Magical Mystery Tour, part one

Day one Magical Mystery Tour

One dark night in the middle of the day (1)

Sleepy, but excited, we board the

 

(2)

I play the game of Goldilocks and the 3chairs

I am (not) my mother’s daughter (3)

The sun rises as we drive through Cardiff.

It’s Hwyl Cymru, Hello London. (4)

All for £10 each. (5)

(

Arriving at Victoria Coach Station, we leave our luggage and go seek breakfast

(we do not want a Hangry Heather on our hands) (6)

Cashew milk porridge with almond butter and berries  (7) at 

1) The Megabus leaves Carmarthen at 2:30 am. We had some debates as to whether this was late Thursday night or Early Friday morning.

(2)  The Megabus could be compared to riding a Greyhound bus for my American peeps. Although according to their website, Megabus has an American presence as well.

(3) I AM my mother’s daughter. Knowing we would be on the bus for 7 hours, I needed to find the most comfortable seat. The first was wonky somehow, the second was not as cushy as I thought it should be and the third was *just right*. However, Spiderman informs me that if I had made a fourth change he would have been contractually obliged to call me Becky as I would be violated the “I will not act excessively like my mother” part of marriage contract.

(4) Hwyl Cymru means Goodbye Wales in Welsh.

(5) £10 is an amazing deal. The train from Carmarthen to London would have cost us £100 each. It is worth leaving in the middle of the night to save £90. 

(6) I easily get “hangry” (hungry + angry). I can go from being pleasant and friendly to a furious grizzly bear in about 60 seconds when I need to eat.

(7)  Leon is great. They are “healthy fast food.” The food is cheap, but it is real food not processed gunk. We ate there many times (as you will see)

The heat begins to rise (8) as we wind our way to the

 

To see which one of them is Pink. (9)

Psychedelic music swirls around my head

Oh mother…tell me more (10)

Summoning our cosmic powers (and glowing slightly from our toes) (11) we tear down

   

(12)

(13)

 I know a room of musical tunes (14) where we bought The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets  (15) then back to 

 

 Okra! (16) then monkeys push the train to Hitchin (17) and I can see my house from here. (18)

     (8)This was our first inkling that a heatwave was on the way.

     (9) This was once asked of the band “which one of you is Pink?” because they thought the band must be named after someone was in the band. It wasn’t. It was actually named after two blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

(10) A line from Matilda Mother from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

(11) A line adapted from Let There Be More Light from A Saucerful of Secrets.

(12) The Wall. Duh!

(13) A reference to the song Wish You Were Here. We’re just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl year after year.

(14) It’s called the gift shop. Also, it's a lyric from the song Bike from Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

(15) I had these on cassette back in the 80’s—thrilling to recoup them on CD.

(16) we had sweet potato and okra stew over brown rice for lunch. It was delicious.

(17) English trains make a OOOoooOOOooo sort of noise like a monkey. Welsh trains do not. They are powered by silent dragons.

(18) The hotel where we stayed was being built as we were moving 3 year ago and it actually overlooks our old flat.

Stay tuned for part two of the Magical Mystery Tour!

Llyfrgell dydd Llun

Which basically means--Library Monday, but doesn't sound nearly as nice in English as it is not alliterative like it is in Welsh.

I am a big fan of the public library.  I will admit that when we lived in Louisiana I did not use it as much as i should have. I mean, you had get in the car and drive there which was a right pain in the arse.  Though there were closer branches, i preferred the Main Branch downtown, but it was far away and involved navigating those weird one way streets of downtown Alexandria. 

Not fun.

So in the summers when I worked for the public library, i used it a lot. In the years where Spiderman worked for the public library, i used it a lot, too.

But since we have moved to the UK it has become my lifeline. Literally. Now that we live car-free and walk everywhere I got to the library several times a week. Not only to get books but also too read the newspaper and use the computers for lesson planning and printing. I love it there and everyone on the staff knows me  by name.

it's a bit like the bar in Cheers except without the alcohol. 

