Sunny.

It feels like we've had a hint of things to come with today's weather. At first it was a mix of pretty blue skies with warm sunlight followed by large dark grey clouds and  cold air. But it didn't rain and later on in the afternoon there was nothing but blue above the sea.

I got to the stables nice and early and found that I would be riding Cadno. I spent some time grooming Cadno especially under his belly. Being an older horse he likes to sleep lying down in the field shelter and gets quite muddy underneath. As I stood there brushing him I could hear quiet gurgles from his stomach which made me smile. There were six in the lesson and three of us had to do a lot of trotting without stirrups. If we needed we could take a break and walk for a while but I didn't need to which felt good. That was due to (possibly) all the Pilates work on the core paying off but mainly because Cadno can do a collected but very slow trot which is really easy to sit to. I just kept laughing because we were going so slowly but everything was looking good so we kept at it. Later we did quite a bit of cantering, with stirrups, which was fun. Cadno is such an easy ride that I was able to focus on my position and hands. Hopefully I am improving.

Driving down the potholed track after the lesson I spotted three swans flying up the river. I grabbed the camera which was on the seat next to me and took some photos through the open window.

Then I did the shopping including dropping into town. I called in at Aberdashery the local fabric store, to buy some bias binding. They didn't have the width of black that I wanted so I bought a silvery grey one but may use some narrow black bias binding that I have already. That shop is so tempting, piled high with luscious fabrics and trimmings that it was very hard to resist buying more. It's the equivalent of a candy store but for sewers/crafters. 

As I drove through town I was able to find a parking spot close to the Oxfam book shop so I didn't have to carry my heavy box of books far. That's another thing gone.

Back home I took a break while outside the waves were coming in tidy sets perfect for the surfers. I shall finish my day by snipping off more sequins. I try to tidy as I go but they are escaping all over the house.

Sunshine.

It's amazing how everything looks so much better with a bit of sun. It has been cloudy and still fairly cold though I have been indoors for the whole day, apart from leaning on the rail with my coffee.

My spring cleaning job for the day was to clean a small corner cupboard in the inner hall. That contains our limited collection of drinks which as neither of us drink spirits or wine means they last for a very long time. Handy for guests and sometimes for cooking. I also took down and cleaned the antlers that live on top of a tall wooden cupboard there. The antlers are not a pair. The larger one is really heavy and carrying a pair of them on your head must be hard going for a stag. They must be quite relieved when the antlers drop off in the spring.

We had our Welsh Zoom class in the afternoon and at last we are moving on to the next level. Homework this week was one exercise from the entry level and then ..... learn the vocabulary for Unit One of Sylfaen. As one of our class is taking the exam next week we did some practice questions including an old favourite 'What do you like to do in your spare time?' to which I always respond with 'What spare time?' before going on to answer properly. I'm afraid I still have a tendency to be the class joker. 

For the rest of the day I've carried on working on the silver sequinned top. So far I've done the shoulder seams which I've bound with bias binding and continued removing sequins (one by one!) from the armhole edges. It's going to be a long job.

These are the primulas I bought for 10p each in B&M last year. They're doing well though the snails seem to like the blue flowers. I can also see a few holes in the arum leaves.

I've just got home from disco aerobics, exhausted but on a high as usual. I walked home with two other ladies from the class, one lives across the road and another in the next street. It's nice to have company though the walk isn't long.

Sunshine.

We've had some sun today. Not a lot but it made a nice change from all that rain.

In the morning I drove down to the zoo and spent three hours, minus coat, weeding a planted area by the entrance. It gets overrun with bamboo and while I was able to pull some up for the rest I just chopped it off as low down as possible. I know it will grow back but that was the best I could do. There's a wooden planter in one corner (about 2ft square) into which had grown couch grass and yet more bamboo. I spent most of my time digging out as many roots as I could and again gave up and chopped the remaining bamboo. Next time I'm going to remove all the soil and take out the bamboo before replacing the soil after which I'll find something from home to plant in it. Maybe pheasant grass and some ground cover sedum. The wooden sides of the planter aren't going to last much longer so it isn't worth the zoo buying something to put in it.

