20th December 2024 - And Bunnie and Scarlett arriving

Thought for the day:"Managing your weight around the holidays just requires a little planning. For example, I took the batteries out of my scale last week"

Wet - very 

A clearing day - in the rain!!

Finished putting lighting along the orchard so there are lights form the Beer Garden to the Yurt for safety.

Completed the fairy lights at the roadside walls  and added two more Christmas trees for luck.

Swept the patio and cleared the culvert at the tunnel which was blocked again.

Put the Christmas Wobblies out 

Parked cars up for more space and moved the barrel tubs that were full of water and stacked on the side so they do not fill up again.

Walked the dogs but found that a tree is down over the path so will have to take the Chain Saw next time I walk there.

Checked the yurt which is very warm - not sure what it is costing but the heater and humidifier work well together. Changed the bedding ready for guests. Put a scented candle on as there is still a musk in the air.

Rhys, the valet called this evening and we took the car down to his unit in Tresaith. Taking the seats and carpets out, wet and dry vaccuming, and humidifying for about five days he reckons should dry everything out properly. Fingers crossed we get the car back before the New Year.  Have to be using the Vectra in the meantime.

In other news, Susie got a cheque from the National Grid today for £645 - for the loss of service during the power cuts ..   More than we were expecting but very welcome - everything is a little expensive at the moment ....

So, a glass of sherry in hand as we await the arrival of Filipos, Scarlett and Bunnie 

Cheers !

19th December 2024 - Dodging the showers

Thought for the day :"You can't spell necromancer without romance"

Wet 

A day of tidying up.

The scaffolding is down and put away and the general outside is cleared up - will sweep the patio tomorrow...  

Spent most to the day down the lower quarter,  trying to get the lighting into a more safe position after all the sections had fallen down.  Tied all the sections back up and tested the power.

Put a new heater into the Yurt though it is making the felt smell worse as it dries. Will look at it again tomorrow  

Lights safe now ...

And as we have been talking about it for over a year - today I set the chicken wire on the steps to the Yurt for safety 

Decided to put another section of lighting through the orchard in case someone uses the Yurt this weekend and it really is not safe on the lawn now as it is so slippery ...

Ran out of time to get the Christmas lights on the front finished - but we have most of tomorrow available.   Also need to get our inside decorations done, against the whole history of the SEWELL family where we only put the decorations up on Christmas Eve,  but we will not be here on Christmas Eve and everyone is arriving tomorrow - oh well !!

House pretty ready..... 

Painted the black woodwork at the front of the house to make it look better and also Idris had his milk churn painted..     may have splattered the white buttress a bit !!  but it needs another coat !

Johnny popped down and told us that Cuthbert is settling in very well with his new 12 girlfriends and is very happy.

Clive is settling in with us though he seems to be a little agoraphobic and does not like coming out of the shed..  We will wait and see how he gets on.

Having a few problems with the gas cooker connections - seems that they do not connect !!

Working on solutions 

We will look at it again tomorrow 

Susie has most of the house in order ....
Shower and Bed I think !

Cheers !

   

 

18th December 2024 - Tinsel in the rain

Thought for the day :"I saw someone today who reminded me of John Lennon. They said 'don't forget about John Lennon'... "

Rain - very wet 

Susie down at Narberth helping Nancy with sorting the house out for Christmas invasion, but woke on time to feed the dogs their breakfast and indeed was awake and up at a quarter to nine!!

Had to source a regulator for the propane gas cylinder for the new range cooker, so after letting the girlies out, ( btw our new Cockerel is now called Clive ), I managed to man-handle some of the wood pieces into a place where they still allowed access down the path. 

Off then to Newcastle Emlyn to find a regulator. Sadly CBT did not have one but was kind enough to phone around to find where I Could get one - which turned out to be Harris Electrics and Plumbing in Cardigan.

So a trip to Cardigan via Beulah where they kindly sold me a propane bottle for £57 and did not ask me for a deposit which was kind.  At Cardigan found a regulator for £10 which was less than I was expecting.  Tried and seems to fit so retrieved my set of jubilee clips to give to Nan.

Off to Cardigan Tesco for some Christmas Booze - was in the area so seemed a good idea. Left my Credit Card in the machine when paying and did not find out until I got to CK's at Tanygroes where I decided to stop as I had forgotten to buy the Harvey's Bristol Cream.  So back to Tescos and they had the card so I bought the Sherry at a discounted price instead.

