About

In 2005 we moved from a life in the city to a sixteenth century farmhouse in the Clwydian hills in North East Wales. The house sits on the side of green valley with views up towards the ancient hillforts of Penycloddiau and Moel Arthur.


This is the bakehouse, painted white, which still contains the old bread oven.  The lower buildings are two stone built pigsties which we use as log stores.  Beyond, up on the horizon, is the heather covered mount of Moel Arthur, one of the many places in the west of the United Kingdom where King Arthur is reputed to be buried.  So we have an ancient house, two acres of land, a holiday cottage to run and lots of things to be grown outside and made inside.  Do I miss my corporate life?  Not at all.



Wandering through these pages you will find, me, Elizabeth, escapee from the city, writer, gardener, cook, wife, daughter, sister, friend, mother, stepmother, grandmother, sometimes stretched a bit thin but knowing that I am profoundly lucky to have all the people and the things that stretch me in my life. 

We lived in this glorious place for more than fifteen years but we have recently embarked on a new adventure, selling the farmhouse to a lovely new custodian and building a new house on a plot not far away.  Since I started my blog the old house and gardens around it have been my passion and obsession so it is interesting to discover how much the new house and its construction have taken over and how little I miss the house on the hill now that I know it is in safe hands.  Ian has been documenting the detail of the process here.  Having written this blog for many years I will be continuing but perhaps a bit sporadically.   I have also started another one to cover more personal musings and you can find that at so what happens next if you are interested.  I would love to hear from you.

Comments

  1. Hi Elizabeth, enjoy your blog and have just make my third set of curtains using your simple and clear instructions. I also moved from city to country . . . Derbyshire village . . . Finding it both delightful and challenging. Thank you for your blog . . . And help with the curtains.
    Heather

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have only just read your comment and am very pleased you like the blog, and make the curtains. I went over to look at your blog but you seem to have moved on. If you did start another one I would love to know where to find it!

      Delete
  2. Hi, there! I am Melissa and I have just happened across your blog. It looks very interesting and I am sure I will visit often. I am drawn to all things Welsh as my great-grandparents came from Blaina at the turn of the 20th century -- my grandfather was only the second of their children to be born in the US. I live in Texas, I am a wife, mother, grandmother, quilter and blogger. Feel free to visit my rather unorganized and chaotic blog at http://boyett-brinkley.blogspot.com.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your pictures of your knitting projects and how they mark time in the lives of your grandchildren. I am a mother of five, grandmother of seven, semi-retired clinical counsellor who loves to knit and have been at it for 57 years on and off- still just an average knitter, but quite prolific. I live in Kamloops, BC, Canada- would love to visit Wales some time and see history come to life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. HI, I found your blog throuhg Charles Hawes'. I am visitng North Wales and was looking for bloggers in the area to meet up with and there doesn't seem to be many. I have a food and travel blog (eatcookexplore.com) and am spending a couple of weeks exploring the area. You are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Elizabeth!

    We loved reading your blog! Please submit your blog to www.walesblognetwork.com for inclusion!

    We'd love to feature you on the website.

    Kind regards,

    Rhys

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Elizabeth, I had to get in touch with you to say that I came across your blog (how? no idea now - link from another blog I imagine), and absolutely love it. You write so well, and (perhaps not surprisingly) your experiences and ideas are very close to my own. Over the past few weeks I have read back through the whole blog, always a fascinating thing to do - to see a journey (and a life) of a number of years unfold, your writing change and develop, your focus change as life happens.
    I'm also in my 62nd year, and loving it. Loving also the freedom as our children are now adults and (for now at least) we no longer have much caring responsibilities.
    I have subscribed to your blog, and will look forward to continue to read as you travel and stay at home. Thank you! Deborah

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are the best thing and the conversations they produce are the whole purpose of blogging for me. Do tell me what you think!

Popular posts from this blog

I love November

New house, new world, new garden

Making lined curtains