Done.

It's been a calm, clear, cold day.

At last I had the opportunity to finish painting the house and the porch. Which I did while Pete went off rowing.

Before they could launch the boat they had to clear some of the stones thrown up by the recent stormy weather. But as a reward once they were out on the water they had dolphins swimming around them. This is a short FB video posted by Dave Furby.

 

It was a relief to get the painting done. There's a small section to do on the garage which needs filling first and then I will have to work out the best way to restore the surface on the inner side of the low wall between us and our neighbours. It's in very poor condition and could do with having the render taken off and re-done but that would be an expensive job. Something to think about next spring.

Also finished is the border on the brown throw. Now I shall have to think of something to occupy my fingers though of course there's still the last cushion cover to finish. 

A touch of pink in the sky tonight.

Moss in Hafod.

Turn on the waterfall !

Dry and a lot colder today.

Our walk today was on the Hafod Estate which is considered to be one of the 'finest examples in Europe of a Picturesque landscape.'

Sixteen of us (plus a 5 year old) met up in the car park by the church for a gentle ramble around the estate's rivers and many waterfalls, made even more dramatic by the recent heavy rainfall.

The burnt area in the centre of the photo above is the valley leading to the tunnel in the rocks that we visited earlier in the year.

From the church we made our way down a steep path (on the right) through a bare hillside where all the conifers had been harvested not that long ago. It would be nice if they replanted the slope with native trees but most likely the dreaded cash crop conifers will planted there again. The one remaining tree looked to be leaning most precariously.

It wasn't long before we came to the biggest of the waterfalls, the distinctive double step Rhaeadr Peiran (engine waterfall). Back in the late 1700s when many visitors came to enjoy the romantic landscapes several dams were built higher up across the Nant Peiran (engine stream) so that the water could be released to create spectacular waterfalls for the visitors to view. You could just imagine a runner being sent up to the dam with the message 'The carriages are coming, turn on the waterfall.' 

Further up the valley a bridge took us over the confluence of two streams flowing through deeply cut rock. 

We followed Ladies' Walk alongside the small gorge until we came to a swaying bridge which we crossed being mindful of the sign that warned 'Only two at a time to cross the bridge.' On the other side we settled down on fallen trees and stumps to have our lunch.

Standing on the bridge I had a good view of the stream an of a stone folly that may have had seats or a bench for the ladies to stop and partake of some refreshments as they viewed the wonders of nature.

Then refreshed by our sandwiches and shared biscuits, crackers and chocolate we worked our way back up the slope to the track along which carriages would have driven to the mansion (now no longer standing). We followed that for a while then a bit further along a path and back to the car park.

A Calm Day.

The storm is now over. Locally there were some power cuts and a number of trees down but in other parts of Wales flood waters remain in towns and villages and a major incident has been declared. Not a good start to the winter.

This morning the sun was shining. At this time of year we don't get much sun in the front garden, just a sliver when the sun shines through the gap between our house and next door. But the street facing side of the house has been bathed in the warm sun and my study with windows facing both south and west has been beautifully warm.

The weather didn't seem reliable enough to risk getting a second coat of paint on the back wall of the house however I took a chance and gave the porch wall a second coat.

I know I've shown this photo before but it's the only one I have of the awkward original porch before the builder took it down. And below is the porch today. I will give it one or maybe two more coats to protect it from the weather as it's in such an exposed position.

For the rest of the time I've been doing some admin and a bit of sewing and am about to settle down for some relaxing crocheting in the sitting room with the latest wool from a charity shop. It hasn't been so easy to find brown or beige colours but I think I've got enough now.

Storm Claudia.

First thing this morning the rain had eased and I was able to sit in the open doorway with my coffee (no tea on Fridays) and watch what was happening outside. Which wasn't a lot as the easterly wind had blown the sea flat.

But later, during my riding lesson the wind and rain both picked up intensifying during the day until right now the wind is howling and heavy rain is falling. 

Coming home from town part of my route takes me around the back of a steep wooded hill. I drove a little slower than usual as out of the corner of my eye I could see many of the trees swaying ominously which wasn't a good sign. Then I turned a corner to be faced with a whole tree laying in the road. I was able to drive around it (on the wrong side of the road) but was glad when I made it out of the woods. 

The rest of the way home held fewer chances of danger, no potholes or sections that flood and almost no trees on either side just tall thick hedges. I did keep my eyes on the telegraph poles which seemed to be standing up to the wind though the wires between them were billowing out. Earlier in the year after Storm Darragh two of the poles developed a distinct lean. I used to slow right down, check them out and then drive quickly past. I was even more cautious after seeing one of the poles swaying gently. Those poles have since been replaced.

At the stable I had Pacman to ride (I double checked as he was looking a bit different after being clipped by Pony Club and Chloe). He was a bit more forward going than when I've ridden him before and I had to leave my schooling whip in a corner as it wasn't helping. I also think he had the 'wind under his tail' as things began to rattle and creak outside. Today we worked on turn on the forehand and talked about other fancy stuff. It was too wet afterwards and one person wasn't there for us to discuss the jumping lessons so that will have to wait for another week.

