Charlies

There's a shopping complex near Welshpool known as Charlies - it's like a sprawled out country mall on what was once the farmland associated with Powis castle. 

The assortment of things available here vary from tractors to plants, livestock feed to clothing, kitchenwares (but not general groceries) to candles, specialty foods and wines to hardware, tools, and screws ...

We visited last week to get a feel for all that's available there, to do an explore without an agenda

There's a large free (noteworthy in the U.K.) car park, a restaurant, benches and pleasant walkways

And there's this goofy looking sheep statue in the foyer! What???

Patterning Fascination

 

Studying for Test

We're having to study for our Learner's Permit to drive, all over again, as if we were 18 and starting from scratch. How is it then that we can drive untested and unopposed for the first year on our foreign license, but must thereafter take a road and theory test? Our current S.A. (old version, no longer accepted) and U.S. licenses just aren't transferable in our situation. It makes no sense, since driving is driving, and if I can safely be allowed to drive on the roads as a visitor, why does it change after a year?

We have to have been in the country for 185 days before we can take a Learner's test (that will be around October), and then there is a shortish waiting list to do a road test, all of which we must accomplish within a year. After that, driving will only be permitted with a licensed driver accompanying us since our licences are 'provisional' until we qualify and pass. Does any of this make sense? So convoluted, and unnecessary.

Some of the funniest phrasings we've come across is the very British understated way of saying things, such as:

some areas have 'traffic-calming measures,' (roundabouts, humps, etc)

and

a failure to change one's speed after a speed limit delimiter is regarded as 'a failure to proceed'

There is to be no lurching of driver or passengers while doing a road test - it must be 100% smooth!

There are 758 practice test questions online, and a total of 307 highway code rules. Some questions are directly related to using a manual vehicle, and others are very specifically about first aid techniques at an accident scene - those aren't difficult.

Cat Burglar

We walked into the kitchen one morning to find this peculiar situation - it was not how we left the kitchen the night before.

On top of the hob, where the splatter guard was placed over a potato and a leftover hunk of roast pork in a cast iron pan and forgotten overnight, was this:

Just a potato. Something had helped itself to a piece of meat, and we didn't wake when the splatter guard fell to the floor. I thought we had a creature living in the house (mouse? rat?), but Dale realized right away that leaving our windows open overnight to let cool air in allows marauding cats to visit and prowl through at night. The window opening (no fly screens) is wide enough and low enough (aided by a few totes stored just outside the dining room window) for furry, four-legged cat burglars to have the run of the house!

We've seen probably 4 different cats in our yard at different times during the day up until now, and Dale saw one strolling through the garage into our utility room on one occasion. We didn't catch the guilty critter red-handed, but we believe we've worked it out. So, I did a thorough clean of our kitchen counters, we've adjusted our lower window settings, opened upper fanlights wider and I've also made a note not to be so forgetful about putting food away at night.

We live and learn!