I am always interested in what other people are reading. When i talk to children it tends to be the first question that I ask. Every day at my old school in England I had at least half a dozen children come to me voluntarily before school, on the playground etc to tell me all about the book they were reading. many children kindly said, "I can let you borrow the book when i finish it, Miss."  

Good times. 

Even now, on Wednesdays when i tutor H *always* bring me his latest book to share. 

It warms my heart.

I am an eclectic reader. i like fiction and nonfiction, cookbooks and craft books. Science and religion books as well good old fashioned who-done-it mysteries. I thought it would be fun to see what I checked out this week:

I was intrigued by the book called The Carmarthen Underground because that is where we live. I finished this book last night. it was alright--not brilliant by any means, but a fun romp about a secret undercover intelligence agency right here in our town with lots of familiar landmarks (The entrance to the headquarters was next to the (now defunct)  Wimpy Burger and one character lived on Little Water Street) plus it was peppered with Welsh--lots of "Sut mae'r mynd? (how's it going?) and the affectionate tag bach meaning little one used in speaking. Our friend Arwen says that all the time to me,  hello bach, come give me a cwtsh. Which basically means--Come here darlin' and give me a hug. 

I just started on the book A is for Arsenic. it is a fascinating book about all poisons used in Agatha Christie books  What the poison is, it's chemical make-up, how and when and by whom it was discovered, what the effects are, how it features in her stories, other stories where the poison features and any real murder cases where it was used. Fascinating stuff!

Spiderman was a bit worried when i brought it home as I do all the cooking thinking I might be trying to poison him to get all his money and then we had a laugh because he has no money! 

The other books I am not ready to start yet. One is a Mitch Albom book--I have liked everything i have ever read by him. I highly recommend Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet in heaven. 

The other is an autobiography in pictures by author and illustrator Michael Foreman.

What are you reading?

Diwrnod Dewi Sant (St David's day)

Well ffrindiau, March the first was St David's day. St David is the patron saint of Wales (and of doves) and it is a big deal here. Many places in Wales have parades and events and all sorts of stuff going on. Some friends from the Carmarthen Vegans had an outing last  weekend in honour of Dewi Sant --we especially like him because he was a vegetarian and early animal rights activist. He was a tad bit on the extreme side with his asceticism (we Carmarthen vegans love to have fun) but his ideas about animals were right on the money.

So who was St David? 
According to an article in the Telegraph with a bit of wiki thrown in:

He was born in Caerfai in Pembrokshire, Wales in around 500 AD. He was recognised as a national patron saint at the height of Welsh resistance to the Normans. He helped to spread the word of Christianity, and he founded around 12 monastaries in his lifetime. Monastaries founded by him were known for their extreme asceticism, where monks abstained from worldly pleasures, living on a diet of bread, vegetables, water.They also did all hard labour themselves, including farming without the aid of ox to plow the fields.

While little is known about St David's life, he is known for performing miracles. His most famous miracle was when he was preaching to a large crowd in the village of Llanddewi Brefi stands on the spot where the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill so that those gathered could see him better. A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder. John Davies notes that one can scarcely "conceive of any miracle more superfluous" in that part of Wales than the creation of a new hill. note: this cracks me up because if you have ever watched Little Britain the village of Llanddewi Brefi is where "the only gay in the village" lives. Also Wales is full of hills. Everywhere you go is uphill, both ways. I swear. That is the Welshest miracle ever!

St David also lived after eating bread poisoned by monks at his monastary who tired of their life of austerity, and restored the sight of his tutor, St Paulinius. Ha! This is why St David needed to be a bit more of a "joyful vegan"--so his own monks wouldn't revolt against him!  

In medieval times, St David was thought to be the nephew of King Arthur. In some stories, it is his mother who was the niece of King Arthur. Legend also says that St Patrick foresaw David's birth.

St David is thought to have died on March 1, 589 AD, and his remains were buried in St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, which was a popular place of pilgrimage after he was canonised in 1120 AD.

