Dyddiaur/Deiziataer/Diary/Journal

I leave my house every day to go for a long walk, which serves multiple purposes. Running the bar for thirty years meant that I wasn't leaving the village other than to do the necessaries such as the weekly shopping, now I don't have to find the time, I have it in abundance; I go off in my car, park it and walk. The other day, less than ten miles from here I came across a manor house with three lakes that I didn't know existed, and on walking past it a huge hare ran towards me before going through a hedge, regretfully I was too slow to capture it on photo. I found an old moss covered fountain in the middle of a forest that to my surprise had vases of fresh flowers (I think it may have something to do with wartime executions), otherwise I've followed the Nantes > Brest Canal and a feeder canal to old mineworkings, not iron & coal as in the valleys of South Wales, but silver & lead, originating from pre- Roman times. Visiting the chateau of Trevarez and walking around the woods & park with its lake took me back to my school days at Cyfarthfa Castle, the former home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Merthyr Tydfil, one of whom, Robert Thompson Crawshay, was buried beneath a granite slab which can be seen at Vaynor Churchyard, on which is engraved 'God Forgive Me'. I mentioned multiple purposes; it gets me out of the house and into the fresh air, it brings my blood sugar level down so that I am not dependant on insulin injections or tablets, it's bringing my whole body back to form and it gives me something to write about so there is always something going on that I don't dwell on my current situation; just now my portrait fell off the wall and smashed on the floor. Tomorrow night I aim to go to the fest-noz (evening folk dancing) in St. Rivoal in support of their bi-lingual school while I can still get out of the village; I can't carry on like this as ironically petrol is necessary to go on my walks and continue taking my photos. The pub money will not be touched, that's a different a/c. P.S. Thanks to my intermittent neighbours from Ystrad Mynach for bringing me sustenance from Cymru/Wales the other day.