Thanksgiving thoughts

Today we were supposed to be welcoming Michel for the weekend, and we had all been so excited about seeing him since it has been a long time! But since I have now also contracted Covid, we have had to postpone those plans and just sit tight with no visitors or fun. Boohoo. And on top of that, I have lost my sense of taste and smell as of this morning! Hopefully it won't be gone for too long.

Yesterday was also Thanksgiving in the USA, and while we didn't do too much to celebrate this year, I did bake a pumpkin pie with gluten free crust. In case I haven't mentioned it here, we are cooking gluten free for Rhodri's health regime but that often involves the rest of us too. I think it is fun having this additional cooking challenge, although it has taken some time to get used to reading labels and keeping an eye out for gluten in ingredients listings!

Anyway, we were able to speak on the phone with some of our relatives, and that is always nice. But these days we all seem to be having plans canceled or messed up, and that is difficult. We still have plenty to be thankful for.

Late November blues (and golds)

So we are all locked down now in our house, with Tryfan and Rhodri having tested positive for Covid, and then Rhiannon testing positive yesterday. For now I'm in the clear, but we are keeping to ourselves nonetheless and only going out for solo dog walks, groceries delivered, etc.

Annie and I have seen some gorgeous mornings and late afternoons though, and we merely need to cross the road from our house to get to these beautiful scenes.

I love the burgundy bracken that carpets the forest floor in some spots.

Such a teenager

Tryfan is really good at acting the part of a teenage boy: he lives in his jammies and tie robe on the weekends, mooching around between video games while eating peanuts and sweets. And now that we are all locked down with Covid, there is really no reason for one to change out of jammies...

But he does have a fairly good "response rate", meaning that he does actually keep an ear out for something else that might be going on and requiring his involvement. This photo totally captures the Tryfan of now, as he is 14 years and 1 month old.

A Covid Birthday

Today didn't go according to plan, but it was a really lovely day nonetheless. In fact, it has been a long week. After arriving back home from Cardiff, the next day Tryfan didn't feel well, then Rhodri didn't feel well, then they both tested positive for Covid. So by Thursday we were needing to all isolate here at home and cancel my birthday plans and all that. Here is the view from my seated position in the living room with the rest of the family sitting in relative isolation while I opened my birthday presents!

My two little hunnies kept me well fed with lovely meals and treats through the day

Here is me with my new dry robe at the beach on Saturday morning, for its first outing.

Cousins

 Rhiannon, Gabs, Val and Tryfan made this video using the old photo from a few years ago. Hilarious to see them together.

Rugby weekend in Cardiff

On Friday we left town a bit early in order to drive to Cardiff for a dinner time arrival. We are spending the weekend with our family who live there - Nia, Cris, Gabs and Val in one household, and Sions & JJ in another one. On Sunday night we went to watch a live rugby game at the Principality Stadium in downtown Cardiff!! Saturday morning dawned gorgeous and crisp, and we went for a great family walk up the Penallt behind Nia's house.

The cousins had a great time together, speaking in Welsh and laughing hysterically at what were most likely some dirty jokes. It was hilarious to listen to them. Later on we went to visit Sioned & JJ's new house and went for a walk with them and Winnie in the late afternoon. 

It was our first time meeting JJ and that was really great. He is super fun and easy to be with, and we all had a great time together.  Saturday night Auntie Nia made a delicious dinner for us all, and we indulged in being together as a family.

Sunday was all about the rugby game! Although kickoff wasn't til 3:15 pm, we needed to get into the city center and get into the stadium around 2, which meant catching a train at 12 from Ystrad Mynych station. Things were looking pretty dicey with trains only once an hour anyway, and the previous one cancelled, this one delayed. But we managed to get on and everything worked out fine!

Nia and I bought the Welsh Daffodil headpieces and TRIED to get everyone to wear them but sadly they refused.

So it was Wales vs Fiji as part of the Autumn Series, and it was a really exciting game to watch! Wales won in the end, which was cool. Tryfan, Gabs and Val went down to meet some of the Fijian players afterwards and managed to get the autograph of one guy. It was a great atmosphere and a really fun experience!

Afterwards we all went for dinner at this awesome place called Pieminister.

