Siambr Wen

 

Siambr Wen lies on the western village border 

Foolishly I left around a dozen sprouts on the kitchen worktop last night
This moment of utter madness allowed Albert to spend a happy few minutes after lights out playfully flicking a good portion of them onto the floor where Dorothy found them in the middle of the night.
I knew trouble was afoot when I was awoken by a whole series of sprout flavoured burps followed by some insanely veggie smelling and resoundingly loud farts. 
The kitchen floor resembled the La Brea Tar pits in Los Angeles when I got downstairs 
And I won’t describe the state of my Egyptian Cotton white duvet cover

I almost lost the will to live 

This afternoon I have delivered the village Christmas cards, some 40 in all. The ones earmarked for people on the outskirts of the village, I will do tomorrow by car, (that’s another ten or so) 
I don’t take the dogs with me as they never “get” walking up drives and paths they are not used to , so alone and with headphones in, the whole process lasts around an hour.
It only took me 45 minutes today as I had forgotten around ten cards.
The weather was cooling by 3pm . The sky in the West an ice/grey blue.
I photographed Siambr Wen, the remains of the. 16th Century country house that housed a room which doubled as a local courtroom. Siambr Wen means White Chamber in Welsh
It looked spooky and cold seen through the trees.

I was glad to get home to a warm cottage before the light changed.

This afternoon I’m watching The Last Duel on Disney +
Homemade gyoza dumplings for supper

61 comments:

  1. Hahaha
    Doggies. What can you do?
    And now that you say 'cards', I'll probably have to mail some....

    XOXO

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    1. It’s nice to have most of mine done and dusted
      It’s another few ticks from my “ to do “ list

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  2. Dear God...brussel sprouts and Dorothy. Your description made it impossible for me not to laugh uncontrollably, but I am sorry for you and the clean up involved...not to mention the polluted air after-effects. Having once had a bulldog, I know only too well, they need no help (much less sprouts) gassing out the environment. Albert has a wicked sense of humour.

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    1. I had cooked them and left them on a plate to eat them cold for supper.

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  3. Sorry, but I had to laugh, too. Your animals are certainly characters! What an interesting house, but it does look worthy of a horror film. xx

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    1. It looked like a shitty slasher movie this morning
      I could have cried

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  4. As my mother would have said - you make a rod for your own back with those dogs.

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  5. The country house is beautiful. Someone should buy it and rebuild.

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    1. https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/618242/doc_0_1.pdf

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    2. derelict but lovely, if one had millions to rebuild it. I don't see a price on the listing

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    3. I think there’s land with it as well

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  6. Sprout flavoured burps and farts! Instead of what?

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  7. My, my, Dorothy has a delicate little tummy.

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    1. The sprouts had been cooked with oil and sprinkled with nutmeg

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  8. veg artist4:52 pm

    One animal accident on my bed was one too many for me. Sweet as she is, the cat is not allowed in the bedroom any more, but in our house it is easy to control where she can go. The after-effects of sprouts? Rather you than me!

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    1. Before he died George pooed in every room of the cottage hourly
      This is nothing lol

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  9. I am sort of surprised you left the sprouts out although you said it was a mistake . With four cats I have a built in instinct/habit not to leave anything foody around ever and I don't even have to think about it, I just do it.

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    1. I tend not to leave thing out , but not in case of Albert
      I don’t want scratch marks from the dogs on my cabinet doors.
      Albert seldom climbs on the kitchen tops
      I’m only resuming he did last night…well it’s the only answer

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    2. Don't you feed Albert on the counter? He thought it was snackies, then Yuck! Pow! Here Dottie, here dottie.

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    3. No he’s been trained to eat on the window ledge

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  10. Your country house link doesn't make the place look as nice as your photo! Really derelict! No wonder it is empty!
    I mailed my cards at the post office today! Now to finish decorating!

