Cloudy.

The last day of summer was cloudy and felt very autumnal.

I decided to head out for a walk after breakfast while there was still sand to walk on. No jellyfish to be seen while the dry sand was covered with gull footprints where they'd been cleaning up after the weekend visitors. Seagulls can be a real nuisance but as I watched the youngsters still in their brown and white plummage I wondered if they feel hungry all the time. Can you imagine always being desperate for food? It made me feel quite sorry for them. As I walked along the waters' edge a group of young seagulls kept moving away along the beach while the few adults around simply paddled a few feet into the water and watched me go by.

Back home I'd intended to spend the rest of the day turning up curtains but by the time I'd done the housework and then some admin and helped Peter to put up the first post for the trellis the afternoon was nearly over. We couldn't carry on and get the next post fixed to the brick wall as Peter needs to get some smaller bolts. I'd made sure that I wasn't tempted to carry on digging in the garden by washing my work clothes. All I could do was tie in the new growth made by one of the passionflowers.

 

Cloudy.

We had a morning of blue skies over the sea and clouds inland but by the afternoon the clouds covered the whole sky.

After breakfast I got round to trimming my fringe. When I'm at home I nearly always wear a headwrap or headband to keep my hair off my face so the length of my fringe hadn't bothered me but it was down to the level of the tip of my nose. Whoops! Time to grab a pair of scissors and working my way shorter and shorter I got my fringe to just below my eyebrows. A risky task as I tend to get my fringe between my fingers and cut it while peering upwards at my hand rather than looking in a mirror. The mirror then gets used for a bit of levelling out.

After my hairdressing attempt Peter and I worked together to put up the blackout blind in the sitting room. We still need to buy another three blinds to go over the doors and last window but I wanted to try one first. It does cut out the light and the bonus from my point of view it stops the curtain looking golden rather than crisp white.

I had two shorter sessions working in the back garden. First I removed the section of old post that was still bolted to the wall. The bolts were rusted solid so I had to saw the post apart which was quite tricky at the level of the lower bolt but I got it done in the end. The second session saw me bashing away with a bolster and lump hammer to take down a strange platform in the raised bed. Below is a photo from last week for a 'before' view.

Much cooler today so not so many people in the sea. This afternoon I spotted a group of people snorkling below the cliff. Earlier in the day we'd seen somebody who from the way he was moving must have had some sort of underwater propulsion device that he was holding on to.

 

Sunny.

Sunny all day with the wind picking up towards the afternoon. Though it was a warmer wind today.

After our usual Sunday brunch of croissants and a pot of coffee while listening to The Archers I couldm't make up my mind what to do. I'd woken up with more back pain than usual which I guessed was an indication that I shouldn't carry on digging in the garden, at least not for today. The problem was that not only do I get very unsettled if I'm not getting things done but that I can't bear being stuck indoors. In the end I compromised by working in the utility room first wiping out the last of the storage tubs and then going out to the back garden to do some weeding. 

Then I went down and did some mowing in the front garden. Maybe not the best idea but the long grass was dry and ready to be mown. Having had a wild meadow all summer it's about time to cut it all back. Really it could do with strimming but I want to cut in in stages. That should give the wildlife time to relocate and most creatures can get out of the way of the mower while the strimmer can be brutal. Today I widened the paths and cut back some of the edges.

Once I'd finished my attention was caught by a couple of people driving jet skis. From talking to other residents and the comments on FB they are universally disliked if not worse. Not only are they noisy and a waste of resources but the noise disrupts the normal behaviour of the dolphins and porpoises including causing the young to be separated from the pod and then die of starvation. The owners of the jetskis act without regard to others. Yesterday one was filmed zooming round close to the shore where people might have been swimming. Earlier in the summer on a number of occasions we saw the jet skis being brought in to shore through the designated swimming area. You can see that today the jet ski came through the children level with the lifeguards flag but not actually in the swimming zone which was on the left of the flag.

This evening Peter finally made it out for a row. What with his rib, stitches in his back and then the AF giving him a fright combined with not wanting to row after 6.00 (it interfers with his supper routine.) he hasn't had much chance to row.

With it being the Bank Holiday weekend and the end of the summer holidays the pub that backs on to the beach seems to have been doing a roaring trade. Last night we could see an illegal industrial laser being shone into the starry sky from around there. Tonight, as well as the the lights of small beach bonfires and the sounds of music from the pub there were three major bangs as somebody set off what I'm assuming were thunderflashes. Those looked to be from the public car park near the Lifeboat Station.

 

Windy.

Bright and sunny again today but still that cold wind blew.

We were all set to put up the first black-out blind in the sitting room but as Peter set up the tool/gun thingy that fits the special expanding plugs and screws something popped and the tool flew apart. This was in his study and some of the spring loaded bits ended up behind the piles of boxes. So that was the end of that. He's ordered a better quality version of the same tool as we need these special screws anywhere we have the insulated plasterboard on the walls.

Off I went to work in the back garden. First I cleared and weeded the middle bed and then using old bricks built up some walls to hold the soil that had been round the ivy roots. I cleared all the loose soil which made the most enormous heap of soil.

