It's full now !!

But we'll be waiting for some fine weather before we landscape..

Taking stock !

It's been absolutly ages since i've felt the urge to blog, and even now with lots to tell i can't quite find the words.

We have closed the Holyhead shop and re-opened in LLanrwst , it's really nice to be back there and S and i swap once a week {she does denbigh} and i work in this lovely little shop, it's more like a party actualy i ran it for 6years before i leased it out in 96 and made a heap of good friends who are taking it in turns to take me to lunch {so much for the stone i lost}...

Denbigh is doing well and it was the plum fest last week so trade was up. I also much to my surprise won the window competition !! some one had sneakily entered me into it.

Also if anyone fancies a daft night out that crap medium {about 3 blogs down} is coming back to the town hall on the 11th nov, i'm going Berludy £5 a ticket now though...

Did you hear about the machette attack we had on the caravan, well it's not resolved , the police finally went around to the guys house 11 days after the incident !!!!! What hope hey!!Meanwhile i'm not sleeping all the stories that have come back to me concerning the chap are gross for example "Lighting a live sheep" "shooting a dog and not quite finishing it off so dragging it around behind its{i'll leave the mistake} car until it died as you would !!!!!!!!!!!! .

Well thats the scum who is now in my radar !!

Meanwhile after 20yrs security as become important we have never had any, but now everythings locked and cameras are being fitted..I'll quietly Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrowl and bide my time.

Harrogate.

Well i'm a convert I loved the place and i'm taking colin and the girls back for a visit [tied in hopefully with collecting a 1930s kitchen don't ask just another new fetish!!]. I'm looking for cheap bookings at the same hotel as it was so handy but much as i enjoyed it there will be no breakfasts at Bettys for us though, i think the bill for our table of 4 for rostis and tea was £67 !!
Very nice mind!
It was a delight to meet everyone again and 3 new faces to put to names and avatars.
First Patsy what a Luv a wee scottish lass I can't posssibly imagine her doing things to animals with thermometres though i'm sure they wouldn't mind one bit! she was a bit of a rascal though and tempted us all with chocolates and openly encouraged fred to let somethings "rhyming with vests to get untucked "!! [The mind boggles] and fred ever one to please and surrounded in a smokey haze proceeded to do so in the street!! Kings road to be exact with 3 lanes of traffic! I must hasn't to add she didn't remove her teeth Though her eye fell out later on.

And tiggywinkle what a glamourpuss just like Honor blackman?? and she could chat for ireland what an exciting world she lives in !! jetsetting all over the place! i do envy her,her coo meeting with Francis in New york i bet they had lots talk about.

And then there was faith just as i expected except for the voice, I'm sorry everyone but you all have an accent in my imagination and i've never been correct yet! when faith writes she as a twee little girly sweety pie type of accent ie 1930s upper class.
Imagine my surprise when she sounded like janet street porter [it was a nice surprise] .

We ate and drank at two lovely restaurants which i will visit again [thanks kitty].
Elisabethm collected me from denbigh and drove me to harrogate and i had a lift home with sbs and mountaineer so i feel like i had a real proper break thanks girls.
Fab to meet withy again with more time this time she is amazing and as fit as ever and fiesty.
Woozle and angel were missed by us welsh border lot but we had a drink for them in fact we had a drink for everyone, [remember the bottle of wine i carried around for 2 nights] shhhhhhh and talked into the early hours.. Now all i want to do is sleep xx y'all

September is here one of my favourite month's .

And how does it happen who makes the light suddenly cider coloured and the air smell intoxicating? it's as if mother natures changed her light bulb And swapped her pot pourri to apple and spice.

Each morning this week i've leapt!! Yes leapt!! out of bed in anticipation of the Glorious dawns that have been awaiting me. I feel livelier than i have all year, And can't wait for the day to begin.

With these lovely morning's comes mist and a muffled silence and of course cobwebs. Venturing outside first takes some courage as i'm spider phobic and before i've walked two steps arms outstretched a strand will have broken across my face urgghh! but the mornings to good to waste. By the time i'm at the chickens the sun is just peeping over the back of the mountain and the mist starts to melt away and break up into scary looking wraiths.

I let the ducks and the goose out first What a lot of noise then the chickens a mad mayhem of cackling feathers, Albert jumps onto the highest perch and let's loose an earsplitting "Cock a doodle dooo" I love it..

I have to literally shake the young billys awake just like teenagers they'd lie in bed all day, and drag them bleating and trying their hardest to thwart any attempt i make at tethering them out.

