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 that go to new homes

I woke up the other night thinking, "What if we're making the biggest mistake of our lives moving back to Britain?"

It's the 3AM brain that's dangerous. At 7AM I was feeling okay, but I'd be lying if I said everything is rosy and shiny here. There have been meltdowns and melancholia, and it feels like we're undergoing death by a thousand very slow cuts.

We've sold one car, and we shipped out our boxes of things we can do without (I hope) for 6 to 10 weeks.

After advertising our couch and matching chair, a young woman couldn't wait to get them for her first apartment. So we're using a patio chair and the rocker that will stay here with my sister.

The TV is now on the floor because we don't have anything left to put it on! It was on this chest that my dad made in the '70s - a friend just bought that from us.

Before that the TV was briefly on a side table after another friend bought the TV stand. Now the side table holds the computer because the computer desk is in the garage for our last garage sale tomorrow.

Next week other friends will be buying all the remaining furniture and the bicycles, the computer will be erased and donated, and we'll clean the house, sign stacks of papers, and relinquish our keys and our home. It makes me very sad because I've really loved living here. I find some consolation in the thought that we leave a legacy behind - sort of like organ donation.

Besides the furniture going to new homes, our everyday dishes went to a young woman who wanted to have a matched set instead of putting up with her boyfriend's odds and ends.

A lovely artist who lives down the road bought a small vase at our last garage sale because she wants to use it in a still life painting.

Some cool contemporaries bought my two Balinese frogs - they'll give them to a friend who is a musician with a frog pond. The frogs may end up in his music studio!

Our old bedroom dresser will hold clothes for two little boys as they grow up - one is only two months old now.

And our house will be loved by two new people who moved here to be near their son. Maybe this will be their last home. I wonder where my last home will be.

After the house sale is complete, we'll take some road trips here before we fly across the pond in mid-June. Until I get a new computer in the UK I'll be depending on my 7-year-old netbook, and my camera card doesn't fit it (so old skool). I think this is a good time to say See ya later, au revoir, arrivederci. I'll share photos from Wales - you know, sheep, hills and strange road signs - as soon as we've settled in our new home!

Val

Oxytocin Hugs

It's about two and a half weeks now until we move out of our house, and about 35 days until we fly to the UK to start our new lives. Although our house is looking very empty, there's still a lot to sell, much to do and people to see. It's getting harder to de-stress by thinking happy thoughts - or procrastinating.

So I flew to Palm Springs.

Of course, it was a pleasure trip. I'm lucky to have two very dear, longtime friends there. One has been diagnosed with cancer, and he may not be able to travel to see me in the UK. So I just had to squeeze in a visit.

I've known these guys forever. Back in the '80s and '90s, I worked with both of them at various restaurants. They got married three years ago, coincidentally right after I wrote this post, Love is Love.

We spent almost three days hanging out, talking and talking and talking, and seeing the sights.

We toured Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, the home of the Annenbergs, where they hosted the Queen and several presidents. President Obama was there in February for the US-ASEAN summit. And yes, I was a little excited to be in the same house Barack had been in!

We went to very cool restaurants, and ate way too much. We hiked, we biked, we shopped.

I saw Alyson Walsh's book in a great display - she's in very good company here.

And when I was supposed to come home Friday evening, my plane was delayed, so I got one more night to visit and stay in their comfy guest room.

My friend Frank said that if you hug someone for more than 10 seconds, it releases oxytocin and makes you feel good. There was lots of hugging, and oxytocin was spurting through my system when I finally checked in to fly home.

Palm Springs Airport

Hugs!

Val

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

Hey, I made scones!

We're just about to list our house for sale. As I've mentioned before, I will be sad to leave this house - this neighborhood - this town.

But come on, let's get on with it!! I feel like my mind is living in two places at once, and my physical body is now in a place that's "staged" and soon to be thrown open to strangers. We have to keep it CLEAN!

So I took refuge in a new little beach hut.

It helped me maintain some feeling of sanity, although I probably shouldn't have fed glue to the neighbor's dogs. (Kidding, but do they really need to bark so much?)

Hey, I made scones!

 And little tiny knives, and a fake jar of jam, and a little magazine and book.

There are beach towels and blankets for sitting on the sand. And a little parasol in case the sun is too bright.

And a big bottle of wine!

Although I had to go wandering around the house to find the supplies, which have been tidied away in various places, I think this turned out pretty well. Maybe one day I'll have a life-size beach hut to escape to. Fortunately, I can get a life-size bottle wine right now!

Val