That job done Peter and I went for a walk along the beach. The tide was quite high so we only walked as far as the second pile of rocks. Most of the holidaymakers were sitting along the narrow strip of dry sand above a strip of stony sand.

When we got back we sat outside for a while and that has been our uneventful day.

 

Windy.

A bright and sunny day and out of the wind it was warm or even hot. The wind however was a bittery cold, strong easterly. Not so much fun for the people on the beach.

Today I spent a fair amount of time at the zoo. I'd had a message from Rachel, who organises the volunteers, asking if I was free to help clear a room/hut which they had decided to turn into a 'garden room'. I think that means somewhere to keep all the gardening equipment as the single window doesn't let in enough light to grow things in there. I was happy to go down today to give a hand. After all organising lots of 'stuff'' in a small space is something any class teacher has lots of experience of. With the help of Rachel's husband we completely dismantled two swivel armchairs into their components; wood to the burn pile, metal to the metal heap and the rest to the bins. Normally I'm all for repair and recycle but the plastic outer layers were worn away and flaking all over the floor and would carry on doing so even with throws over them. After that it was just a matter of sorting stuff, mostly into a filing cabinet or finding new homes for things and eventually we were done. It was just nice to spend a few hours chatting with a couple of coffee breaks too. On a sadder note one of the ferrets was in a bad way and it turned out to be a one way trip to the vet after a diagnosis of advanced cancer. 

When I got home I hung up the washing then sat out on the terrace after walking down to the shop to buy a bottle of squash as I'd forgotten to get some yesterday. Afterwards I wrapped up and sat out reading on the terrace. Later as I organised my evening tablets I realised yet again my prescription was overdue. It was only as I grumbled about it to Peter that I found out the text had come through in the week but somehow I'd failed to note the information (telepathically!) Luckily the pharmacy stays open until 6.30 so I was able to walk down and collect my prescription returning via the beach.

 

Misty.

The day began bright and blue but by 9.00 the sea mist had rolled in. Sorry about the blurry photo, I tried to show paddle-boarders on the mirror-like sea. Yesterday evening the sea was just as calm with the sun going down in a cloudless sky without the mist. There were about 10 paddle boarders further out in the bay in small groups just chilling and watching the sun go down.

The sea mist hung around for most of the day not lifting until around 4.00. 

I spent a lot of the afternoon in town. First stop was the dump where I got rid of more bags of garden waste including all those ivy stems/roots. Then on to Morrisons where I checked out their 'garden centre'. There were less than half the plants there than usual and the assistant I spoke to said they will be closing it down soon so I stocked up on two more clematis and a passion flower to replace the ones I lost over the summer. This time I've already planted them up into bigger pots until they can go into the garden beds.

I tried to do my civic duty and ask maskless people in the supermarkets where their masks were but I'm getting fed up with being sworn at. One chap was apologetic and put his mask on but the others were just foul mouthed. Surely if (ha ha) they did have asthma they would be grateful for people risking abuse in an effort to make conditions safer for them. The till girl in Lidl told me they are not allowed to ask people to put on a mask. Too much chance of being abused I guess.

Peter had an appointment with the cardio specialist nurse after his diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and he's come home much reassured (he has a tendency to assume the worst), especially as all his other results including cholesterol were excellent. He'll see the cardio team at the hospital to discuss if he needs any treatment other than medication. 

We spent an hour enjoying the sun and listening to the happy sounds of children playing in the sea.

 

Zoo Day.

A greyish morning which got brighter and warmer as the day progressed. 

I didn't have the best start to the day. Getting ready to go to the zoo my denture snapped in half when I put it in. I wasn't totally surprised as it has always been hard to put in and would make a snapping sound when I crunched it into place. Plus it would be painful to wear to start with, something the dentist told me to expect. I guess that's what you get with an NHS denture. With no NHS dentist in the area taking on patients I've no chance of getting a new denture for £250 and I doubt if the old one can be repaired. I'll have to go to a private dentist and pay out considerably more. After a little smoothing down with a nail file I can still wear the half that holds the teeth that fill the visible gap so maybe I can wait a while to arrange an appointment at the dentists.

At the zoo today instead of working on a new spot which is very satisfying once it's all done, I went back over all the places I'd previously weeded. The bed by the wolf-dogs had a lot of seedlings popping up which I eliminated with my trusty hoe. The stinging nettles were also making a reappearance so they had to go too. A sure way of discovering where the holes in your gloves are. I had to make use of the dock leaves on several occasions. I also felt as if I was getting bitten by tiny unseen midges on my arms and face but so far there's no evidence of bites.

Not wanting any of the small children feeding the goats to get stung by stinging nettles I went along a lot of the fence around the goat paddock pulling up all the stinging nettles. A quick weed check of the gravel by the wolf-dogs and removal of all the docks growing in a plant container and then I moved to one of the children's play areas. There I removed any weeds and raked the woodchip to level off the area and add extra cushioning at the base of the slide and the various ropes and poles that the children slide/climb down. 

I only spent a couple of hours at the zoo as none of the usual volunteers I chat to were there and I did have things to do at home.

