31st December 2022 - Last Day

Thought for the day :" Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

New Year's eve and Rob is here to see the New Year in - or Silvester as they call it in Germany

(Both of us are still doing well with our Duolingo German Lessons and Susie is able to correct me and help with genders and vocabulary - she is doing really well !)

Also Trefor and Carrie came in for a glass of wine ...  

Will be a quiet celebration but ready to start another year ...

 

Cheers !

30th December 2022 - Beer Garden

Thought for the day : "I met Bruce Lees vegetarian brother today - Broco Lee.

Well, with the Post Strike and everything we didn't bother to look into the letter box until we were prodded by Carrie and Trefor, and we found this as a gift from them ...

Getting near to another New Year 

Cheers 

29th December 2022 - Aylesbury and back

Thought for the day :"So my Dentist told me I need to put on the Crown to ease my dental pain. I have watched four seasons until now and the pain has still not gone away!"

Away for a day at Aylesbury family visiting 

Discovered how far away we live from everyone - nice drive through the rain overland 

tried a quicker way back - no real difference !

Toby's first trip to another house - he did very well though still does not like the car and panted for 5 1/2 hours non stop!

Cheers !

28th December 2022 - PIE

Thought for the day :"My blind friend borrowed some money from me and told me he would pay me back the next time he saw me … Wait a minute"

PIE !!!

Cheers !

 

27th December 2022 - Just a thought

Thought for the day :"I wanted my mates to go to a fancy dress party as a classic Brit-Pop band, but they won't be Suede"

Just a  thought - playing catchup

Cheers 

26th December 2022 - Boxing Day - Count up

Thought for the day :"Singing gluten intolerant Christmas carols. "Wheat Free Kings of Orient Are"..."

A quiet day today and a lazy day - time to catch up on three days working 12 hour shifts again !!

And to think that we used to be able to do it non-stop for days on end !!

Must be getting old...

But I took the opportunity of counting the Charity Jar and there was £130 there for HUTS.

Thought we did not do much trade I am fairly certain that I can put another £70 so we can do a cheque for £200 with £50 from Gift Aid (Tax refund)..

So - have a good festive season 

Cheers !

25th December 2022 - Horses and Visitations

Thought for the day :"The 3 wise men were parched while crossing the desert 'cos... No well... No well..."

One of the nice things about living here in Rhydlewis is the neighbours - who also happen to be customers of course and it is particularly nice to have people visit on Christmas morning - especially when they come on horseback...

So a mulled wine and a coffee (it was a little chilly but not as bad as previous weeks)

 

Happy Christmas !!  

We decided on no gifts this year so one of our Chickens for Christmas Dinner - yum - thank you - I will 

Cheers !

24th December 2022 - Christmas Eve Opening

Thought for the day :"wanted to give Mariah Carey anything she wanted but she said “I don’t want a lot for Christmas...” "

Made a decision that we would open from 2pm - 6pm today - just in case anyone wanted to pop i.

Had a few but not overly busy and allowed us to put the tree up and get the decorations sorted in the evening and get ready for a quiet Christmas at home with just the two of us ..

Looking good  all we need is some customers now ..

Cheers !

 

23rd December 2022 - Friday in the Tavern

Thought for the day :" I’ve bought my wife a bucket with a rope attached for Christmas."

Another quiet day in the tavern but we have used the beer up and will be out of beer by the time that we close tonight.

The look on Jim (The Pipe) 's face when he came in late in the evening and I told him that he would have to drink Cider was a picture! 

Will have to pop to CK's tomorrow I think.

Had a visit from Chris - a friend of Barbara Saunders who used to live here and her friend who visits from North Wales monthly and they popped in and had a cup of tea and some mulled wine.

Was lovely to be able to send good wishes back to Barbara. 

And a little later two of our stalwart regulars Rhys and Ian (and of course Branwen!)

 

Cheers 

22nd December 2022 - Another Quiet Trade Day

Thought for the day :"I couldn't undo the buttons on my Christmas jumper, so I tried pulling it over my head but got it stuck. I'm now in A&E now waiting to see a cardyologist"

Well this week is not going to be the busiest - but we are getting a couple of guests in and it looks as though we will use all the beer and may even have to purchase some more bottles.

We are using Mantle Ready Steady as it is 3.8% 

and a nice tasty beer.The Bottles are Cwrw Teifi at 4.5%

But we are all decked out 

So just a thought really ...

Playing catchup after Christmas

Cheers

21st December 2022 - Solstice and First day Open

Thought for the day :"I like to leave washing up liquid on the front seat of my car – it doesn’t really stop car thieves it is just a detergent"

Not every busy but was probably for the best 

Ran frantically to get the signs out around the town in the morning - failing to complete the job before opening at midday - but not a problem as no customers!!

A couple of locals by 5pm - Ned and his visiting daughter Hannah across from Dubai, another couple on their first visit .. 