 

the daffodil is the national symbol of Wales

People often wear leeks in remembrance of St David's guidance during the battle against the Saxons when, supposedly, St David advised Welsh warriors to wear a leek during a battle with the Saxons, so enemies and allies could be distinguished.

They won the battle and leeks became a Welsh symbol.

 

During St David's last sermon he said words to his followers were: "Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us."

"Do the little things" has become a well-known inspirational saying in Wales.

So when the Carmarthen vegans heard that you could get into the Botanic Gardens for FREE (am ddim!) on the weekend before St David's day we were there like a shot because love nothing more than a free day out with lovely outdoor surroundings and a picnic lunch (even if it is freezing cold!)

It was fantastic. We walked all around the outside gardens and when we got cold we went into the dome. The dome was used in the Doctor Who episode of The Waters of Mars as Bowie Base One.

Inside the dome there were lots of stalls selling their wares--crafts like stained glass to spicy chutneys. Of course the obligatory sausages (Wales is a farming country, sadly) but we just ignored those and looked at all the other things. There were several choirs singing--both in Welsh and English. There was a fabulous duo called Fiddlebox walking around and playing their instruments like ghostly apparitions. George Whitfield on accordion and Helen Adam on violin wandered the grounds and the sounds of traditional Welsh tunes like The Ash Grove and All through the night floated over the hills. Magical!

There was also tonnes of people wearing traditional dress. I love the Welsh national costume--the stovepipe hats the women wear are astounding. Several men and women in traditional dress did some folk dancing which reminded me of my old days in Hitchin at Staplers and The British Schools Museum.

My heart longed to join in and then what do you know--the call came for others to dance! I was over there like a shot, my face beaming and my feet bouncing up and down in little hops. It was only then did I notice that this was mainly aimed at kids and their parents. Some nice lady in a stovepipe hat asked where my partner was and so I quickly called my friend Priya over as I knew she loves to dance and doesn't mind looking a bit of a fool. I'm in my pink coat and Priya is in yellow. You can't miss us!

Big circle of fun

this dad had to step in because the little girl would not hold my hand!

1, 2, 3 clap!

swing your partner

skip to the right

swing this way

swing that way

We were heading to the café at this point to get a hot drink, but after the dancing I certainly didn't need one!

We had a brilliant day, enjoying the view, feeding a duck, stuffing our faces full of vegan goodies and laughing like crazy. All for free. It really doesn't get an better than this, folks.

We had so much fun we decided to make this a St David's day tradition. Hoorah!

Question: How do you make an elephant float?

Answer: Put him in a glass with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and pour root beer over his head.

I go through these phases where I become *obsessed* with a food. I have a craving that will not leave me alone. I think about the food ALL THE TIME. Non-stop. Waking and sleeping.

This  happened once in 1990 (before we were vegan) where i became obsessed with some BBQ pork advertised in the back of a play programme. I spent the whole of Shirley Valentine peeking in the back of the programme and salivating.

Clearly, I got over it but only after going out for Chinese food after the play.

And I *really* got over it when I gave up meat 14 years later.

But i digress.

Recently, *something* triggered me to crave a root beer float. Why? Who knows. I never even liked root beer growing up. It was too....rooty. It had a weird earthy quality that I did not like.

Tiggers did not like root beer.

So what in the world was making me crave it now?

I don't know, but it would not leave my thoughts. Seriously.

So i went shopping. Unfortunately, root beer is a bit thin on the ground here in Wales. I did find a bottle of something posh that cost 1.50 for 330ml but would have only made one serving and I suspected that might not be enough.

Yes, it was a more natural product with real sassafras, but in my defence it cost 1.50.

So instead I just thought obsessively about it day and night and mentioned it to every person I met. As you do.

Thankfully this paid off as our friend Adam from Welsh class recommended I try dandelion and burdock instead. It is a similar drink with earthy, licorice overtones and you could buy it in a two litre for 55p.

No, it is not as natural as the expensive bottle. I know it only has licorice and dandelion and burdock extracts not the real root. But so does A&W Rootbeer. That stuff is artificially flavoured. And if it was good enough for me to dislike as a kid, then it was good enough for me to enjoy now.

