Catch-up

Hello there! How have you been? Have you done something different with your hair?

What am I up to? Oh, the usual. Getting to know my new corner of the world, going on outings, walks and bike rides...

Spending time with granddaughters...

standing on Granddad's head

Getting glue on my fingers and playing with dolls.

Annie Hall

'Audrey'

I made this paper doll and her wardrobe for lovely blogging buddy Connie at Snow in the Air.

It's a little Connie with a Dottie Angel dress and jeans and tunics.

Oh, yeah, and I'm binge-watching on Netflix like there's no tomorrow. I feel like I'm a part of the 21st century now  - Netflix, a smartphone, Instagram, and a new laptop!

But I try not to get completely wrapped up in all that technology.

Val

Driving Miss Llygad y Dydd

I am becoming such a little old lady. I don't like driving anymore. I sit in the passenger's seat with my handbag on my lap, my hands folded on top, and I tell my driver to slow down, for goodness sakes! I swat him with my fan for good measure.

Of course, it's partly because I'm used to driving on the right side of the road, and I moved to a country where they drive on the WRONG side.

But what really makes me cringe is how narrow the roads are! When I learned to drive, I was taught to leave about a foot between my car and other cars. When I mentioned that to a British woman, she said they generally just left room 'for a piece of paper' between cars! And people drive faster here, on those narrow roads. It's enough to make your sphincter both tighten and loosen when a looming lorry is speeding towards you on a two-lane road that is enclosed by hedges or stone walls.

Then there are the single-lane secondary roads, especially here in Wales where it's not very busy.

You hope you're near a wide spot when you meet a tractor whizzing between fields.

I've been letting Mr. S do most of the driving, but I also force myself to keep in practice. I mean, what is wrong with me? When I lived in the UK before, I drove all the time. I could squeeze through traffic, and I only knocked a mirror off once. Now I am such an old woman.

Speaking of old women, we went to a car boot sale (swap meet/tailgate sale/whatever you want to call it) at a little local church. There were several mature women selling baked goods. Look what we got.

That's right - Apricot Whisky Cake. It was delicious!

Old ladies rock!!

Val

The Not So Insta Gram

I have to get this out of my system. I promise if you let me rant now, I will reward you with pretty pictures, wine and chocolate chip cookies. But first I have to tell you that BT (British Telecom) has still failed to connect our broadband internet service. Hashtag that!

#BTfail

We were told a month ago that there was a fault with the ‘underground line’ to our house, and yes, we were told that the engineers who do that work ‘are very busy’. Since then, Mr. S contacted BT several times and been told lie after lie after lie, some told with Indian accents by people who take ‘personal responsibility’ for making sure this would be sorted out.

#BTbullshit

Finally, Mr. S contacted our Member of Parliament as well as the chairman of BT. We have been assigned a person who is responding personally, mostly to make excuses. However, as of today we have the landline telephone hooked up! That’s progress!

However, we were told it will take five to seven days to switch the broadband on!*$!#&%!

#BTWTF

We use our smartphones to do a reasonable amount of stuff – emails, Instagram, Facebook – and we’ve set one up as a wifi hotspot so we can use our computers in a pinch. That’s a real data drain, though, so I’ve been Instagramming rather than blogging, and my Muse Fondue Facebook page is slumped in the corner like a ventriloquist’s dummy.

But now I’m sacrificing my data ration to bring you – ta da! – pretty pictures from Wales! Almost all of these have not even been on Instagram – they are exclusive to the blog. Don’t you feel special? I hope you enjoy them!

The orangery at Powis Castle

Plunge pool at Powis Castle - looks inviting, no?

View from the orangery

Leighton church doorway with finger (I did it on purpose, natch)

Llanerfyl church doorway

Bishops Castle street

Bishops Castle square

Montgomery Castle ruins and view beyond

And for those of you who also want wine and chocolate chip cookies, send me your address and I’ll, um, put them in the post.

