Smith's Journeys

We are getting into the swing of life here at Pradoe.

Here is the next set of images giving you an insight as to what we have been up to.

(click on the images to enlarge)

“Punch” is a 1951 series 1 Landrover which we are able to use to get us around the property. We attach a trailer to it and it is amazing how much garden rubbish you can move.

Tree in the churchyard had become a little overgrown with ivy. It looked like it hadn’t had any attention for a number of years

 

 

 

By the time we had spent the day on it, we felt that it looked a bit more loved.

One of the joys of spending the day working here was being able to interact with the surprising number of people who came to pay their respect to loved ones and to leave flowers by the headstones.
There was a sense of satisfaction seeing the results of our hard work.

With all the leaves that have been blowing around the estate, it is not surprising that some of them end up in the spouting. Not a bad effort for someone who is not comfortable with heights.
Ann is getting really good at this pruning lark.

 

The flat we are in, which is within the main house, is called the bell flat.  This is the bell it was named after.  It was used to call all the staff in for a communal meal at mid-day.  It has not rung since we have been here.

On our Tuesday off this week, we headed off to Wales, to a little town called Llangollen (pronounced th-lan-goth-lin).  We had a really nice meal at the Corn Mill pub, which was recommended to us by Andrew Kenyon.

The town is well known for its aqueduct at Pontcysylite over which the narrow boats pass on the Llangollen canal.  

We had a lovely walk along the towpath passing the horse-drawn narrow boat and the international pavilion.  

The streets are very narrow as the wind alongside the River Dee.

 

Llangollen had a stark wintery beauty to it. We plan to come back here when the sun is out and the leaves are green.

Last week we had a  glimpse of winter.  This was quite a surprise and the snow disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.