Afterwards I did my usual shopping and despite the rain walked to the main shopping street. Mainly because I needed to collect a larger print of one of our holiday photos to put on the wall. But after I'd put it in a frame I realised the colour was 'off'. Compared to the small print which has the colours we remember the large print is way to green. I'll have to take it back next week and ask them to re-do it.

Usually when I get home on a Friday I get my clothes in the washing machine and then collapse in front of the tv with tea and painkillers. But this week I decided to get a few things done first. One tiny floor to wash, apples (from one of the choir members) to prepare and cook and some ironing. Once that was done I was ready for my tea. Supper tonight is salmon en croute with a white wine sauce from the reduced shelf along with baby potatoes and vegetables. 

 

Sunshine.

Hooray! We've had a dry, sunny day with a little wind which helped to get the washing on the line partially dry.

Unfortunately I had too busy a schedule to get that last bit of wall done. What I did do was to paint the first coat on the cement render of the porch. I'm fed up with waiting for the guy who is supposed to be coming to spray it white like the wall of the house on that side. At least this way the colour will match the brighter white of the low wall by the pavement.

Before that I'd been down to the surgery to talk about my annual blood tests. Those results were fine but then this occurred - "You're here for your atrial fibrillation review." says he. "I don't have atrial fibrillation. "says I. Puzzled look from the doctor. I explained that it had been thought at first that I had AF but after the consultant at the hospital had looked at my ECG results he said I didn't have AF. It took the doctor (not the usual guy) a while to find the letter that said this but he's now going to change my records so that I don't get called in for an AF review each year.

Then I asked about the shingles vaccination. I had my initial vaccination last December and at the time nothing was said about needing a second injection (NHS says 6-12 months later). It was only in a casual conversation with someone that I found this out. Luckily I'm just within the 12 months and now (because I asked) my second injection will be done next week.

I came home, painted the porch wall and then it was time for our Zoom class. I had a bit of a panic at the start when instead of pressing the small square symbol to make the screen larger I pressed the 'x' next to it and wiped out all bar one of the people on my screen. It took a moment but fortunately I got it back without having to log right out and start over. Today's class was all about 'I was born' and 'I was brought up'. It's a different format because it's in the passive voice and there all sorts of mutations including a different sets for he and she. We had to do lots of practising or what our tutor calls drilling.

After class, as we're due more heavy rain (amber alert) I spent some time clearing the back garden. I picked the last 20 tomatoes and I'm afraid all the green tomatoes are going to the compost. I know you can make chutney with them but we don't eat much chutney and I've got too many other things to do.

 

Winter flower jasmine .... flowering.

Overambitious.

It has rained just about all day long. Too wet most of the time to even go out to try and take a photo. Sadly it doesn't look like there'll be any chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis that has been predicted for tonight.

I have spent most of the day sewing at the kitchen table. First I finished off the second 'box' cushion cover. Then, because I found another cushion and I still had odds and ends of fabric and a zip I thought I'd made one last cushion cover. Nothing fancy, just a different patterned fabric on each side. But then I decided that some left over strips of the grey velvet would look nice as piping around the edges. Aware of my lack of skill I thought I'd play safe and stitch the piping onto one of the squares first. That was fine until it came to dealing with the corners. The velvet was too thick to bend around the corners so I had to made separate mitred ends at each corner. Oh my! the fabric was thick and slippery and my fingers are kind of chunky. Let's just say it took a lot of hand sewing, and unpicking until I achieved a reasonably tidy finish. I've still got the zip to sew in by hand before sewing the sides together. After which I think that's my sewing done for this year. 

I'm off soon to choir. This is the only time when I have to drive in the dark which I don't enjoy but it sounds like the rain has eased off which helps.

Useful Kitchen Utensils.

And surprise! It's still grey and after an only slightly damp morning it's now raining heavily.

It looked like the worst of the rain wasn't arriving until the afternoon so I drove down to the zoo to see how much I could get done. 

Having brought a table knife with me this week (only used for gardening) after not having it with me last week my first job was to prise out all the dandelions growing in the joints between sections of the concrete paths. The knife also proved useful for turning over the ground in the safety zones next to the unused enclosures which once again were being invaded by the dreaded bindweed. 

And then although I'm ignoring the weeds growing in the large play area where the climbing structure is almost totally dismantled I'm still doing my best to keep the smaller play area looking tidy. That's where an old table fork came in very handy for loosening up the grass and clover that were invading the woodchip.

(Oh dear, the rain is pounding heavily on the roof of my study and Pete walked down to meet Dave in the pub again. The last time they met to talk about rowing club business there was a (lifeboat) shout with pagers going off all over the pub. Dave as RNLI manager had to hotfoot it to the lifeboat station to supervise the boat going out. The shout was for somebody whose dog had run off under the cliffs just as it was getting dark. The dog's owner would have been in danger of slipping or being cut off by the tide so was escorted back to Clarach. The dog was eventually found on the beach at Wallog which is some distance away.)

Meanwhile at the zoo I did various bits of weeding around the place and decided to call it a day after nearly four hours. By the time I had driven home the rain had set in so it was a good thing I stopped when I did.

I haven't done much this afternoon except for some crocheting as I've still got Pilates to go to.