 

Once I'd finished there was enough sun left  to make Mr. P.'s feathers shine. The shed wall behind always needs mending as the two Welsh Mountain goats who live in that enclosure spend a lot of time battering the shelter walls with their enormous horns.

Zeus enjoying a snooze in the sun.

As were the headless guinea fowl.

Back home I did a little work in the front garden before turning out everything from the big hall cupboard. This keeps all our coats out of sight, has a shelf on which are all the tubs of gloves, hats etc and space below for boots and shopping bags. There was a little mould in one corner to be bleached off and for the rest it was just a general wipe over. We seem to have a lot of coats so maybe a few can go to the charity shop.

Cold.

It has become much colder and after a very wet night has rained frequently during the day.

 

I woke this morning to find that for the first time in a very long time I had no lower back pain. Was this possibly due to spending over an hour lying in the dentist's specially shaped chair? Yesterday's cleaning of the books had involved the usual kneeling and crouching which doesn't help my back and I can't think that there was anything else different. If the same thing happens after getting the top teeth done, (not for a while) then I might have to consider finding a similar chair. That would give Peter the heebie jeebies as he is phobic about dentists.

 

This morning's task was cleaning the last of the books and then half of the LPs from the bottom shelf. I must keep reminding Peter to sort out a way to play the LPs as he insists we have a deck but I don't know where. I did the other half of the LPs after a break and this time I  was more sensible and took them to the kitchen counter instead of working on the floor. All this spring cleaning reminds me that the fewer possessions we have the less cleaning and tidying there is to do. Hopefully I'll be taking more stuff to the charity shops after this bout of sorting out.

I also did some more work on the sequinned top. Having pinned it to an existing top I risked stabbing myself with all those pins and tried the result on. I think it's going to work if I gather both front and back at the centre to use up the extra fabric. The next step is the shoulder seams and to remove all the extra sequins one by one before I begin sewing. Only half-way there as that's an arduous task which makes me extra glad that the side seams are already bound.

I'll be off in a minute to Pilates. It wasn't raining the last time I checked and I've got my mat in a bag so hopefully I'll be able to walk down to the hall.

Wild.

It's been a day of wild seas. Dry in the morning with a little sun and then much wetter in the afternoon.

In the morning I took down all the books from the alcove bookshelf in the hall, washed the shelves and cleaned one shelf's worth of books. I'm now thinking they might be so dusty from the last year on the shelves in the living room at Dingle's where we had a woodburner. More children's books again, some from my childhood and others that had been the boys' which I kept to take with me when I did supply teaching. I'd hung onto these books for any visiting children. Some I was able to put in the pile for the charity shop but others though great favourites are too tatty to give away.

I did a little work on the sequinned top before it was time to go to town for my dentist's appointment. I was there for over an hour and apart from some discomfort from the lip guard the most painful part was the bill. £1,500 to build up six lower teeth. Looking at the 'before' photo there was no doubt that they needed doing as they were all eroded and chipped but that's an awful lot of money. I'll wait until the next check-up to do the top teeth. 

While I was in town I dropped some stuff off at the charity shop and also went into little Charlie's (big Charlie's is in the retail park by Morrison's). That was to exchange something Peter had got for me on Saturday when he went into town. It was my own mistake as I'd asked him to get me some new kneelers meaning builders' knee pads but he brought home a foam garden kneeler. There was no problem in doing the swap but the lady didn't swipe the electronic security tag. That set off the alarm as I came out of Tesco's where one of the staff just waved me through and then again in Matalan. By that time I had worked out the problem and showed the knee pads and the minimal contents of my bag to one of the store staff.

 

As I was driving home along the back road I spotted a telegraph pole swaying noticeably which had me drive past as quickly as possible. This was one of the poles that has been leaning towards the road ever since Storm Darragh. I wonder how long it will last now?

