Project Shoe Rack

Martin's latest project has been to use some of the pallet wood we'd accumulated to make a new shoe rack for the porch - et voila!

And here it is in situ, complete with shoes, wellies, boots etc.

All the layers lift off, which makes it easier to move when we need to, everything is nice and accessible, and the porch looks much tidier.  

Job done!

Lighting Up

Time for another visit to family - fitting in some pre-Christmas tasks (such as sorting out the festive lights in the parent's garden, and bringing down the Christmas decorations).

Our visit also coincided with the switching on of the town Christmas lights - and with the 'fountain' in storage this year (due to the ongoing revamp of the town centre) - the 'tree' was the focus of the festivities.

And boy did it attract some attention - perhaps you can see why!

Likened to the 'leaning tower of Pisa', it made the evening news bulletin, and was even trending on the BBC News website!  

Apparently it is all down to a 'bent trunk' and it is perfectly safe, but they are going to contact the supplier 'in the hopes that next year's tree is a better one' . . .  

This one at least won't be forgotten any time soon!

Lest We Forget

 Welshpool Postbox from our recent trip - says it all.

Sights and Sounds in Shropshire

So with tickets booked to see Show of Hands in Shrewsbury - one of my favourite folk groups on their (possibly) final tour - we decided to have a couple of days in the 'big' city (well 'town' if you want to be technical about it!).

After a leisurely drive through mid-Wales, stopping along the way a couple of times - we arrived in Shrewsbury mid-afternoon, with time for a wander round the museum and a few shops, before enjoying a few drinks and a very nice curry in the evening.

The next day we actually got a bit of sunshine in the morning - taking a walk down by the river, and through the gardens in all their autumn colours. 

Along the way visited St Chad's Church - a distinctive and really interesting round building - further distinguished by the presence of an 'Ebenezer Scrooge' gravestone in its churchyard (used in the 1984 George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol.)  

Apparently it isn't a prop, but rather a period gravestone where the original inscription was no longer visible - not sure if was quite ethical to allow a film production to reinscribe it, but it certainly makes a noteworthy addition to the churchyard!

After our musical evening, made our way home the next day via Oswestry, and the British Ironwork Centre - lots more to see than on our last visit - from the original 'spoon' Gorilla, to Marvel characters, and an ecological sculpture park.

The cakes were just as good as last time too - although Martin got a bit of a shock on visiting the Gents . . .

All in all it made for a nice couple of days away - plus we got a bit of Christmas shopping done, and stocked up the wine cupboard at 'English' prices! 😊

Vale of Rheidol Visit

The local heritage railway, the 'Vale of Rheidol', has had a lot of work done recently with new engine sheds among other developments - and today, they had a free open day for the local community to see the results.

The interior of the shed was a really lovely space, with the original ironwork in the roof, and a new wood block 'parquet' type floor - not to mention the engines themselves, all painted and polished.

And the first class carriages - so beautifully fitted out and decorated, with paintings of marine wildlife on the ceilings, colourful upholstery, and polished woodwork.

Really interesting to chat to some of the staff too about where the engines had come from, and plans for the future - a first class trip is definitely something for the to-do list!

Project 'Lighthouse'

Having finally given in to temptation, and purchased the Lego Lighthouse I'd been looking at for months - and with the nights very definitely drawing in - it was time for the big build.

First job, open the box, and layout the contents - lots and lots of numbered bags of Lego pieces, and a couple of very hefty instruction books!

And then it was time to start building - from the 'ground' up:

At one or two 'stages' a day, it took near enough a week to finish the 'build' - I really enjoyed putting it all together though - and the finished lighthouse looks great - plus it works!

Home from Home

For a while now, we've been toying with the idea of buying a van, and converting it into our own 'camper' home from home.  We've watched umpteen YouTube videos, trawled our way through autotrader looking for likely base vans, and even drawn up possible layouts.

This would obviously be our biggest retirement 'project' yet, and as part of the continuing research (we do a lot of that!) we decided to take ourselves off to a proper Motorhome Show, to get more of a feel for how the professionals organise the available space.

It was certainly an experience - we'd never been to the NEC before, and there was plenty to see (and it did give us some ideas) - but my it was busy!  

Getting into the car park wasn't too bad, but getting out again was another matter - it took us a good half an hour just to get to the exit!  Glad we did it, but if we go to the NEC again I think we'll be letting the train 'take the strain'.

Of course, being half way along the M6 we couldn't pass up the opportunity to continue the journey to visit family in East Anglia.

Good to see everyone, catch-up and help out with a few bits and pieces.  And of course, any visit to 'home' there wouldn't be complete without a picture of Marci Moo with a shoe.