Does that even make sense?  How could I be craving something I never liked as a child?

Some of it is because my tastes have matured. I love fennel and aniseed to bits. So i somehow, instinctively knew i would love this.

OK, we had the earthy drink. What about the vanilla ice cream? I mean, you need vanilla ice cream to make an root beer float right? Well i could have bought some Swedish Glace but is is full of artificial stuff and it contains palm oil which we try to avoid. Also it costs 2.20 and our weekly food budget is only 30 pounds so i didn't want to waste any more money on some expensive, artificial stuff owned by Unilever who have a dubious record when it comes to animal  testing.

   In the end I used a frozen banana. I mean, we use over-ripe frozen bananas to make ice cream all the time in summer, right?

I decided to blend it all up and make a root beer frosty instead to make it easier.

terrible picture, delicious drink

It. was. Gorgeous.

I could have even stood for it to be a bit more on the earthy side, personally.

A sort of ersatz root beer float thingee

In a blender blend up:

1/2 cup plant based milk (I used oatly)
1  1/4 cups fizzy, rooty, earthy soda drink
1 over ripe frozen banana
1 tsp vanilla essence
about 1 cup of ice cubes

Blend like heck until all slushy. Mine had a few ice chunks so will blend more next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time.

Spoon into two mason jars and top up with more earthy, rooty beverage.

Enjoy with a long spoon. We don't do straws as they are a waste of plastic, but if I owned a reusable glass straw I would have used it here.

it was bloody lovely. Just like what I was picturing--aniseed-y, creamy, icy and YUM. Or IYM as it spelled in Welsh. Pronounced EE-Um.

So what was the trigger for all this ridiculous mania? Well, as we were walking through town yesterday Spiderman spotted it. There is a new shop opening where Games Workshop used to be. There was a sign in the window saying it will soon be an old fashioned ice cream parlour and this was in the window:

That was it.

The trigger.

Subliminally working away at me until I gave it what it wanted.

I am *so* glad it did.  

24 divided by 2 minus 2

Happy 2016 my dear friends! Somehow in the last month a huge weight has come upon me and I have not just had the energy or inclination to write anything for the blog. I suspect it is the rain. We often joke about the fact that it is always raining in Wales, but for the last few months it really has been. Normally, there are spates of small showers interspersed with some drizzle and outbreaks of sunshine. That's normal. But lately the weather has just been haywire everywhere. Flooding in the north and seemingly nonstop torrential downpours here. I can't imagine why (but am grateful) we haven't flooded here. The river Tywi is bursting it's banks. Who wants to get up and do *anything* when it is cold and grey and pissing down with rain outside when you could laze about in your jim-jams and read on the sofa? Not me, babe.

But here i am in 2016 and I want to express my gratitude for all the good that I have managed to get up and do.

last year's Christmas meal

We had a spectacular, cozy and vegan friendly Christmas. Sadly, I did not take many pictures. With all the rain the natural light was non-existent coming through the windows and every picture i did take was dark, shadowy and unseeable. Is unseeable even a word?  It is now.

We are needing to watch our money carefully so had decided to forgo gifts and just enjoy each others company. We were blessed with gifts from lovely kind hearted friends who send us some pressies through the post. Thanks to The Anders family for the Bananagram game (which has scrabble-like tiles so we have played word games in both Welsh and English. Da iawn! Go us!) and thanks to Lena and family who sent us this beautiful calendar with gorgeous woodcut illustrations of our old town of Hitchin! What a treat! And our friend Loren who sent me this box of all sorts of vegan goodies to pamper myself with like body oil with real lavender flowers in it as well as some bath salts. Yum! At least I will smell nice in 2016.

Spiderman surprised me with fruits and nuts and candy which we munched on over the holiday. Christmas at my Sweetie's house (my grandmother was called Sweetie) always involved being herded into a back bedroom and then a few minutes later my Sweetie would rush in exclaiming, "Santy has came!" and we would rush out for presents and our stockings were always filled with fruits and nuts and candy. Some sort of citrus, pecans from her tree and those crispy peanut butter logs. Spiderman brought us oranges, pistachio nuts, dried mango and Turkish Delight. Which made me think of our friend Lena and her family as we always had it with them at Christmas.

