the road to rhosllanerchrugog

Okay - this isn't really a post about Rhosllanerchrugog….

But we do drive past it on the way to visit Mr AP's mum in N Wales,

and this one of my favourite road signs.

It's huge to accomodate the length of the name.

The famous one with the long name gets shortened on signs to Llanfair PG,

(yes - I can say it).

I've always said I wanted a picture of this sign so Mr AP took one

and made it into a christmas card for me.

I'm now hoping for one of the sister sign on the other side of the roundabout.

Gotta love a diptych.

So you know I said I wanted a new challenge….. well the new job is certainly doing the trick.

I am in the process of getting to grips with:

• the finance system
• the room booking system
• how to put stuff on the website
• how to dress like an office girl at work
• how to be me in an office with a desk (never had one before)
• how to be focused on the moment and strategic at the same time
• all of the above through the medium of Welsh - it's the language olympics every day

I am very fortunate to have a supportive team (and husband), 

and a sweetly patient office buddy who is getting used to repeating herself!

This week's achievements included getting a bi-lingual blog on the museum website*

(note to self - include the museum name next time)

and the installation of lamb cam - my web streaming project for March.

More of that later - it's beyond exciting….

*our website is recently revamped, so me wanting to write blogs that look 'bloggy' is exposing a whole load of coding bugs. Big love to Sara in digital content for her patience and virtual hand holding as I wrestle with it.

boom!!!

For the past few months all my creativity has been going into job applications.

Several options - all involving a change of direction.

So the good news is…… I got the job.

(the Plan A job)

BOOM!!!!

Still at the museum, but working for the Events and Marketing department.

I'll be going through our events programme and looking at developing the informal education side of things. That means I get to look at all the fun stuff like farming, food, green woodworking, textiles etc. It's a big new challenge and a chance to get away from the grind of manual labour.

It will be my third career…

Does that make me a flake?

Or a polymath?

Or a flaky polymath….

It means I'll be hanging up my secateurs.

The end of the garden path is in sight…

I feel a blogging break is in order while I re-invent myself.

There's no road map, but that's exciting right?

….and scary,

(good scary rather than bad scary).

Thank you for all your support and companionship,

in the real world and the blogosphere.

Much love and happy holidays

Bernice  xxx

The Grayson Perry scarf was a birthday present from Mr Asparagus Pea. It's designed as a road map for aspiring artists, based on the silk maps that were given to WWII pilots in case they were shot down behind enemy lines. The 'W Anchor' is his potter's mark, it always makes me giggle. Mr AP was so delighted because he bought it for me after we saw it at Tate Britain, which was long before I publicly announced that I was turning into Mr Perry!

the end of summer at the end of the world

We are having a couple of weeks off to catch up with family and do some house stuff.  My mother in law came down on the train for a visit, then we drove her home to N Wales and headed across to Aberdaron for a couple of nights by the sea. It's where Mr Asparagus Pea proposed to me 3 years ago and this washing line featured in the image we used as a wedding invite.

The area is a Welsh speaking stronghold and the signposts drip with the extra vowels that give the language its distinctive look. W gives an 'oo' sound and Y gives an 'uh' - put them together and you get the English W sound. (I guess this sign had English on the other side?!?)

We walked the cliff paths and poked around in rockpools.

The summer seems to be coming to an early end with berries ripening and fungi sprouting.

 We're back home now and there is more pickling underway….

I have discovered two things:

1. Life is too short to cut carrots into flower shapes (unless that's your job),
2. I knew I needed one of those special food cover umbrella thingies, I just didn't know why…

guarding the flame

Having a compelling reason to move to a new place is one thing - settling in and making it your home is quite another. The decision can be made quickly, but there's no rushing the process of growing yourself some new roots. Having moved hemispheres/countries/towns a few times, I reckon two years is a good yardstick for giving it a proper go. In that time you have to guard your little flame - the winds of change will always make you falter and doubt. But slowly new connections will be made, habits formed, special places found. Yesterday we threw open the doors, lit the lanterns* and had a party to celebrate two years in our house - old friends, new friends and neighbours. Moving to this neighbourhood was coming home for me, but Mr AP has lived west of the river for 30+ years. I knew he was taking a leap of faith for me, so I said I wouldn't ask him if he was happy and settled until we'd been here at least two years. 

So yesterday the words were uttered….

