Another very cold weekend. Yesterday was cold and foggy. We went over to Erwood where there is a craft centre to scope out some possible Christmas presents, but were not successful. Took a rather meandering route home which was beautiful and wild, with the hedges still thick with hoarfrost, looking quite spooky in the mist.

This morning, we went over to the Elan Valley through Newbridge-on-Wye, in a bitterly cold but sparkling morning. Walked alongside Caban Coch Reservoir, which we seemed to have to ourselves, apart from a lone mountain biker who was incredibly wearing shorts!! We were wrapped up in fleeces, hats, scarves and vests. Saw some gorse in bloom and was reminded of the saying "Kissing's in season when gorse is in bloom", and suited the action to the word. Got back to the car and ambled home. Saw icicles and red kites. Up here of course it is their stronghold, and I am already getting used to seeing them as a normal part of the bird life. I attach some photos of the walk - I think they make the move to mid Wales self-explanatory. Out very shortly to a matinee performance of Brideshead Revisited. It hasn't had the best reviews but will be interesting to see what they've done with it.

Off to Brecon this morning with Andrew, who had to travel there for work. Took the opportunity to do a quick shop in Morrisons - to stock up on things like buttermilk and coffee. While Andrew was in his meeting I had a waddle round. Brecon is a nice town. What makes a delightful change from Cardiff is the ludicrously low parking charges - £1 for two hours - hurrah. Visited the post office, which for some reason was hidden inside the local Co-op. Of course, Thursday is pensions day, so it was a long queue full of elderly people. Anyway, I posted a parcel and got some Christmas stamps. Also visited a local butcher where I got some duck breasts, some diced lamb (which I'll do in a Moroccan style with some couscous) and some enormous bones for the woofs. They've been contentedly munching all afternoon, although sadly eating bones has terrible consequences in that it leads to severe flatulence for some reason. Andrew, sensibly will be running tonight so should avoid the worst of it. Just been fiddling about on Facebook and now off to do some chopping for a stir-fry later when Andrew returns from his run.

DON'T FORGET THE FREE CHRISTMAS CARD OFFER - JUST EMAIL ME.

I've written before about the Stat Counter on the blog, and its many amazing features, especially if you have any form of anoraky tendancies (which I do). One of the fascinating tools is a global map which tells you in some detail the locations of my readers. Shown above is the table for the past week, and I love the variety of countries represented. Who would guess someone from the Republic of Korea would be reading my blog? Anyway a warm welcome to you all. As we're coming up to Christmas, here's a thought.

If you're one of my readers, send me an email with your address, and I'll send you a home-made Christmas card. My other blog over at http://silvernutmeg.blogspot.com/ is where I tend to showcase crafty bits, so unless you pop in over there, you might not know I enjoy card-making, as well as fiddling about with a whole plethora of other crafty bits. If you live outside the UK, then get those emails in fast so I can post in good time. My email address is silvernutmeg@btinternet.com . Right, let the card-fest begin.....

The weather has turned very cold here. There was frost in the garden this morning which I tried to photograph at about 9. I also attach a photo of our anniversary gnome. He is photo-voltaic, so his hat and lantern glow automatically when it gets dark. I like knowing he is out there. Also out there are many, many squirrels, masses of long tailed tits and a squadron of blue and coal tits. Our robin is also usually hopping around. At the front, the heron frequently glides past. The owl is audible most evenings and early mornings. The bird food we are putting out (both fat balls and peanuts) is essential now and it's good to see it being tackled with so much enthusiasm.

I've begun Christmas shopping, mostly throught the internet, which is proving less tiring than tramping round shops. I did a lot of present wrapping on Sunday afternoon while Andrew was out for a run, and was assisted/hampered (depending on your point of view) by a greyhound who was determined to sniff and if possible nibble everything to ensure it was wrapped securely. Eventually, we had to have words. His perspective (which does have some merit, admittedly) is that if a parcel can withstand him, it will be safe in the hands of the Post Office.

