I will confess...

Today I am in the grip of writers block.

My usual diarrhea flow of words has dried to a trickle.

Yup put me in a position where I have something important to write and I am stuck

I am trying to throw together a CV for a very important job with the Welsh Assembly, something so senior I would not normally even bother with the application pack but two very senior people approached me independently and suggested I should apply.

Massive ego boost but I cannot string two words together. I need management at home to help - don't tell her that mind.

At least I have a couple of referees lined up - I hope.

BAAAHHHHH

R

Hells teeth......

I hate homework.

Well when I say homework I mean my kids homework.

My BRANE hurts.

Been helping the kids with their maths homework.

Me A level maths (failed - twice) and her, CSE maths (not good grade) have been experimenting with methods which help the children devise strategies to succeed and solve the problems.

Translates into English as help them with fractions.

Have definitely been pushing the boundaries of our ability.

Stick three shovels in the corner and ask me to take my pick....

Management has retired to bed

Or write in her blog anyway.

A cat has crapped in a bedroom - just thought you might wish to savour the moment, no one would savour the aroma..

The solicitor announced with delight he is ready to exchange contracts so we could be moving next week

We won't of course as the guy buying here is not ready to go yet, but it brings it home that we need to be organised.

Organised?

Us??

Bloody hell.....

R

Weather, don't talk to me....

Yesterday we cut serious fire wood.

Loads of it!!!

So of course we lit the fire last night full of joy.

Lovely!!

But of course last night was nice and mild and we lay awake for much of it sweating in the tropical heat.

Tonight the fire is stubbornly refusing to light with a flue blockage being the prime suspect.

I could really manage without this just before I sell. Cleaning a blocked flue is about the worst job you can do if it had held a month the new owner would get the pleasure.

Of course I can console myself, I do have all the kit. On a certain green vehicle.....

GGroan

Today was a wonderful day.

A sunlight special day where the temperature hovered near where it should have been this summer, the clouds stayed where they should have been all summer.

The morning we devoted to the pursuit of winter warmth.

The chainsaw consumed two stroke and in turn consumed wood.

We might be moving but we still need warmth.

A lovely day of activity.

A break from solid weeping rain.

Several weeks firewood, all it takes is one good day of sun.

I love the fireaxes, beautiful tools from long ago.

My big spliting axe must be put aside. It's a 41/2 lb Elwell, they are the very best of axes 50 years old, and this one was unused, too rare to use again.

I really enjoyed my day.

And now I pay.

Someone has filled my shoulders with hot coals I am going to heat some bath oil and soak in it for a few weeks.

School days - the happiest days, ehhhhhh

So the childer are back in school.

Back a few years they were in the local school. 30 pupils, so sending 5 there was filling the roll just a touch. There were years where that school stayed open because our kids went there...

Now we have 6 in a high school so close to the new house to which they can walk.

An hour wiped off their day in an instant.

This would mean that we have just the one in the valley school

Which is the same distance from the new house as the new school is from Penole.

But, here is the parental dilemma with only himself at that school Gwion has taken off. He is suddenly himself and not anyone else's brother or foster brother.

That is giving him more confidence, sense of self and self worth.

Of course what Gwion sees is his friend Felix.

Without him Felix would not have a proper friend at school.

So he needs to stay to look after Felix.

So it looks like we are doing big mileage every day - which is OK.

He is big above his years.

Today I was talking to Bethan; one of her friends had decided school is not for her, the school counsellor was not there and she needed to talk to someone. She was distraught emotions on the wing.

The year tutor was far too busy so she trusted Bethan to talk her through whatever it was she wanted to say.

Now,

OK

I am dealing with this second hand, but Bethan did proper real deal Motivational Enhancement Therapy without having done the course.

Not having done the course she would not have known how she did it of course.

Oh by the way she is as dippy as a dippy thing, but hell I am proud of her.

And Gwion

R

Odd times

It's an odd old thing.

Tallie, he's a good lad but not happy.

He does not like the new house.

A restructuring of his life of hilltop happiness.

Who could blame him.

I love this place of open freedom.

Breathe in the open everything.

The sunset tonight was....

Well it was a Penole sunset.

A magic of the Celtic moment between light and dark.

But Celtic is tribal also.

Last night, he went to the new rugby club.

Training went really well he really felt involved.

He is fired up about playing on Sunday.

This is of course a good thing.

So maybe the move will be a positive for him.

This could be good.

R

What a night

Lets not mince words, it's foul.

Life in the clouds, wet mist swirling round the house on the wild driven wind.

A fire, lovely beacon of heat burns in our log burner.

Our Franco Belge, our friend, companion of many a night. Deliverer of wonderful warmth.

People who live in town, hit a switch, the zombie pump whirs and the radiators warm.

Miss a lot.

Our new house will have central heating as a secondary system.

A back up for the real heater.

We are going to buy a seriously big mega log stove.

Eat your hearts out....

R