Guy Fawkes weekend

Friday night was Guy Fawkes night, and it was also my friend Hellie's birthday so we had a girls night out. It was super fun to go "out-out", and we had a great meal followed by distant appreciation of the Lindfield fireworks display

Saturday was a mellow day, where I got to go swimming and grocery shopping with Cat, and that was wonderful too!  Sunday I went for a run and met these little fellows with their impressive horns! They approached me but not too enthusiastically.

And then as a grand finale to the weekend, we went for a walk with Cat and Gary because Gary volunteered to look after Annie while we are in Wales next weekend for the rugby! Win-win-win situation!

Stunning

Some days it is such a treat to look out the window

Beautiful moments with friends

This weekend I got to see two of my favorite homies, Cat and Emma. Cat for a swim and Emma for a dog walk. It is a beautiful time of year and I'm so grateful to be able to share little moments with friends.

In fact, Emma and I spent tonight at the pub. Tomorrow is a school day, and our kids are all too old to trick or treat and too young to go to parties. So Ems and I treated ourselves to a civilized beverage and toasted those past Halloweens where we had been in the background stage whispering to our own trick-or-treater children to say thank you. We had a good laugh.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Tryfan and Oscar spent Halloween doing strength and fitness contests supervised by Rhods.

Makin' money

Our girl has been working hard. She works at least one night at the pub (on the weekend), she helps out a elderly neighbor, and now she is cleaning the village hall once a week.  Here she is having just come in from the rainy walk back with the hoover in pieces in her backpack. She is tough!

Deganwy beach

It is such a luxury to be able to walk to the beach from the house! And look at these gorgeous sand dunes. Every visit is a winner. Love this place!

Ynys Llanddwyen

We went on a family walk today although the weather was torrential! It was so bad it was good!

We drove out to Anglesey and over to a little peninsula that is only available to get to at low tide. The rain was horizontal, although it wasn't actually too bad as we started the walk.

Soon the boys needed to put their waterproof trousers on (Rhi and I already had ours on!)

There was a really cool ancient stone church ruins and buildings at the end

Here is a map showing all of Anglesey and our little location

We found a pub to have a warm lunch in, which was good, and then we drove back to Llandudno. The sky started to open up and illuminate the fields on our drive. 

Walks with my children

I went on two walks today, one with each of my kids. Tryfs and I took Annie to the beach for a very windy walk on the beach in the morning. She ran like a banshee to play with other dogs enjoying the stretch of sand there.

.. and then Rhiannon and I took Annie up the Vardre in the afternoon. We couldn't let her off the leash since there were a lot of sheep around. No sheep worrying allowed!

It was just such a gorgeous day, I couldn't get enough of the landscape, views and sea air

It was also cool to see the male sheep wearing their mating harnesses. I've never actually seen this before, but it is a harness that has a ink pot attached, so when the boy sheep gets jiggy with a girl sheep, the girl sheep gets a colored spot on her back to indicate which boy sheep has been with her. And then each boy sheep has a different colored ink pot attached. In this last photo you can see a boy sheep with a harness on. I think the blue spot on his back must have been put there by the farmer rather than by another sheep, because my imagination just doesn't want to go there to consider any other scenario. Anywho, it was an interesting walk! And such a treat to be out in the wide world enjoying the day with my kids.

Aber Falls walk

Tryfs, Rhodri and I went for a big walk today up behind Aber Falls. It was a desolate, beautiful empty landscape and although we had a rough start (Tryfan forgot to bring his hiking boots), it all turned out okay.

Conwy Mountain and a Sunday afternoon

 Rhods and Annie and I went for a lovely run this morning around Conwy Mountain and the Sychnant pass area.  The clouds were dramatic and colorful, there were sheep in the field, and it was a great run all around!

In the afternoon, Auntie Jane came round 

Half Term in Wales

We drove yesterday afternoon to Llandudno. It was a long drive, always longer than we expect for some reason. It didn't start out very well - the M25 was at a standstill so the GPS took us on some back roads, which made Annie puke all over the kids and the back seat. Anyway, we got there eventually and were treated to a lovely arrival dinner by Nain and Taid, and it felt so good to be there. It actually felt a bit like coming home to me, even though its not my home. Anyway, we were all really, really glad to get there. 

This morning Rhods and I took Annie on a nice walk up Jampot Hill and through a field of confident sheep.

The sheep very confidently approached us and Annie wasn't sure at all what to do about them

Later in the day we went for a family walk at the beach in Conwy. 

It is so gorgeous here, and what a joy to leisurely amble up and down this huge sandy beach at low tide