Sunny.

After a clear and chilly night the sun has shone all day and with no wind it didn't feel that cold. Except for first thing in the morning when some of the roofs were frosty and the car windscreen was iced over. I hope it hasn't damaged the succulents that I put outside. I'll make sure to cover them over for the next few nights until the risk of frost has passed.

I had Hazel again for my riding lesson. I had to work very hard trying to get her to bend her body to the inside and even to stop her craning her neck the other way to see what was going on outside the school. Then we had a number of 'spooks' after she decided that the plastic mounting block in the corner of the school was really scary. I think the fact that it was wet from the morning sprinklers made it look different. I had to cut across that corner of the school each time getting closer to the mounting block until she went past without a wobble. And then we changed direction and had to start all over again. All the messing about set off the dreaded head shaking as I tried to ride with relaxed hands and reins. Frustrating as the coming to a halt and turn on the forehand exercises were done perfectly, if you ignored the head tossing. An interesting and challenging lesson.

 

In the village near the stables there is a field which is home to three donkeys who today were enjoying a sleep in the sun.

As I'd done the shopping yesterday all I had to do after my lesson was take some bags of garden waste to the dump. Everybody must be gardening since I was stuck in the queue outside for 10 minutes before I could drive in and add my clippings to the communal heap.

From the dump I retraced my steps and came home via the garden centre. They haven't had their spring delivery yet so it all looked a bit empty.

Back home I prepared a potato, cabbage, onion, sausage and cheese casserole which will do for several meals for both of us. More 'soul' food which we both enjoy.

And of course I went out and did some gardening. The new solar lights turned out to be larger and brighter than I had expected and the way I had arranged them in a line was more municipal display than the ethereal effect I had been hoping for. I've repositioned them and we'll see how they look tonight. Once that was done I went over the shingle picking up all the stray leaves and stalks. It really does make a difference at least to my eye which gets drawn to the finest of details.

Appointments.

More sun again today but still a little chilly. It had rained in the night but by the time I was ready to sit outside with my morning cuppa it was back to being dry.

We had a busy morning as both of us needed to go into town. Peter had an appointment for an injection for his arthritis into his knee and I had a physio appointment. Fortunately the times were such that I could drop Peter off at the hospital  before driving down into the town. I had just enough time to call in at Homestores on the way to buy some solar lights for the garden. The front garden has two street lights right next to it so up till now there hasn't been much point in buying garden lights. (I'm a sucker for anything twinkly.) But the other night I realised that there is a strip all along the inside of the hedge that is always in shadow. The perfect place for some sparkle like the light below. I've used a photo from the web as photographing mine may well be a challenge. Hopefully I'll see them shining when I return from disco aerobics tonight.

I saw a different physiotherapist and after looking at my notes and hearing that there has been no difference even though I've been doing the exercises he said that he thinks the pain is probably due to arthritis in the hips. I've now been given more muscle building exercises, mainly squats, to do three times a day and another appointment in three weeks.

Since I was on the far side of town I called in at Morrisons and then Lidl before collecting Peter from the hospital. He was pleased to have had the injection which will keep him going for a few more months. He'd also treated himself to a 2nd breakfast in the hospital canteen. 

At home I loaded up the car with bags of garden waste to take to the dump tomorrow and finished cutting things back in the back garden. I also managed to inadvertently cut the stem of a clematis which made me very cross with myself. And it already had leaves opening at the top.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon working on Peter's Viking axe. I found the design on the axe blades I was copying too complicated and just made up a random design which I think looks alright.

Cold.

The day began with a bright and sunny morning but later it got cloudier and there was some rain. The wind however has swung round and is blowing more icy wind from the north.

Somewhere between three hours weeding, two exercise sessions and Pilates I managed to end up with a lot of back and hip pain yesterday. I had to hold back quite a bit during Pilates and even so things did not improve. But by this morning I was back to my usual only slightly painful norm with the only reminders of yesterday being a number of red and itchy spots where the agave spikes got me. I planned a restful day- sort of as hoovering, washing floors and some of the carpet and a long session cleaning the oven while muttering darkly about people who use the oven and don't wipe it over afterwards are not the most restful of activities.

