Our Cottage in Cwm Wales:Part 1

Hello all



I am back, I got home on the 8th.I have had jet lag like you would not believe!









Ive been trying to up load my pics...not an easy task ! and my computer is running slow too, so I will have to post my pics.in parts. There are so many 1,444 of them...ha! Dont worry I wont put them all up, hehe.









So here we go..................................................................



Below on the sign, is the name of our farm/cottages, that we stayed at our first week in Cwm Wales, Cwm is pronounced "quim" (its Gallic)

This farm pic. is a picture dating back to the yearly 60's.The new owners bought the farm and turned in to holiday cottages in the 80's...our cottage was the pig barn...see the pig... right center,in the courtyard.

This is the transformed main house, the new owners live in...very nice people.They have tried to keep as much in the original state as they could.Including the old huge beams,and the slate roof, was all re-done in the orginal slate,in the master house.

This is my sister L. standing in the front door of our large 4 bed room cottage.

This is our back yard. (below) There was fresh farm eggs for our use.

Farm animals were over a fence for our viewing,sometimes the "cheeky buggers" (picked up a few slang's: ) flew over to our yard.





That's me in our kitchen window,note how huge it is! This is sister L. the windows are so big one can sit comfortably in them,the walls were about 3ft.thick in some places V. and her family flew from Vietnam to be with us.

V. had her own restaurant back in her home country and was the chief of it...she made us some pretty great food!

below:is V.and thier daughter,pretty in pink

V's husband D. helped out too:) our large country kitchenspring rolls,thank's to V.

I'll be blogging some of the Welsh/English food/recipes we ate while on our trip, on my food blog.

http://www.inmyweekitchen.blogspot.com

J.and his sister,and her partner,they came to visit and treated us out to dinner One of 2 master bed rooms,they all came with hand made quilts.and antiques



These are small ventilation windows, when the cottage used to be a barn. Jenny the owner, and her husband did a nice job restoring and decorating.



the rippled wall is plaster over stone.



This room wasn't even used...room for more visitors

The upsatirs hall. Below: is a picture of one of my windows to the room I had.

the view out my window

rolling hills of Wales

Thats the sea in the back ground...our cottage was not exactly by the sea as we thought it would be, but one can see it from our farm yard,it take about a 30 minute walk to the closest part of the beach.

To walk the country side was my favorite thing to do.

The hills are coverd in sheep!

My brother inlaw J. is climbing over a public walkway gate,into a farmers private field .These walk ways have been given by law, for public use.They are all over the country.

This is the view we would see every time we would walk no matter what direction we took.The air was so fresh.



My sister and her husband taking up all the road!

2 cars fitting on this road???





another public walk way,there were 3 near our cottage...that we knew of.

this one was steep and slippery

Old church converted to a house



nice house on our walk



Mail boxes in stone walls are common in the UK Small water run to feed old mill's, are also common in the UK

This shot is on zoom,we climb this hill... to a prairie girl, this hill was more like a mountain!

















This short video is us on top of that hill,the wind is very loud! You may want to turn down your volume so you dont get starttled,but do have a listen its intresting.....and thats the end of part 1.











part 2 will have pubs,castles old churches

























"Ta Ra" for now.........Tracy (gracie)

A Rooster Party

Hello All
I had so many ceramic, wooden, glass roosters when I was a young stay at home mom living on a cattle ranch. We had Semmental beef cattle, we had a donkey named Sara, muscovy ducks, chickens , and yup a beautiful rooster, color's of red, green, yellow... he new he was gorgeous, and he would strut his stuff about.

Due to unforeseen circumstances my whole world changed up side down. I have moved from the farm, selling off my beloved farm yard animals,including my Rooster, and giving away my ceramic ones.

Years later... I find my self in the suburbs of the city going to work in a major cardiac hospital ...what a different world!

As I drive to work, my eye is "naturally" caught by what I think is unusual for the city...A Rooster's welcome, smack dab in the middle of the city!

in the front court yard of an apartment building no less...

here is my white Rooster offering. Some may think this is a hen, but I have owned white roosters, and I think this one's comb gives him away...
They certainly have made the most of this city apartment building...I love to stare as I drive by.

Even though I do not live in the country...my heart is still there.

When I committed to this Rooster Party I forgot I was to be out of the country... so I had to pre book this post, so I hope it goes off with out a hitch!
When I return from Europe, I will visit all who stopped by.
Hugs♥
Gracie
Thank you to Barb, @Bell Vista for allowing me to participate. You can find more Roosters if you go to her blog @
http://www.barbsgoodlife.blogspot.com

From Canada to Wales

See ya, latter.
Aug.23rd to Sept.8 /09

Fly to Chicago, Aug.23. Then to Copenhagen, land in Wales... Aug24Th

Leave Wales, to Chicago, home to Canada.
Sept.8Th

See you around Sept 10 Th or 11Th with Pics...
Gracie

Pink Saturday

PINK BATHING SUITS

Happy Pink Saturday to all, and thank you so much for your visit. My contribution for this Saturday is my self and my granddaughter Billa in our pink swim suits. She is the cutest munchkin you'll ever meet, full of mischief and fun..and she loves her gamma, me:) Just to let you all know...I am taking a trip across the "pond" to beautiful Wales, with my wonderful sister Les. Aug.23 rd... so I'll be gone till about the 11 Th of September.

