A Busy Day.

Still sunny but considerably cooler today.

I managed to get quite a bit done today. My main job was painting the first half of the garden wall. I then began work on the rest of the wall which had a fair amount of blown render to be taken off. 

Another 'tidying up' job was to sort through all the plastic plant pots I'd had tucked away in various corners. I'd needed a lot of the bigger pots when I brought plants from the garden in Devon to here but I don't need them now. And of course there were many small pots from all the plants I'd bought, mainly from Morrisons.

I sorted through and kept 60-70 pots which will be more than adequate for my needs and the rest can go in the plastics skip at the dump.

And now for some photos from yesterday's ride.-

This was our first stop in the Rheidol river. I'm in my purple top on Cody. Next to me (and on the right below) is Betsi the arab mare I've been riding in the lessons.

This was when we crossed the Rheidol towards the end of the ride.

Iola (the boss) on the magnificent Twig. Twig is enormous and dwarfs the rest of the horses. Here is a FB video of them in the river.

And little Daisy who would have been swimming if her rider had taken her next to Twig.

An Afternoon Ride.

There was a touch of haze in the air this morning which kept things cooler. By mid-morning the haze had gone and it was a lot hotter.

I had a change to my Friday routine this week. Instead of riding in the morning we went out for a four hour hack in the afternoon.

That gave me a couple of free hours in the morning so I filled a few small holes (using the builders' adhesive Sticks like .... ) in the first section of the garden wall that I had missed before and scraped more loose paint from the next section. Painting day tomorrow!

Then off to the stables I went. We were wondering if it was going to be too hot but in fact it was fine, either in the dappled shade under trees or catching a cool breeze on the tops of the hills.

There were eight of us altogether and I rode Cody, the dressage horse. He was one of the tallest which wasn't an advantage when having to duck under branches which we did frequently but he is an easy ride. There looks to be a good crop of sloes this year and yes blackthorn is prickly.

Our route took us on roads along the Rheidol valley up past the hydro station. Then we diverted into the river to give the horses a drink and to cool off for a while. A bit more road work and then uphill on the track that leads to a friend's house which I know from having tea there on our Sunday walks. We literally rode around the back of her house on a very narrow and steep track until eventually reaching the top of the hill with views down the other side to the A44. There it was lovely and breezy and we had the chance to have a couple of canters. Going through one field we startled a hare that had been resting in a patch of thistles. 

We followed old miners' roads gradually working our way back down to the valley eventually riding into the river once more. We were encouraged to take our horses into the deeper sections to cool them off and there was much splashing about. The girl from the stables who had been riding a very small pony ended up with water half way up her boots but didn't seem to mind.

Back at the stables I found that my card was still blocked. It's now sorted after a phone call to the bank. I'm just fed up that it wasn't sorted properly on Wednesday.

 

This blackbird doesn't seem to be enjoying the heat.

Sunset last night.

Butterflies.

A cool wind blew during the morning which was no doubt a relief to everyone but though the wind is still blowing it feels very hot now.

I spent most of the day painting the garden wall. 60ft long and starting at 2ft high going up in jumps to 5ft. It needs a second coat and then I can start preparing the next two, shorter sections. 

Today's photos are all from my morning coffee break.

Painted ladies having been arriving in large numbers all along along the coast. Amazing to think they have travelled from North Africa or Southern Europe.

Another summer migrant is the Silver Y moth.

Red Admiral.

A common white butterfly. (Technically there is no such thing as a cabbage white though that's what many people call them.)

A Tortoiseshell butterfly.

The meadow brown was hard to photograph as it never stayed long in one spot.

A Hummingbird Hawk moth.

These sparrows were enjoying the bird bath which I clean and top-up everyday.

There's no disco aerobics tonight. not because of the heat but the work on the lights has not been completed.

PS. The jaw ache has lessened a little, more like a nagging toothache, and is responding to my regular painkillers.

Blocked !

Still hot and it doesn't look like there is going to be much change in the foreseeable future.

