Dinner in the Dark

It's been a stormy day, with the wind howling round the house overnight (although other places in Wales seem to be having it worse than us). 

Made it out onto the prom this afternoon, despite the weather, for what proved to be a rather wild walk . . . but with some great views!

Back home with the wind still buffeting the house, and (perhaps not surprisingly) we also had our first power cut of the year.  

Luckily dinner was a casserole (out of the rayburn), and we could light the fire for some added warmth . . .  

. . . and here we are, with dinner in the dark (well by firelight, candlelight and torchlight!).

Fair play to the electricity people - they had us reconnected within a couple of hours despite the weather - although we're now checking out rechargeable / windupable lanterns on Amazon!

In 2018 I Mostly Read . . .

The reading list for 2018:

December 2018 - on to a re-read of another series, ahead of the new addition - this time the Rivers of London books . . . made it through the first five (all read before, but great stuff).

November - December 2018 - back to books that have been on my bookshelf for a very long time (this time unread ones). Made it through the first three books in Andre Norton's Witch World series (Witch World, Web of the Witch World, Year of the Unicorn). Quite enjoyed them, but couldn't quite bring myself to continue with the other five (at least I need a break!).

October - November 2018 - inspired by Discovery of Witches on tv, time for a re-read of Deborah Harkness All Soul's Trilogy - good stuff! Followed that with her latest linked book Time's Convert - odd book, no real story, nice to read about the characters, but got a bit fed up with it in the end.

September 2018 - Back to Diana Wynne Jones and Howl's Moving Castle and its follow-up Castle in the Air, both a bit 'fairy-tale' but good entertaining reads - these ones will stay on the bookcase!

September 2018 - a couple of books on the kindle by the St Mary's series author Jodi Taylor - the Frogmorton Farm series The Nothing Girl and The Something Girl, basically rom-coms but with a fantasy overtone (invisible talking horses anyone?). Quite enjoyed them mind you, both were 'galloping' reads :)

August 2018 - an unread kindle purchase - The Limpet Syndrome: How to Survive the Afterlife. Entertaining enough for 99p and kept my attention to the end, although I wasn't that taken with the main character. Did enjoy the pigeons! Also just kind of stopped leaving it to part 2 to carry on the story, only I'm not inclined to pay £2.99 for it.

August 2018 - more Diana Wynne Jones with the Magid series follow-up The Merlin Conspiracy - ok, but just not that riveting - bookcase to charity shop methinks.

July 2018 - First off, Diana Wynne Jones Deep Secret - a re-read of one of her Magid books from the bookshelf - enjoyed this one, engaging characters, some nice links to the Babylon nursery rhyme, kept my attention all the way through - this is a keeper!

July 2018 - Started dipping in to Pratchett's A Slip of the Keyboard, a selection of snippets of his non-fiction writing - amusing stuff, although still more to read. Decided I needed to do some sorting through of books I had in analogue and on digital - so would do some re-reading of the stuff physically on my shelves and decide if I wanted to keep it, and also tackle some of my kindle backlog.

January-July 2018 - Was still making my way through the Discworld series and on the later ones; Making Money was pretty good, but the plot wasn't as tight as it could be, in Unseen Academicals it begins to really become apparent that the Pratchett of old is leaving us, and by Raising Steam his lightness of touch really had gone - some nice ideas, but it took me forever to read, and I reached the end with some relief that it was all over! A disappointing end to such brilliance - I still have the Tiffany Aching series to re-read, but might leave them for a while - not sure if I'll be able to bring myself to read his last book The Shepherd's Crown.

In the Eye of the Beholder

Still on holiday, and finally some sunshine - Martin duly headed out on his bike up to Nant yr Arian, while I got out into the garden.

Had intended to do some weeding in the fruit cage, but it struck me that we seemed to have less snowdrops in the garden than of yore, and I was inspired to investigate . . .

Two hours later - one large pile of ivy, and lots more visible snowdrops.  Yay!

All that scrabbling about under shrubs was not without its downside though - successfully avoided the magnolia branches, but fell prey to a hydrangea . . .







Martin meanwhile was enjoying some fantastic views, with a dusting of snow on the high ground:

Nice to see the sun, and enjoy the fresh air, although could have done without the poke in the eye!

Back to the Old Home Town(s)

First 'holiday' of the year and we were heading East to visit with family, celebrate Mum's birthday, and revisit some old haunts.

Took Mum shopping to Peterborough and the Queensgate Shopping Centre (well mainly John Lewis) - hadn't been there for years (memories of teenage shopping trips past!).

One 'Mother of the Bride' (my sister, not me!) dress duly acquired.




Also had time for a brief wander round Peterborough - Martin made it to the Cathedral (a return visit may be called for) and we all visited the Museum.

I was particularly taken with the 1950s kitchen display - Grandma had similar stuff in her kitchen!








Followed this with a trip further East to the Lowestoft area - where the parents lived in days of yore, and we'd go back regularly to visit with the grandparents.


The old town isn't looking so great now, and the visit was somewhat marred by an over-officious parking attendant, who ticketed us for 'obscuring' part of Mum's disabled badge with the pay and display ticket!*


It was lovely to meet up with family still in the area though (a couple of very nice meals out!) and there was time to revisit the old streets - where Dad grew up, where he and Mum got engaged, and (a bit emotionally for me) the house where my grandparents lived.

So many memories . . .



*Excess Charge Notice of £50 cancelled on appeal.