The two billy goats have been doing too much head butting. This one had plenty of purple antiseptic spray on his head and horns and the other had a small, fresh wound on top of his head.

Back home after a break I sawed, snipped and pulled at the last of the big ivy stem/root clumps so that althought there are a number of roots sticking out of the ground like utility cables the main part can go to the dump tomorrow along with all the others I removed. By late afternoon it was lovely and warm so out came the sunloungers and we had time on the terrace.

There was a spectacular sunset last night.

I went out on to the cliff to try and get some better shots so Speedy followed me out and then rolled around in a very daft manner on the pavement. I don't like him going out that way as there are at least two young idiots from the expensive houses on the cliff who drive at reckless speeds along the cliff road.

 

Warm.

Back to my Nikon though the data cable didn't arrive until late afternoon so I missed out on most of the sunny spells. It's been warm all day long but mostly cloudy with occasional bright spells. Plenty of families down on the beach enjoying the last two weeks of the school summer holidays.

After breakfast I went straight out to grub about in the back garden. About half of the ivy is out but look at the size of those roots. I'm pulling out what I can and cutting off the smaller roots. Then I'll pour stump killer on the anything left in the ground after I've removed the main tangle of stems and roots. Clearing the wall is the priority for the moment. I finished off with some weeding in the planted up beds. So easy when it's only tiny seedlings

Put all my gardening clothes in the washing machine as I need the trousers to go to the zoo tomorrow and then took things easy for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Warm.

We woke this morning to warmth and sunny skies. The sea was flat and perfect for paddleboarders. Later on we saw paddleboarders clearly reflected in the sea as they lazily moved across the mirror-like sea. (Still using the phone camera so not the best quality.) 

It's my birthday today, 65 years young though Peter's card really made me smile. 

Roses and chocolate treats from Peter and later a delivery of local artisan chocolates and a card from Vytas and Sally. They know me too well.

With the lovely weather it was a good day to go for a walk. At first I thought about going to Cader Idris in Snowdonia until I read that the walk from the carpark is graded 'hard' and takes 5-6 hours for the round trip. (I've just read further and it seems there are nice easier walks without going all the way up the mountain.) For today we decided to go to Ynyslas again. 

I'd hoped to take the longer path through the dunes and the wetlands, only 2 1/2 miles which should have been a good starter walk. However after following the blue arrow which led us down the main track to the beach there was a distinct lack of signage. Plenty of signs warning about the dangers of ordnance, no digging in the sand dunes and no swimming due to strong currents from the river but no blue arrows. 

There was a red arrow for the dune walk pointing back down the beach and as we later found out by looking at a map in the visitors' centre the blue walk went the same way. All it needed was a 6 inch square bit of wood with a blue arrow painted on fixed to the posts already there.

Instead we turned the other way and avoiding the dry sand which was roped off with notices advising that golden plovers were nesting on the sand, walked around the top of the beach on the damp sand. We called in at the visitors' centre before returning to the car park and I mentioned to the chap manning the centre about the lack of signage. He said he got lots of complaints and had passed them on but nothing had been done. I might send an email to the relevant authority to stir them into action. The chap also told us that yet another bit of suspicious ordnance had been found and they were waiting for it to be dealt with. Later on when we were back home and sitting out on the terrace we heard the boom of the ordnance being blown up.

After calling in at the visitors' centre we walked into the dunes to find somewhere to sit and have some coffee. We chose a bench rather than just sitting on the grass inviting though it looked as there have been reports on our local FB page of at least one person and two dogs and even a horse being bitten by adders.

Back home I spent the rest of the afternoon ironing the sheets that had been hanging out on the line before snatching an hour out on the terrace. Right now Peter is cooking up Mediteranean vegetables with barbecue spare ribs for supper. Romas rang for a chat which was lovely. He's drumming with a new band and is using holiday time from work to go on a 17 day tour with the band soon.

 

Warm.

The day began warm and grey but got sunnier and warmer later on. At one point in the afternoon the sky was a tropical blue but that didn't last.

Shocking, literally! I plugged in the data cable into my camera and zapped my thumb. Fortunately only a little shock and also this happened early in the day when I wanted to post a photo on FB. Peter has ordered me a new cable and I took the rest of my photos on the old smart phone.

I had a happy morning grubbing about in the back garden. I began by digging away at the ivy roots and while I worked I realised it would be sensible to have a space to make a pile of soil rather than having to work in a very small space. Instead I cleared the weeds from the ground next to where I was working, built up the sides with old bricks and began putting the soil from around the ivy roots there. That way I should be able to clear away the soil from the base of the wall which will make fixing on the trellis easier.

I had a good work session, rested and then headed off for a walk along the beach.

The tide was low so I did a little rockpooling. The strawberry anemone above was about the size of a plum while the open anemone below was a little smaller.

The recent very low tides come with very high tides which have been washing up onto the marshes up the estuary bringing lots of vegitation and sheep ......... droppings. Although I didn't take pictures there were a lot of families in the water. I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable having young children in the water with that amount of sheep poo floating about along with the many barrel jellyfish. 

Had a nice phone chat with Vytas when I got home and he didn't think that he would be put off. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age.