Val

Cheap and Cheerful

Thank you all for your kind comments on my last post. I recovered from the horrible bug I had (Brexit bug?), thanks to some down time and a gift from Mr. S.

Chocolate can cure almost anything.

Now, I know you’re all wondering about our new house. 

It’s bright and pleasant, small but adequate, and fulfils that wonderful British phrase 'cheap and cheerful'. We've quickly filled it up with new furniture and other crap that we feel we need to live a modern life. We've been up to our ears in flat-packs, corrugated cardboard and plastic packaging. I hope we’re done now because I’m getting a serious case of stuff-itis – and we don’t have any more room!

We received the boxes we had shipped from the States with the belongings we kept. It’s funny opening them after six weeks, now that we’re in a new environment. Some things I look at and wonder, ‘What the hell was I thinking? Why did I keep that?’ But other things are such a joy to unwrap, and finally make this place feel like home.

Blogger keeps turning this photo sideways - weird.

As you can see up above, we painted one accent wall. Otherwise, we've made things easy by sticking to the 'new-build neutral' colour scheme. Most things we bought in either cream or white, with just a few patterns to shake things up.

I have a nascent craft corner in the garage.

I have a new bicycle with pretty patterns on it.

It's pretty, but it's not exactly top of the line.

The shower, which is so small that I almost can't bend my elbows, shows what the builders thought about following instructions.

Although we're in a rural location, we're in a newish cul-de-sac just off a highway. It's a fish bowl with great views of all the neighbours' cars. 

It's not ideal, but there's only so much you can do when you buy a house online! We’re looking at this as a starter home, so we may have to move all this new furniture and stuff again someday. What fun.

I have surprisingly few local pictures available except on my phone, so if you want scenic shots (it is gorgeous here!), check out my Instagram feed (@musefondue). But here are a couple blog-exclusive pics taken in local towns, and I’ll share some soon of our trip to Powis Castle.

There's so much more I want to photograph, but it seems we're always rushing on our way to somewhere else. And the weather has been mostly horrendous! Hoping for sunshine and a slower pace soon!

Val

Amerexit/Brexit

Would you Adam and Eve it?!*

I move to Britain one week, and the next week they vote to close the borders, more or less! You might say I got here just in time. Or you might say I just moved into a big financial and political hurricane. Or you might say, like me, WTF.

chapel in Llanwydden

So, here I am in Wales. It's very green because it's very wet. I'm using wifi at the library because we still don't have internet/phone/cable hooked up at our house - thanks, BT!

We had a smooth flight over except for the requisite turbulence during meal service. After landing, we hit the ground running - we went to the bank, got a mobile phone, and renewed our driving licences before you could say, 'Please return your seats and tray tables to an upright position'. (UK punctuation and spelling rules apply now.)

That was just the beginning of the fun!

After feeding us and giving us her bed for the night, my stepdaughter, Emma, drove us to our new house out in the Welsh countryside, where we dumped our three huge suitcases. Then we dashed into the nearest town with a good variety of shopping (20+ miles), and we quickly loaded up several shopping trolleys with pillows, duvets, towels, towel rails, broom, mop, dishes, mugs, glasses, kettle, toaster, cleaning supplies, tools, and two patio chairs. We made quite a spectacle, especially when one of the trolleys rolled into the street as we were waiting for Emma to bring the car round! 

Then back to the house just in time to receive our new car so we wouldn't be stuck when Emma departed. An hour later we received our new bed, which turned out to be very comfy. After that, a quick run in the new car to the supermarket (18 miles away) and we were set for the night, eating beans on toast and sitting in our patio chairs.

Then several more days making the rounds of the local towns to get more supplies, pick out furniture, get keys made, join the library and sign up with the health centre. Home again to unpack and find a place for everything in our little house.

nearby tea shop

And the house needed cleaning - it had been either rented or empty for the last five years. (Oh, the dead spiders and flies in the window frames - ugh!)

