Eeks! Leeks!

This is part of the view from the front deck. Open the door and voila! The surrounding valley in its wintery glory - sans snow! I love how the strands of evergreens mix with the deciduous trees, colors muted in the distance, once closer, tis an endless riot of green. The distant side of the valley is obscured by low fog. Fog, not smog. Love it.

I have learned that the leek is The Vegetable of Wales. That explained why they were so readily available and on the one pound coin here. Leeks leeks leeks. Leeks are a new veggie for me so I asked a couple of people how they normally prepare them and googled recipes as well. It was only fitting I give the leek and potato soup making a try. A very basic soup was prepared with leek, potato, garlic and herbs. I didn't have any cream on hand so I added a splash of milk. Kiddo thought it was quite tasty, just asked for pepper and suggested I add more potatoes so it would be thicker. The UK divas over at glittyknittykitty have up an awesome leek and potato recipe as well as olive, feta and sundried tomato scones which immediately went to the top of my To Do List. I've never had a scone, high time I made some.

I still can't get over how the sun is not OVERHEAD where it belongs. We're at a latitude of 52, much higher than any place I've ever lived. NOW I get the whole winter gloom/lack of sunshine thing. It took me a few days when we first got here to realize what was different. The sun always seems shoved to the south. Sure, it rises and sets but it's always so low in the sky. Quite unsettling, frankly, but I suppose one gets used to it. I'm told it doesn't set till round 10, 10:30 in the summertime, so there is a good flip side! When the sun does come out the jackets and boots come on and out we go. Today we walked to the village of Ysbyty Ystwyth to have a look around. We saw horses, sheep (of course), the village cemetery with the small war memorial in front of it.

On the way back down to our village we discovered the entry point for a new set of walking trails to explore. We also saw early signs of spring. Big green buds on the rhododendron trees that line the road and the first flowers of the season. No idea what they are but they are quite tiny and lovely.






*grumbles*