Joan’s latest adventures can be found here.

Joan Whittle is now living in Penrhyn, a small development in the centre of Llandrindod Wells, in the heart of Powys.  She is resident on the ground floor in a beautiful two bedroomed flat. Everything to hand, including daughter Sandie who lives with husband Harry about five miles away.  These are the adventures of the three, two or one – HRH herself as she gallivants around – READ ON!  Latest news first, so scroll down to read more.

It’s the place that just keeps on giving!

Multiple excitements today, Friday 4th., with a trip to Tesco, AND, Hay and Brecon Agricultural Merchants, AND, train spotting! No wonder elderly ladies live longer in Llandod – see below!

Joan was rewarded with a superfine close up of the Swansea to Shrewsbury (Heart of Wales line) DMU pictured here

Yes, it’s 153367 – the very one she was missing from her Ian Allan DMU’s Of Note. Bet she slept well last night!

☺️

Say no more!

Saturday, and Joan’s new light has arrived – very swish copper coloured shade that should cast more light, more evenly.  Joan has been concerned that the kitchen was too dull in the winter, so this should sort it.

Poor quality picture, as we were all in the dark, not least Alec (trician) who again was lurking around looking for work to pay for his Donkey habit – don’t go there!

Wednesday 14th. Final round of decorating being carried out, Joan has chosen a stronger colour to enhance the cabinets and finish the kitchen off.

Nordic Sky is the name, and some waste of space is painting – you know the sort, always wearing a hoodie, rings in his nose, sniffs a lot, long unkempt hair.  Never mind, when it comes to jobs like painting, you can’t always have good quality workmen!  Lovely colour, we all expressed satisfaction with it.

Monday 12th. Off to Hereford and it’s a must have break at Coffee#1

She says she loves this chain of coffee shops, as do we, they are so vibrant and alive. She especially loves the Portuguese tart (name of Jose)!

Mothering Sunday (“as I like to call it”) and Joan is round to Sandie’s for the day.  Cards, presents, and lunch – what more could a Mother want?

Overcast and still quite chilly, but the daffs are not far off flowering!

Round to Joan’s with supplies – Saturday 10th, and she is preparing for Easter – lovely display on her “ladder” unit.

Lovely arrangement from Sandie, only problem is that the jigsaw puzzle that remains of the glass bowl is minus instructions and glue. Anyway, those nice people at “Next” are sorting a replacement. Pooh that it was broken!

Mothering Sunday is in sight – coming up next Sunday.  Easter cannot be far behind.  Guess who’s coming to dinner, or to take her out?  Hopes are high – we await the arrangements with expectation.

Snow is forecast so it’s stock-up time, a shopping trip to Mr T’s for the daily basics.

And it’s over! Been too busy back and forth to dialogue our week, but we signed off Stuart yesterday. That was ten days, longer than we wanted and estimated, but Stuart has done a good job. Just need to paint the raw plaster and make good, today is being spent making more dust, de-dusting, re-dusting, wiping down, re- stocking the shelves, but not making pretty. That will have to wait.

“It was on the Monday morning, the gas man came to call…..”.  Not quite, but the old Flanders and Swan song seems apt.

Stuart is a good worker who concentrates on doing the job properly, and so it’s into week two we go.

Stuart is “cutting to length” the worktops and the sink and hob are to be cut out later.  Once done, the lower units can be braced together.

Wednesday, and HRH and chaos reigns.  No kitchen so the microwave in the sitting room and washing up in the bowl.

Meanwhile, the plasterers are in.  Nice chaps, so friendly, and superb job. More milk/tea/coffee/sugar/shortbreads needed so the drudge is off to Tesco!

Shortbread biscuits? No wonder the plasterer has an embryo belly on him!

The next day there are big holes in the walls and Alec (Trician) is making even more! No electric or water, but the hairdresser has been in first thing (before the water went off) so Joan’s looking serene and coiffured. The holes should be filled today, and the plasterer is in tomorrow to skim the gaps. Getting there!

29th January. BIG day! Work starts on the kitchen. Up at 05.30 to make sure everything is ready for Stuart, the installer. Trailer on the Jeep ready to transport the freezer for storage at Merryhall.

Stuart’s arrives dead on time, and begins work; quiet, neat, tidy, no fuss – who is this maidens dream? Joan has given him his own kettle, and milk and tea supplies, and on he cracks. Electrician due tomorrow, so everything out today! Fingers crossed his plan works out.

A return to Hereford to view the Computer Aided Design presentation.  The designer, Mandeep, came, saw, chatted, measured, and drank coffee and now she has converted it to the CAD version.

Studious views to the monitor whilst we ask ourselves the fundamental questions of kitchen life.  Which handles? Which finish?  Which splashback?  No problem – a click of the mouse and there it is.  Spendid!  But you’ll have to wait for the finished result!

Well, the New Year resolution has been made “I want a new kitchen!”. So, off we go! Firstly to Oakchurch for coffee and a sausage sandwich.

On the road again to Wickes in Hereford.

And then choices, choices, choices!

Isn’t there something sad 😞 about Twixmas Tesco?  It all looks a bit yesterday.  Perhaps a bit tawdry and flat now all the people have overstocked all their cupboards, all because it is closed for two days.  The staff look as if they don’t want to be there, and have long faces.  Bring back normal.

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ews is that Joan is doing her bit to return to normal!