To be fair, our regular postie is lovely - really cheerful and friendly, reliable as clockwork and doesn't seem fazed by the woofs at all. Now just about to go and enjoy some CSI action - last week was a vintage episode of Horatio machismo - a classic.

The weekend. On Thursday night, Andrew went to his first meet of the local running club. A successful six miler, and he reported a really friendly, welcoming bunch. So much so that they invited us to their social evening at the Greyhound on Saturday night. Nice to be able to walk there and meet a good bunch of friendly people. The organiser came over for a chat and she and Andrew were talking about preferred length of run. Very casually, she said she liked doing marathons, and had recently done the Snowdon one, at which her eyes lit up, and she enthused over it, mentioning there were a "few" hills. Hmmm. We are not worthy. I was awestruck. Rather like the film "Local Hero" it also turns out that half the running club wear a variety of different local hats. One works at the estate agent we rented the bungalow from, another sells us our morning paper and my cross stitch magazine, the list goes on.

Sunday was a long day as it was the AGM for GRW. We got up early, fast walk with woofs, then into the car and down to Cardiff house. Sorted out post that had arrived, including some nice ATCs for me and woofs had a good sniff. Picked up friend Paula and then trundled up to Ponty for the AGM at the Commercial Hotel. Last year, it was freezing, so I wrapped up warm, but this year they actually had the heating on, hurrah! Good turn out and great to see lots of lovely hounds. Sadly the guest speaker wasn't able to attend at the last minute. Felt very emotional seeing Sandra stand down as Chair, although Penny is lovely and I'm sure she will do a good job. It was my first public outing for my reading glasses - I'm still mastering the art of peering over them so i can see anything more than two foot away! After the AGM, we held an Exec meeting, and then we travelled back down to Cardiff. Woofs delighted to see us, loaded them in the car, and then back up here. Roads quiet and empty and beautiful views of mountains at dusk on the way back up. Andrew had been super-organised on Saturday and had pre-cooked a beef casserole with Pumpkin Ale, so he reheated that and did some potato boulangere while I had a large gin and looked at the paper, being exhausted after all the travelling and the AGM. Early night and a very quiet day - I must admit I actually nodded off while doing the crossword. Now made an attempt at the minutes, and will hopefully complete by tomorrow. The heron was on the river this morning, opposite the window, fishing - I really enjoyed watching him for a while.

Well, I found the camera, and tried to upload the photos, then the battery was flat! So after charging here we are. A few pics of the move attached and one of the dogs making themselves at home on the sofa.

A busy weekend, with appalling weather on Sunday, including torrential rain and an impressive thunderstorm. Saturday was our 11th wedding anniversary. We exchanged cards, and Andrew bought me a cyclamen and a garden gnome with an illuminated lantern. He's now sitting very proudly under the bird table in the back garden.

On Saturday evening, we visited our nearest cinema at Wyeside Arts Centre to see the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. It's a tiny, friendly little place, with the civilised habit of allowing customers to take drinks from the bar into the screening, so Andrew enjoyed a pint of Guinness while watching the film. Because it's so small, nearly everyone in the audience seemed to know each other - they even had the old custom of selling icecream at the front during the interval before the big film. What to say about the film? Clearly the influence of the Bourne films has been felt - there's a rather frenetic quality about it. Daniel Craig is excellent, and very fit in both senses of the word. Judi Dench is glorious as M, and their dialogue really crackles - much more sparky and engaging than his dialogue with the rather wooden female eyecandy who appears on the posters. A smaller role for another British actress is a little better - not only does she get to shag Daniel Craig (well, it'd be rude not to) but he then supplies her with a party dress - my kind of guy. I'd read about the Prada dress in question and although it was attractive, it didn't have the "Wow" factor i'd hoped for.

Afterwards, we came home for an Indian takeaway . On Sunday, we decided to do a supermarket run over to Hereford. The Tesco there is awful - one of the most soul destroying shops I can remember. It was freezing cold, dark and gloomy and crowded with other miserable shoppers. Although we can buy our fresh meat, fish, veg, eggs and cheese here, we'll still need to do some sort of supermarket sweep for stuff like baked beans. We may need to think about either Merthyr or Brecon.