..and I think we're staying….

xxx

*I was hunting around for something to put citronella tealights in - can't stand it when they blow out all the time in jam jars. So I bunged them in the steamer baskets for Mr AP's old pressure cooker - worked a treat!

mostly me

When kids are little they play that game of moving their toys from one place to another. My friend calls it 'You Go There, You Go There'. As we slog on with decorating the house, areas are starting to be finished and the last few house moving boxes are being unpacked. It's mostly books and a few photos - so I get to play 'You go there…' with things I haven't seen for a couple of years. In amongst them was another of my mini collections….

Passport pictures through the ages.

See now you're thinking 'But she said she wasn't a collector…'

Well as someone who has moved hemisphere/country/house on multiple occasions, 

I can tell you that my personal archive of crap treasure would fit into a small valise if it had to.

No inherited furniture, no large musical instruments - 

pointing no fingers, but before we moved house we were a two harmonium/one piano family. 

We're down to one harmonium and a piano now.

I'm not a minimalist, but I crave calm and space more than I need to keep stuff. 

How about you - clutter or space…???

a beautiful mess

I worked for most of the Easter weekend so I am having this week off instead. Mr AP has taken a few days off as well so that we can hang out together at home and do a bit of house stuff. As usual we have long lists of tasks and great plans - some achieved, some can wait for another day. I think it's really important to make something - even if it's just a mess. So here's some stuff my clever husband made for me…

a key holder -

Mr Smurf looks after the keys to my old house that we still own and rent out,

Cartman looks after our spare house key.

A shelf for my cookbooks,

(middle class - moi?).

a woodshed - new and improved, 'you beaut' Version III,

with foreground herb garden - I've been busy too!

I cleaned out the fridge and made random veg soup,

(tasted okay but bore an unfortunate resemblance to sick after some ill advised blending).

So I made a loaf to cheer up proceedings...

..Best One I've Ever Made!

Also we've been talking for a while about going down to being a one car family.

Last week the transport gods intervened,

the big car turned itself into a bag of spanners on the way home from the Gower. 

A quick trip to 'we buy any wreck' yielded £300. 

The new transport strategy involves Mr AP having a more reliable motorbike,

(his old one looked cool but refused to start).

One very happy hubby,

(but the helmet squashes his face into a grumpy pout).

Tiny hint of my little blue Panda frame right

- or 'the car' as it's now known.

I'll let you know how it goes…

duck egg blue

I put myself down to do foraging walks at work on Saturday.

A wander through the woods gathering spring greens,

then collect some fresh eggs from the duck shed to make an omelette.

(£2 per head to cover materials)

Sounds good huh?

Bookings for the morning session - 0

a duck (if you're a cricketer)

Bookings for the afternoon - all cancelled.

0 & 0 - a golden duck.

So what do you do with a pile of duck eggs and a bad attitude?

frittata party

in other news

my bottle babies are growing fast…

The auto exposure on the camera has gone for the detail in the black lamb

and given me some kind of 'look 15 years younger' bleach out. 

But hey - I'll take it!

..and Mr A-P and I decided to whisk ourselves away after work on Sunday,

 for a night in the Gower to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.

The weather was glorious and the beaches remind me of childhood holidays.

Happy Anniversary Mr Asparagus Pea  xxx

advice from the psychic tablecloth

This week we have been discussing holiday plans.

Short term - 4 nights in Cornwall.

But in the medium/long term I am keen for something a little more far flung.

As we cross the finish line in the parenting race (at least as far as the courts are concerned),

there is a window of opportunity before any of the oldies need more support from us. 

(Hi Mum and Dad, I know you're reading this!).

There's the prospect of a Memphis/Nashville/New Orleans road trip next Easter, 

but in the 5 year timeframe I want to drag Mr Asparagus Pea to the Southern hemisphere.

 That probably involves some unpaid leave from work in the depths of winter. 

As we chatted about it over breakfast, I spilled some tea on the tablecloth, and look….

Australia!!!!

Okay so Tasmania is a bit big and slightly in the wrong place, 

but that's a sign right?!?!

In other news I have been making muffins to use up some of the elderly dried fruit in the cupboard.

Some figs that have been lurking for a long time.

I like to use 1 cup of oats soaked in 1 cup of milk soured with a capful of white wine vinegar.

Trying to eat more oats and soy - good for your secret womens' business.

With a cup of wholewheat flour plus 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp bicarb

Sometimes I sub the oil for applesauce if I'm feeling worthy.

But then you can't use paper cases because they stick like bastards.

Adjust the sugar to taste depending on the sweetness of the fruit you're using.

I used about 1/2 a cup of brown with a little demerera and cinnamon on top.