Meanwhile tye the lurcher as dissapeared into the mist and i hear a squeal he won't want dinner, the others all run in his direction hoping for a share, they'll be lucky.

Seven words..

Faithful.
Thats right once you've got me for a friend it's forever sorry but your stuck with me.


Sensitive.
Yes i am !! and can be easily hurt but don't show it.

Tenacious.
I'll never give in or give up. And i bear grudges .

Spontanious.
"Procrastination is the thief of time" and i hate wasting time...and really can't cope
with people who faff.
Impatient.
Terribly, it walks hand in hand with the above i suppose...
Daft.
I have a complete sense of the ridiculous and "i'm always up for a laugh".

Hold my own council ??
Can't think of the word to use but i'll sit and listen i'm good at that and give my opinion , but i won't argue or put my point forcibly forward. I'll sit back and wait for the sh.. to hit the fan, and think "Ha told you so". [should i use the word smug]?

A complete pushover...
for a sob story or a daft looking dog...
Ps never do as i'm told hence 9 answers

It was that time of year again The village sports day.

It always gives me a warm snuggly feeling to see all my friends not just for 5 minutes here and there but for ALL DAY.

The bum above belongs to T we have been best friends since we were 12/13 yrs kindred spirits and we bring out the worst or it could be the best in each other and it takes a little while to remember ourselves then there i am in the twinkle of her eye "I DARE YOU" "not that you need a sumo suit fatty" ahhhh "Well you need one" i reply "anyway you'd be scared of damaging your hair!!! Lacqeur ?? Head". And the final jab "you may get dirty" The above pictures are the result ...LOL

I tell you the next day i couldn't move.

Bryn.

Some pictures of bryn he's not the most photogenic and the photos do him no justice..He's the one lay down brindle and white..

I now have birds.

Col came out with a corker "When are we getting pigs"? Why ? well you decide to get birds after all these years when theres bird flu!!! i just thought it might be a trend". grrrrrrrr

Well i'm now the proud grandma of 2 ducklings 2 goslings 2 guinea fowl , 4 peking bantams , 2 normal hens and 10 x-battery hens thats 22 birds how did that happen ??

Anyway who cares, the introducktion to the dogs as not taken place yet and i suspect i may lose a few,i won't even risk the babies yet. The ducklings have decided that the white gosling who's seriously loopy is their mother, they are lovely to watch. The cocks better now and his feathers are growing back a proper gent.

Sbs and her hubby delivered the battery hens to us on sunday, it was great to see them and natter and natter and natter.. The ladies have settled in fine and we haven't lost any they are still in the stable we'll try them outside on sunday.

Now i want a goat as a field mate for monty etc ..

Elisabethm came to see me at the shop this week she's looking really well , rosy cheeked and fit after her offas dyke walk, we are all hoping for another get together soon woollerton ? was mentioned..

This saturday it's the ale and cider festival in the Vale of clwyd, and buses are running all evening from Denbigh to the outlying pubs which are participating at £3 a ticket i think i'll be going..

Then on sunday it's the Gwaenynog show only a little show but i love the garden it's a bit unkempt like mine.

I'm just hoping the bus journey the evening before doesn't make me to ill to go . bah

Denbigh Ball Drop.....

It's true, Every year in june the mayor drops a basket of balls down bull lane in denbigh, And the first one to the bottom wins a £100..I've no idea where the tradition stems from ..
You can see st lawrences tower in the back ground...so much for getting a minute to blog the shop is now full so i have to go .

Medium not even close !

Last night i went to watch a medium in the local town hall. It all came about when i went for lunch at the local eattery "The Glass onion " and i spotted the poster with a picture of a beautiful, ethereal ,golden haired lady wearing a long flowing blue cape with mist and clouds around her. The sign read "Come for an evening of clarvoyance with Sapphire. A night you will remember forever . £2. per person..
Well how could i resist?? So i made plans to meet up with the cafe owner and go.
I was early . I'd had to hang around for an extra hour after work to save the drive home and back, and the shop when its closed is a bit spooky and my imagination was all over the place...

When i got upstairs to the hall there were some dodgy looking charactors [what a snob am i] but You know the type or maybe not... No teeth and tattoed heads.....Well they were taking pictures of everywhere and everyone the empty stage etc . And I realised they where trying to photograph orbs or spirit activity ! and there was a great deal of excitment and camera clicking when a moth fluttered around the stage ?? nothing unusual there believe me.