We've put up the bird food in the back garden, and we have a great range of birds here. There are masses of long tailed tits, blue tits and coal tits, as well as our friendly resident robin. We've seen a heron on the river, heard an owl this morning when we took the dogs out in the dark and yesterday I saw a bullfinch in the trees at the end of the garden. As I'm writing this, one of the local squirrels is hurtling around the garden. Attempted photo attached - I need to think about and practice taking shots of birds through glass.

Well, a busy few days. BT turned off our broadband at the Cardiff house much sooner than we expected. Apologies for the gap in service. Anyway, on the 30th fave auntie came up from Swansea. Went to our annual craft-fest at the CIA on the Friday, and made the effort to get there early. Definately better as we could get round very well. Both bought lots of wonderful goodies - very happy with our spoils. Then home to the woofs and a relaxing afternoon on the sofa, examining our booty with glee. Chinese and a bottle of wine in the evening. Fab. Saturday we took Hil to Ikea - as usual, a good opportunity to stock up. Bought some candles and wrapping paper, and an extra fleece for the woofs. Hil returned to Swansea late on Saturday afternoon.

After that, the great pack began. Move went on Tuesday as moves always do, and even though it is now Friday, am still slightly out of kilter and will probably take a few more days to get properly settled. The dogs were clearly disturbed by the move and have been quite clingy but also very good. They are now settling in slowly too.

So, our new home. What to say? It is smaller and colder than Cardiff. On the way up here, we were impressed by the number of hills that already had snow on them. Outside flows the river and yesterday morning there was a man fly-fishing opposite the house for ages. Around us is beautiful countryside, although we are outside the boundaries of the National Park. From the bungalow windows, I can see the steeply sided valley, covered in trees and a field of sheep.

So far, we've been focused on the house and packing and cleaning. But by this morning, we were ready to get some supplies. There's a few market stalls on Friday morning, so we were able to get fresh fruit and veg there. Also found a fresh fish caravan, where we bought some lovely bream fillets that we had this evening, cooked with thyme and garlic, and servedwith chickpeas. Another useful find was the WI Market - lovely home made pies, cakes, shortbread and treats. Fab. In the main high street of the town, there are not one but two excellent butchers, each able to display the source of this week's beef and pork. Bought a variety of meat and have ordered a free range bronze turkey for Christmas. Hurrah! Most of the meat appears to be very local, and with high quality stock such as Welsh Black beef. One of the butchers also produces their own sausages and bacon so we've bought some to try. The town also has a Co-op store, for basic and emergency groceries.

We've also done some time testing for next week when Andrew starts his new job. Basically, it looks as though if we get up at six, we've got time to take the woofs for a walk by the river, return home, have breakfast and then for Andrew to arrive at work in good time for his official start time. We tested the times this morning and it was beautiful walking in the early dawn by the river. Fortunately Andrew knows me well enough by now not to expect scintillating conversation at that time of the morning.

One of the other things I've noticed is the different dress code. We were out and about today and Andrew was wearing his hoody. Several people in shops asked if he was from away. Dress code for men here is fleece, tweed, wellies and either a flat cap or a battered baseball cap. Generally accessorised by either a LandRover with Ifor Williams trailer, sheepdog
or 4x4, both liberally spattered with layers of caked on grime.

Went this afternoon to Hay and Brecon Farmers, a useful farm supply shop practically next door and it was a cornucopia of rustic clothing, along with various sheep tags, fencing, nails, sheep paint (tarting up the girlfriend, according to the old jokes....) assorted cow remedies and boxes of Persil so big you'd need a 4x4 to get them home. Andrew is constructing a wondrous fence in the garden to ensure safe canine play (hence the visit to the shop for fence supplies) - but once that's done, he'll be going back for some wellies. Strangely, he's not keen on the flat cap. I'll work on that I think. Any other ideas or suggestions for country living very welcome. I am course primed to avoid anyone playing a banjo. Photos have been taken, but can't find my camera (temporarily) - that's the thing in a new house, usual storage places are altered. Will post pics when available and downloaded.