Zoo Day.

A fairly bright day though the clouds rolled in just as Peter and I settled down on the sunloungers in the afternoon and it wasn't as hot as we'd hoped.

I'm truly proud of my weeding efforts at the zoo. It may not look like a show garden but before I started not a bit of the ground was visible with 5ft high stinging nettles and a few docks filling the whole area. I'd brought along my gardening fleece to protect my arms from the nettles and several rampant roses but it was so hot that I opted to work very carefully in my vest top. Got only a few stings and scratches and just one bite from an angry red ant. The rheas were happy to eat the stinging nettles that I'd carefully pulled out first and then I wriggled my way in and working on my knees dug up every stinging nettle root, about half a skip bucket full.

The wolf dogs came to watch and sniff my hand again before settling down in a shady spot.

The lookout merekat watching out for aerial danger. While I was chatting to one of the workers a pair of red kites were lazily circling as they caught a thermal above us. Big as they and buzzards are neither species would not be interested in the merekats as their main food is worms supplimented by roadkill.

The merekats are such fun to watch. As soon as they spot you they come running over and chatter away with all sorts of chirps and mutterings.

This afternoon we saw our first seal in the bay (only a tiny picture). It stayed for a while so I went down on the cliff to watch it and try for a decent photo. I tried whistling to it and it turned to look at me before diving down and disappearing off. Guess I wasn't musical enough.

After our failed attempt to bask in the sun I decided to give the hedge at the end of the front garden a bit of a trim. The trouble with hedges is they have a tendency to keep on growing. I didn't think I'd have lots to cut but when I meaured off a line just above head height there was a good foot of growth to cut back. Up on the handy steps followed by lots of snipping got the hedge back down to a sensible level. 

I'd not long taken this photo of the sun giving a 'spotlight' effect on the sea when we saw a couple of dog walkers stopped on the cliff one of whom was taking photos. 'Strange' we thought 'when there isn't a sunset' when we realised they'd spotted dolphins down in the water. It wasn't the usual views of their fins breaking the surface as they surfaced momentarily but at least two dolphins playing and splashing about. I was lucky enough to see one jump right out of the water to hit it with its side on the way down. We've seen dolphins leaping out of the water on the way to Lundy but it's a first for here.

Warm.

Grey with heavy rain in the morning turning to sun in the afternoon.

It seems that stretching up to hook and unhook curtains is currently not good for my ribs as I had a poor night's sleep or rather lack of. Oh well I thought, I can ask Peter to do that for me but ....... this morning he went to the doctors to have a suspicious mole removed from his back. He'd emailed the doctor photos of three moles I was wondering about and they'd given him an appointment for their minor op/dermatology clinic. In the end only one mole needed to be removed which took 25 minutes and left him with 4 stitches and instructions not to twist, stretch or do any heavy lifting for three weeks. That means all our DIY projects have to be put on hold and worse for Peter he was told not to row for that time also. The rowing itself is fine so he can use his rowing machine but climbing in and out of the boat and heaving the boat down to the water and then back up the beach is a definite no. Perhaps we will get some walks in instead.

As I can't unhook the curtain or lift the sewing machine (Peter does that for me too) I turned to some gentle gardening. A bit of weeding, emptying out another planter and digging away more soil from the raised bed under the terrace. While I was out there the sky was filled with the noise of a large flock of jackdaws swirling about and then landing on a couple of roofs. Reminiscent of 'The Birds.'. 

At first I thought they were starlings, a large group of starlings visits a bird table in the garden next to our back garden and Aber is famous for its murmurations of starlings but these were jackdaws. At least they're not rooks which really annoy Peter. On the subject of flocks of birds the other day we noticed a mass of seagulls swirling over the cliff near the bottom of the garden. Unlike the rapcious seagulls living in seaside towns in Devon and Cornwall which will swoop down on any food being eaten outside even snatching food from people's hands, the seagulls here are fewer and don't approach people. We weren't sure why the gulls were over the cliff but the next day I saw our neighbour out there with a bag of bread which he was throwing to the gulls. That's one way to train them to divebomb people but I'm not sure how our neighbour who has lived here for many years would respond if we asked him to stop. I'm also not sure what will happen once we eat outside on a more regular basis.