Wet.

It's been a day of moderate rain apart from a short sunny spell in the afternoon. We've been sheltered from the south easterly winds of the latest storm to hit the country but the strength of the wind was evident by the way the morning's rollers were blown flat as the wind blew across them. By afternoon the sea close to shore was completely flat.

Due to the prospect of day-long rain the walk was moved to yesterday but as I was already well into cleaning the books by the time I received the message I opted to continue doing that. So for once I had the whole of Sunday at home. In the morning I carried on cleaning the books and putting them back on the shelves. A very small pile has been set aside to go to the charity shop and I'm determined to re-read more of my favourites some of which go back to my childhood.

Once the bookcase was returned to rights I began work on altering the silver sequinned skirt. Bearing in mind the cost of the skirt I'm determined not to mess this project up. A lot of my time was spent making paper patterns based on one of the tops I altered earlier. I carefully unpicked the zip and then it was out with the scissors. Not to actually cut out the shape of the top but just to take off the top part of the skirt leaving plenty of spare to work with. I have marked out the shape of the back piece with white stitching as nothing else would show up on the black net backing but now I have another problem to solve in that the skirt is wider than the pattern pieces. If I trim down the sides I'll lose the neatly bound existing side seams. Instead I think I'll gather at the centre of the neckline which would make for even more movement of the fabulous sequin work. I'll try first to fold and pin without any cutting just to get some idea of how it will look.

We had a film night this evening and watched The Fellowship Of The Ring. The extended version of course which runs for nearly three and a half hours. I was very restrained and didn't join in with the dialogue which I know would be annoying for Peter. I used to do that when I watched with Romas and he knew a lot more dialogue than I did. (That gives an idea of how often we would watch the films.)

Memories.

After a clear and very windy night the day has been sunny with not a drop of wind. I had been hoping to do a towel wash but as they take forever to dry in the utility room I'll wait for the next windy (and dry) day. All day long heavy swell has been rolling in, a sign of the next storm which is due tomorrow.

As usual after stormy weather the windows were covered in salt and needed washing. Washing the windows with the squeegee is a quick job taking only 10-15 minutes but then ..... I spotted that the aluminium door handles had rust marks so they needed cleaning. And then ...... I saw that the inside of the windows also needed washing which takes a bit longer as I can't just splash water everywhere. 

After that began the main job of the day - making a start on cleaning the big bookcase. This was another job that took a lot longer than I expected. Once I'd taken down the books, hopefully keeping them in some sort of order I thought all I'd need to do to the shelves was give them a quick wipe over. But unfortunately not, there were all sorts of marks on the shelves probably due to the books being slightly damp. I'm hoping that happened when they were in boxes for quite a few years and not because the hall is inherently damp. Also the white caulk I used along the joins in the wood had turned orange in places. That I think is bacterial/fungal growth of some kind. After scrubbing the shelves clean I put thick bleach on the affected caulk and left it for a few hours. Then came the book cleaning. Again I had thought that would just be a light dusting but many needed wiping with paper towels to remove the dirt. The job also took longer because of course I was tempted to look through some of the photo albums. Because Peter had worked in the photographic industry I had many photos of the boys growing up, (Lithuanian) Scout Camp, our homes and the holidays we went on pre-children. Lots of lovely memories.

Something that brought a real smile to my face was a holiday diary written by Vytas, aged 10 in 1996. (This would have been a task given him by me.) Apologies for the handwriting. At that time they didn't concentrate on teaching handwriting in primary schools. Later when I had my own class for a year I taught handwriting in those books with the red and blue lines, on a Friday afternoon long before our school jumped on the latest fad and insisted that every day started with formal handwriting based on a structured system that somebody must have made a lot of money from.. 

Reading this diary I see that we did do a lot of things with the boys that they enjoyed. Sometimes I think I had left the boys to themselves too much but this showed me I hadn't. I love the description below of tidying his brother's room. Linas and Romas were aged 8 and 6 at the time.