I sat right at the back so i could nip to the bar for more wine, S arrived and grabbed her becks and we waited to be enlightened. What i hadnt realised was the floor is sprung and as i raised my glass someone passed and my wine bounced out of my glass and landed down my neck well that was it hilarity set in for the night...
Then Sapphire arrived she was an awful shock!! At least 65, black,black hair with ginger/grey roots, a sleeveless nylon mini dress not good with very bad posture and very boney limbs, american tan tights and peep toe shoes finished off with a waspy belt [remember them] with a butterfly buckle which made her skirt lift up at the front over her pot belly we were nearly glimpsing knickers !! and all this on a tall stage under floodlights {{{{urgghhhh}}}} scary stuff!!

She rolled her eyes and cocked her ear as if listening and said in [a brummy accent] " can anyone take a Robert" huh all blank faces "or it could be a Rob" still blank. "or maybe a Bobby" she was getting desperate " wait it's faint but it could be a roberta".It was very hard not giggle.
Ok i'll leave robert she said. [can you do that?] again rolling her eyes and listening over her shoulder " I have a lady! here quite an old lady she's got grey hair [Noooo] and her name is Mrs Jones" Well i choked and my shoulders were heaving ! We're in Wales for gawd sake!! half the population are Jones's! Well needless to say some hands were raised surprise, surprise. And it was interesting to watch how desperate people were to believe.
At one point i nearly fell off my chair, when she suddenly pointed at a group of 3 ladies and said "are you going to the hairdressers this week"?"or sometime in the near future? They all had really bad hair" and they all nodded . I think a guffaw may have slipped out at this stage, because i got an elbow in the ribs.
Then she asked does anyone drive a Black BMW ? some one raised there hand, and they were told it would fly through it's MOT it was getting really bad! Groannnnn.
I'd like to think if a spirit was going to contact me it would not be to tell me i'm having my hair done or my cars in good nick . I'd want a meaningful message. Needless to say out of all the meagre 30 or so audience we were the only ones who weren't contacted . Whys that i wonder ??

The Woodfest 2009.

What you going to bid on ? asked colin Me nothing ! and 30 seconds later i found myself bidding for a bench with a twirly bit that i'd watched evolve over the weekend from 3 chunks of wood. But damn i was outbid!! never mind now that i'd started i was hooked . I won nothing but had great pleasure in the adrenalin rush !! when i panic because i've bid £500 i don't have on something i don't really want and then i have that awful few seconds when i think i'm going to win it...

I bid on the eagle above it went for £1700 .

The dragon fly was huge about 30ft. [As was my bench with the twirly bit Major sulk.]

The lady with a dragonfly on her back was a bit scary i wouldn't fancy meeting her in the woods. She went for £2000.

The table at the top will be mine when i've negotiated a bit more.

The evenings are good to when all the public have left and all the woodcarvers and loggers and pole climbers from all over the world drink and chat and burn all the wood offcuts...

It's a tireing weekend but i can't wait until next year..

Woodfest Wales.

Anybody in North Wales next week it's the WOODFEST and i'm soo looking forward to it. It's a working holiday Where i set up my marquee and sell clothes to wonderfully jolly folk all out for a good day .............. I'll be camping for the 3 nights even though its only 10 miles from home, and enjoying the live music and beer tent while col stays at home.. I'm taking extra children this time I must be mad, but it'll be fun.

Last year i bought myself a bench made out of planks of gnarly elm with the bark still on and this year i want a table to match. I also nearly bought a 9ft chair which was a green man [Amazing] which i'd watched grow out of a log, there are a group of chainsaw artists who over the weekend create some amazing sculptures,which are all auctioned of on the sunday Very tempting if i've had a busy weekend..

WELL WORTH A VISIT!

An hour on the beach .

Llanfairfechan one of my favourite beaches just before the sea turns into the menai strait, a wonderful place to beachcomb, and your always guaranteed to come home with a pocket full of seaglass and shells... Does any one know what that rock is with a hook in it ?? an anchor maybe and i've no idea if these ancient trees are tide breaks or an eel trap?? very picturesque whatever they are.....

And when the walk is done a coffee laced with brandy in the unchanged Arts & Crafts cafe .

The walk home from pont y gwyddol.

....Sometimes i just NEED to walk and just breathe in and absorb the Green ! do you understand? I hope so or else i must sound completely bonkers......so col dropped me off at the back of our hill after work with "Ben bodran" our ancient 16yr old JRT, and we walked and we sat and we just listened.. we watched a bird pretend to be injured holding it's wing down to distract us from its nest. I trespassed a bit, to visit old friends ie badger setts and tree stumps! but i'm sure my neighbours wouldn't mind, i did no damage and left no trace...

