A Drive Across Wales

Steve and Sheila drove us home! We spent a delightful morning with more poached eggs ala Steve (using eggs laid by Henrietta and I-can’t-remember-but-it-seems-like-it-was-an-M-name in the back garden). Deon, Sheila’s son, came over for a marvelous visit. When we last saw him, he worked in a bank and part-time (independently) as a book editor. He has been able to transition to full time editing, which is what he really wanted to do. I just love when that happens. Yay! I haven’t mentioned Jazz, the very well behaved puppy of the house. She is an awfully nice little friend – even for kitty people like us.

In early afternoon, we set out. Steve tried to teach me the different geographic areas of England, complete with explanations of how the accents of regions differed. I remember almost nothing (except I think I am clear on where the midlands are – kinda mid land ish), but we laughed a lot and that is really what matters most.

Sheila wanted to pull over to let a giant truck pass her, and as fortune would have it, there was a nice cafe attached to the petrol station. We had a bit of a lunch. I found I enjoy chips with mayo and malt vinegar, as well as with brown sauce.

The scenery was beautiful entire trip from Aberystwyth to Treorchy. We saw lots of baby lambs and sheep in the fields. A small person known to Steve and Sheila called lambs wooly pigs and I think I will think that for quite a while. Hedgerows snaked across the hills. The sun was shiny. As we got closer to home, we entered the Brecon Beacons National Park. Stunning. We saw the zip line that we have seen advertised in Treorchy and it confirmed that I did NOT want to try it. Ohmygoodness high! We came down quite a significant mountain and I was trying to concentrate on talking and looking at Steve to not to be too nervous about the height. Sheila said she was nervous, too. I had a momentary thought to volunteer Keith to drive, then realized that would be a disaster. As we came down, Keith looked over the valley and said, “there’s the mountain we climbed.” I stole a quick glance to confirm the existence of the two flags on top and then looked anywhere but out.

Steve and Sheila came in for a quick tour of our lovely home, then had to dash to get back over those mountains before the sun set. They drove the hours and hours back home while we ate Steve’s homemade soup for a late dinner. Delicious. As we came in from waving goodbye, I said to Keith every moment of our time in Wales has been terrific, but this weekend was the best. The best times are times you spend with people you love. Thank you Sheila and Steve for the food, the super comfy bed, the ride across Wales, the laughter, and the friendship!