Helen

Due to rain and being busy, we didn't manage to fit in our weekly walk together until yesterday (Sunday). We did a slightly different route through Abergwynant woods. The morning started dull and cold. I even wore gloves when we set out, but once up in the woods, out of the strong wind, it was warmer and by the time we were walking back to the car park at Penmaenpool, it was bright and sunny.

( More photos here... )

Looking back down the path we had just walked up. There's a clearing in the distance that is being recolonised by small conifers. Things regrow so quickly.



Total distance is about 4½ miles but with the steep up and down, is quite a good workout.

The final photos from Birmingham. I did take lots more, but I've just shared my favourites as a sample of what the city has to offer. If you get a chance to visit, it's worth it for the art gallery and museum alone.

I really like the Pre-Raphaelites, ever since studying them on the Open University's Arts Foundation Course. Considered rather raw and brutal when the paintings were first exhibited, by the 1960s they were considered old hat, sentimental and overly Romantic. Since then I think they've had something of a revival and their skill in capturing fabrics and nature are excellent.

"Pretty baa lambs" by Ford Madox Brown. The painting was the first by a Pre-Raphaelite to be painted entirely outdoors. The woman is the artist's partner Emma, holding their daughter Catherine. The daughter grew up to be a painter herself.



( More pictures here... )

And finally something entirely different... This little person/creature was found at Weobley Castle in Herefordshire. Out of all the exhibits in the museum, I photographed this little figure because it had been found by one of the people I was going round the gallery with. She has a degree in history and was taking part in an archaeological dig when she unearthed it. She said she always thinks it looks as though it's just realised that it's lost its car keys. :-)



I didn't photograph any of the Staffordshire Hoard which I also saw. It's a fascinating collection of scraps, many of them very small, of what must have once been beautiful jewellery and jewelled decoration for large items. The hoard was most likely deposited between 650 and 675 CE, and contains artefacts probably manufactured during the 6th and 7th centuries. There were facsimiles of a cross, a sword and a helmet, showing how the fragments would have looked before the gold and garnets had been stripped from the items and broken up.

I'm being rather slow posting the best of the photos I took in Birmingham. Anyway, here is Day 2.

After a substantial hotel breakfast, I went back to my room and managed to write some plot notes for the novel while waiting until it was time to go out to meet my friends at the art gallery which didn't open until 10 a.m.

The second day in Birmingham started greyer but brightened up while we were going round the art gallery and museum. Here is the Floozie again, snapped on the way to meet my friends.



I was a little early, but didn't want to wander too far and get lost, so I ambled around near the art gallery. Here is Thomas Attwood reclining on the steps of Chamberlain Square, Birmingham. He was a banker, economist, political campaigner and Member of Parliament.



I'll post some photos from inside the art gallery tomorrow, but here are a few more city centre photos taken while I explored. A striking modern building houses the Birmingham central library.

( More photos here... )

The journey home was not as smooth as it could have been. There were problems with trains leaving Birmingham International late due to something on the overhead power lines. At least that's what I think the rather garbled announcement said. We also had to change platform. A whole herd of us had been waiting patiently on Platform 5B when an announcement told us that our train would now depart from 7B. The herd had to gallop up the escalator, along to the next platform entrance and back down another escalator to the platform. The train did then arrive and I got a seat. However, as we approached Shrewsbury, there was an announcement to say that instead of going through to Aberystwyth as it was supposed to, because it was so late, the train would turn round at Shrewsbury, so we all had to get off and wait for the next train. However, I was only an hour late arriving home. But this is why I never plan to get the last train. One never knows quite what will happen.

Facebook's memories informs me that exactly 8 years ago today I was posting about returning from Eastercon in Harrogate. This year I'm not at Eastercon, but I did have a little trip to Birmingham to meet friends who are at the convention and went round the Birmingham Art Gallery & Museum with them.

I'd been meaning to visit Birmingham to see the Pre-Raphaelite paintings ever since I saw a post online last October saying that the gallery had reopened. But, as is always the way, I never actually got around to it. However, thanks to Farah posting about the planned group visit, I got my act together and booked train tickets and a hotel for a one night stay. I'm really glad I did because it made a nice little city break and gave me a chance to see a bit more Birmingham, which is a city I don't really know at all.

The convention is being held out by the NEC, but I booked a night in a Premier Inn just five minutes walk from New Street station. I arrived on the Thursday and, having paid a bit extra for an early check-in, could go straight to my room to freshen up, have a cup of tea and eat the sandwich I'd brought with me.

I then went out to find the art gallery. I hadn't really intended to, but as I didn't have anything else planned, I had a look around on my own. I didn't know how much I'd be able to concentrate on the pictures whilst also chatting with friends. When I'd been round the Pre-Raphaelite galleries and ventured upstairs to look at the history of Birmingham exhibits, I returned to the hotel, buying some food to eat en route from the Tesco Express I found in my wanderings.

Now G and I have discussed our differing feelings about travel and agreed that it's fine for me to go away for little breaks on my own, I must do this sort of thing every so often. I've already started planning a trip for May and thinking of other ideas for the future. With just one or at most two nights away you can pack in so much. Living where we do you have to go a long way for more spectacular scenery and I've never been one for lazing on beaches, so the occasional mini-break is what I want.