We also treated ourselves to this adorable book which translates as Walter's Wonderful Web. More on this adorable book later.

Over the holiday we began to realise that we were 24 divided by 12 minus 2. What does that even mean? Well I will tell you.

We have celebrated Christmas 24 times as a married couple.
We have celebrated Christmas 12 times in the UK.
2 of those have now been in Wales.
24 divided by 12 minus 2.

That's pretty exciting. Stay tuned for tomorrow's tale of the annual anti fox hunting demo on New Year's day that got a bit out of hand.

Happy new year to you all!

Blissful Bristol, part one

Oh my stars. A person doesn't know they need a holiday until they get one and the  tensions of everyday life just melt away. It has been a roller coaster of a year living in Cymru. Mostly good, but with a few rocky elements to it. There were those very slow first months where I was I was unemployed and life was harsh and cold and I was dreadfully homesick, but it has picked up considerably from there.

Even so, when we realised we had enough money from my hours working  in the shop saved up to take a mini-break to Bristol--we ran with it. Then my lovely Mum wired us a bit of extra cash so we could eat out for a few meals rather than PB&J it in the hotel every meal. Thanks Mum!

Bristol by train is an easy 3 hour journey with a change in Cardiff. We left on Tuesday at 11:00 and by 2:30 we were nestled into our budget hotel. We chose Travelodge as they have really good prices, are a clean well lighted place and they had plenty of vegan breakfast options. We chose them in spite of their slightly creepy adverts where a person has a doppelganger puppet who does everything they do.

We quickly unpacked and went to explore the city. A funny thing struck us--we really missed all the bilingual signs. I genuinely felt Welsh and proud of my country and felt like a part of me was missing without the Cymraeg. 

Bristol itself is a bustling, multi-cultural city with graffiti everywhere and students whizzing down the cycle paths on their bikes. It was quite big and we walked about 8-9 miles a day just in and around the city centre. 

We scoped out the places we were planning to go as well as the supermarkets and then headed down to the Eat a Pitta. This little food kiosk was recommended by the son of a vegan friend and it did not disappoint. There were gluten free options (don't get the pitta bread or couscous)  as well as vegan ones (only the yogurt dressing was not vegan) so we had an *enormous* box of salad with picked red cabbage, shredded carrots, pico de gallo, banana peppers and gherkins and 6 amazing gluten free falafel with a blop of hummus. Yummus! We ate it al fresco and watched the beautiful city then got ready to go see  Arthur Miller's play The Crucible at the Bristol Old Vic. 

We both love this play about the Salem Witch Trials which was a thinly veiled attack on McCarthyism and this production did not disappoint. It starred Dean Lennox Kelly as John Proctor (you might remember his as Shakespeare in an episode of Doctor Who) and Neve McIntosh as Elizabeth Proctor whom you will definitely remember from Doctor Who where she normally looks like this:

We opted for the cheap but unusual seats on the stage. Seriously, ON THE STAGE! We sat in pew-like rows behind the actors and it was performed like it was theatre in the round. It was such an intimate performance as the actors were there--close enough to touch (I was *desperate* to pull some loose bits of thread off of the back of the Reverend Parris). I honestly don't know what the audience on the other side of the proscenium saw as so much of it was directed our way. We saw faces and expressions UP CLOSE and Reverend Hale interacted with us several times. We got to see costumes and how they were made and distressed (because costume design is an interest of mine this was fascinating to see how clothes had been altered and aged). It was clear to see up close how much finer the Putnam's clothes were to everyone elses--their wealth and their sense of entitlement went hand in hand. 

There was a real sense of being a part of the production, particularly during the trial scenes. Spiderman said, "Do we sit in judgement or are we the condemned?"   It was powerful stuff.

