the rain. He woke up briefly to have a sniff round and water a weed or three when I stopped at Newtown to fill up with petrol. I also filled Ben up with food and water, I may have had a delicious hot sausage roll.
We made excellent time till we hit resurfacing works on the A487, 40 minutes of sitting still, creeping along, a quick surge and back to sitting still, we may be going home via Camarthen.

This what we found, 

It may be right on the pavement but there is parking at the side, I am off to Cardigan soon so did not bother to park up, the road is very quiet.

The owner was waiting for us to arrive, she left a welcome pack with bread, butter, strawberry jam, tea, coffee, sugar and a fresh Bara Brith from her mornings baking, I had 2 slices with 2 cups of tea, I could not have made better. The red bag is my survival kit, a bottle of water, a bottle of squash and a bar of whole nut chocolate. Ben has one with water, dish, Bonio and Shapes.

As you can see the kitchen is well laid out and in the cupboards and drawers is everything that I will need. In fact before I leave I will be booking for 2 weeks in September.

Just a quick look at the sitting room and the rest will wait till another day.

The cushions look as though they have been refashioned from cardigans, very trendy. My bag and crochet are in place, ready for the evening.

Ben has staked his place out, I still have to bring his bed in from the car, I remembered to bring the battery charger for my camera, and the sudocrem for Ben, he scratched his ear when charging around the field.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Back in Wales, need I say more.

2. 2 full days with the family.

3. Sunshine, February, Wales. 3 words you would not expect to find together.

4. A quick visit to the CS in Llandysul in the morning.

5. Taking James to choose his Birthday Present.

Today or rather Feb 29th is the 10 year anniversary of the day my life started to fall apart. I found my only child dead in bed, within 3 months both my parents had died and in the October my husband was diagnosed with the cancer that would consume him. And the Queen thought that she had a bad one.

I am so pleased to be here at this time although it was not planned. I have always loved the word Serendipity and here I am living it. I do not ask for sympathy, as far as it is possible I have tucked that year into a memory box to keep it safe. It took time but I can take it out and look at it without the searing pain now.

Wales has become a bolt hole and almost a second home to me, I still hope to move here and once Fran has done the New York Bar I will start planning. I need to have the summer in Tydd to rescue the garden from the last 18 months weather and I want to see Fran fully qualified.

I hope that you all have as good a weekend as I intend to.

              TTFN                                           Pam

I'm going on an unsummer holiday. woohoo.

I was too excited to blog last night, I decided that as it is Fran's brother James birthday soon I would make the time to go to Wales for a flying visit. I spent ages on the 'puter yesterday looking for somewhere to stay. It took a long time because I wanted to book with Welcome Cottages as they donate 10% of their profits to the Dogs Trust. This will be the 4th cottage that I have booked with them. I am going to a village just outside Llandysul, a small town with an amazing CS that always has a good stock of fabric. This is also near Newcastle Emlyn a small market town. I will be around 20 minutes drive away from Cardigan, I took a three bedroom let so that James and Cerys can stay overnight with the children on Saturday. They will come over for the day and I will have the pleasure of cooking for them, including a cake of course.
If I like this one I will book it for a week or maybe two in September. 
My lovely neighbour, Nev, will keep an eye on the cottage and take the delivery of wool that I have ordered from Minerva Crafts. Snow is forecast for next week, well let it come. The cupboards and freezers are full, I have stacks of sewing and will have a mountain of wool to work my way through.



Source, www.llandysul=.co.uk

This is a shot of Llandysul.



Source, www.newcastle-emlyn.com

Newcastle Emlyn Market Hall.

There just happens to be a shop called Crosspatch very close, it has an amazing selection of patchwork fabric and notions and a very good selection for the cross stitch enthusiast. I may be able to squeeze in a visit. Well it would be silly to travel so far and ignore it. Then again there is also a lovely shop in Lampeter, 4 floors of little rooms full of fabric by the bolt or as many pre cuts as you could want to choose from. I nearly forgot the brilliant wool shop in Cardigan, Maybe I should have booked a week not a weekend.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Holidays with children.

2. Days away with family(well as near as makes no different)

3. Time in wales.

4. Play time with children.

5. Tom Tom to guide me.

Do you see a theme there?
sorry but I did mention excitement.
I have to go and pack a few things and sort out a box of goodies.

TTFN                                                Pam

BTW the scarf is done , I will post a photo on my return.