I'm in Wales, staying at Tyn-yr-Erw (w is usually a vowel in Welsh, so that's pronounced something like Tin-ur-AIR-oo) a small farm/bunkhouse. This is one of the most Welsh-speaking areas of Wales, although the couple who run the place are from London and still sound like it. I've been helping out in the garden, planting trees for a new hedge, digging up overgrown paths and laying down new woodchips, cutting up turf, and, my favorite, weeding. I don't know why a treehugger like myself finds pulling plants out of the ground quite so satisfying, but I do. It started out cool, cloudy, with intermittent light showers, but the weather has turned sunny and almost too warm. Everything is exuberantly green, and the pastoral hills around the farm are gorgeous. It's just a short walk from the house to the ruins of an Iron Age fort on a hilltop in a neighbor's cow pasture. Standing up there, you can see three huge wind turbines in the next valley over. I'm having an excellent time overall, although some sort of biting insect has been after me something fierce and my inability to hammer in a competent manner proved frustrating while putting up a rabbit fence around a vegetable bed yesterday.
I have lots more to write, but my internet time at this cafe is almost up (the net's down at the farm).
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Hi Katie - Your blog makes me think of Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1st vol. of a wonderful Sherlock Holmes follow-on which your parents started me on), which has a long episode in Wales, among other delights. I assume you have read it, but if you have not, do so! I also had a stay at a B & B farm when I was a bit younger than you, and taught two Welsh-speaking children, Ogwena and Elfred, to turn cartwheels on the knees of the Snowdon Mountains. Great memories - enjoy them well, including the cold, the limited array of food, the worry over money - it is all part of the process. Affectionately - Genevieve
ReplyDeleteHi Genevieve,
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't read The Beekeeper's Apprentice, although it's on the list of things I intend to read someday. I didn't know you'd spent time in Wales! Nifty. I am rather missing the cold now, as Georgia-like warm and humid weather seems to have settled in. Thanks for commenting!