Windy.

Woke this morning to wild and windy weather but surprisingly little rain. A close look at the photo below will reveal the first of the day's surfers hoping to catch a wave.

While Peter went off to the dump and to do some shopping (for some reason he came home with only one bag of Postcrete when I clearly said we needed two so I guess we'll only get one post done tomorrow), I went out to carry on hacking away at the dry soil in the raised bed. Nothing I like better than being out in wild weather especially if I'm dressed appropriately.

Things began to brighten up and with the warm wind there was no need for a coat. As I worked I thought about windy days when I worked on the garden at Dingles  and the sound of the wind in the tall trees reminded me of the sea. Little did I think that one day it really would be the sea I was hearing. 

By the time I finished I'd filled half of the dumpy bag with soil. Mostly subsoil but mixed with old compost from the planters around the garden and maybe some bought in topsoil it will make a good growing medium for my hardy geraniums. They're going to be in the raised bed running down the garden which will have very hardy perennials to create a cottage garden feel. As I've dug out the soil from the raised bed I've saved all the bulbs. Apart from being thrifty I really like the idea to replanting bulbs that were chosen and planted by previous gardeners.

With the clearing of the clouds the temperature shot up though the wind continued to blow strongly. Whenever heavy rain is forecast it seems to miss us and the black clouds lurk inland over the hills and mountains. Looking at the big waves my thoughts turned to bodyboarding and yes! I did it. I grabbed a board, put on a swimming costume and rash vest (shan't bother with that next time), found some wetboots in case of weaver fish and marched down to the beach. It was my first time in the water here and in fact for more than a few years but I was determined to not look like a first timer. So I strode into the waves which were surprisingly warm. Or at least not the usual body freeze. The biggest problem was the wind which was hard to walk against especially with a board in my arms. Not being a strong swimmer I didn't go deep and the waves were not the best for bodyboarding sometimes coming only a couple of feet apart but I gave it a good shot. Another problem was the long strands of a seaweed much like long bootlaces which kept winding themselves around me and of course there was the comcern about jellyfish though I didn't see any in the water. I got caught out a couple of times when my board nose dived  but I had fun. Afterwards it was hard work walking back up the road against the wind.

Going too far out is even less in my plans after I read of a kayaker out fishing in the bay a bit further down who had film of a 7 ft mako shark that tried to take the fish from his line. While there may have been some exaggeration, you know what fishermen are like, today a large mako shark was washed up at Barmouth also on the bay but further round. Below is a newspaper photo of the shark. They are our biggest shark, can swim at 20-25mph and are aggressive with their only predator being even bigger sharks and yes they do attack people. Worse still they can jump 15-20 ft out of the water. (I fact checked this.) And I was worried about the pod of killer whales that travel up and down the Irish Sea.