 The whole sense of the play was powerful with many scenes having all the actors on stage at the same time, sitting on benches around the action in the middle. The cast would quietly sing hymns to frame the action and add atmosphere. In the opening scene where everyone was praying for Betty Parris to wake, every actor was on stage mumbling prayers or singing hymns and rocking back and forth--except John Proctor who had his back to the audience and stared directly at us, without saying a word. i don't know what the audience saw, but but his face was wondrous to behold--a kaleidoscope of emotions.

With very little furniture--a few benches and some tables--the story was told through the powerful writing and first rate acting. At the end (spoiler alert) where John Proctor decides to die with honour--to lose his life and be hanged for a witch rather than save himself by a false confession and damn his soul--I thought my heart might leap out of my chest. The cast was onstage, everyone singing a hymn that rose higher and higher. It grew louder and more intense as he walked toward the gallows--an actual gallows. A noose appeared above a platform and the trees were littered with bodies hung as a warning to others. Slowly he walked towards the gallows--the acapella hymn swelling, a drum beating (which i thought was actually my heart) and Elizabeth Proctor says the line about He has his goodness now but all eyes were on John Proctor as he mounted the scaffold. He put the noose around his neck, the drum was pounding, the hymn was so intense as it was right there all round us and BOOM! He stepped off the platform into darkness.

I was just left stunned, opened mouthed like a fish. It really was made more intense to be part of the show not just an observer in the audience. As we were walking out I was remarking to Spiderman how well directed the show was and how i was so glad we had opted for the stage tickets. An older gentleman turned around and said, "Oh, were you on the stage?" and i proceeded to tell him what a powerful, intimate experience it was. After he walked away Spiderman told me that he was actually the director! ha!

If you want to know more about the production--click here for some videos about the show and interviews with the cast.
 http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/thecrucible.html

We walked back by the moonlit river to our hotel and snuggled up for some telly and some crisps and salsa before falling into a  blissful sleep. Did I mention that Travelodge uses the same brand of really posh mattress that we do with the pocketed coils? oh yes they do and unlike some hotels with a lumpy, springs-poke-you mattress where i sleep all wonky and wake up crooked--I slept like the dead (to quote another Arthur miller play Death of a Salesman).

Stay tuned for day 2 of Blissful Bristol!

That Darn Welsh eto (again)

I was discussing with my dear ole Mum via email about the confusing bits of learning to speak Welsh.  It is not as tricky as it first appears. It just looks different to our eyes because some of the alphabet is different (letters like dd and ll spring to mind) as well as grammatically sentence structure is *completely* different from English. 

In English if it is a regular verb you just add -ed.  If it is irregular you might change the whole word (as in go becomes went.) Thankfully there are only 5 irregular verbs in Cymraeg (cael--to get or to have, mynd--to go, gwneud--to do or to make, dod--to come and bod--to be). Here are the verb endings and pronoun for past tense: (remember verb first then subject so coginiais i says cooked I but means I cooked)
-ais i
-aist ti
-odd e/odd hi
-on ni
-och chi
-on nhw

 So the verb darllen meaning to read would look like this in the past tense:
Darllenais i
Darllenaist ti
Darllenodd e/ darllenodd hi
Darllenon ni
Darllenoch chi
Darllenon nhw

As I said before if a pronoun precedes a preposition then it has to conjugate. The preposition may also make the word that follows mutate!

Endings for prepositions with pronoun:
-a i
-at ti (or -ot ti in the case of wrth)
-o fe/-i hi
-on ni
-och chi
-yn nhw

So becso am means to worry about so to say Worry about me,  worry about you, worry about him/her etc looks like this--
Becso amdana i
Becso amdanat ti
Becso amdano fe/becso amdani hi
Becso amdanon ni
Becso amdanoch chi
Becso amdanyn nhw

In a sentence that might look like this:
They worry about her.
Maen nhw'n becso amdani hi.

The more I do it, the easier it gets on paper. It is still incredibly difficult to say and to hear. But I keep telling myself Paid becso, bydd hapus.  Don't worry, be happy!