Hail.

The cold air arrived in style today with frequent hail showers and icy winds.

First thing this morning the hills above Aberdyfi were even whiter than in the photo above. Before I could take a photo an incoming hail shower obscured the view and must have washed away a lot of the hail sitting on the slopes.

In the morning I sorted through the piles of blankets I had bought at auction. I now have a stack of cream coloured wool blankets which I may use as heavy curtain linings. I put the remaining 9 blankets and throws on the free site, they could be used as animal blankets or by furniture movers. By the time I got home I had two people wanting them and I'm waiting for the first person to arrange a time.

I waited until the afternoon to go into Aber and it was mostly sunny with the occasional hail shower. On the way home as I got to the highest point above town I had a glimpse right into Snowdonia and could see snow on the heights including a proper pointy mountain, Snowdon? (Yr Wyddfa).

My first stop along with many other people, was the dump. I sat in the queue for an hour and twenty minutes shuffling forward sixteen times. However I was not bored as I'd remembered to bring my MP3 player on which I have an album of songs from the choir so I had a wonderful time. A good thing the car window was closed as I doubt if passers-by would have appreciated my out of practice voice especially as I was singing the alto parts. We usually get the tune but sometimes we just dum, dum, dum along. Hail kept falling as I waited and sang but luckily I had a clear spell when it was my turn to get out and empty all those bags of garden waste. It was a good feeling to see them gone. I hadn't planned to go to Morrisons but the long wait at the dump made a visit to their toilets advisable. While I was there I picked up a few reduced bargains; oat cakes, vegetable pakoras and falafel. Something for both of us. Then back into the centre where I stopped at Home Stores for a sponge mop and bucket for the tiled floors and my last stop was Lidl where the Easter chocolates are half price. A few of the small marzipan eggs ended up in my trolley, after all once they're gone they're gone. They're a bit sneaky with the big eggs, instead of 'half price' it's 'buy one get one free', a good thing I prefer the small ones.

It was brighter when I got home (right now I can hardly see through the windows as ice and rain slide down the glass) and out on the water was this brave chap. I've looked it up and it's not kite surfing but something called wing surfing.

He was having a great time leaping out of the water in the strong winds. He was the only person in the water, unsurprisingly, so must have had the full attention of the life guards who no doubt were huddling in their hut next to the lifeboat station with their flags and a rescue board out at the water's edge.

Last night's sunset.