30th September 2020 - Elections, Deliveries, and a little paperwork

Thought for the day :"Life begins at 40 – but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

We are slowly being isolated as more of North wales goes into Lock-down. Ceredigion remains one of the few places where there are no additional restrictions, though in truth it makes little difference here.

Instead we have had a very stormy night and most of the day - though the sun has just peeped out. 

My roof section on the machinery shed had sadly lifted - we shall be needing the waterproof tape that I ordered a month ago from Wish and should arrive by urgent courier on the 9-11 October!

However, the work done on the gutters has paid off and all seem to be functioning properly now. 

There does not seem to have been a lot of maintenance on the premises recently.

Susie is being productive - with another 5 gallons of Ffynon Blanc in the fermentation vat, and her jam net thingie finally arrived so she is currently making up a batch of Crab Apple Jelly, while seeing if the first batch of Ffynon Blanc can be improved by a quick filter to get rid of the haze. Does not seem to be having much effect - but the taste is great so I have little worry about it.

Due to the weather I have taken advantage of the opportunity to sit at the computer and try to get some of the paperwork done. Chat with Octopus over the Economy 7 tariffs. Seems that unless you have those storage heaters or an electric car to charge - there is little value in the cheaper overnight electricity, as the day time rate is higher. Seems I can save just over a penny a KW hour overall by reading both meters as single price - though I can monitor for a couple of months. Still unconvinced as to whether we will need some electric heating to augment the wood fires. We shall see as the winter gets colder. 

While I was at it - today was the last day for a special offer on Amuse, the company that put the CD onto Spotify, iTunes and Amazon. Was $19.99 for a year instead of 7.99 a month. Offer ending today. With thoughts of the winter nights ahead - it is quite likely that I could release the Shut-Down serenades onto CD over the next few months and get a little return for my trouble. Works out at £16.30 so seemed like a good deal if I cancel by 30th September next year.

Also filed the annual returns and company accounts for the Crimson Moon Limited Company. Registered as a dormant company, but we still have to pay the annual £13 fee for Companies House and a set of zero accounts. 

In world news - it seems that Trump and Biden failed to have a civilized discussion in their first meeting on TV for the election in November. Trump still rabbiting on about the fraudulent mail-in ballots election results, speaking to his followers as Biden attempted to speak to the Country. Apparently it was a farce with the moderator unable to keep order. Trump criticises Biden for wearing a mask in a Pandemic and Biden calls him a clown. 

It is sad and rather worrying as the US reaches 206,000 deaths, the world records over 1 million deaths and we head into shut-down again.

And we get this....

So, with a final Trumpton to leave you with ..

In Ffynnon Wen news - the river is higher than ever ..

Go a bit of a shock this morning when I was roused from bed to the call "Your cement and sand has arrived!!" It was meant to have been delivered tomorrow, giving me today to empty the trailer and move it to the front of the building to leave plenty of room for dropping the ballast bags...

In fairness the driver managed to get the bags far further into the drive than I expected, but I may be barrowing a lot of weight to get the car in to move the trailer. 

Still - takes the pressure off emptying the trailer now...   

So I will leave you with an image of the berries by the garage ...

It is a very colourful place..

Cheers!

 

 

29th September 2020 - Neighbours, Cabins, Building Supplies and Photo Update

Thought for the day :"I've just discovered there's a library in my village... they kept that quiet!"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

Slightly warmer today - when the sun came out it was almost hot - and when the clouds came over the temperature dropped drastically. Susie has spent a day trying to keep the wood burner fires running - with mixed results...  

Used the re-chargeable hedge-trimmer and it is light and very useful. Think that a light weight chain saw will be on the cards, but will have to try to get the main petrol version running sometime.  

Went looking for Cabins yesterday and found a nice one called the Kidwelly, and another called CIlgerrin.

KIdwelly

And Cilgerrin

Also some nice bench sets

But that is thought for the future..

