catching up

 

We entertained some of my dear school friends and their partners over Easter weekend at our house. We'd only had the windows completed three days before the first guests arrived, so there was some frantic tidying and dusting beforehand. Somehow we managed to get it all ready and had a lovely, relaxed few days with lots of good food and some windy walks. We climbed the hill opposite our house to pick wild garlic for a risotto I had planned to cook. The view from there was pretty amazing, especially in the changeable weather that was sweeping overhead that day. The fact that our own house made up part of the view is kind of beside the point, but it was good to see how it sits in the landscape, with the hills of the Clwydian Range marching off into the murky distance.

On Easter Sunday, despite some pretty unpromising weather forecasts, we decided to be brave and took an indulgent picnic for eight people to one of my favourite places  - Llanddwyn Island, which I've written about before. The weather turned out to be just fine, if a little windy, and the four miles of beach and shoreline walking was perfect. There is something very British, but very magical, about picnicking on a beach with clouds scudding overhead and the threat of rain in the air. I loved every minute of that weekend and feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends who were willing to travel so far to come and see us.

The following weekend, we went to see an acquaintance of mine who sells industrial vintage stuff in Manchester. He's just set up shop in a new warehouse and wanted to show me some of his latest goods. I'll write about this in a separate post, as he very generously donated some bits to me to have a play with in the house. I've been too busy with work and stuff lately to have done anything yet, but I'm really excited about dreaming up some ways of displaying and using his vintage finds.

Last week we attended our first antiques auction in over a year. This one is in Froncysyllte, near Llangollen, and was pretty quiet so there were bargains to be had. We got a 1920s oak desk for the husband's office for the princely sum of £35.40 which, once it's been tidied up, will look just spiffing. There were lots of items that we had no interest in at all: the usual parade of Staffordshire dogs etc., but it was a fun day out. Plus, like our old auction haunt at Willingham, they do a splendid bacon sarnie. What's not to like?

What else, what else? Drawing? Nope. Sorry. Lost my mojo there, I'm afraid. I think there's not enough room in my body for both a baby and a brain. I'll see what I can do to remedy this in the coming weeks. I hope to finish work within the next week and a half, to start properly on nursery and other baby stuff I've been procrastinating about and maybe to do some creative stuff too.

Meanwhile, I hope you are all well. Only seven weeks til I'm meant to pop now, so not too long at all. Eep!

The weekend – Amlwch

It was freezing on Saturday morning, but I had been going a bit stir crazy at home all week, so the husband and I ventured out to Anglesey for a gentle coastal walk near Amlwch. Needless to say, it was stunningly beautiful out there, helped along by some magnificent sunshine. Because of the unseasonally warm weather we've been having, the gorse was in full bloom, creating a spring­­­­-like cheeriness amid the frost. Snacks were gobbled down on a rocky headland overlooking Porth Eilian, and we stopped by the little church at Llaneilian, which had some gorgeous oak carvings and other details dating back to the 12th century. It's well worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

 

We lunched in Beaumaris and had a wander around the castle there, before heading off to the cinema to watch 'The Iron Lady', followed by a rather enormous dinner at The Austrian Restaurant in Dwgyfylchi. It was a lovely, memorable day with the husband, like a super-date or a glorious excursion on holiday.

On Monday I started a ten week course in printmaking at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham as an introduction to its facilities so that I can go and use it during open access hours later on. I produced nothing of note. This first day was like a blast from my university past: monoprinting and messing it up. Now we have to think of a theme for the rest of the course and I'm stuck as usual. Some things never change.

the weekend

It was a glorious weekend here in the UK, even in rainy Wales, with temperatures in the upper twenties and sunshine to bask in. It was kind of sad in a way: like watching the death throes of summer, knowing that autumn - nay winter! - is just around the corner. Today it is bright and windy here, with the unnatural heat and humidity starting to dissipate.

Wherever you are, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Ours was one to savour - my first free weekend since August. We started off at the new David Nash exhibition at Oriel Mostyn in Llandudno, which was pretty interesting. I'm not a big fan of sculpture, but I like Nash's processes and how his works continue to evolve even after they have been 'completed'.

Photo from Oriel Mostyn's website.

Next stop was Penmaenmawr, from where we hiked up a hill for a lovely walk amidst neolithic standing stones and stunning views of the coast and mountains. We had a picnic lunch overlooking a bay sprinkled with sailing boats, before completing the walk and returning to the village. 