Please have a jaunt over to Beverly blog, our gracious host, for more Pink Bloggers - http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Blessings to all, Gracie

Hot Summer Day

Finally we have a warm day! We here in this part of Canada have had nothing but cool temperatures accompanied by rain storms, until yesterday.

Not to make light of the terrible heat that some States, and Provinces are enduring, with fires that rage out of control, like in BC...Our prayers are with them.

As for our wonderfully warm summer day, my grandson Lu. is taking full advantage of the fun things in "gammas" back yard.
A little jump over the sprinkler to cool off.
Then a big jump in the kiddie pool...as you can see my granddaughter
Billa is none too impressed with her brothers splash!
Lu plays water foot ball
Stops to watch his sister's strange attempt of getting in to the pool.
Of course she had to change her swim suite, due to her brothers splash. Billa try's to get in the pool on her own...in a very cute way but does can not manage it, gamma has to help her in...but we wont show you a picture of that...gamma in a swim suit, not too cute:)

Eli is under cover sleeping soundly

He's just too beautiful for words, except thank you Lord.

Lets end this perfect day with some water melon
See ya all on Saturday

Gracie

Gaither Vocal Band, Featuring Mark Lowry

http://www.gaither.com/artists.php



The Gaither Vocal Band/Gaither Group, aired a Special on Broadway. We were able to watch it on a Canadian TV station, CBC.

I've never been big on quartet style of singing...but this was so fantastic...and then Mark Lawry stated to speak...OMG!



http://www.marklowry.com/



Its not often that I cry with laughter at comedians...but this Mark Lawry is the most funniest guy I have ever heard. He joked about ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) which some one I love has, and he made this serious conversation of discussion (for me) a little lighter, so funny...Boy! I needed that!

Also with religion, some times its just too serious.

He joked about shopping at Home Depot, which here in Canada we have... Mark Lowry is so worth the watch, for your convenience just click, and be ready to laugh your socks off!

In this next video from "You Tube" is of Mark Lowry singing with the Gaither brothers/ Gaither Vocal Band "Let Freedom Ring" .

Amazing song I got goose bumps all over.





In this CBC special on Broadway Mark Lowry sang a beautiful duet with his mama.



David Phelps also stared in this production, he has a beautiful diverse voice. Also can be seen on You Tube and he has a web site. http://www.davidphelps.com/

Mark has a couple of CDs out too.

Sculptor Artist Leo Mol

Mol was well known for sculpting animals such as bears, graceful female nudes, Ukrainian subjects, and busts or full-length likenesses of prominent personalities. He sculpted portrait-heads of many Winnipeggers, which helped pay his bills and keep his skills sharp for major commissions.



In the course of his career, he sculpted a number of the 50 finalists in the Winnipeg Free Press Greatest Manitobans contest, including Louis Riel, Terry Fox, Sir William Stephenson, Steve Juba and Tom Lamb.


His works around the city include the nine-foot Queen Elizabeth II in the courtyard of the Manitoba Centennial Centre and the sculpture of children climbing a tree in front of the Richardson Building.


Institutions with Mol works in their collections include the Vatican Museum, National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., Art Gallery of Ontario, McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Winnipeg Art Gallery. His pieces are in private and corporate collections throughout Canada, the U.S., England and Europe.


The Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park opened in 1992 as a permanent showcase for Mol's body of work. Roughly 250,000 people visit the free attraction each year.


In 2002, the Mol sculpture Lumberjacks was featured on a Canadian postage stamp.



Mol, who continued sculpting until he was nearly 90 years old, was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1989 and to the Order of Manitoba in 2000. He received honorary doctorates from the universities of Manitoba, Winnipeg and Alberta, as well as many other honours. He was an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Michael of Kent open the final phase of the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park Winnipeg, while Leo Mol, at left, speaks candidly with them.

The Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park opened in 1992 as a permanent showcase for Mol's body of work. Roughly 250,000 people visit the free attraction each year.
Winnipeg sculptor Leo Mol, right, died Saturday, July 4, 2009 at age 94. Here he is pictured with former Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker. During a Winnipeg-based career lasting more than 50 years, Mol sculpted popes, cardinals, royalty, statesmen, community leaders, artists of the Group of Seven and many other notable figures.