And then I got sick. Not surprising, really, but I haven't been ill like this in decades - sore throat, fever and aches, lots of sleeping. It's a bit of an extreme way to engineer a rest, but we have furniture and food so I'm taking it easier now. 

Lake Vyrnwy

Until we get fully online, I've been getting used to my smartphone. I'm on Instagram (@musefondue), but for everything else I really prefer a proper keyboard!

Enough for now. I'll have more pictures when it stops raining - someday.

Val

* Cockney rhyming slang for 'Would you believe it?'

Things I can't take with me

People often ask me, "Val, how do you stay so calm and cool when there is such chaos around you? You just sold your house (in two days) and you're moving to another country. Another country! Won't you miss EVERYTHING? How DO you do it?"

I smile graciously and reply, zen-like, "For everything that must be given up, there will be something to take its place. Memories are yours to keep and cost nothing to ship. You must learn to bend like the willow or else you will break like the oak" and other such nonsense.

The fact is, life moves on, and there are tears and goodbyes and regrets along the way. The highs and lows make up life's rich tapestry (I've got loads of aphorisms, don't I?). So I'm concentrating on those free-shipping memories and looking forward to creating new ones on a different canvas, because I can't take everything with me.

I can't take my grandmother's rocking chair, which I've been fortunate to have in my possession for ten years. Now it will go to my sister or one of my nieces.
 

I can't take my fantastic rotary dial telephone because it won't work in the UK. But I'll sell it for as much money as I can milk out of it.

I can't take my sister, but I can look forward to showing her and my brother-in-law around Wales and England when they come to visit. And my sister and I will always be connected. Not least because I'm chaining her down.

I made this necklace for her because she told me she liked this saying, which she saw in my post at Christmastime. I also wanted a necklace with that saying, so I made a matching one for me that continues the phrase, connecting the sentiment.

I had some little jewels, which happen to be our birthstones, and I added a bit of lace from a pillow our grandmother embroidered. Mine acquired some bubbles while the resin was drying. I'm calling it wabi sabi - beauty in imperfection. Just like life.

And all manner of thing shall be well.

Val

Sight Unseen

I don't consider myself a very brave person. Where physical peril is involved I'm a bit of a wimp. But I have taken some leaps of faith in my life, and so far I'm still standing.

My latest leap of faith (with Mr. S) is buying a house in the UK - sight unseen.

No, that's not it, but ours is No. 4.

It's amazing what you can do on the internet. Mr. S spent a lot of time looking for houses within a certain radius of the town where his children live, and as he kept looking he noticed prices kept going up. We decided we had better get something before we couldn't afford anything. So we bought an ordinary (affordable) house in mid-Wales, sight unseen, in a location we've never been to! We'll be living in a tiny hamlet, just down the road from a small village, which is just down the road from a small town, which is just down the road from the English border.

No, that's not our house, either. I don't want to give the exact location because of the paparazzi and all that, you know.

Using the magic of the internet, we've driven down our road on Google Street View, we've "visited" the local pub (dating from 1310) and even met our neighbor! He's a painter/handyman and has his business listed at his address. That shows up on Google maps, so Mr. S gave him a call and talked to him before we bought the house. The neighbor (I'll start using British spelling once we've moved) had already been cutting the grass and looking after the house while it was empty, so after we bought it we made arrangements for him to continue. He's been so helpful, checking the mail for us and doing a few repairs. Since the house is sitting empty for several months, this has been an even greater asset than having two bathrooms!

Just down the road is Lake Vyrnwy (pronounced 'vern-wee), which you can see here in The Telegraph's article of Britain's Best Lakes. I tried to download some copyright-free photos, but my computer said no, so I hope you'll follow the link and see how stunning the lake is. More photos and history here from a local B&B.

It'll be so fun exploring the area. I'm already following some local businesses on Facebook, so I know what soup the nearest deli is making and what's on at the winery. Yes, an English winery!

Nope, that's not the place either. These photos were taken by me in 2012, and as I said, I've never been to my new home before!

Val