I spent quite a lot of the afternoon sitting out on the terrace and reading. Speedy joined me and as the sun was very strong I managed to get sunscreen on the half of his ear which was white and is now pale blue.

It looks like I do have a purple hydrangea in the front garden. Yipee.

 

Wet.

Frequent morning showers turned into steady rain in the afternoon. Hopefully all this rain will soften up the ground in the flowerbed I'm weeding at the zoo.

Saw a dolphin this morning swimming lazily by giving me enough time to grab my camera and try for a photo. 

Only a fin but my best photo so far. The photo below shows how close they come to land.

At the moment wet days mean sewing days and that's what happened today. While Peter did a dump run I worked on the sitting room curtains. When I start I optimistically think I'm going to get the whole job done in a day and then half-way through I realise the afternoon is nearly over. Today I sewed up the hem of the lining of one curtain and added an extra strip of fabic to the bottom of the actual curtain. I've cut it so that there's a hem allowance but haven't yet turned up that hem. I've found that with my less than accurate work it's best for me to hang the curtain and mark off the required length in situ. I'm hoping that the join is level and it will turn out that I can measure from the join but that might not be the case. Even with the stepladder it's quite tiring to hook the curtain up and then take it down again of which there seems to be a lot as I check my measurements. Pinning and sewing the light muslin fabric is also not easy. Never mind I will get there in the end.

That's about it for today.

Sunny.

Mostly sunny today.

I didn't sleep well last night so it was rather a late start today. At least we have the option to sleep as long as we need, that is when we're not expecting builders.

When I did get outside I returned to my post hole digging deeper and wider so that it's ready for the post to go in. That is when I buy some post-crete (the cement you pour on top of water in the hole which sets in 10 minutes) as they didn't have any in stock the last time I was at the builders' merchants. Once that was done I tidied up the narrow bed that will run along the bottom of the trellis removing weeds, my bete noir - bits of plastic and styrofoam and excess compost. I gave the remaining compost a good mix with the subsoil and now it's ready for planting. I'm thinking the ever green clematis and the purple passionflower on the trellis with lemon balm and santolina underneath. Something fragrant to brush against.

Gardening done there was time to sit out on the terrace watching a surf lesson while I did a little more work on my felting.

Below- 10.00pm yesterday and it was almost as light as the camera shows.

 

Windy.

A mix of cloud and sun today with more sun as the day progressed.

Peter watched the sea conditions anxiously but the wind eased and he went off for a late morning row. This wing surfer must have very strong arms. He was out for ages holding up the wing to catch the wind and scoot across the waves. The board he stands on lifts up out of the water with just a long, 3ft? keel that goes down into the water with a cross-piece at the bottom.

It was a good drying day so I filled the washing machine. To save having to make the bed later on I found a spare set of bedding and put that on the bed in the morning though I've still had time to do the ironing in the afternoon.

Before going out to work in the garden I fixed the bolt on the toilet door, something that needed doing before people come to stay. The bolt didn't align properly with the keep/catch even after I'd taken off the bolt and hammered it flat. The trickiest part of the job was wandering around the house looking for something plastic that was the right thickness to put under the catch. An old credit card would have been perfect but there wasn't one to hand. In the end I cut up a heavy duty cable tie and slid a piece on either side of the screws under the catch before tightening up the screws which did the job. 

My outdoor job for the day was to dig a hole for one of the two posts that will support a trellis panel in front of the oil tank. Bit by bit gets the job done, as the saying goes.

 

Wet.

Cold, grey and windy and frequently very wet today. I looked out of the window first thing and saw a windsurfer racing along from far out though once he got to the beach he didn't go back in the water. A kitesurfer was also out but he didn't get further than into the shallows where he battled with his sail and eventually gave up.