This morning I phoned and arranged to see the dentist later in the afternoon. It turns out there are no signs of infection so it's just pain from the extraction that hasn't yet subsided. I will simply have to be patient. Even with strong pain killers I have to put up with a background aching which I shall be glad to get rid of. I decided not to go to choir tonight but to grumble quietly at home instead. 

I'll be riding in the afternoon on Friday (please let it be cooler) and had intended to go shopping on Thursday but since I was in town I bought what I needed at Lidl. First I went into Home Bargains to get some chia seeds and for the first time ever my card was declined. Luckily my bank has a branch in town (which is why we chose it) and the nice chap in there sorted it out. My card had been blocked after a 'suspicious' overseas transaction in the night which turned out to be the renewal of the anti-virus for my pc. At least it means the bank is looking out for suspicious transactions. The bank had sent me several texts to see if it was legitimate but of course I rarely look at my phone or even turn it on. I had my card un-blocked but as it was going to take time for the system to register it I got some cash to keep me going. That took a moment as two of the banks ATMs had run out of money! It's graduation week at the uni so the town is teeming with proud parents no doubt busy spending lots of money.

 

When I got home I finished the main painting of two 'swimmers needing help' for the carnival. That's my prep more or less done as earlier I had cut up the sheets we plan to use to make the sea. 

The once bright blue hydrangea by the garden gate now resembles a pair of very old and worn jeans in colour.

Some other insects enjoying the garden flowers.

Painted Ladies.

Still windy and hot but there are a lot more clouds in the sky this evening. A sign of change perhaps?

This morning as I went to drink my coffee down in the front garden I was amazed to see the garden filled with butterflies. Mostly painted ladies, up to nine at time on the lavender along with some small whites and a hummingbird hawk moth.

After breakfast off I went to the zoo where throngs (or at least it seemed that way) of small children clad in yellow high-vis vests roamed the place. A local KS! (4-7) class had come to visit. I noticed that although the adults spoke to each other and to the children in Welsh most of the children spoke to each other in English. It is the policy in Wales that all children have the opportunity to learn both languages either in a Welsh or English medium school.

George the cockatoo whose aviary is an area not open to the public had realised there were people about and was doing his usual high pitched screeches to attract attention. While I was in that area about 4 small children came in through the doorway to see what all the noise was about. I let them have a few minutes looking at George and to their great delight when they said Hello, George said Hello back. This he did several times and it was the clearest I've heard him speak. 

Later I had a conversation with two older lads. They began by asking me how old the zoo was and then by a roundabout route we got to talking about viruses. I told them about how we have few treatments for viruses and how they are oldest living things and their questions were more along the lines of - Did I know about the rat virus / Hanta virus and which was the worst virus? That stumped me but another of the zoo staff was nearby and came up with smallpox, worst symptoms and the worst death rate. Little boys like that kind of thing. 

I mainly worked down by the ferrets, one of whom kept coming to see what I was doing. Most of the time I was in the shade and when I was in the sun I made sure to keep drinking and paced myself. I had a pleasant break sitting under the dappled shade of a silver birch with my hat and boots off in the company of one of the pygmy goats. 

Back home it was too hot to be outside so I found myself things to do in our nicely cool house. I found that even permanent markers didn't work too well on painted cardboard for the lettering on the carnival sign and ended up using some black paint and my tiniest brush. 

My last job was to polish my few pieces of silver jewellery as every time I go to put them on I stop because they could do with a clean. I'm not really a fancy jewellery person but I do have a few silver and moonstone earrings and necklaces.

This boat moored by the reef is flying a flag to indicate that somebody is diving nearby. I had seen that it was only one person so Peter kept an eye on the boat as really you should dive with a buddy or at least have somebody in the boat. But of course there were no problems.

My jaw is still sore and I'm beginning to wonder if this is just another aspect of my sensory processing disorder. I seem to remember that each time I've had a tooth out the pain has dragged on for weeks despite courses of antibiotics. My spd manifests in strange ways, feeling electricity in light switches, thinking something the size of a bumble bee has landed on my arm only to find the tiniest of greenfly there. Boots and socks are frequently taken off because the smallest grass seed or undetectable item feels dreadful. My body overreacts to insect bites, certain smells are unbearable etc etc so maybe once the nerve has been triggered by an extraction my body carries on reacting. All I can do is carry on taking co-codamols and ice cream is quite helpful too.

