Christmas!

So. The Christmas break is over and after a week away we are back here again.  We went to Helen and Steve for Christmas and did many exciting things   We visited the Black Country Museum, where we enjoyed a typical lesson from the olden days - Steve volunteered to see what the cane felt like  

Black Country Museum

Black Country Museum

Black Country Museum

 We went to a Pantomine - oh yes we did!

 

 

Panto

Steve cooked up a wonderful Christmas Dinner with me working as sous-chef.

Xmas Dinner

On Boxing Day we went to visit Bella and Holly and the boys - this is a photo of their visit to Santa a few days before.

Bella, Holly and the boys

Then their was the Robertson Christmas Gathering - ten of us First Generation were there but we forgot to immortalise the event! There were 56 assorted family there  

Family Party

And today the weather has been so good we went for a walk up the hill  

Walk

Walk

 

Paaaaarp Paarp paarp......

The last post..... before Christmas. Actually that was more like the last trump! This will be the last news item before we sign off for the Christmas holiday. There has been much sitting around waiting for things to start happening which they will do tomorrow. 

Sunset

 

A pleasant day.

A quiet morning reading, then an OAP lunch ( two meals for £12! ) in Llangadog followed by a walk around Llangadog Common. How pleasant it is to be retired!

Sun on water.

Castell

The clump of trees is the remains of a motte and bailey castle. The earthworks can be seen running below the house.

Late sunshine.

         

Progress.

Nice day!

Nice day.

Nice day.

So back to work on the paving. Making a French drain along the house wall with a flower bed then paving. 

Digging

Nearly there.

 

Don't assume....

... that just because I haven't blogged that I have done nothing. But do assume that I have not done very much.  The weather outside is frightful.  

Frightful

So there has been inside work. Mainly computer stuff for Quakers but also day to day stuff.  And in between a bit of modelling- this is a lock-keepers cottage to go on the Llandovery layout.

Cottage

 

Drainage part three

Day two in the Big Ditch and work has continued. (to be read with a Big Brother voice).

One

Two

Three

All done

But next year we are going to re-do this whole area and have more borders and gravel paths. 

Drainage part two.

When I dug the French drain across the end of the house I knew I needed to continue the drain down to connect with the drain around the conservatory. The time has come.

Before

During

End of day one.

 

The gas man cometh.

Actually it was the water man not the gas man. A leak at the stoptap - fortunately their problem not ours. 

Stoptap replacement.

  I was working at the station in Llandovery, clearing out a room full of railway ephemera.

Mending bridges.

Today I braved the cold to get some work done. Noah's bridge has been without a side rail since the accident. I have fitted a curb rather than a complete handrail. It will be enough to stop any further steering errors on the bridge. 

Bridge repair

Then I used the offcuts to renew the floor of the tree house which had rotted. 

Tree house

 

Somebody loves me!

Wine Society selection

This arrived today from two of my fans in Stroud - for which we are very grateful.  Yesterday was a Quaker Day - at The Pales all day. Www.thepales.org.uk  Arrived to glorious sunshine..

Arrival

I left in a glorious sunset....

Departure

Today was a very boring day typing up all the notes and starting some of the tasks I volunteered for!

Too cold!

I'm not going out there!

Cold!

So I stayed indoors.  I found this amazing image of all the rivers in Wales! 

All the rivers in Wales.

I managed to work on some engines, getting them ready for the DCC layout. 

Chip going in.

These have been done.

 

A lovely weekend.

Bella and her partner Holly came for a quiet weekend. The sun shone on us and we enjoyed the peace and serenity that comes with no children.  We walked up round Dafydd's farm and were able to introduce them to him. 

Blue skies

Holly and Bella

Walking back as the sun set.

Today was a train day apart from some time dealing with 210 trees courtesy of the Woodland Trust. They are for planting in the wasteland and in other selected locations. They came complete with canes and rabbit guards. 

Trees and guards.

 

What a morning.

Look at that colour. Autumn!

A morning gardening. Clearing the beds of all the dead and dying.

Flower bed clearing.

Last one.

Then this afternoon I discovered the delights of inserting DCC chips in engines and making them work by computer control. 

First one.

 

Hedging.

The weather has been good enough today to cut the leylandii. 

Hedging

And even the lupins haven't given up flowering yet!

Lupins braving the cold.

 

Keep the Home fires burning.

Filling up the log shed.

There is still a lot of autumn colour about. 

Strawberries

Shrub

All the rain has filled all the ponds.

Lower pond full.

One of today's jobs was the bramble-watch. I walk around with garden shears and cut down all the brambles. 

Brambles