Back to the homestead and cleared all the back passage and tidied up the stack of tools and Lime bags, and cleared the front of house and replaced the stones along the bottom wall.

Rain was very hard by now so did not want to do any further outside, but got the Christmas Trees down and started putting fairy lights along the front of the house and put a Christmas  Tree on the wizard barrel and on the first Buttress.

Call form Susie saying that she was ready to come back stopped me from getting any wetter, and Met them at Crymych, for a trip back via the Chemist in Newcastle Emlyn for Susie's additional meds that were not delivered until after 4pm and back to the house for a well deserved cup of tea and some home made crumpets. 

Dogs pleased to see us but the fire had gone out in the kitchen.

Not much more to do today ..  Too wet and miserable for anything.

Bethan arrived in London and is in her Hotel there. She will be with us on Friday.

Cheers !

17th December 2024 - New Cooker and photos from yesterday

Thought for the day :"The French eat snails because they don't like fast food"

Wet and getting wetter

An early start, a check around the lower quarter, and gathered all the bedding from the Yurt to air it in the house.

Checked the power and it is still working despite the fires over the cables.

Lights will be in place again once the fires have cooled down enough. They at least work.

Nancy came up with Rosy, and we negotiated £400 for her with Tom... a reasonable price we think. We bought it for £600 3 years again but he is happy that he can sell it at a profit, so everyone is happy.

Drove down to Nancy's and collected the cooker and brought it back in Nancy's Transporter with the help of Erin.

All taken back to her house in Narberth and put on the drive under a cover.

Hopefully the Gazebo with sides will be delivered - it is scheduled for delivery before 10pm.

Back home and put the chicken to bed, well they had gone already in fact, and back to get medicines from Newcastle Emlyn.

Not much to be achieved today as it is raining now.

An evening in - and a bit of TV

16th December 2024 - More Clearing and Crumpets

Thought for the day :"3026 years from now it will be either great or terrible - It is 5050"

Dry 

Spent a hard day clearing today but sadly the phone was out of charge so photos will have to wait until tomorrow ...

But a lot of the springs were cleared and the big blocks were moved to the pathways where we have a chance of moving them again. Amazingly the lights all work and the power is still working to the lower quarter. Even managed to set the humidifier going again in the Yurt.

No photos today so here are some of Susie's Crumpets 

Cheers !

15th December 2024 - Sunday - Chasing Cookers

Thought for the day :"I've been told that I can sometimes come across as condescending. (That means I talk down to people)"

Wet and drizzly 

Today was a day to try and sort Christmas and the problem that Nancy and Stuart have that they have 11 or 12 people for Christmas dinner and a cooker with only one small oven.

So we found a Rangemaster Cooker that would meet their requirements for Christmas as an LPG (propane gas) system so it is mobile - and it was in the middle of nowhere - along a one mile track with potholes - so we had ourselves an adventure !!!

Well the Cooker looked good so we paid for it and we now have plans to collect it ion Tuesday. I have purchased a gazebo with walls on Amazon that will be delivered (we hope) on Tuesday so it can be used on her drive and afterwards will be brought back to Ffynnon Wen and put on the BBQ stage as a catering area.

Well plans are great !!

Hopefully - we will get there 

Four Eating Chicken in the Freezer now 

New Cockerel seems to be settling down but may be agoraphobic - haven't seen him out yet !

Back to work tomorrow -hoping the rain keeps off 

Cheers !

14th December 2024 - Cuthbert gets a new home

Thought for the day :"I got a prize in a competition to see who can stay in bed the longest, it was atrophy"

Dry - so far - nope rained later 

A late start and a trip to get more growers for the eating chicken . Susie has culled the first two and two more in the isolation cage for tonight ..

Another video from the week 

Cuthbert had a reprieve!!

He was such a lovely Cockerel but had taken a dislike to Susie and started attacking her - which was strange as he was totally placid with me and ignored the dogs completely and was looking after the girlies well - though in fairness he was a little large as he "tupped" them.

So he was heading for the pot when Johnny and Kaye mentioned that they had lost their Cockerel a few months ago so we went up the road with him in a cage and he seems to be enjoying his new home 

A little clearing around the place but other than that a rather quiet day and a little restful ..

Off to Narberth tomorrow to look at a Cooker for Nancy over the Christmas and for us afterwards on the BBQ stage for outside catering ..   Fingers Crossed   

Cheers !