I did eventually get around to what I call a messing about activity, completing the first Viking axe for the carnival. Peter looked at it and said plaintively that he was hoping for a double headed axe. He cheered up when I showed him the photo of one I've already saved in my carnival folder. 

We have been hearing more military jets (Tornadoes) flying overhead as they practise their manoeuvres. Usually they do the 'Mach Loop' on Tuesdays but so far it's been every day this week. On Monday it sounded as if they were skimming our roof the roar was so loud but when I looked out they were high above us. Today a pair of them were circling in and out of the clouds. Let us hope they  will not be needed. It's a terrible situation right now, sometimes we simply have to turn off the radio to avoid listening to the megalomaniacs. But if you want a laugh look at the 'Gaza video'.  An utterly ridiculous  display of greed, ignorance and ignoring ethnic cleansing.

Wolf (Dog) Encounter.

Lots of lovely sun today.

It was a good day for going to the zoo. Today I was able to tidy up most of the flower beds where the plants are starting to grow and so were the weeds. I find that clipping the grass and digging out the edges improves the overall look of the beds a great deal even if the plants in the beds are only just beginning to emerge. I planted more mint from home along the back of one bed which gets dripped on by a gutter above. 

I even tidied a large bed by the entrance gate that is filled with mature agave plants. Doing the edge was relatively easy but there was a lot of a wild rush in one spot. That needed a lot of digging out while being careful not to get spiked too often by the agaves.

As it was bright and sunny after I finished I had a walk around the zoo with my camera. First I stopped to talk to George where I discovered he likes his head scratched. He was on a perch close to the wires and I cautiously extended a finger and gave his head a gentle scratch. (Cautiously because that beak can crack a Brazil nut.) He immediately bent his head down and began making a clacking sound which I took to be enjoyment as the minute I stopped so did he.

Another volunteer who comes on Tuesdays, had been working in the wolf-dog enclosure and when I mentioned that it was hard to take a photo through the wire netting she suggested I came in the enclosure with her. There was no danger to me, the wolf-dogs are both very timid and although they know my scent and often sniff my fingers when I am weeding right next to them they were surprised to have a stranger in their home.

Here Stella is giving Zeus a treat. Although she works a lot with them they don't want any physical contact.

But they do like to play. Here Zeus is waiting for Stella to pretend to chase him so that he can race around excitedly.

Back home I enjoyed some time out on the terrace in the sun with a cup of coffee as I hadn't got up early enough to sit outside before breakfast. Then it was time for my exercises and soon I'll be off to the hall for Pilates.

More Sun.

Things were looking a bit grey first thing this morning though eventually a patch of blue made an appearance. By the time we left the library in Mach the sky was all blue and from then on it was a lovely sunny day. 

As said we went to Mach in the morning to practise our Welsh. We went over the work we'll be doing in the next lesson which is still revision and went through the end of unit homework for whenever that will be set. We finished off by reading a story in the next 'learners' book and surprised ourselves by how much we knew though sometimes we couldn't remember a word or phrase from one page to the next. Afterwards I did my usual check of the charity shops, found nothing except a very expensive handbag which I didn't buy. £35 in a charity shop sounds an awful lot even if it was a designer handbag. I suspect that some handbags are so expensive simply because of the trendy name. I also met couple of people from the walking group who live in Mach and volunteer in one of the charity shops.

 

The weather was so lovely that once home as soon as I'd thrown some towels in the washing machine, I went out to garden. I was able to do a thorough tidy up of the back garden only leaving some old growth to cut back. Mostly it was just small weeds to pull up though it took longer to clear the mind-your-own-business that I had left for a few years thinking it looked nice. Silly me. I've also changed my mind about growing thyme in the large planter after seeing the demise of a lot of the older thyme plants in the herb garden. Luckily I had taken a whole load of thyme cuttings last autumn and they are all looking good. I work on the principle that if you take lots of cuttings at least some of them should grow. I'm now thinking about trailing rosemary for the planter. The one in the back garden is doing well and I can easily take cuttings from that.

The electrician came as promised and after testing everything it turned out that the tripping was due to a faulty wire. This he fixed, we don't need an extra fuse board and he only charged us £20!