Yummo!

Off to be rehabilitated for my speeding sins now - 

Bah humbug!

more nesting

When it comes to architecture, Mr AP and I share a taste for industrial/brutal/bunker chic, and are frequently heard to sigh "Look - it's our dream home", as we drive past the cement works. But Cardiff is a city full of sturdy Victorian/Edwardian houses - so that's what we bought when we moved across town back to my old 'hood nearly two years ago. Now don't get me wrong - I love this crazy old house, but when they were handing out twiddly bits, this place got the lot...

crests above the doors

cornices that were picked out in alternating red/green with a row of green 'christmas trees'

obligatory stained glass front door

these are behind the curtains in the living room!

Our latest effort to try and calm it all down has been painting the hall/stairs/landing a rather grown up shade of blue, with an absolute crapload of pale grey and white. I'm bandying the words 'Gustavian colour palette' around, in the hope that no-one will press me on what it actually means. (Something inspired by an overdose of Swedish design blogs/Pinterest boards?!?).

extra fancy newel post at the bottom of the stairs

a couple of the original lincrusta panels, (which I love), below the dado

The blue on the walls seems to have calmed the floor down a bit.

I want to put this picture up - it's a Tom Burnett print I bought in NZ.

A flax basket of paua (abalone) shells.

It reminds me of childhood beach holidays.

Mr AP is not so keen on it - but lord knows we've got enough of his stuff about the place!

(The slightly ill-advised peach matte seems to work with the warm tones in the floor too).

What do you reckon…?

nesting

Got a week off work - yay!

After all the upheaval of building work, 

we finally got to the nice bit - nesting!

One of the plus sides of living with an (under control) hoarder

- is the stash available to create decorative schemes.

I can wave my arms about and say 

'Let's have…..'

Aunty Dilys' chairs 

(beautiful oak from Port Sunlight)

the massive green school cupboard that nearly killed the removal men

the broken sunburst clock

it's always 6:05 in our house

 (note to self - dusting!)

The Iwan Bala - 'Views for News'

there's even a colour scheme emerging

- but what we really need…

..is a defunct fire alarm!

We've been having guests round for dinner,

and using pretty things that have been boxed up for so long.

Putting bread in my favourite rush basket 

- and setting the table with vintage napkins.

Tomorrow we are off to Birmingham to see Youngest Stepson before he graduates.

I'm making beef and beer stew to portion up and freeze for him

 - brain food for a hungry student.

There's still plenty of work to do on the house.

But it's important to enjoy what we've managed to achieve along the way.

Must go - wallpaper to strip upstairs….  

the world turns

It's been a big few weeks here at Asparagus Towers. My eldest stepson left the nest, so we have a couple of months to strip the room out and redecorate, before his little brother finishes uni and takes up residence there. Big brother got the big room when we moved, because he was just about to graduate and wanted to come home for a bit. Now the wheel has turned and he's flown off to Southern Europe, so it seems right that little bro should be given the same options.

This has prompted something of a cleaning frenzy on my part - sorting through clothes, washing woolies, scrubbing and waxing floors like something out of Downton Abbey. I'm not normally prone to feverish levels of housework - I like to maintain basic food hygiene standards in the kitchen, but other than that I favour what I would regard as a normal level of sluttishness on the domestic front. But somehow this feels like the right time to refresh things.

So with a nod to Martha Stewart, I would like to show you a couple of shots of the hall floor!?!

As you can see from the panel on the left, normal mopping has always left it looking pretty grubby.

Four months of buliders in the house had only made matters worse. 

The panel on the right has been scrubbed with a paste of bio laundry detergent...

The dirt just floats right on out! 

(Should have flipped this pic so the clean/dirty sides were the same way round -

 that's what Martha would have done!)

I think it was the plumber at the old house who gave me this tip.

Other reasons to be cheerful this week include:

New christmas slippers - finally chose these after a couple of false starts.

 Now I can go out to the compost bin and wood shed to get logs,

(my old ones did not have an outdoor sole).

 I may have to take up yodelling though.

The new study is taking shape - oh, and what's that on the door?

My name! 

I'm claiming this space mostly for me, to write and think, and have books and craft stuff.

 Mr A-P did tentatively suggest that the kitchen and laundry could be mine, 

but we soon agreed they were for all of us!

I finished the hedge I was laying at work…

It's about 30m long and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

All the hazel catkins that were way up in the air, are now down where you can see them

- dancing in the sunlight on a January morning.