Yesterday's heaving around of concrete blocks did not do my ribs or back any good, what a surprise. So I wasn't too upset by the rain which made it a good day for getting on with the sitting room curtains. They've been up for a while and now have secondary curtains made from wool blankets behind but I've yet to deal with the fiddly task of adding more fabric at the bottom. Before I could do that I needed to re-do the gathering tape at the top of one of them so that the two curtains match. These were the better two of the three curtains I had but came from different windows hence the slightly different measurements when I made them. Today I unpicked the tape from the top of the curtain and sewed new tape on to match the other curtain. It's handy that I've got an enormous roll of the tape.

I also unpacked another box of china and glass, washed everything and rearranged the stuff jammed into the big wooden cupboard and fitted all the latest treasures inside. The china was mostly blue and white, the marks on the back showed I have Minton and Dresden pieces but they're not of any value being chipped and/or repaired. I don't mind, I just think they're pretty.

While I was having a 'kitchen day' I made another batch of cookies. The usual peanut butter and chocolate recipe that tends to turn out differently each time depending on how generous I've been with the peanut butter and the flour.

 

Misty.

For most of the day the mist hung low in the air keeping the air cool and everything very grey. Not until late afternoon did the mist begin to part with a dramatic rise in temperature.

The decorator had told us he wouldn't be here until 10.00 but in the end he was dropped off at 9.00, sat on the cliff enjoying the view for half an hour before ringing the doorbell at 9.30. He was here for a good few hours painting the ceiling and some of the walls and it all looks nice and fresh now. The boss turned up later and said he would block up the gap in the hedge with wood and that his chaps would be round in a day or so to complete the down pipe with a diverter into a water butt. The ground gets very dry here so any 'free' water will always be welcome.

While the decorator was here I did some sorting out in my study. Back in Devon I'd packed away all the carefully organised contents of my filing cabinet and then at the last moment threw all random bits of stuff from around the room into the filing cabinet and it's been like that ever since which is why I often can't find things. So far all I've done is swapped the contents of a box with the contents of the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet with a small amount of papers ending up in the recycling.

Once the decorator had finished and made a reasonable job of tidying up I hoovered up and then washed all the laminate flooring. Then because there's no knowing when the builders will be here to plumb in the water butt I built a platform for it to stand on using recycled concrete blocks. At the same time I weeded and cleared up the space behind the street wall. Then as I had a bin bag to hand I carried on and trimmed the bits of hedge reaching out into the street. I had just put away my tools when Peter returned from his first trip to the dump. He'd been to dispose of the remains of an old storage box that had been taking up space in the path from the garage to the front garden. I think that's where he plans to keep his barbecue during the summer. 

We had time to sit out in the sun for a while before the mist began rolling in once more and it was time to begin supper. BTW we saw a single dolphin in the morning as we were chatting to the decorator while I made us coffee.

Damp.

The day began grey and misty, drizzle dampened the air when I was walking around town and by the afternoon it had turned to light and then more significant rain.

We were up early, 7.00 counts as early when you're retired though some days I'm awake at 4.00 and up by 5.00 but it's having to be up that makes it seem so onerous. We got to the hospital before 9.00 where I left Peter and drove off first to Screwfix to get a rainwater diverter kit for a water butt and then back to Lidl for some basic shopping. I was just heading towards the shopping streets when I met Peter who'd walked down from the hospital. Fortunately he was happy to sit in the car with his Kindle while I had a quick spin around the charity shops. One of my stops was to donate a jacket and some old binoculars, always happy to declutter. Didn't buy anything in the charity shops but I went into Waterstones and bought the two OS maps that cover Borth and the surrounding area. It would have been cheaper to buy them on-line but we do try and shop locally when we can. (I know Waterstones is an chain and not an independant but it does employ local people.)

Coming home I was able to take some photos through the rather grubby windscreen. I do like driving through this wooded hillside even though it is very steep and there is a frightening hair-pin bend to negociate.

Nearing home there is another steep hill that has the most wonderful views. In the photo below Redroofs can be seen just above the van on the right hand side.