On the main street through Penmaenmawr is an antiques shop called Perry Higgins (the website doesn't seem to be working right now!). Now, I'd heard about this place from some friends, and we passed by it in the car back in May, but nothing prepared me for how incredible it is. It is a warren of a building, with three stories and a warehouse crammed to the rafters with antique furniture, domestic ware and bygones. Everything was beautiful and there was just so much of it that we will have to make a return trip to have a proper rummage through it all. I didn't take any photos, I was so completely overwhelmed, but here are a few photos which I believe are from the website (via here).

We came away with two towel rails, a painted mid-century cabinet which we will use to store linen for now, a pair of bedside tables and a beautiful French bookcase/display cabinet that was a steal for its quality. I may take photos of these things at some point, but you know I'm not very good at that. On top of all this, the owner drove our purchases to our house on the same day! It was all very satisfying.

There. Enough of my jibber jabber for now!

Varoom interview

Pop over to the AOI's Varoom magazine to read a little interview about my artwork for Honda's recent press ads.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was the best I have had in a very long time - a great group of friends, lots of food and a wild walk (or two) in the countryside. Bliss.

Now back to work!

progress

Well, progress of a sort. Sometimes you've just got to rip the crap out of a place before you can put anything back. This will be our master bedroom. Remember how it was, with the black, patterned wallpaper? Not much has been done to it since we stripped it, but on Thursday we got a chap in to rip down the walls and ceiling for replastering. Now we have a very large hole that opens up into the roof space. I call this progress.




Did you all have a lovely weekend? We went for a rainy walk to Aber Falls with some friends, ate a lot of food and tried to keep the dust at bay at home. It's a hard life...

the weekend

A rain-lashed trip to Barmouth and Dolgoch Falls.

the weekend

Hello. Hope you all had a good weekend. We didn't climb any mountains this week, but went instead on a relatively gentle five-mile walk near Bala. The weather is really starting to get cold now, so I think our outdoor picnics may soon have to stop. Yesterday we had home-made celery and blue cheese soup but it was pretty cold sitting on a stone wall outdoors in November.





Some old-school typography in Bala town :-)

the weekend

In a moment of madness on Saturday morning we decided to climb Snowdon. It was meant to brighten up in the afternoon. It did not. Through hail and icy rain we toiled up the Pyg track from Pen-y-Pass, reaching the summit in roughly two and a half hours. We couldn't see a damn thing from the top: not a sausage. I was in danger of getting frostbite in my fingers because of my damp gloves, I couldn't feel the front of my thighs for the cold... but it was GOOD. It felt great just getting to the top, and the descent via the Miners' path was relatively easy. We will try it again in spring on a day when the weather has been forecast to be crystal clear.


The view from the Pyg track going up - you can see the walkers on the steep descent of the Miners' track from here.


Somewhere up on the top right of this picture, hidden behind that cloud, is the summit of Snowdon, with Y Lliwedd on the left. We are standing at the bottom of the descent on the Miners' track looking back at the mountain.

Needless to say, we took it easy on Sunday :-) Hope you had a good weekend too!

the weekend

We had a marvellous weekend involving more house-hunting (hopefully our last trip!), walking and eating. On Sunday we walked up to the ruins of Dinas Bran, perched high above the town of Llangollen. Our photos in no way do this place any justice - it was stunning up there, with immense views of the Dee Valley in one direction, and of England in the other. I think my poor camera just doesn't capture the sheer depth of the landscape.


After that, we went and gorged ourselves at the International Food Festival in Llangollen. I think I drank a little too much wild bramble liqueur amongst other things. I hope you had a good weekend too! I'll be back later with a drawing.

the weekend

Hello all. How was your weekend? Mine was pretty lazy - a bit of baking, a bit of antiques hunting and an unhealthy amount of time bothering sea anemones on the beach. We went to the North Wales Antiques Fair in Anglesey on Sunday where I saw an episode of Bargain Hunt being filmed (I won't talk too long about how I squawked 'hello!' at an unimpressed Tim Wonnacott, but let's just say I was a bit embarrassed afterwards), and I obtained a lovely vintage Welsh wool blanket for our bed. Then, since the rain had stopped, we went to the beach at Aberffraw for a picnic lunch and rockpooling.