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    Replies
    1. It hasn’t been lived in ( in part) since 1960

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  11. Barbara Anne5:15 pm

    Well, that will teach you to turn around and look back to see if you left any gut bomb materials out on the kitchen counter top! Hope the weather was good enough that you could wash the duvet promptly.
    Another two new to me Welsh words! It's sad when a home is left empty.
    Well done in delivering the Christmas cards and I applaud your sensitivity to saving the dogs from the confusion of unfamiliar turf.

    Hugs!

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  12. Atmospheric picture old lad, brassicas and greedy dogs...a match made in hell m’thinks

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  13. i think i would have lost the will to live. bet you don't leave any sprouts on the counter anytime soon!

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  14. Poor Dorothy-it may be an allergy the little lady suffers from-bless the baby xx

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  15. A baking soda and hydrogen peroxide paste soak are your friends! Works a treat on almost any mess.

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    1. Bleach elbow grease and breathing through my mouth was the order of the day

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  16. Same thing has happened with my husband.

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  17. Ah, fantasies of renovating a place like Siambr Wen.

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    1. When I was on the community council I saw plans for its renovation , quite beautiful . Pity it didn’t progress

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  18. You have just convinced me to never get a dog.

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  19. "Siambr Wen" sounds like a good title for a thriller.

    Lost in the darkness and stumbling around, Nurse Graham John pulled his collar up for it had begun to rain like billyo. He was trembling with the cold and desperate for somewhere dry.

    There was a flash of distant lightning over Gop Hill. Silver and ghostly but sufficient to illuminate the ruins of Siambr Wen just a stone's throw in front of him.

    He dashed inside and crouched in the shelter of a solid stone wall, his heart thumping like a metronome beating out the rhythm of a wild Irish jig.

    He had, as usual, been drinking all night in "The Crown Inn" and was soon snoring like a bulldog with his bearded head resting on the old wall... (PLEASE CONTINUE)

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    1. You mad bugger
      I enjoyed all of that
      Lol

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  20. John's nose twitched-he felt something soft and hairy against his cheek-He stirred when he smelt what seemingly to him in a haze the aroma of a brussel-sprout-He opened one eye and there stood what appeared to be the most handsome goat he ever did see-ladee ooo ladii oo Dee lay-ooo ooo ooo.....xx

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  21. Hilarious, can empathise re dog disasters. I liked the La Brea inference, I can recall reading about them as a small boy. Have you been there?

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    1. No, I’ve been to say Fransisco , Seattle, Pittsburgh, Chicago and New York
      Never wanted to Visit LA

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  22. White can be a challenging color.

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  23. Accidents happen, some worse than others. You'll never forget the horrors of this clean up.

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  24. Anonymous12:55 am

    I think you better be careful about pissing off Albert! Pay backs are a B!. But you still love them. They are very sweet!

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  25. Siambr Wen looks like a nice little project for your future retirement.

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  26. I love how your post has turned into a serial by the fun posts of Yorkshire Pudding and flis !!!

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  27. We'll have to check out "The Last Duel." We subscribe to Disney+ and I feel like we don't use it enough.

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  28. "I almost lost the will to live." That line killed me. LOL

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  29. Someone should buy Siambr Wen and get it all roofed and restored and lived in. Who owns it? Is it for sale? I am tempted (but it is far away and if I used it as a holiday/writing home and rental...well...there is a tendency for such foreigner-owned homes to be disliked to the extent of the occasional torching, I have heard; but it's a shame to see such fine stone walls unroofed and unused). I am genuinely hankering after an old stone ruin to renovate (or, more accurately to get renovated, for I am no builder), but maybe more likely on the coast somewhere.

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    1. Oh... just found the link up near the top and will explore. I really should not read comments from bottom upwards.

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    2. Too much land and too many outbuildings for me. I am looking for a single stone isolated ruin but not with outbuildings.

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  30. OMG! I can't stop laughing reading about your "sprouts saga"...Thank you, John!! I needed a good hearty laugh today!

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  31. Oh dear heavens! quite the shit show at your house. I would have wept.

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