Wet and Windy.

It has been raining steadily for most of the day and the wind has whipped up some pretty wild waves.

Thursdays are zoom class days which took up most of the afternoon. The class is supposed to be two hours but today went on for another 15 minutes. This week both my video and audio were working so Peter and I were able to stay in our studies and have our own boxes on the screen. That's better for Peter as not only does he have a head start but he likes to internalise the pronunciation while I'm happy to repeat the words out loud as many times as possible. Thank goodness for the mute button. Today we worked on greetings and getting our heads around the phonemes especially those unfamiliar sounds. Sometimes it's harder when we have to read the words as my brain keeps going into a muddle when I see wy or Ll in the middle of a word. Just not used to hissing like an angry cat. I think it helps that Peter and I practise on each other and with our Welsh speaking neighbours.

As usual the windy weather brought out the thrill seekers, there's a kite surfer in the photo above. I was doing the ironing later in the afternoon and kept seeing surfers running down the road clutching their boards ready to join the 'seal colony' bobbing up and down on the waves.

 

Zoo Day.

The weather this morning could only be described as wild. Fortunately the heavy overnight rain had died down but the wind was ferocious. Trying to get the recycling out had me laughing out loud as the wind blew straight up the street and tried to snatch everything out of my hands. I struggled to put the flattened cardboard boxes against the wall and in the end Peter had to come out and help me. The food caddy which I was using to trap the boxes wouldn't stay in place until I weighed it down with two bricks and the recycling bag needed its own half-brick. At the zoo I was in a sheltered position being kept warm in my high-viz coat but I could hear the wind whistling in the trees.

As usual I decided to carry on weeding. First I went back over the middle section of the gravelled area. I may have only been picking out tiny green threads or mini leaves (and their roots) but give it a week and they would have had several big leaves and in another week each would be a clump. As the saying goes "A stitch in time.......". Then I moved on to the narrow gravelled strip along the animal pen which was sporting some quite large weeds. That used to be Kevin the kooraburra's aviary but now houses ducks which are turning the ground into a smelly, muddy mess. The ground I was working on was also wet and before long my gloves and tools were horribly muddy. I finished off weeding around the paths in an effort to make the place look more cared for.

Surprisingly there were quite a few visiting families enjoying the bright sun and the animals we are allowed to show. While I worked I was visited by the new peahen who along with the guinea fowl that had been her companions in the pen is now wandering freely around the zoo. However I don't think it was me she was interested in but the hens (2 Warrens and 2 Marrams) in the pen behind me. The original peahen is still in her pen along with her chicks who are very much mini-mes.

Once I'd finished I had coffee and a pleasant chat with the other staff before having my usual wander around to take photos. It also gave me a chance to see which places will need weeding next week.

Back home my first job was to wipe off the mud from the sleeves of my jacket but of course once I had a bucket of soapy water I thought I might as well give the whole jacket a good scrub. Although not as windy as in the morning there was still enough wind to make it worthwhile throwing some washing in the machine and even a second load got part-way dry by the time I brought it all in to hang on the airer in the utility room. 

The bright sunshine did its usual thing of filling me full of energy so mindful of wind damage I checked all the climbing plants and tied down any loose growth. The plants that were planted out first in the raised beds have done very well especially the passionflowers. That done I finally sat down for a break before emptying out the last big box in the bathroom into two smaller ones. And that was me done for the day.

 

Wet.

Heavy overnight rain carried on through the morning only easing off in the afternoon. The builder  told us it would be better if it rained today as slower drying would leave the render stronger. Fingers crossed for a dry day next week so the job can be finally finished.

After breakfast I was diverted from my plan for the day by the oven which needed cleaning. Peter does his best but I don't like to see any brown specks at all on the nice new oven or the trays and things. Lots of scrubbing later and it's all sparkling clean once more. Then I progressed to emptying out two more of the big boxes in the bathroom. One of them was full of special pieces, mainly ceramics and glassware including this 19C Chinese vase which is back out on display. Who would have thought that this vase which I've had for many years would be the current accent colour in our white and pine kitchen?

Later in the afternoon I took a chance on the weather (it stayed dry), and went out for a walk along the beach.

Plenty of shapes and reflections to see along the beach.

Walking to the first pile of rocks which is my usual turnaround spot I was surprised to see at least 3ft of sand piled up behind the rocks.

The wind is still blowing from the south-west keeping the air quite warm and so far we haven't had to put the heating on at all. Oh dear, the weather forecast has just said it will get quite a lot colder tonight but will be dry tomorrow.

 

Windy.

We had a lot of heavy rain in the night including a noisy thunderstorm. 

By morning the rain was easing off but then the builder phoned to say he was stuck without any diesel for his van. This fuel 'crisis' is completely ridiculous and a result of panic buying after the media reported a couple of petrol stations had run dry. As soon as the media hyped up the story it seems everybody went into panic mode and went out to fill up their cars and vans even if they didn't need to. Petrol stations reported a 5x increase in demand, roads were blocked with queueing vehicles and naturally the fuel ran out. Our car is very efficient and with the limited distances we travel we only need to fill up every couple of months.

