Storm Darragh has been thundering through North Wales for almost 24 hours. The winds howl down the lane to the Welsh Hovel, the trees bend and indeed one is already down. You can hear the wind screaming at you and the rain is non stop. The river is now covering my orchard and over in England the fields are flooded.
Having brought in vast amounts of wood and stored it a giant redundant fireplace in the study the temptation is just to switch on the TV and light the fire in the main room. But as a family we headed out this morning to go to the church Christmas fair. Joshua picked up two enormous books on dinosaurs and I got to meet our new vicar, a quite sparky woman making a real stab at trying to lure Joshua and the Mrs away from the chapel and back to the Church of Wales.
Having brought in vast amounts of wood and stored it a giant redundant fireplace in the study the temptation is just to switch on the TV and light the fire in the main room. But as a family we headed out this morning to go to the church Christmas fair. Joshua picked up two enormous books on dinosaurs and I got to meet our new vicar, a quite sparky woman making a real stab at trying to lure Joshua and the Mrs away from the chapel and back to the Church of Wales.
And then to the post office to get my first Christmas card of the year in the post and on the way to New York. Rather getting into the spirit of it I shall shortly be heading off inti the wind and rain for a third time, as there is a Sunday collection, to ensure more cards are on their way to Greece and France.
The big logistics operation starts next week when, I hope, 14 Yarg cheeses arrive. At that point there will be a daily trip to the post office with cheeses plus cards, as well as local deliveries and four, plus a Snowdonian cheddar for step brother Tom who does not like Yarg, taken to the sibling party in Shipston. Throw in a selection of some of the 60 posts of jam and chutney I made this summer and which now sit in the larder, some of which will accompany Yargs while others are stand alone presents for local friends and neighbours it will be quite some operation.
This is the time of year when the Mrs, having said all that jam making was a waste of time, grudgingly admits that there is a point as it caters for so many presents. By next summer she will have, of course, forgotten this and bemoaning the jam making once again. It’s a ritual.
Closer to home nearly everything Santa needs as well as the main gifts for the immediate family and my older kids are all ordered or in production. I am sometimes amazed at just how organised I am these days.
The big logistics operation starts next week when, I hope, 14 Yarg cheeses arrive. At that point there will be a daily trip to the post office with cheeses plus cards, as well as local deliveries and four, plus a Snowdonian cheddar for step brother Tom who does not like Yarg, taken to the sibling party in Shipston. Throw in a selection of some of the 60 posts of jam and chutney I made this summer and which now sit in the larder, some of which will accompany Yargs while others are stand alone presents for local friends and neighbours it will be quite some operation.
This is the time of year when the Mrs, having said all that jam making was a waste of time, grudgingly admits that there is a point as it caters for so many presents. By next summer she will have, of course, forgotten this and bemoaning the jam making once again. It’s a ritual.
Closer to home nearly everything Santa needs as well as the main gifts for the immediate family and my older kids are all ordered or in production. I am sometimes amazed at just how organised I am these days.