I'll post more about the Birmingham trip over the next couple of days, but for now I'll leave you with just two photos.

A sign in the art gallery. It's very true about the constant road works and construction.



And the artwork "The River" aka "The Floozie in the Jacuzzi", a fountain and sculpture in Victoria Square front of the city hall.

It's not raining today, so I have been out and checked the tyre pressure, topped up the windscreen washer fluid and cleaned the car. It was embarrassingly filthy. It's still far from perfect, but at least it's no longer embarrassing.

I wouldn't have had a white car from choice. We bought our Skoda Yeti second hand from a local garage, so there was no choice of colour and otherwise it was just what we needed, but of course it shows all the dirt.

I used the battery-powered jet spray gun thingy that I bought after seeing an advert on Facebook. It's not as powerful as the jet-wash at the garage, but it does the job better than a sponge and bucket and I can use it whenever I like.

I have also brought the small suitcase in from the garage and printed out a map of the centre of Birmingham in preparation for my mini-break at the end of the week.

12/52 for the group 2026 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: L is for Labels

The labels in a couple of t-shirts. I've had these for a few years now. Seasalt clothes are not cheap, but they last a long time.

I am feeling a bit peeved. I'm expecting a parcel which, according to the tracking, arrived in the post office sorting office (less than half a mile away) on Saturday. I don't think there are Saturday deliveries any more, but it didn't arrive yesterday or today. I will have to call in at the sorting office tomorrow to find out what's going on. Either it has arrived and for some reason is failing to get onto a delivery van, or the tracking is lying and it didn't reach the sorting office. I need to find out the answer because if the tracking is lying, I need to inform the company of the lost package and I'll re-order the item.

In other news...

I think I have upset the squirrels. I have begun a mammoth bramble clearing project and some of the "brambles" turned out to be saplings. I knew there were two holly saplings because I could see them from my study window. What I didn't know was that a small tree was growing almost horizontally by the fence, hidden by the brambles. I think it might be a self-seeded apple tree from windfalls from our neighbours' tree. I think the squirrels may have been running up and down the gently sloping trunk to get on and off the boundary fence. A couple of them looked cross this morning. There was much tail twitching and taking a strange route into the apple tree by leaping onto the slender twigs of a low lying branch. However, I'm sure they'll soon work out new squirrel highways. They are, after all, clever little creatures and very agile.

Re the bramble clearing, it belatedly occurred to me that I should have taken some "before" photos. It's raining today but I'll see if I can nip out tomorrow and take photos of how far I've got.

11/52 for the group 2026 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: K is for Kebabs

I have to admit I've never eaten a kebab, but this shop is popular and though it looks a little shabby on the outside, it has a hygiene rating of 5, which is the highest possible.

According to the menu, they also do pizzas and burgers.

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In other news...

It was the usual Welsh chat group meeting in the cafe. We have some new members who we are nurturing. They're not as advanced as the core group, but I think they're enjoying the chance to practice speaking outside their Welsh classes.

The weather has turned suddenly warm. I have had to shed a layer of clothing and turn the heater off in my study. I also heard the sound of a lawn mower this afternoon. I doubt the fine weather will last for long. We could be back to near-freezing temperatures in a week's time, but it is lovely to feel the warmth of the sun for a change.

I made a good start to the day. It was a lovely sunny morning so instead of driving, I walked into town to do a top-up food shop. There was a special offer on broccoli (50p off), so I bought one, cut it up, blanched and froze it. I can't eat broccoli fast enough to finish it all before it goes yellow, but freezing works well. The rest of the day is being spent doing indoor tasks because the forecast was for rain this afternoon and it was correct. At least there was a rainbow earlier, arching over the trees in the distance.

10/52 for the group 2026 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: J is for Jalopy

I thought this might be a difficult subject, but I was in luck and walked past this yellow DAF 33 on the way home from the Co-op. I looked up its details and it was manufactured in 1971, but still looks in good condition. According to wikipedia, the DAF 33 is a compact saloon car produced by the DAF company of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands between 1967 and 1974. It has a 750cc petrol engine.

9/52 for the group 2026 Weekly Alphabet Challenge

This week's theme was: I is for Images

I took this photo early in the week before reading the instructions on the sharing thread. What we were supposed to do was take a photo of photos that we've printed, either recently or in the past.

However, I've been taking digital photos for 25 years and don't print any of them. Back when I was shooting film, it was 35mm colour slides. I do have some not very good snapshots from the time I only had a cheap point-and-shoot film camera, but a lot of those are of family and I don't post photos of family online as a rule.

I initially thought that I wouldn't post the photo I'd taken for the theme to the Flickr group, but then I saw that some of the others had done something similar to what I'd done. I therefore did post it and hope that my interpretation of the theme is OK. Of course for here, if doesn't matter if I go off piste occasionally. :-)

There are a few shops under the arches, but the mural indicates that there is a small concert venue up above.



While I was wandering around town looking for images, I also snapped these two. They're all phone photos because I was walking to the Co-op and wasn't going to take a camera with me.

( A couple more here... )