What the Hay?

(Has it really been a month since my last blog post?)

(Yes, Val, it really has. You've just been too busy with your smarty-pants-phone and Insta-booyah-gram to notice anyone else.
Sniff, sniff.)

My egotistical Id has just informed me that I've been neglecting my blog, so let's have a little wrap-up of me and my life. It's been an eventful - some might even say crazy - month in the world, but in my little corner of Wales the sun always shines and there's no heavy traffic. Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, lambs are gambolling and the coffee is always delicious!

Roberts Coffi Siop in Dolgellau

It's not always perfect here, but even if you're standing in a graveyard with a cold wind clutching at your throat, the views are incredible!

I made plans to go to Hay-on-Wye to meet someone from Instagram, and that expanded to include more people from Instagram as well as from a book arts group. I didn't have any calling cards - and I wanted to impress everyone - so I finally got around to making some Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). Ta da!

I used cut-outs of old family photos (scanned and printed). And then I decided to make some little books.

The one at the front has thumbnails from the back of a calendar.

And then I went to Hay-on-Wye and met these cool people!!

That's Kelly on the right, another American in Wales (on IG @torch.song.tango and fedoras.and.pearls). On the left is Anne, co-owner of Addyman Books (@addymanbooks), a fantastic shop on many levels with nooks, crannies, steampunk stair rails, and so many books I couldn't even begin to browse (too much chatting!).

miniature books - squeeeeee! 

So, life is SWEET, as long as I don't watch the news.

in Chester

Well, that's probably enough for now, don't you think? Here's one last one from a recent walk near home.

Val

2017 So Far

Wow, what a year it's been, huh? Holy cow! It's been windy, rainy, snowy, melty.

Sunny, cloudy, dark and light.

There's been fly-tipping in our local town.

What a tumultuous year so far - and it's only beginning!

our view on a misty morning

But seriously, I am incensed at politics in both the US and UK, and I am about to go cold turkey and quit reading or watching the news at all. That'll show 'em! If politicians give a damn about my opinion (they don't), they'll be sorry I'm not watching their fake news, platitudes and Twitter regurgitations. But I don't want to sully my pristine blog with politics. I want to talk about something important, which is - is anybody blogging anymore?

abandoned chapel near us

I've become very dilatory about blogging - and especially about commenting - since I drank the Instagram Kool-aid. I'm doing this post because I wanted to practice writing again using all ten fingers to type instead of just thumbs. (Actually, I just use my right index finger to text, hunting and pecking on the phone keyboard. Is that a typical old lady thing? How do you text - fingers or thumbs?)

near the abandoned chapel

So I'll throw in a few photos here, because I have loads. And I'll encourage you all to ignore the news and politics and instead have a shot of vodka and play a game of Scrabble. Spring is just around the corner!

spring lamb on butcher shop sign in Llanidloes

door in Llanidloes

door in Winchelsea

church window in Winchelsea

London!

Val

First this, then the other

I know, I know - we're all saying it to ourselves if not to the lady at the shop or the man at the post office.

I can't believe it's November! Where has the time gone! It'll be Christmas before you know it!

Chirk Castle

With all this time flying by at supersonic speeds, I thought it was time to update my profile pic. The old one was at least three years old.

summer in Eugene, Oregon - 2013

How things have changed in three years - different glasses, different hair, different home.

autumn in Wales - 2016

Now I'm going to bombard you with pretty photos because, one, it's been an amazing autumn here in the UK and everything is BEAUTIFUL!

And two, yes, I do live in a faerie tale land.

Chirk Castle

 

Stokesay Castle

Lake Vyrnwy straining tower

Between the photos, though, are my ramblings about balance. I am a Libra, the sign of the balance, and Libras tend to tip first one way and then the other. I find that it is, in fact, true.

Shrewsbury

Ellesmere

Ellesmere

I go through periods of being energetic, creative and upbeat. Then I go through periods where all I want to do is sit quietly and read or watch TV.

Welshpool canal

Welshpool canal

Llanerfyl churchyard

Remember all the paper dolls I did a few weeks ago?

Yeah, that seems to have blown over. I imagine I'll get my creative magic back at some point, and I'll dive in to my crafting supplies and start flinging paper around again.

Llanerfyl

Lake Vyrnwy

Llanerfyl churchyard

Until then, I'm just enjoying this lovely autumn before the weather changes to dark winter skies and howling winds, and a different kind of magic takes hold.

Lake Vyrnwy dam

Val

Another decadent decade

I have a birthday coming up, and it's a BIG ONE. It's hard to even say the number because it SOUNDS SO OLD. It's the beginning of the decade that includes words like 'Social Security' and 'pension' (on the plus side, it also includes words like 'retirement' and 'senior discount').

down a local lane

So, yeah, there's that.

I first moved to the UK when I was 39, and I had my 40th birthday at an old pub with my friend Tim, who has the same birthday. I'm being a very bad blogger because I'm not going out to the garage to dig through a box of old photos so I can scan a picture for you. Sorry. Instead, here's one of me in Liverpool a couple of weeks ago.

in Liverpool with the Fab (and huge) Four

We moved back to the States when I was 49, so my 50th was spent in Oregon. Ah, yes, I remember it well. It was Friday the 13th. I wore black. Sadly, I have lost or deleted all pictures from that birthday weekend, which included wearing a big wooden fish head at a local restaurant. It was a thing they did.

in Shrewsbury

So now we've moved back to the UK and I'm about to have another big birthday. I have no major plans for this birthday other than a nice dinner and catching up with some friends on the weekend. And then applying for my BUS PASS!

another local lane

Rather than go on about ageing (British spelling) and various aches and pains, I thought I'd mention all the positives in my new life, and share some more photos.

our view with a room

First of all, the neighbours are all really nice here. Our little close has a mix of people ranging in age from late-8os to three weeks, and (almost) everyone gets along. There is some tension between a couple of families, but that only gives the rest of us something to gossip about.

in Montgomery

Also, I've met some outgoing women who meet to speak Welsh and also have organised folk dancing and craft get-togethers. Again, they're all so nice! And since we're in a village, although spread out we run into people we know pretty regularly now.

If you live in a place without blackberries, what a shame!

And I'm going to a yoga class. I've been wanting to do yoga for years, but it was never convenient. Well, now it is, and although it is a challenge (jeez, some of it is damn hard!) it is also blissful.

Lake Vyrnwy

I'm restarting my proofreading/editing business, and I've been making paper products with the thought of selling them, possibly on Etsy, possibly in a local shop where I've already met the very friendly owner.

Oh, and I've been doing a lot more driving, so I'm not so anxious about that anymore.

Liverpool - a city of contrasts

So life is good! Okay, enough about me. After all, I'm just a boring old bat.

Val