Today I needed to get my meds renewed and drove up to Newcastle Emlyn to pick them up form the chemist. While there I popped into the builders merchant to enquire about a business account. Also to price the charges for the slab for the Machine Shed. Result - I ordered Sand, Ballast and Cement for delivery on Thursday - will have to empty the trailer tomorrow and move it to the front parking so that the bags can be delivered. May have to barrow everything to the back - that will be some big work!

Ordered 800KG (3/4 imperial ton) chippings - will be useful for paths in the future, and the same weight in sand - can be used in compost and 6 bags of cement. Should be enough .. I hope!!

This afternoon we were invited to tea with our second nearest neighbours. Felt a little bad as it was really our turn to invite after our first afternoon tea a Kay's Birthday but the weather changed, and Bank holidays happened and we really did not get our act together. But this afternoon we walked 'Thena up the track to Felin Ganol (The Middle Mill). Another old mill. And what a delightful place and beautifully converted, with a wonderful garden full of produce..  A delightful socially distanced tea and History Lesson of the village - we really must make ourselves known more in the village though it is difficult in these days of shut down.

But we shall have to return the invite soon. 

We have also tracked down (thanks to Kay and Johnny) Barbara Saunders - the widow of our favourite predecessor "Victor" who is apparently still very active for 96 and could be a source of information.

We will write to her rather than just use the phone - as that could be a bit of a shock to her ...

In other news - today was the day that a new Jet Suit was announced for the emergency services - mainly paramedics in the Fells as a first trial ...  The possibility of flying to the top of a fell rather than trudge for an hour with full pack of supplies to assist a casualty.

Iron Man is here.

Susie is hunting Ebay for a smaller rod to try her hand at fishing in the river - we have a fine pond at the bottom of the Garden. Also watching the weather for her Deep Sea Fishing trip next week.   

Me? I managed to get the record player connected to a surround sound amplifier and waiting for a jack to phono lead to connect things up. On-line purchases are doing well from us at the moment.

Updated some of the local photos 

And a new gallery posted onto Facebook .. here  Flickr to Follow

And with those few thoughts I will leave you ..

Cheers!

28th September 2020 - Mending the Roads

Thought for the day :"Made alligator stew – I used a Croc Pot"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

Bit of rain this morning and a strange bit of plumbing. The water tank started sounding as if it was overflowing in the middle of the night and I couldn't find what was wrong with it. Tried turning taps on and off but nothing changed it so went to sleep in the end. Got up this morning and it was the same - however two flushes of the loo and it stopped - very strange - sure it was the hot water tank but it heated up as usual. Will keep an eye on it for the future.

Was about to head off to Carmarthen to change the hedge trimmer before we get further shut-downs but the council have turned up to fill a few more pot holes. Will hang around for a while I reckon.

Meanwhile in shut-down Wales - Snowdon was crawling with climbers. there appears to be little sense or sensibility out here.

New York Times publishes Trump's Tax returns - saw this - seems legit.

Council have moved on - best go and do some shopping and stuff...

Cheers !

27th September 2020 - Back to the temple of Doris

Thought for the day :"Mouse Problem in Spain?? Borrow a Cat ! Go to Catalonia.

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

Sunday - day of rest - maybe not!  Okay I didn't empty the Trailer so that is a bit of a rest. But I did try to light a fire down by the pontoon which failed miserably - think that the greenery is too wet at the moment. But managed to clear a large area of the pontoon so we can see the ground - and a cow thought it was a great idea and popped up to see what was going on . I know - no photos it did not happen - but it did!

Also managed to clear a lot of the river behind the mermaid - though that meant getting the feet wet as it was deeper than my wellies! 

Did a before and after this time ..

Looking from the bench in the Temple of Doris

Closer look - can see the river but still a lot of foliage

Chopped back a little - can see the river

Temple of Doris with mermaid in the distance.

Managed to get the old DVD player working in the Tavern - not for the DVD but to get the 5 way Sound system working which it did . Cnanot connect to the laptop as that requires Phono input - so will look on Ebay tonight - but managed to get the vinyl record player working and output through the system. 

Took an hour photographing some old DC and Marvel Comics - and putting into plastic sleeves.

Need to put them into a gallery with numbers on them - another sorting job!

In other news... 

The Keen Family heritage..