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ked up and delivered to Merryhall for Christmas 🎄 Day.  A quiet day, with lunch and presents, and watching the weather sweep in over the Cambrian mountains.  The turkey was delivered to the butchers, and we picked it up OK (blog followers will know that there was some considerable confusion over whether we had ordered it).

en back on Wednesday for round two  We opened some presents on Christmas day itself, and left others for the day after Boxing Day.  A double whammy Christmas!

22nd December  and it’s the works outing!  Christmas lunch out at Joan’s request – she has never had an anniversary with us, and never treated Harry to a lunch to mark his birthday (celebrate is not an acceptable word!), so we are off to The Red Lion at Llanafan Fawr – the oldest pub/bar in Powys.

Roaring log fires, the merry sound of kissing under the mistletoe, the gentle whisper of conversation, the contentment that comes from the slurping of imbibing mixtures – get a grip this IS Powys!

The pub opens some lunchtimes and some evenings – it’s just that one never knows which, and even if it advertises that it is open, it’s sometimes not.  This is a virgin experience for us all as we delve into the snugness of stone floors, last decades tinsel, and a fire that’s just been lit.  The landlord (never say, “my man, a flagon of your foaming best stuff please, and make it snappy”, you’re quite likely to be wearing it), is a man of few words, but mostly they are welcoming.  There are notices everywhere – don’t treat this place like a picnic area, these tables are reserved for eating our food, your sandwiches are not welcome.  Any transgression, real or imagined, and one is outside thumbing it for the way home.

(who’s the new boy friend then?).

To the menu – the well thumbed, last re-printed by Caxton, edition. and the choice is limited only by your imagination.  So, being of limited creative ability, we settle on Scampi and chips (and optional peas) (the Tartare is in the blue inpenetrable packet on your table).

Boy what a feast!  We all agreed that the last time we had Scampi was….. ages ago.  And the helpings were enormous.  Joan had her eye on the Sticky Toffee to follow, but in the expression “eyes bigger than tummy” she/we never made it.  Lashings of salt, vinegar, Tartare (we piled up the blue packets) and spritzers and a pint of Jemima’s Pitchfork made this a memorable lunch.  “Everything all right (with the meal)?”  Be careful how you answer that one!

As David Jason used to say “Perfick”. We love this place.

21st December – and to Joan’s where she proudly displays her Christmas decorations – and loverley they are too!

As usual, her eye for detail makes lovely little vignettes of colour and imagination.

Saturday before Christmas, and we’re all stir crazy being kept in by the snow, so off to Coffee #1 in Brecon to re-engage society.

Of course, one had to have a Portuguese Tart as well. Then it’s off to Ty Cariad for some much needed Christmas therapy, thence to Three Cocks for more therapy, and back to Penrhyn to divvy up the spend.

A most satisfying day.

Wednesday 13th. The tracks the Jeep left have iced over, and to attempt to take it up the track again, if we don’t need to could be reckless. However, after -9 on Monday night, Tuesday warmed up slowly, so today a Tesco top up was needed.

Penrhyn was still largely snowed in, and the Tesco car park wasn’t cleared, so we did the hard work, and delivered the goodies.

Tea and shortbread biscuits followed, and then final cards were written before we whizzed back to clean the animals.

Wyy do we not wholly believe BBC weather presenters? Is it a case of “cry wolf”, and we are naturally sceptical? Anyway, we really didn’t see the snow coming, at least not a foot of it!

Joan’s short of milk, so off we set

Following the sheep tracks! Jeep handled it well, but twice the usual time! At least we exported a considerable amount of snow.

Wednesday the 6th.

Now where did I put it? It’s that time of year, and all hands to the pump, to get the Christmas cards written and in the post.

But first…. I just wanted to pop something in the card, but where did I put it? Cupboards emptied, drawers sacked, memory exhausted, then “I know where it is!”.

Friday the 1st., and Christmas is 23 shopping days or so away, so no time to waste (apparently!) and to Hereford we must hasten, and don’t spare the neddies. So it was with Christmas sirens in our ears, we crashed through the speed limits, and found ourselves in the Maylord centre car park, preparing to do battle with three other people who were intent on the same objective. Demise of the High Street? Don’t you believe it, it was hell out there, worse than playing solitaire on your own in a prison cell.

But first to Coffee #1, after all, you can’t do battle on an empty tummy, and Portuguese Tarts were on offer (I think they’re called Angels, but that doesn’t have the same impact).

ence to the Holy Shrine that’s Markses for some restorative therapy, before embarking on the goodship that’s Steamer trading.

Then Accessorize

Before stepping into Hotters and stepping out again with some Winters boots under her arm. Lunch at Oakchurch completed the day.

turday the 25th. As Joan pointed out, she moved in three months ago a couple of days ago. How time flies, and we pointed out that a month hence it is Christmas day, and the days are getting longer. Minus one overnight, and we were woken by the sound of rain on the windows, at dawn you could discern a light dusting of snow. We agreed that a supermarket trip could/should be avoided, so we did Tesco and shipped in some supplies. On the way, we saw that the tops had quite deep snow on them. Lovely and cosy, just like a bug in a rug, Joan greeted us and coffee and scones followed. She had been busy with Christmas bits, teasers to follow

an and Sandie agreed they had finished decorating, but somehow I don’t think so!!<>