The builder failed to turn up to talk about the hole in the hedge (he's apparently coming tomorrow) but his decorator, a very nice chatty chap, turned up to begin work on the kitchen ceiling. He had a hiccup to start with when he went into the garage to get the tin of paint left from the last time he was here, He shook the tin to check how much was on it and the lid popped off. Yes, he was the last person to use that tin. Paint all over his shoe and the garage floor. He tidied that up then filled the holes in the kitchen ceiling, sprayed on stain-stop (haven't seen it as a spray before) and did some painting. He's due to come back tomorrow morning to finish it off.

 The evening has now turned colder and wetter, good for the garden I suppose.

Change of Zoo Day.

Bright and breezy today.

I changed my zoo day to today because Peter has an outpatients appointment (podiatrist) at the hospital tomorrow morning. Although there is a multi-storey carpark at the hospital, which I've never noticed even though it is right next to the main road on the way into town (that's because I'm watching the road), the word is that's it's almost impossible to find a parking space and it's best to be dropped off or park in town and walk/get a taxi up the hill.

At the zoo I swept the main paths and then got on with weeding the flowerbed next to the wolf-dogs. Digging out some deep rooted dock was the biggest challenge though I had to be careful of the stinging nettles which I had great satisfaction feeding to the rheas and the rose bush drew blood on my unprotected arm. A good thing I had some plasters with me. For most of the time I had both of the wolf-dogs right by the fence watching me. I gave them the occasional grass stem, one for each of them which they took graciously even though their enclosure is full of the very same grass. I let them have a sniff of the back of my hand too as I think I'll be working in that flower bed for a few weeks yet. They showed their wolf-like side when the zoo cat walked past the pen, much rushing about and excitement. 

After my weeding I wandered around with my camera. First stop was the glass window into the pen where Keith the kookaburra was perched to take a photo of him and my reflection.

I wandered along the paths stopping to take yet another photo of the marmosets and then in another pen were the owner and one of the staff with a kookaburra. Much hilarity ensued when I asked if they'd got a new kookaburra as they had just moved Keith to this pen wrapped up in a towel. The reason for this move is that the current liscencing regulations deem kookaburras to be dangerous animals and should not to be visible from the cafe's outdoor seating area. It seems that most animals fall into this category and sloths are category 1 which is the most dangerous !! To have one in the zoo you have to have a liscenced marksman on site at all times. I guess they won't be getting any sloths for the zoo.

Maybe they'll have to stick to domesticated fowl like the turkey.

I've never had a special interest in birds but photographically I'm getting quite excited by the textures and patterns in their feathers.

When I got home I went out on the terrace to take some photos of a kite surfer and I was shocked to see THIS! With any consultation the builders had chopped away a section of the hedge that screens the terrace from the street. Bearing in mind that there is no pavement on the other side of the road so everybody walks on our side they now have a clear view right onto the terrace. Peter pulled this old tub over and we've now balanced a water butt on top to cover the gap but I am both furious and upset. Imagine relaxing on the sunlounger or eating a meal with people walking by and peering in. I don't think so. I think I'm as upset as if a similar sized hole had appeared in the sitting room wall. Also the bottom of the downpipe just stops on the terrace. I know I spoke to the lads about plans to put a water butt down under the hedge but until that's in place you can't have rain water flowing over the terrace. Peter has sent a message to the builder who will have to find a way of screening that gap. If I was really pernicity I could insist on a plant in a tub that was the same height as the hedge but I'll settle for some sort of natural screening to last until the hedge has grown back which I think will be at least a year.

It was a bit too windy to sit outside so I cheered myself up with a foot soak and pedicure while I watched tv. I protect nearly all my toes with plasters when I go to the zoo as kneeling in wellies tends to rub off the skin on my toes. Currently I'm sporting an enormous blister across a big toe from an earlier gardening session and two cuts from an encounter with a shopping trolley last week. As part of my 'pedicure' I attacked some bumps on one toe which had been there since being bitten by ants back in Pilton. Minor surgery with a needle resulted in a bit of blood and the removal of white lumps/blobs from each of the bumps. Some sort of reaction to the ant venom? 

Finally, some Solstice sunset photos from yesterday.