Windy.

It was strange this morning to look out of the window and see a blue sky with occasional puffs of cloud and at the same time hear the wind whistling around the house. It has stayed windy through the day with even stormier conditions in other parts of the country. We've both been taking things quietly today. The problem with getting older is that although you can still get lots done it takes much longer to recover. I have sent an email to John Lewis about the poor quality mattresses and asking for either replacement mattresses or a refund equivalent to the difference between a similar wooden bedframe that came without mattresses. Lets see what happens with that.

Friday in Borth.

We woke around 6.00 which gave time for tea and then for me to do my exercises before we started working. (I didn't bring my weights, just my oldest camping mat but I was able to do lots of stretching exercises.) Porridge came later in the morning once we were ready for a break. The skip arrived at 8.30 and Peter spent the next two days filling it with dismantled cupboards from the large utility room not to mention the hob and the kitchen sink from there. The fridges and freezers have to be taken by the council for which there will be a charge.

The neighbourhood Red Kite made its usual appearance this time spinning gently in a thermal. Later on we looked down into the front garden 5ft below the terrace and saw this fledgling blackbird sunbathing on a patch of mind-your-own-business. This was the same youngster I saw last time begging and getting food from its mother. 

Friday was the day of the Borth Carnival so we walked down to see the fun. It's the start of the holiday season and with so many holiday parks the population quadruples in the summer and there were plenty of people out to watch. The carnival was led by a samba band and included a lone bagpiper whose outfit didn't include a sporran or long socks. (This was pointed out by Peter whose TA regiment, the London Scottish wore a kilt for their dress uniform.)  

The followed various floats including a GOT themed Walesteros float. I particularly liked the Burrells from Borfu based on the tv series The Durrells which was set in Corfu. 

Afterward that bit of fun it was back to Red Roofs for more work. My task was to clean out and thoroughly bleach all the kitchen cupboards and eliminate all traces of the little mice visitors. But now I'm thinking about the space under the cupboards. The plinth boards will have to be removed so that those spaces can also be thoroughly cleaned. We will be getting a new kitchen but that won't be until after we move when I've worked out what I want. I've already decided that although the breakfast bar looks good nobody is going to sit with their back to the view when there will be a table in front of the window.

This is the Celtic long boat belonging to the rowing club that Peter hopes to join. Coincidentally last week we watched a program about rowing clubs in Wales taking part in a race rowing from Ireland back to Aberystwyth.

Peter was able to meet up with the builder while we were in Borth and it looks like he will be finishing his current job in a few weeks so hopefully he'll be starting on the roofs soon.

For a break from working on the kitchen I would go outside and carry on pruning and weeding my way into the front garden and building up piles of stuff to go. And of course there was plenty of time spent sitting on the terrace watching the sky, sea, wildlife and the world in general. On the last evening we overheard somebody saying "What a beautiful place to live," and we couldn't agree more.