Storm Eowyn.

While Storm Eowyn produced gusts of 114mph in Ireland and 100mph in Scotland we escaped the worst of the wind.

This morning the sea was a mass of churning white waves and foam but due to the shelter of the hills behind beside us there was hardly any wind on land here. No violent swaying of the hedge, just gentle rippling along its length as the wind flipped over the large leaves revealing their much paler undersides. Out at sea a large flock of seagulls swirled around above the waves. It was fascinating to see them riding the gusts of wind. It didn't look like they were fishing, perhaps they were simply enjoying the ride.

Driving down to the stables the wind began to pick up and I gave myself extra time in case there were any obstructions along the way (there weren't) while keeping a wary eye out for swaying trees and flapping power lines. In a few places where it looked like the trees were leaning suspiciously close to power lines I drove past as quickly as possible. My route takes me along the start of the main A road that leads inland across the mountains. I drove past a large lay-by and saw a couple of high sided trucks and a flat bed truck that had extra large panes of glass (shop front sized) standing in the back all waiting there, presumably until the wind died down.

There were six of us in the class this morning and I rode Margaret. One of the girls told me she had been racing around in the field earlier and I found she was a bit more aware of outside noises than usual. The main exercise today was trotting 20m squares with poles set down across the school to ride through. That's something I haven't done before. After the lesson I was leading Margaret out of the arena when the wind caught and knocked over a jump that was stacked up outside which startled Margaret. She swung her body round giving me a good thump in the back and also knocked Bella, the stable's elderly Jack Russell. Bella was fine thank goodness.

Driving to town afterwards I could hear a strange scraping sound which made me think that our poor old car was falling apart. But the noise continued when I pulled up in Morrison's car park and I realised it was the wind whistling in the car's aerial that leans backwards along the roof. Even opening the car door at that point was a struggle. In town it didn't feel so windy in the sheltered main shopping street though gusts blew up from the side streets.

I had to go into Tesco's for frozen blueberries since Morrison's didn't have any and bought myself another winter hat in the sale. It was 50% off and then an extra 10% because I was using my Clubcard. And of course I went into M&S to see if any of the party wear was still there in the sale. The flapper style dresses had all gone but I bought this super sequinned skirt, original price £69 reduced to £16. I bought the largest size I could find and will do my best to convert it into a top for disco aerobics. With the same object in mind I also bought a long sleeved top covered in smaller gold sequins. That was originally £36 and was reduced to £8. I foresee sequins all over the house once I start chopping those two up.

The sea continued to be wild under a gloriously sunny sky for the rest of the afternoon but now it's dark I hear rain falling. 

So that I didn't feel the house cleaning was being neglected I cleaned all the ceramics and objets d'art from the top and sides of the big bookcase in the hall as that is the next area I'll be doing.

Storm Approaching.

The day began with torrential rain, possibly the same band of rain that caused a mini-tornado in Cornwall. It was quite nice sitting in our warm home, drinking coffee and watching the rain and the wild sea.

Later in the morning there was a break in the clouds and for an hour or so we had lovely sunny weather though still very windy. I took the opportunity to clear the drain from the kitchen sink. It wasn't blocked but for a while now it has been making glugging noises and occasionally an unpleasant smell would waft up from the plug hole. I checked that there was nothing in the U-bend by poking around with a wire and then turned my attention to the outside pipe. Luckily all the plumbing was redone after we bought the place and the pipe taking water from the sink running along the outside wall has easily removable end caps where the pipe bends. Opening these up I found some sludge which I cleared out with a wire and then the garden hose. Feeling very pleased with myself I poured some soap and a kettle of hot water down the kitchen sink only to see it not running away at all. Somehow I'd made things worse. Off came the covers again and by repeatedly sending the wire right along each section of the pipe and flushing with the hose I cleared everything. I got the job done in the end, no need to call a plumber.