Later visit from Jim and 6 from up the road 
Not going to be a big return today - but the water was back on and that is a bonus

Cheers !

 

20th December 2022 - Ready for Opening

Thought for the day :"When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?"

Drove down to Glangwili to pick up personal effects for Vic - on the phone they had said that Susie could visit in the Chapel but when she got there was informed that she had to make an appointment and would have to be after Christmas now ...  Defeats the purpose really ...   

Went to Annedd and thanked them for their care for Vic over the last year and cleared the personal effects form there as well . Leaving the clothing and bedding and towels as they can always be used by the home and also the ward in the hospital - not everyone has family to bring things in for them ...

As a result did not get any preparation for the tavern opening done ..  will be a busy day tomorrow though we are not really expecting anyone until late afternoon I think ...   We shall see..

We shall see what happens - in fact it was quite mild and clear skies today - rather than te rain of yesterday - we can just keep our fingers crossed and see what happens 

Water came back on today - we had been without since Sunday with water rations being delivered in Newcastle Emlyn.   

Lovely neighbours - Charlie and Spot came up with a 6 pack of water - and a few minutes later - Jim came up with a similar pack..

Need to look out the extra microwave tomorrow to cook the mince pies 

And get the boiler working to mull the wine and mead

also get the signs out around the town or no0-one will know that we are open 

Ho Hum !!

All go !

 

Cheers !

19th December 2022 - Passing of Vic

Thought for the day :" I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited"

Weather changes from the cold spell to rain and possibly 10 degrees warmer and Fairy Lights and Christmas trees put into place.  

A lovely Roast Pork dinner and a glass of wine..

Evening in front of the TV and a phone call from Glangwili Hospital - a nurse called Alison who was so caring and nice...   

Vic had passed away quietly and in his sleep.

He had  had a better day today - had drunk his tea and they had checked him for vital signs though they thought he may be ailing with the Flu that was on the ward, but was comfortable.  Came back to check him and he had drifted off in his sleep.

A lovely way to go. So sorry that we were not there to be holding his hand as he passed but it seems that it was a gently passing.....

Such lovely memories of the time from when he moved up from the south coast and we had our Covid Walks around Burry Port harbour and Pembrey and looked in on him daily in his flat. These are memories that I will treasure as well as a rich history of earlier days - late nights with the whisky bottle and tales of the past.

RIP Victor Edward Payne ..

Good memories

In other news we had a delivery of half a goat this evening 

Wasn't actually butchered other than splitting it a little - so Susie has struggled and managed to get everything into bags 

But all in the freezer now !!!

Cheers !

18th December 2022 - Raining!! Wiring !! Painting !!

Thought for the day :"When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?" "

Susie finishes the cull of the "eaters"  such a cold time to be plucking and cleaning chickens !!

But they are all int he freezer and ready for the table

  

Meanwhile I ran the Arctic Blue cable down the lane and put the waterproof plug in place and ran the fairy lights down to the road and around the front of the house. A fight through the hedgerows and a lot of scratches and cuts form the hawthorn but all down now, and set for the future. 

Meanwhile - painting the old dates out on the signs - they should have gone out today but we ran out of time and the black paint did not cover the writing - will try again tomorrow 

Landrover goes in to get its repairs for the MOT tomorrow and we will take a trip to Cardigan to collect the beer and get Susie some glasses..

And it is raining !!

a lot warmer than before but we had some strong winds overnight last night  and a branch came down on the lower quarter fairy lights - but I think I have repaired properly. 

One of the giraffes fell over but is back up again now .

Hoping for a few days a little milder - but fear that we will be having rain again for the opening days on Wednesday to Friday 

In other news - Vic has managed to get his legs straightened but they ave no managed to get him mobile yet  - and there is Flu on  the ward so there is no visiting ...  

We shall see what happens as time goes on ...

Got a letter today telling me it is time to renew my house insurance on No 41 !!  a bit warrying if they have been keeping the policy running - will have to check tomorrow ... 

And so - another day and we have caught up again ..

Cheers !

17th December 2022 - Walks and Lemonade Bombs

Thought for the day :"I run like the winded"

Another Icy walk 

As I do my normal "Donkey Trail" walk 'Thena often decides to go her own way for a while. It is normal for her to have a look at the perimeter of my walk - and one area is the tree allotment above our house - worked by Wyn "the garage"..

Took the opportunity today to climb the path to see what was at the top and there is this lovely cabin with excellent views...   A nice spot!!

But as I am at the top of the hill I hear a huge "BANG!"..

This was concerning as I had decided to start the Vectra up and leave the engine running to get the 4 inches of frost and snow away before going for a drive...  And my mind went immediately to the car having a bad radiator and blowing up !!

But no - it was a bottle of Lemonade that I had found totally frozen in the tunnel and had taken to the patio - because it was int he sun it had exploded with a huge bang - almost taking the window out Susie says !!!  The results...

 

Won't be trying that again - have put the other bottles under the table in the tunnel - 

Cheers !