Five April Things

Hello, thank you for your patience and your kind comments.  You lot are bloomin' lovely.  It's all still rumbling on and I am putting one foot in front of the other every day.  Last weekend we went to North Yorkshire, a hospice visit to one of my two remaining aunts.  The week has flown by since then but I was keen to join Five on Friday this week as I haven't been able to join in since Tricky Wolf began hosting.  Easter might seem a long way back now but it's really only a fortnight since the new school term began.  We had a good break, a mixture of chores, relaxation and outings, including our trip to London, so here are five things we did during the holidays.

 

1.  Llangollen

 

On the spur of the moment the Best Beloved and I drove to Llangollen one sunny afternoon and took a trip on the canal in a horse-drawn boat.  It took about twenty-five minutes for Harley to pull us a mile down the towpath, a lovely, gentle journey past leafy trees and flower-filled gardens accompanied by a family of ducklings and the steady clip-clop of Harley's hooves.  It was impossible not to slow down mentally and relax.  Then we glided back to the wharf and ate ice creams in the sunshine.  I still feel a bit strange doing this kind of thing without our girls, and a teeny bit guilty, but I am learning how to have fun without them.  (Oh, and in case you were wondering, it's pronounced Clan-goth-len.)

 

 

2.  The Long Mynd

 

The Mathematician flew home for a few days and we took her over to the Long Mynd to remind her that while Guernsey may have beautiful beaches, Shropshire has stunning scenery too.  A blue sky with cotton-wool clouds perfectly set off the greens and golds but my goodness, it was windy up there.

 

 3.  Jesus Christ Superstar

 

It has become our family tradition to watch this film, the 2000 version, on Good Friday, preferably whilst eating a gazillion hot cross buns.  I have a video copy, yes, old-fashioned VHS, and I am probably the only person I know who still has a video recorder on which to play it.  Well, if I didn't have the machine, I wouldn't be able to watch the film, would I?  Last year we were a little worried that the video might be wearing out as it was a bit shaky in places so this year, I bit the bullet and bought a DVD copy; it was like watching a different film!  The quality of the images was amazing.  I wept buckets.  (There were not enough hot cross buns, an epic failure on the part of the Best Beloved, who will now have to wait a whole year to redeem himself.)

 

 4.  Pistyll Rhaeadr

 

(Try this: Pistith Rye-adder).  Pistyll Rhaeadr is the tallest waterfall in Wales and taller than any waterfall in England.  We have been going there for more than twenty years and this was the first time we have been without any children.  Many memories surfaced of happy, sunny picnics and splashing in the water.  This visit was different but it's a special place which, as usual, worked its magic upon me and it probably deserves a blogpost of its own but in the meantime, here it is.

 

 

5.  Crochet

 

I have been spending a lot of time in the passenger seat of a car recently so I have been using that time to learn to crochet.  I know that some of you are very skilled in this art but I only started learning last year so I am delighted with this, the beginnings of a rainbow blanket for a baby due next month. 

 

So that, with a trip to London and a fair bit of gardening, was our Easter holiday.  Thank you to Tricky and Carly at F.A.S.T. for hosting Five on Friday - if you have time, gentle reader, please hop over there and see what everyone else is sharing this week.

 

I shall be back here on Tuesday with another post.  I know that's terribly definite, but 9th May is a very definite date. 

 

See you then.

 

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle  x