Bird Watching.

Still Hot, (and yes, my tooth is still aching.)

I thought that after two very early mornings I would probably sleep for longer today. But then I was woken at 5.00 by Peter's radio. which had mysteriously turned itself on. Later I found out that we had had a power reduction and then no power at all early this morning. Not only were we woken early but then the radio started to do weird things like suddenly switch stations but the good old method of unplug, wait and plug back in worked.

So once more I ended up on the terrace watching the birds. While most of the birds I watch are not especially rare (though herring gulls are now on the red list due to declining numbers) they are still interesting. On closer inspection those were black-headed gulls bobbing about this morning. The other day checking on a swirling mass of gulls far out in the bay revealed that a flock of shearwaters had joined the gulls hunting a shoal of fish. And of course if there are fish about we are more likely to see dolphins. 

As we'd been busy on the last two Sundays we had our croissants this morning and listened to two episodes of The Archers omnibus . I got another Bara Brith in the oven at the same time since I'd made the effort to get the fruit and nuts yesterday.

Before breakfast I'd done some more work on the hedge which included sawing a thick stem which would have caused problems for the electric hedge trimmer. Bit by bit I'm getting there.

I added some details to the carnival dolphins and also carried on with the panel for the stern of the boat.

Then while we still have the good weather I thought I would make a start on my main summer 'house' job which is to paint the garden wall between us and the neighbours. Initially, to me at least, painting a wall is just putting down dustsheets and then painting. But of course there's the dreaded and messy 'prepare your surfaces' to be done first. No point in doing a rushed job and then having to do the same again in a few years time.

I knew there would be a certain amount of loose paint to scrape off which was a major under estimation. As I set to with  large screwdriver and wire brush thingy for cleaning barbecues I found more and more loose areas of paint. And discovered you can hear where the paint is detached which was interesting. More worrying was hearing even deeper echoes where the stony render under the paint must be coming away from the wall. But as there were no breaks in the surface I just went carefully and it was only in a couple of spots. After all it is only a garden wall.

There's some mortar under the coping stones to replace and then I can start the fun part, painting.

Sing For Water.

Another hot day but this time with a stronger wind blowing from the east. 

It was already hot indoors when I got up just after 5.00 but outside it was chilly enough to warrant wearing my dressing gown as I drank my tea which made a refreshing change.

It was Sing For Water today so after an early breakfast Peter dropped me off in town by the bandstand. The chairs were mostly set up by then so I and another lady handed out leaflets to passers-by. I don't mind doing that sort of thing since I have a set speech to use. I ask people if they would like to come to a FREE concert and I think they are so relieved that I'm not selling something or asking for money, though of course donations for WaterAid are welcome, that they happily take a leaflet whether they intend to come or not.

After a run-through of the mass songs in the cool of the bandstand out we went to sing to the public. There were about 150 of us from over 10 choirs and it was nice to get together to sing for a good cause. After we sang six songs together each choir sang two more songs. Some people sing in more than one choir or have been going to swell the numbers of the smaller choirs.

As it was such a hot, sunny day the beach behind us was pretty busy and the promenade which has recently been widened had a steady stream of adults, children and dogs enjoying the lovely day. (I'm not sure if the dogs were enjoying it.)

During the lunch break I marched down to Lidl to buy some mixed nuts and dried fruit so that I can bake another Bara Brith as Peter has run out of his nightly treat.

Once we'd given a repeat performance in the afternoon I rang Peter who came and collected me. Back home I painted the carnival dolphins (and sharks' fins) grey. The paint dried in under an hour so I've been able to paint both sides. The grey paint came from the dump. It's just the right colour but it's not water based so the paintbrush will have to be thrown out as it's not worth using brush cleaner or white spirits.

One of the empty properties along the sea front. That's not a reflection in the window but the view through the missing back wall. A stage beyond derelict I think.