With showers come rainbows. This one grew and grew until the whole arc was right in front of us with the ends dipping into the sea below the cliffs. I couldn't get far enough back to get the whole rainbow in a single shot.

Peter went of to town to do some shopping and then the builder turned up. He'd found out on FB that the local Morrison's garage had just had a delivery and was able to fill up. The front is now fully rendered and he just needs one dry day next week to put the final textured coat on. The current flat finish is much nicer than the bobbly finish on the rest of the house but we're not in a position to render the whole house so bobbly it will be.

I still need to take things easy so instead of working in the garden or even a windy walk along the beach I emptied two of the big boxes from the bathroom into smaller ones that will fit through the hatch. Another job I was able to do was to go through the pile of magazines we get from the camper club to pull out any interesting articles before consigning the magazines to the recyle pile. Did some more paperwork and piano practice before settling down on the sofa to watch a programme about dream kitchens and bathrooms. I can't say that the kitchen which cost over £50K was worth it. £2K for a coffee machine!! I'm hoping to pick up some ideas for our bathroom which still needs to be done.

The big waves have brought out the surfers.

Windy.

It's been warm and dry all day with the winds getting stronger and blowing from the west.

This morning the sky was grey over a steely sea but a few hours later we were back to tropical skies above a blue sea. We then returned to the greyness by supper time.

I had two jobs planned for today, the first went well, the second didn't. Straight after brunch (or maybe it's still breakfast as I don't eat lunch) I got on with hanging up my Bryan Pierce picture. I was pretty much decided upon a sitting room wall though it looked better in the second option in the dinning area but wan't so prominent. Then I thought I might as well hang my biggest LOTR poster over the sofa as that space needs a big picture. However after much cleaning of the slightly too large acrylic clip frame that it is in and a second smaller one I realised that it wasn't quite right. I think I really need a piece of original artwork there. 

My other planned job was to finish the red felted dragon I've been making. I made some changes to the paper pattern for its wings and then found I don't have the right red felt. So that job has gone on hold until I visit the craft shop in Aber. As well as the craft shop there's also an arts supplies shop I can try. I guess that it's there to cater for the uni students.

Before settling outside for some reading I made a start on the homework we'd been set for the Welsh language course. Nearly 50 words to look at! Our teacher said we didn't have to learn them all straight away but I guess it would be worth having a try. That's going to be a challenge as I only knew 12 of them to start with. To help me practise I made flashcards for when I'm sitting outside. Welsh on one side and English on the other and I keep on going through them to fix them in my non-linguistic brain. 

Last night's film of the Borth Begins performance was very interesting. The herring fishing only made up the first segment and the rest was about the village from the early days when schooners and other cargo ships were built locally for the thriving cargo trade to the coming of the railway and the varied history  of the 100 bed hotel sadly demolished in 1976. The evening went on until nearly 10.00 but it was still amazingly warm as we walked home by the sea.

 

Warm.

More blue skies this morning and warm. It was that perfect feeling where the air is exactly the same temperature as your skin with occasional warmer fluctuations. Just right for shorts and sleevelass top. Later in the afternoon it got a bit cloudier and cooler.

The lads didn't make it today for the great 'put everything up in the loft' event so the baby has either just arrived or is arriving. Maybe they will be here next Saturday. On the other hand I'm not sure if some of the biggest boxes will fit through the loft hatch so during the week I can move the contents into smaller boxes.

After a busy week I decided to have an 'R' day. In other words a day to rest, relax, recharge the batteries and refrain from doing any physical jobs.

I did walk down to the shop as we'd forgotten to get any croissants for our Sunday brunch when we went shopping in town. Unfortunately the local shop didn't have any and we'll have to make do with brioche rolls instead.

Then for most of the rest of the day I've been sitting out enjoying the sun. It was especially relaxing first thing just sitting with a cup of coffee and listening to the sound of the waves.

We're eating earlier tonight as we're off out later. Wow! We're just going down to the community hall to watch a film of Borth Begins about the early days of herring fishing in Borth. This was a community performance/arts project combining acting, singing and dancing in a number of locations around the village. It was two years ago and coincided with one of the weekends when we came up from Devon to work on clearing the house and garden so we saw the part that took place on the slipway. A number of our neighbours took part which means we should recognise a few faces.

The sea mist is already beginning to rise. (5.00)

 

Warm.

The day began very grey and wet as the low clouds dropped down to ground level.

There were a number of phone calls back and forth between Peter and the builder but with the rain continuing it wasn't worth the builder coming out to us. That was a shame as the job is so nearly done and then it dried up in the afternoon. Meanwhile Peter emptied out all the pictures and boxes going up in the loft from his room into the bathroom. My contribution was to go through the pictures, especially the bigger ones, and put aside any that will be going back up on the walls. Although I like the clean look the walls do seem a bit bare and some though not all of the 36 pictures that were on the walls in Dingles will be going back up. Then, clutching the notebook that lists the contents of all the numbered boxes I was able to let Peter know which were going up in the loft and which needed to stay down. Those were mostly books which will be going on shelves in the front hall once they've been built which will be after the cupboard built into the fireplace is opened up and also made into a bookcase. So not for a while then.