 

Things got grey and windy in the afternoon and there are dire warnings about Storm Eowyn which is due to arrive in the early hours of the morning. The whole of Ireland and the Irish Sea is under a red warning for wind. It's only a yellow warning here but I've made sure there is nothing that can be blown around outside, we'll put the sofa across the French doors before we go to bed and fill a flask with hot water in case the electricity goes out. It only takes one tree to fall on a power line and off goes the electricity. I also hammered a few very long metal garden stakes down through the hedge at the bottom of the garden to try and reduce the effect of the wind.

We had our Welsh lesson in the afternoon and it looks like we will have just one more week on the Mynediad (entry level) before we move to the Sylfaen (foundation level) course.

And of course as it's Thursday it was time to cast away the stresses of the week dancing around to loud disco music. The session is so much fun and a good cardio workout too.

Sunshine.

Quite mild today and with more gaps in the clouds came some welcome sunshine. It had rained much earlier on and now as evening approaches the rain is back in earnest.

Yesterday's digging at the zoo did not do my back any good at all, I struggled at Pilates and had to ease off on some of the exercises. That said I did go out to do some tidying in the garden this afternoon. I just could not resist the good weather. Like yesterday I was down on my hands and knees but instead of weeds I was picking up stray leaves and stalks from the shingle garden. However pretty the old hydrangea petals are with their lacework of sandy coloured veins if left they and the other leaves would soon turn into a dark mess spoiling the restful look of the shingle garden. So far it looks as if everything has made it through the winter though of course spring is still far off. One sign of things to come are all the leaves of the spring bulbs shooting up everywhere. Last year I did some replanting of bulbs that came from the original garden and hopefully soon there will be swathes of bluebells, grape hyacinth, snowdrops, crocuses, star flowers and daffodils. Today I cut down the old crocosmia leaves that were covering the daffodil shoots in the raised beds. I also gave the hydrangea that had grown over one of the beds, a hard trim to let more light through to the plants underneath. That's a few more bags ready to go to the dump.

 

Grey.

Still very grey today, no rain, no sun.

I spent the morning at the zoo. I was only there for a few hours but in that time I weeded the whole of the gravel patch by the hens and guinea fowl. One end is not only wet and muddy but gets walked on by everyone as it's in between the entrance and the path leading to the rest of the enclosures. Just to make it look better I turned the stones in that corner over using my sturdy hand-hoe. That did the job but wasn't the best for my back. On the way to dumping the weeds I also did a quick weed-over of the small play area.

Back home I wiped the mould off the inside of our wardrobe (the bit that I treated with the 'special' mould wash and paint) as it's bin day tomorrow. I did a little tidying and altered the sports bra that I wear for Pilates which is tonight.

Yesterday's soup turned out okay so we'll be having it again tonight and maybe even tomorrow.

 

Swans on the lake at Nanteos.

HW Walk Part 2.

Grey again today but brighter than yesterday. We drove out to Mach in the morning to practise our Welsh with our friends. We shared the library with a mother and baby group but I think we were the noisy ones. The babies were a lot quieter than the toddlers that are sometimes there, especially the little girl who has perfected an ultra high shriek. Although none of us are planning to take the exam Anne brought along some past papers for us to try. They were surprisingly easy, at least when there were four of us armed with dictionaries and grammar notes.

Afterwards while Peter went to play pool I had a domestic afternoon. First I made a large pot of hearty soup. Lots of root vegetables with a tub of my tomato and onion base and some smoked sausage. But oh no! when I had a taste to see how it was doing all I could taste was chilli. As I prefer tasty food rather than hot food I never use chilli in my cooking. Garlic - yes, pepper - yes and even curry powder but not chilli on its own. I had added a generous amount of smoked paprika which is one of my favourite spices, had I bought chilli powder by mistake? But when I looked at the jar it said Smoked Paprika and then in much smaller font underneath was the word Hot. Looking at the back of the label in letters about 2mm high was the information that this was smoked paprika with chilli powder. I added more potatoes and may even add plain yoghurt to mine when I serve it up which should ameliorate the matter.

