A quick and very cute project.
Halloween bottles for center piece.
The white gost is a wine bottle.

The cat is a sparkling water, and the pupkin is a liquer bottle.
Spray paint and paint for eyes and mouth, and leaves

Growth charts

Back to the States.
I've started to make some growth charts for the upcoming Christmas Fairs.
Here are some samples.
They are made out of poplar 6"x4'.

Painted rocks

Being back in Wales again, I've had some time to do some crafting.  I collected some rocks and painted them for paperweights, and I glued magnets on the smaller ones.

One of Wales national symbols is sheep.  

I used acrylic paint and acrylic ink to paint and at the end I coated with varnish a several times.  

What am I going to do with them?  They are too have to take them home.

Trashcan

We needed a trashcan.  You can't find anything under $10.00.
For us it is enough to have a temporary thing, because we'll have to leave most of the things behind. We can't take too many thing back to the States, so it must be something very budget friendly.
I picked up a cardboard box in a store.

The future trashcan

Marked the length of the trash bag on the box and cut it under approx. 3" of the mark to leave room to turn it over.

I inserted the cut off piece into the box to make it sturdier.  Ta-daaa.

Done

and functional

The Kitchen

The kitchen is not too big, but for six month, it is perfect and very practical.
After getting the barstools, we can even sit down while eating.

There is hardly any storage in the lower cabinets, because most of the appliances are "hiding" there.

Look at the lower cabinets.  What's hiding here?

Washing machine /dryer.  One appliance, dual purpose.

Let's see what's hiding here beside the stove.

Yes, the refrigerator.

The last hiding place.

This is the freezer.

Storage is mostly in the upper cabinets.  Not optimal for me, but it's okay.

St Patrick's Day / Rugby

St Patrick's Day was overshadowed by the Six Nations Rugby tournament.  This time it was the Wales v. France match and Wales was the favorite to win the tournament and Grand Slam, the third time in eight years.  The stake and the anticipation  was very high for them so St Patrick's Day was not in the focus though there are a lot of Irish pubs ready to celebrate.  There were no lack of celebrations, but not St Patrick's.
The French rugby fans started to arrive on Thursday afternoon.  By Friday the town and city center was flooded.  They wore traditional French hats, the beret and walked around the city.

Yep, that's what I meant.

The population of Cardiff is 300,000; add an additional 250,000 people to this.  On Saturday the fun began.
Wales' national colors are red, white and green, so the Welsh wore mostly red since they have a red dragon in their flag.  The French national symbol is the rooster, and their colors are blue, white and red.  Knowing this you'll be able to distinguish between the fans on the pictures.

It may look like a hen but it's a rooster.

Guess what the French national colors are.

Street concert before the game.

The view from our building.

Friendly French fans.

 

The French national anthem is perfect to heat up the atmosphere before the game.

They are not late from work, they are Welsh rugby fans.

And the result: Wales beat France 16:9.
Let the best team win...

The least expensive picture frame

Remember, we need inexpensive decorations because we won't be able to take it back to the US due to weight restrictions on the flights.
So here is what I came up with for a picture frame.
Saved a filler box from one of the IKEA's purchases.

Csak kis emlekezteto, hogy nem akarunk sok mindenre kolteni, mert nem vihetjuk vissza Amerikaba a dolgokat, mert a repuloi csomagfeladas nagyon draga.
Ezert gondoltam ki ezt a megoldast kepkeretre.
Az IKEA-ban vasarolt csomagban volt egy kis doboz kinezetu helykitolto amit felhasznaltam erre a celra.

Painted the outer side of it black.
A kulsejet feketere festettem

The result.
Az eredmeny.

The picture is so elegant, I did not want to decorate it and take away from it.

Olyan kis elegans a kep, hogy nem akartam tobabb disziteni a keretet, hogy ne vegyen el a kepbol.

Wedding glasses

Before I left for Wales I decorated a couple of champagne glasses for a friend's wedding.
Mielott eljottem Walesbe, ket eskuvoi pezsgos poharat diszitettem fel egy baratunknak, aki juniusban hazasodik.

Congratulations Tyler and Hayley!!
Gratulalunk, Tyler es Hayley!!

The flat

One bedroom with a double bed and a wardrobe ( no built-in closet).  The building must be old.  A small bathroom with an open shower, and heated towel rack which is amazing!

Open living room and kitchen.

The apartment was advertised as a furnished apartment, but the furnishing contained of three things.  A bed, a wardrobe and a neon green loveseat.