Stormy.

It's been wild, wet and windy all day long. Wonderful to watch the waves from the comfort of our warm home.

We had an electrician come round first thing this morning to talk about the wiring. We still haven't solved the problem of the outside light that trips a breaker when it's switched on. Peter thinks that we may need an additional fuse board as all the breakers on the board we had put in are now full. (Don't ask me what that means.) We have had the system added to in the last few years - the bathroom, garage and some outside sockets which might have maxed out the current capacity.  

My usual Sunday walk had been cancelled due to the weather so I've had a peaceful day at home. I messed about making a start on a carboard axe for Peter as the rowing club's carnival theme is a Viking boat. Myself and one of the rowers are the 'carnival committee' as we were fed up with having such a short time to get organised.

In a brief spell when the rain died down, sort of, I filled some pots with compost and have sown some sweet peas seeds. These came from my neighbour who saved them from her last year's plants. We don't know if they will germinate but she's sown 200 and I've sown 60. I've still got more seeds so I'll see if a friend would like them.

Later on I had the pleasant surprise of a phone call from Vytas. I don't make phone calls because of my extreme social anxiety but I'm perfectly happy to chat if somebody phones me especially if it's one of the boys.

Sunshine.

It has been sunshine all the way today and has felt very spring like. Sitting outside and watching the waves first thing I suddenly realised the bird flying past was a sparrow hawk. I see one occasionally but they are not my favourite as they raid the nests of smaller birds.

I was in town just after 9.00 this morning, few cars and not many people around. I like seeing the students displaying their new found independence by their choice of clothing as they stream to and from the uni which is right as the top of the hill. This morning it was mainly the active crowd in sports kit, some of them even running.

The reason for my extra journey to town was that yesterday in Charlie's I'd been looking at ceramic fibre (clay + fibreglass?) planters which they were advertising as being 'on sale' but really it was more of a promotion. With the porch being a possibility (I don't take builders for granted) I checked out the shapes, sizes and colours to find something that would look good in the porch. I wasn't 100% sure so went home to think about it, thought about it and decided to go back this morning with some measurements and a photo of the front door on my phone. I looked hard at some cube shaped planters in grey but decided against them in the end. But I did buy this very large hemispherical planter for the front garden. Now comes the fun part of thinking about what to plant in it. It needs to be able to survive the local conditions, be low growing and have winter foliage. So far I'm tending towards thyme as my first choice of succulents wouldn't survive the winter.

With such nice weather what else could I do but work outside? I got out the pressure washer and cleaned the green film off the terrace, then went on to clean both sets of the steps and the coping stones around the raised beds. I ended up getting very wet and my back is twinging but the job is done for another year.

I also brought out the tender plants from their cold frame, which had broken in the latest winds anyway. I finished off with some general gardening and have sown some tomato seeds indoors.

Before going to work outdoors I got a pot of sauerkraut, cabbage, potato and sausage simmering on the stove which we will be having for supper tonight. And at least one more meal after that.

Horse Stuff.

The sun has been with us on and off through the day as have some heavy showers. And all accompanied by strong but warm southerly winds.

I was fortunate enough to catch one of the dry spells for my quiet morning wake-up outside with a coffee as it's Friday. I love watching the grasses, especially the Stipa tenuissima blowing around in the wind. The local flock of jackdaws made an appearance. It was funny to see them as instead of their usual fairly tight formation they were being blown every which way and looked like burnt leaves rising above a bonfire. (It was only after looking at the photos that I noticed the heron has taken a tumble in the pond.) 

Getting to the stables this morning was interesting. Apart from having to wait at the entrance to the lane until the men working there moved a vehicle and trailer that was blocking the way the water in the many potholes made it impossible to know how deep each one was. There are so many potholes that that you can't avoid all of them. Today it was a matter of driving very, very slowly.

