It was a cold and chilly end of January day. The nights are just starting to draw out but it still has that chill that only comes just before Spring arrives . We had not been out for some while. We were stagnating if the truth be known. We kept saying we ought to go out and just visit anywhere but anywhere was finding hard to find . We had been living here for a little over 2 years and in that time I had continued to find things to see and do. However, since Christmas things had quietened down. There were no new exhibitions to visit . Walking was not on the agenda. The roads had been flooded and we had suffered the first snow of the winter. We were getting complacent . Shall we ... read more

"Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognise; a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black curious eyes of a child -our own two eyes. " "All is a miracle." Woke up to the words of Thich Naht Hanh and they made me smile . I had not quite got a blue sky nor were the clouds white and there were no leaves on the trees. But I was out for a walk and there was enough out there to make me think about the miracle waking up and being able to get out for my walk . My walk was a usual one but with the most of unusual thoughts. I looked for the blue sky and it might have been there somewhere but the clouds which were not ... read more

Christmas is always that time of year when the National Trust properties open up for the festive period. A few properties open their doors, fill the halls with holly and decorations and hope to get the visitors in. Visitors who fill buy a lunch or perhaps buy a gift or two for the family. Locally there are three properties open. On our doorstep Erddig. Just a short drive away . The servants quarters are reported to be decorated. Christmas trees are decorated in the dining room and some of the smaller rooms . Chirk the second closest has their trees up. We went last year Jo, myself , Woolly and Sion to the Mad Hatters Christmas Party. I have no idea what the theme is this year. Furthest away is Powys Castle . Their trees are ... read more

Christmas has come to our tiny village. We seem to have had a number of coffee mornings and Christmas fayres already and it is only just the start of December. The church held a coffee morning run by the Bangor Academicals at the same time as the local school put on their Christmas fayre. The treasure hunt is up and running . As I walk around the village I see the new signs attached to lampposts. Gone are the huge chipboards signs of two years ago and last year . Now we have plastic new ones . A robin on the lamppost outside our house. I have not seen many children paying their £1 entry and walking the village in search of the Christmas message. Perhaps age considers it better to stay in on these cold ... read more

There is something about a trip that sometimes brings back memories. Memories both good and bad. Memories that have been long forgotten. Perhaps it is a place. Or a smell. Something just brings those memories flooding back. Today was one of those days. We never went to Chester much when I was a child. It was one of those day out trips. Not far away but involved what must have felt like a long and expensive ride out on a bus. A trip to a city. Much bigger than Wrexham. With much more history and infrastructure. Interesting shops. A medieval heart that Wrexham lacked. A cathedral. We only had a large church. A Victorian Gothic Town Hall, markets and the Walls. We drove from home to the nearby Park and Ride which took us for the ... read more