I found it hard to settle in the morning wondering if the builder was going to be able to come or not but in the end I got out the sewing machine to have another go at making the purple face-mask. I wish I hadn't bothered as it didn't go well, I think the purple fabric wasn't suitable and in the end I gave up.

Then I took myself out to the garden to join the gang of sparrows who must be wondering where the side of their home had disappeared to. My back is a bit sore today so I sat on a chair and cut up some of the hedge cuttings and put them in my big garden waste bag.

I did that for a while and then took my chair back up to the terrace to read. With the sun flitting between the clouds and a warm wind the air kept changing from warm to hot and back again. It was warmer outside the house than inside as we haven't been using the heating yet.

The beach was more or less empty, just a lone fisherman and a couple walking their dog (that's naughty as the dog ban isn't lifted until the end of September).

 

Warm,

Morning saw us with grey clouds and choppy seas then by the afternoon it was all change back to beautiful blue skies and sparkling seas.

The top of the long hedge had been looking rather straggly so straight after breakfast I got out the electric hedge trimmer and gave the hedge a good trim. Using the step-up it was relatively easy and it took longer to clear up the cuttings from the pavement. With the hedge being more than 3ft wide I couldn't reach right across it with the trimmer as the safety feature means you have to keep both hands on the trimmer. Better than having a nasty accident. 

Then it was time to get ready for our first Beginner Level Welsh lesson which unfortunately was on Zoom rather than face to face at the university which is what we thought we were getting. Neither of us had used Zoom before but we'd downloaded and tested it without any problems. However when it came to the lesson/meeting my audio failed. I tried everything, Peter came in to help but my PC froze and we ended up with both of us sharing Peter's PC. I'n starting from scratch and I'd used the on-line resources to get to grips with the pronounciation. After years of teaching children to read using English phonics it is so hard to reprogramme my brain especially for the sounds that don't occur in English such as ch, ll, r, and dd. So I made myself this aide memoire to help my poor brain cope. Today the class was mostly introducing ourselves and learning how to say "How are you?" with a few responses. We've got a lot of words to learn for homework and there are some very good on-line resources to use during the week.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hedge cutting and baking peanut butter and chocolate cookies. As I'd previously planned I worked on reducing the width of the hedge by at least a foot. This involved climbing up on the wall and sawing at quite big branches. Not only will this make the hedge eay to trim from the street but it will be good for the health of the hedge as currently the top of the hedge is still full of dust from powdery mildew which should reduce with more air getting to the leaves.

Some interesting clouds tonight. I think they are altocumulus stratiformus undulatus. Later the almost full moon shone like a searchlight over the houses.

 

Zoo Day.

Even cloudier today and some light rain in the morning. 

We wondered if the builder would turn up today but he did, abeit a bit later than usual. Today he carried on working on the back of the house. He'll be back on Friday to put the finishing coat on the front once the two scratch coats have dried off. We hadn't expected him to do the back of the house as well at this time so that has been a bonus. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed as we wait for the other builder to come and pave the terrace and build the raised beds in the front garden.

This morning I called in at the pharmacy to collect my prescriptions on the way to the zoo as Peter had a text last Friday to say they were ready. It's so handy having the pharmacy and the doctors' surgery a few minutes walk away. I often see the pharmacy car delivering prescriptions to people who aren't mobile enough to get to them but we're not at that stage yet.

At the zoo I was back to weeding gravel. I had planned to clear some tall grasses from around the yuccas but forgot to wear something with sleeves to protect me from the spikey yucca leaves. There's much talk of using weedkiller and/or redoing the gravel with a membrane underneath or even replacing the gravel with grass but for the time being I'll keep on weeding. At least today I got to the weeds before they had begun flowering and spreading seeds everywhere. There was still a steady trickle of families visiting the zoo which is good for the finances. 

The wolf-dogs now have access to this large enclosure which used to house the wallabies. I think this is Cosmo the female having a snooze on top of the shelter.

After getting most of the gravelled section I was working on done I chatted to Rachel who organises the volunteers and admired the garden room we worked on the other day. The large tools are now hanging up on the wall. Above them was written "Please Return After Taking." I think having a clear place to keep things encourages people to keep everything tidy. We've got some new tools as well and I spotted a decent hoe so I won't need to bring mine along though I shall carry on bringing my bucket of hand tools. 

When I returned home Peter drove to the hospital to return his 24 hour monitor. They have some drop off/collect spaces where you can park for 20 minutes which was long enough so I didn't need to go with him.

While he was out I went through the boxes stored in the bathroom moving out any that aren't going up in the loft. That will make it easier for the lads if they come on Saturday to take stuff up to the loft. When he got home Peter began moving pictures from his room into the bathroom. For the past year he's only had enough space to sit at his desk and if he wants to exercise the chair has to be moved out of the way before the rowing machine can be unfolded. It's a good thing the exercise bike fits in the corner of the sitting room behind the armchair with a perfect view of the sea and the tv.