Now it's Monday and I can't be arsed with anything.

the weekend

I simply cannot believe that I can walk out of my front door and be in countryside like this. Yesterday was like the last day of summer, with a blissfully warm sun but a sharp autumnal bite in the air. It was cold up on the hill but the view was spectacular, with the Clywdian Hills marching southward into Wales.

I'm off again...

Here are some pictures from our weekend excursion to Anglesey - we went for a wander, under gloomy skies, along Newborough Beach to Ynys Llanddwyn, or Lovers' Island. It was one of the most beautiful stretches of the British coast that I've ever been to, with moody Snowdonia and the Llŷn Peninsula dramatically in backdrop. I loved how much the shoreline varied in character even on a circuit of the tiny island, ranging from peaceful bays and cormorant-topped islets in the east to blustery dunes and wave-pounded, jagged rocks in the west. It also boasted the clearest seawater I've ever seen - it was all I could do not to strip down to my undies and jump in. It was probably a wise choice not to swim, given that the water was freezing - we could hear the screams of grown men from a foolhardy party of swimmers on the island. We ate a picnic lunch on a sheltered beach, from where we watched a pair of seals messing around in the water just offshore and we even took a paddle, only knee-deep(!), in the icy water ourselves. For the first time in weeks I felt awake and refreshed. It was pretty much perfect.



I am off on a canalboat holiday with friends for four days from Tuesday. We will be taking a boat from Devizes, well-stocked with food and drink :-) The weather is looking good for the next few days, so we are looking forward to it!

Have a lovely week - I will be back next Monday :-)

Morning!

I can't get enough of this place. Here was the view from our study this morning at 7.45am:



I could start sounding like a stuck record if I carry on like this... but I am enjoying our new place a lot. The house is much colder than our old one and we have spent HOURS cleaning it, but we have also found time to go out and explore the area. Mostly we have been investigating supermarkets (eight in six days!), but we also took a day trip to the coast for a picnic on our two year wedding anniversary, and we are planning a lot of walking trips in the hills near our house. Sadly the husband starts his new job in two weeks' time, so our freedom to do what we like on any day is limited, but we will still have weekends to enjoy our new home.



(this bear had banana ice-cream for brains)




Things will take a little while to get back to normal here, but I promise some new drawings soon!

Yorkshire

What a marvellous few days I have just had! I feel like we kind of deserved it after the trials of house selling that we have been burdened with lately, and it was a hugely welcome break from sitting at home twiddling my thumbs, waiting for work to come in.

We went to Yorkshire on a whim, after hearing that my parents and sister had booked a hotel there for a couple of nights. They, of course (!), were very pleased when the husband and I decided to join them and, because he is a Yorkshireman, the husband could therefore act as an unofficial tour guide to the holiday places of his childhood.

We stayed, as I told you last week, in a railway carriage hotel called The Sidings, near York. I've written about railway carriage living before (and here too), so it was a chance to see what it is like. It was fun and quirky, but not the best place to stay if you like things a bit more luxurious than what was on offer. The decor was a bit tired, it was rather cold at night even in summer, and unless you are an extraordinarily sound sleeper, the violent rattling and vibrations from the freight trains passing by at night could be seriously disturbing! I would only recommend it as one of those experiences that you'll never forget :-) Nevertheless, the hotel retained a faded beauty and I was delighted by the little details to be found on the train carriages.



That last photo is of the four-poster room, which costs £10 more per night than a standard room. Needless to say, miser that I am, we stayed in a regular room :-)

Where did we visit? Knaresborough, Whitby (AMAZING fish and chips at The Magpie), Scarborough (gorgeous banana milkshake at the famous Harbour Bar), the North York Moors, Yorkshire Wolds and the Yorkshire Dales. All in roughly two days. Holidays with my family are always conducted at breakneck speed. There were waterfalls, walks, beaches and picnics. Crazy but fun!


Knaresborough.


The Harbour Bar in Scarborough.



Evening view from the Yorkshire Wolds.


Gordale Scar, Yorkshire Dales.

We had a house-fixing day on Saturday involving handing over fat cheques to plumbers :-(, followed by a rummage at a car boot sale and Toy Story 3 on Sunday. The film was exceptional, a constant delight - it left us quite speechless.

I hope you all had a good weekend too!