And now i'm working in the shop dressed head to foot in green playing Kate West on the cd and feeling like i've got back in touch with the goddess.......Mad i know.

spring in Eden.

The shops looking lovely at the moment and the lovely fresh smell of the cotton and silk, the new collections been recieved really well ! thank heavens because i'd forgotten what i'd ordered you have to do it 6 months in advance and i can't remember what i did yesterday..

Tomorrow i'm off to manchester to trawl the warehouse for accessories, it's one job i love doing choosing loads of jewellery and handbags and scarves ,and then the pleasure of displaying them the day after i'll need lots of turqoise, natural wood and stones tee hee i can't wait..

Before i set off though i've got my first weigh in at slimmers world Gulp!

PENMON.

Whats this?

Would you stick your camera in there?

The Dovecot

Penmon.

Last week we went on a ride to Penmon Priory [Llanfaes] on Anglesey, I've visited it once before last year pili pala took me there. How could i not have visited this place before it's mentioned in some of my favourite novels sharon penmans "Here be dragons" trilodgy and i'm sure in Barbara erskines "Child of the pheonix".....it's in a beautiful setting you can imagine Cadfael pottering around there...Sadly this was not to be we pulled up on the bikes and removed our helmets there was radio 1 blaring and a scouse bloke held out his meaty fist for a parking fee which also allowed us into the museum,it's worth it....inside are some celtic crosses rescued and kept safe on dating from the 10th century as had one of it's arms sawn off to be used as a window lintel. Theres a shiela-na-gig and other interesting bits...

My favourite is outside The carp pool and St siriols well of which i've no photos ??

But being nosey and wanting to test my camera i stuck it down a dark hole and look what it showed up.Top photos.

On the way out i said to the bloke you should be wearing a monks habit and playing some gregorian chants." Not a berludy chance" he said "they don't pay me enough " ..Salt of the Earth

Cheeky young soldier...

Climbing up the stairs of the dusty antique centre a face caught my eye it was a photo of a soldier hung on the wall, i passed by dismissing it from my mind.

After pottering around upstairs for a while looking at antique tiles and choosing one to buy i headed back down with my purchase reaching the bottom of the stairs i turned around to meet the lovely smile of this boy i climed back up the few steps and scrutinized him, i usually find these sad photos depressing but i found i couldnt help smiling back...I noticed the price tag £9.50 Leaving the shop with my tile i looked back again...

That night i couldnt sleep why hadnt i bought it ???........ Because how could i that lovely young face so familiar so full of promise and eagerness ... did he live did he survive the war? .. The words of a song came to mind "a whole generation that was butchered and damned".. "enclosed in forever behind a glass frame" just two lines but so sad.......Had this photo been the only reminder of a son lost at war or had he arrived home safely back to his family..

Needless to say i went back for it and he now hangs on my kitchen wall making me smile with his lovely face, i like to think he came home and married his sweetheart and had a family .....

Strangest of all ! though not so strange, as it may explain my attraction, but theres more than a passing resemblance to jake my boy.....

Intrepid explorers.

If you get a smaller bike you'll be able to keep up with me, i said looking at cols 650cc monster next to my 125 scooter "eh" he said raising a quizzical eyebrow trying to figure out my logic, As if.

Well its simple to me ! i'm always getting lost ! i pride myself on getting lost ! it's all part of the discovery process when out on my vespa, and if he has to do an 80 point turn on a muddy track that i managed in one , because i went the wrong way and he followed well i'm not waiting..

So he did he traded in his monster for a neat navy largish scooter fair does to him.....

So yesterday we did our second trip together we left at 8am and headed down to Ludlow.

l know a beautiful route that i had to show him avoiding all A or b roads if possible he's christened it the cattle grid route cos we went over at least 18..

Needless to say it was cold but not wet.

The view above is from the long myndd a fabulous road that takes you from the stipperstones to church stretton, not recommended for the faint hearted as theres an extremely narrow very steep decent.

If any of you have read mary webs " GONE TO EARTH" or watched the film the stipperstones are where the devils chair is [SBS will no doubt correct me] i wasnt sure which outcrop was which .

I'd past both SBS's house and Mountaineers so i'd left them carrier bags of inula to plant...I didnt knock this time but last week we'd stopped for a panned [cuppa] at mountaineers Thank You xx

I'm trying to work out how to put my photos in the right order on my blogs i hope it works this time.