While the soup was cooking I did some ironing and then gave the wooden furniture in the sitting room a polish with Brywax. All bar the coffee table which could really do with being sanded to remove the marks before I polish it.

Now back to the second half of yesterday's walk. 

The mansion of Plas Nanteos is approached by a driveway through grounds that were landscaped in the natural style with sweeping vistas. It was interesting to see that the metal fencing and elaborate gates had been made by Ray Burrell, the local artisan blacksmith who originally was going to put in our balustrade but in the end was too busy.

The mansion is currently run as a hotel and restaurant but that very morning they had posted on FB that the restaurant and events side of the business was going to close. You can read a short history of Nanteos here. That site has b&w photos of the mansions interior though I couldn't get them to open properly. This site has a much more detailed history with many photos including portraits of the previous owners.

We of course did not go in to join the fine diners but made our way around the outside of the walled garden to the pet cemetery. Horses and dogs including favourite hounds had been buried in the grounds and at some point the surviving headstones had been gathered together around an ancient mulberry tree.

Nearby was a stone maze, built by Bob combining pagan beliefs about labyrinths and the Nanteos Holy Grail, a medieval wooden bowl said to have been carved from the true cross and to have healing powers.  The remnants of this bowl are now in the National Library of Wales.

Some of us followed the circular labyrinth to the centre and back out again with no cheating by stepping over the stones.

The central stone represents the bowl with scenes from the legend carved around the plinth.

After eating our lunch sitting on a nearby log we went into the walled garden. This 2 acre garden once housed a vinery, hot beds and cold frames and provided all the produce for the house with the surplus being sold in Aberystwyth. An attempt is being made by a local group to create community plots, strips rather than allotments. The gardeners amongst us were not convinced that having such narrow strip beds of a thin layer of mulched woodchip separated by paths made of fresh woodchips over weed matting was the best way to restore the beds which were already full of buttercups but I'm sure somebody has a plan.

Beyond the far end of the walled garden was the old stable block in which some of our group remembered going to wild parties back in the '70's. A large bronze horse once stood over the central arch with stone eagles on either side but these have been long since sold off.

HW Walk Part 1.

Today has been dry but with a clammy dampness in the air that felt quite chilly. Driving home in the afternoon I could see that the sky had the slightest wash of pale blue between the strips of almost white clouds. Once I reached the brow of the hill above Borth the view across the bog to Snowdonia was veiled by a light mist that turned each layer of hills a paler shade of grey much like a Japanese painting.

Today's walk was very interesting so here is the first part where we walked in the nature reserve in Coed Penglanowen, the woods around Plas Nanteos. Eight of us met up by one of the entrances to the nature reserve though later one left early for another engagement and three went home via a path through the woods.

 

Our path took us along the Nant Paith which flowed through a woodland planted up with specimen trees by one of the former owners of the mansion. They were mostly deciduous trees but Bob, one of our group is a knowledgeable woodsman and was able to point out many interesting features.

Bob and his wife live in woods just over the hill and has done a lot of work both in the reserve and around the mansion including building this stunning bridge. He built it around 20 years ago using the trunk of an oak tree for the base and handrails with the main joints being fixed by dowels.

This is a specimen redwood. There was a sign nearby which said that it is one of the tallest redwoods in Wales. We have seen similar sized redwoods in the grounds of other mansions as it was quite the fashion at the time to have one in your arboretum.

Some early snowdrops. We saw many clumps of green shoots of snowdrops, daffodils and crocus in the woods and around the mansion hinting at a carpet of colour in the spring.

We crossed the Nant Paith by a much more recent bridge. There was much discussion and examination of the method of construction. The bridge was at least redeemed by the curve which gave it a slightly oriental look as opposed to the basic straight over construction of yet another bridge over the stream.

On our way back to the cars we passed an entrance to  the reserve which although showing signs of age was immediately identifiable as Bob's work.

Our walk also included the grounds and walled garden of Plas Nanteos, photos and information to follow.