One of our pine trees has shifted in a high wind and its root movement has toppled fifteen feet of a five foot high drystone wall. It’s an expensive business living with trees and drystone walls. Key the strimmer said he had a mate who could help out. Mates are always cheaper than professionals, so […]
Here are the Top 10 Regions in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2017: Choquequirao, Peru Taranaki, New Zealand The Azores, Portugal North Wales, UK South Australia Aysén, Chile The Tuamotus, French Polynesia Coastal Georgia, USA Perak, Malaysia The Skellig Ring, Ireland See that? North Wales is fourth! There’s lovely, yes? Lonely Planet’s editorial director Tom […]
As it’s old Will Shakespeare’s 400th deathday this year I have been enjoying more of the Bard than usual on radio, TV etc. but I have yet to see or hear my favourite Shakespearean speech — Richard II sitting on the ground and musing about the transience of power. So I had to look it up. […]
Goodbye old Aga (1968 – 2016) and diolch yn fawr.
I (Gwyn) was having a huge office clearout in April 2016. As I emptied a fat file into the WPB, an Indenture of Sale fluttered out. It was the record of the purchase of Murmur-y-Don by my hên nain Jane Williams in 1923. As we knew, she bought it from a Mr. T. Wilks. We discovered his name […]
This is one of the most remarkable coincidences I have ever come across. Certainly the most extraordinary coincidence involving me. Cleaning out my office this morning, I found a copy of an indenture of sale dated 1923. It related to Murmur-y-Don, which was bought by my hên nain (great-grandmother) Jane Williams in 1923, from a Thomas Wilks […]
Homeowners are constantly bombarded with ads for ‘wifi cameras’, clever little CCTV-type devices which you can plant around your home and which will broadcast live footage to wherever you choose, so you can relax in comfort 250 miles away while watching burglars trash your house. There are other, sunnier aspects of the devices. You can […]
… on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales can be found online at http://map.coflein.gov.uk. I cannot believe I’ve only just found this site. It’s FABULOUS — if, like me, you love poring over truly excellent Ordnance Survey maps — proper maps — dotted with locations of the most fascinating buildings and monuments in the country. I came […]
We’ve had a huge amount of restoration work done on the round window: curved glass panes replaced, rotten wood replaced, coat after coat of fresh paint applied and it looks fabulous, I think you’ll agree. But the painter forgot that we use Lizard and white paint, not just white! It will look even better once it’s completed.
Being British, apologies take up a large part of my life. If somebody bumps into me, or treads on my foot, I apologise. We’re off for a long weekend in Budapest in a couple of days, and the first word I looked up in the Hungarian phrase books was ‘Sorry’ (Bocsánat, in case you’re wondering). But […]
