Eisteddfod

In honour of St David, the patron saint of Wales and his day which falls the first of March and is the chance for everyone to eat cawl and Welshcakes and of course the kids get to dress up in national dress.
A dodgy business this as this so called national dress was the brainchild of an overly romantic Victorian - Lady Charlotte Guest - sister to one of the most powerful industrial magnates of that era who, though she had some very good ideas about the preservation (and some might say, the invention) of Welsh culture, was never-the-less not fond enough of the Welsh to ensure that the workers of Merthyr Tydfil had clean water to drink let alone decent wages.
Sorry, the old Chartist blood in me just rising to the surface there. Moving on...

One of the very best things about daughters is how adorable they look in national dress


And of course I was full of pride when all my girls won prizes for their art work

Rose came third in her class, Eden first and Lily second in theirs.

Eisteddfodau are all about competition, singing, poetry, art and recitation. It can be quite hard going sometimes hearing the same poem over and over again, but fortunately ours is a small school and we only have to hear each entry three times. Not bad considering that in some eisteddfodau the audience can be inflictd with ten renditions of the same poem or song...
So just to give you a tiny taste you can see this short clip of Cofio Dewi - Remember David - an all round good bloke apparently.

Rose is in there somewhere...Happy St David's Day when it comes!

An Early Morning Grumble

It's been a busy week. Painting the house, tidying the garden - I think I lugged about half a tonne of slate chippings on Wednesday and I finished my second quilt. Sorry, no picture, the camera has gone AWOL again.
And now I have a cold and the weeks second bout of insomnia. I bloody hate not being able to sleep becuase the kids don't care that I am exhausted, they just want their morning porridge and a warm sitting room to dress in - why haven't you lit the fire mum?

Meh...

In other news I have found possibly the best and easiest ice cream recipe in the entire world. Really. It is so simple that it is barely a recipe. And here it is...

Half a pint of lightly beaten double cream into which you stir one tin of condensed milk. Mix well and freeze.

That's it. Yes, it will make your arteries go clang but what the heck is life without a furry aorta eh?

Right, that's enough waffle for today. I have a fire to light.
Have a sweet and energy filled day won't you?

Spring Light

It is a beautiful day here. The kind of light that shows up all the cobwebs but also falls on the eye so prettily and lifts hopeful earth scents from the mountainside.

I painted my front door today - just the undercoat- but it's a start and then I planted a few more primroses for the feral sheep to munch when grass gets just too dull.

The girls played in the absolute very last of the massive snowman then, when he finally gave up the ghost and turned to water, they replayed scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Sitting there on my doorstep, sipping tea and inhaling fresh paint smells, listening to my girls dragging round an old trike calling-
Bring out yer dead!
I'm not dead!
You soon will be...
I'm feeling much better!
No yer not! etc...

Life is good.

Sir Lily

It's still a while to go before the start of the season... but guess who has been watching
A Knight's Tale just to keep the hand in.

Snow Man

Welsh men take snowmen construction very seriously.
Not for them a dainty fey snow creature...oh no.

Snowmen must be BIG. Bigger than the kids...

bigger than the wife or indeed the wife's car...

and then, once the snowman is built to satisfactory standards,
a man must then win all snowball fights
and break three tea trays hurtling down snowy slopes.

it was fun though :o)

Snow!

Up early and yawning, Eden opened the curtains this morning, peered out into the darkness and said-
What is that?!

She cannot remember snow, it has been that long but five minutes after Rose woke up they were all squeaking with excitement and wondering if school would shut.

Poor lambs, there isn't even an inch out there, not enough to make a snowball even. But it is very pretty and a dusting is just the right amount for me thank you very much. I am not a fan of the cold but I took these when I got back from the school run.

Yesterday was the start of a new season in the celtic calendar which the Christians kick off with the feast of St Bridget, celebrating the promise of Spring while still in the darkness of winter - the new shoots hidden beneath the snow...

It is also a celebration of a warm hearth and hospitality to travellers out in the cold. I am tucked up inside once more and cosy with my cuppa and chocolate biscuits. but I've got the kettle on, just in case...
Keep warm, where ever you are.

A First

So here it is, at the age of 36, nearly 37, I have made my first ever quilt. Dah daaaaaaah!

I started it last Autumn but then making all the costumes for our medieval days sort of soaked up all the sewing mojo. I picked it up again when I visited Ffald Y Brenin and let the quiet rythmn of handsewing just float me away.

It is a baby quilt but the baby it was intended for is rather too big for it now. It really is only a crib/comfort blanket size.
Happily, a couple in church had their little daughter only a few days ago and this will do very well for a gift for her.

Roses for little Keziah Rose.