And Your History Lesson for the day ...

And a quick Matt..

Llanelli on Shutdown as is most of South Wales..

SImples!!

Cheers - oh - first bottle of Ffynnon Blanc is ready and drinkable -

Cheers!

26th September 2020 - Evading the Lock Down

Thought for the day :"People who can’t distinguish between entomology and etymology bug me in ways I can’t put into words."

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

One for yesterday

CARMARTHEN CHEESE RIOT - 1818.

200th Anniversary.

The Carmarthen Cheese Riot occurred on 25th September 1818. It was a disturbance that happened when a crowd of people prevented a consignment of cheese from being loaded onto a ship docked at Carmarthen. A second attempt was made two days later, this time, however, not only were the goods stopped from going on board, the vessel was also ransacked.

Cheese had become a vital part of many people's diet as a substitute for meat as a source of protein. To see it being sent for export instead of being made available to the people of Carmarthen was the flashpoint for the riot. Order was only regained when the merchants decided to distribute the cheese locally.

The background to this incident lay in the difficult and challenging economic situation at the time, which was impacted by many issues.

The Enclosure Acts which had been introduced since 1750 resulted bigger privately owned estates and the only way for the vast majority of people to continue farming was through tenancy. By the 19th century approximately 90% of agricultural land was being farmed this way. The arrival of farm produce from Europe increased dramatically following Britain's victory in the Napoleonic Wars. This resulted in a decrease in the price of Britain's home grown produce which combined with a series of poor harvests and the additional financial burden of toll-gates and Church tithes drove many tenant farmers into poverty and resulted in a shortage of food.

Llanelli run today before the Llanelli Lockdown which started at 6pm this evening.

Managed to get Susie's Sewing room dismantled and I loaded a lot from the warehouse. We came back a little heavy I think but got here safely. Now we are isolated for a few weeks - unable to enter Llanelli. There may be exceptions but we wills see what transpires - frankly we are happier here away form everyone else. Got some new fairy lights for the Veranda./ May have been a little excessive .. 1000 lights was only a few pounds more than 500, but in actuality we could probably have done with 250! But I managed to light up a fair amount of the garden instead.

In the less successful tales - failed to look at the packaging properly and bought a wired electric hedgetrimmer rather than the rechargeable one... Will have to take it back - though in fairness the fleece lined Crocks said that they would fit a size 10 and they will have to go back as well.

Charlies in Carmarthen will need a visit.

Sadly, Vic is on full shut down now so no visits - hoping that he copes.

He is being well looked after so hopefully he will manage.

In other news - apparently this is not the worst year ..

And of course - There's a-more!

Saw this little gem - but thought there was something missing so added the "maybe tomorrow" lie in part - much better in my opinion...

Sunday tomorrow - may have a lie in myself !

Cheers !

25th September 2020 - Kindling and Garden Features

Thought for the day :"I have been playing quiet tennis. Its just like normal tennis but without all the racket!"

LINK JOHNS HOPKINS

Office of National Statistics

Back at Ffynnon Wen and it seems that Llanelli is going into shut-down tomorrow at 6pm - so we may have to do a trip tomorrow to get as much as we can into the trailer - I left the trailer in the Warehouse yesterday - just as well I think.

Fire stayed in all night in the kitchen - used some coal and it seems to work well - the house so far is pretty warm. 

Strange day as when the sun comes out it is baking on the veranda - but then it rains and the temperature goes right down. Now 2pm and sitting at my desk and the rain just tipped down...

Taking Vic for a haircut this afternoon at 5pm - so we shall see how that goes.

View from the window - second flowering.

Meanwhile - down at the bottom of the garden by the main Greenhouse we found that the ground was a large clear area under all the brambles and nettles..  Cleared and ready for another bonfire.

View to the pontoon that is not there yet ..

Found a Gooseberry patch and they are beginning to recover now that the willow has been cut back.

And the willow has been stripped and chopped for kindling.

After the trip to Llanelli, I brought a few items back to hide around the gardens...

Also found another Fuchsia that had survived and brought that back - it will go into the beds later today.

About enough for one day...

Cheers !