The lime green love seat.
A neon szinu zold kis ulodolog.  Garnituranak igen csak nem nevezhetem.

The kitchen has a bar area without bar stools. No cups, plates or utensils.

Where are you, my favorite Goodwill?

It had to be IKEA.

First week I'd been there four times.  Only 45 minutes walking.  Good exercise.  I know my friend Sonia would be very proud of me.

We got two barstools, a coffee table, side table and an area rug, and it feels soo much homier already.

A box of a microwave serves as side table.
Egy mikrohullamu suto dobozabol lett egy kis asztalka.

After IKEA
Az IKEA-ban vasaroltunk egy par olcso dolgot.

In the building there are no mailboxes.  When the mail man comes, he drops the envelopes in the stairwell through the mail slot.  After that the first person coming in or out of the building brings it up to the landing and from here it is self served.

Mailboxes or the lack of it.
Ez itt a lakok "postaladaja", vagyis olyan nincs es csak leteszik a foldre a leveleket.

The apartment is in the middle of the city.  Walking street, can't even drive to the house.  The furniture we got had to be carried from another street.

Very close to the famous castle, shopping centers, restaurants, and bars,

Cardiff Castle
Cardiff vara

Our street, from the Castle.  The building is the one with the first Welsh flag.
A mi utcank a varbol fenykepezve.  A Wales-i zaszlo van a haz elott.

I wanted to have a Welcome sign for the front door.  Had to find cheap material because I won't be able to take it home.  I had cardboard boxes so that's what I used.  Previously we bought some ready mixed grout to fix the bathroom a couple of places, and I used that paste on the cardboard to make the background a bit more interesting.

The cardboard piece
Egy karton doboz darabja amire kesobb festettem

The cardboard Welcome sign.
A festett Isten Hozott kis tabla amit a karton papirra festettem.

Thank you for checking back with me, next time I'll try to show you the kitchen.

Cheers!

St David's Day

March 1st is St David's Day in Wales

Saint David, or Dewi Sant, as he is known in the Welsh language, is the patron saint of Wales. He was a Celtic monk, abbot and bishop, who lived in the sixth century. During his life, he was the archbishop of Wales, and he was one of many early saints who helped to spread Christianity among the pagan Celtic tribes of western Britain.  March 1st is considered as a National Day, but not a Holiday; they do go to work, businesses as usual. 
Across Wales on March 1, St. David’s Day parades take place, and in bigger cities food festivals, concerts and street parties also occur.

The leek and the daffodil - both emblems of Wales.
They share the Welsh name Ceninen. A lot of people wear daffodils in their button hole or as a pin.

Leek and daffodil
A porehagyma es a narcisz a nemzeti jelkepuk.

Unfortunately, I missed the parade yesterday, but went to a Welsh bag pipe street concert.

Celtic bag pipe music
Welszi dudasok.

On the tables there are daffodils and you'll see some of the people wearing daffodil pins.

St David's Day.  National colors: white, red, and  green.
Szent David napjan nemzeti szinekbe oltoztettek a varost.  Feher, piros, zold.



Of course, food, food, and food everywhere.
Here is a menu, advertised in front of a restaurant.  Seems very Welsh to me.

St David's Day Special
Szent David napi ettermi ajanlat.  ( A felet sem ismerjuk)

Despite the fact that Saint David abstained from drinking and advised others to do the same, a number of Welsh breweries make special St. David’s Day ales. Cardiff brewers Brains describe theirs as ‘a light, daffodil colored ale.

Brains advertisement on a building.
Az egyik hires soruknek az a neve, hogy Agyak.  Az emblemaja ott van a hazfalon.

Why would they name a beer Brains, I do not know.

Talking about food.  Every Sunday we noticed that the traditional Sunday lunch or dinner is roast.
We were sight seeing and around lunch time thought perfect time to try the traditional roast.  Went to the Black Lion Restaurant and here is a picture of the roast.

Sunday beef roast
Beef, roasted potato, peas, yellow potato, carrots, and yorkshire pudding.
Vasarnapi Marha sult, krumplival, borsoval, sargarepaval es yorkshire pudinggal.

The Black Lion
A Fekete Oroszlan etterem


After lunch we found a nursery and junior school, it was so charming.

Nursery school
Egy ovoda es Alltalanos iskola

Other than beer, they also like tea, with milk, with or without milk.
I noticed that cappuccino is also very popular.  I'm at a very good place don't you think?

Cappuccino
Szeretik a kapuccsinot, de ugy erzem en is.

Hope you liked the stories and pictures today.

Please come back next week.