There were five of us in the lesson and today I rode Hazel, a large chestnut mare. She's got much better with her head shaking and didn't shake her head until right at the end. That might have been because she had just cantered off on the wrong leg and I had to bring her back to trot before cantering again. The main things I had to work on with her on my part was keeping my hands still and on her part getting her to bend her body. She's quite long and bending doesn't come naturally. I found it helped to rest the tip of my schooling whip beside my leg to reinforce the pressure from my leg which isn't that strong anyway. As a group we practiced turn on the forehand which Hazel did quite well and rein back which she was brilliant at. I'm sure she knows the voice command which I used as well as my legs and a light resistance with the reins. We got lots of 'excellents' today including for cantering, once she was on the right leg.

It poured with rain as I got to the supermarket but had dried up by the time I went into town. I only looked in one charity shop before going to Lidl as I was getting tired by that point.

Once I get home on a Friday, after I've thrown everything in the washing machine, I make a big mug of tea and put my feet up for half an hour (or more depending on the tv programme I'm watching.)

I also kept one eye on the wild sea outside and the few adventurous surfers trying to catch a wave. Then it was time to make some mushroom and onion sauce to go with the fish that we'll be having tonight, do my exercises and get to the pc.

Warming Up.

The day began wet, windy and deliciously warm and then sometime during the Zoom class the sun came out making the day even nicer. 

We were running low on milk so straight after breakfast I went down to the shop but of course that included a walk along the deserted beach. I got home just in time to miss the transition from a faint drizzle to a heavy shower. During our Welsh class the information bar on my screen kept showing wind warnings which may have been the reason that some of us were having problems with our internet connections. 

The reappearance of the sun had me heading for the garden once class was over. I'd spent the coffee break admiring the crocuses which had finally opened. They don't last long but are almost the first splash of spring colour in the garden. I'm looking forward to seeing the carpet of bluebells that fills the rest of that flowerbed and there's a smaller one at the bottom of the garden. One thing I can't remember is where I put the grape hyacinths. They'll have to be a surprise. My gardening jobs today were to cut back a bit more of the side hedge and to cut last year's dead flower spikes from some of the perennials. That included the thrift in the scree. Some of the thrift already have plenty of new flower buds nestled in the cushions of leaves.

I just had time to do my exercises before I needed to get ready for disco aerobics. A whole hour of dancing, singing (sometimes) and getting the endorphins flowing.

Gloves.

The day started with rain followed by a few hours of sun and then back to more dismal greyness though it hasn't begun raining again, yet.

Not only did the blue skies cheer me up but so too did the sight of the sun reaching halfway up the garden.

 

I must have overdone things a bit last night as my back felt quite sore in the evening and then again in the morning. However after a slightly longer lie-in than usual I had no problems doing my 'physio' exercises. I felt the stretch in my sides as usual but everything else was in its normal state of decrepitude. To be on the safe side I've had a day of pottering about. Peter took all the bags of garden waste to the dump as he was going to the industrial estate which saves me going there on Friday when we are due to have heavy rain. 

I've been tidying, did some mending and tried out a different way of darning that I got from FB. You make one line of yarn across and then construct stitches across the yarn before repeating the process. The result is bulkier than my usual weaving method but much quicker. It was only on one of my pairs of fingerless gloves so it didn't matter that it wasn't so neat. Speaking of gloves, rubber washing up gloves in this instance. I keep having to throw out the right hand gloves when they get holes in them but being me I keep the good left hand ones. Today when I finally got fed up with having a wet hand while washing up I realised that if I turn a left hand glove inside out it will become a right hand glove. I expect most people already know this but it was a mini eureka moment for me. I've also begun trying out swirly designs with my collection of glass blobs as I hope to do something on one of the porch windows (when it actually gets built).

For the moment it looks as if the rain is only falling over Snowdonia. No doubt it will arrive here eventually. 

Windy.

There was a hint of sun today though for the most it was hidden behind the clouds. The promised southerly winds haven't yet arrived though surely they must have been powering the large waves that were hitting the rocks with impressive amounts of spray. Here the wind was still blowing from the east and icy cold. 

I took advantage of the wind and got some washing out on the line before heading off to the zoo. There it was time to give the buddleia bushes their annual trim. There are six bushes in various enclosures and it took me four and a half hours to cut back last year's growth. Some of the branches went to the goats (pygmy and mountain) who like to chew on the bark as well as eat the emerging leaves. The rest of the branches needed chopping into smaller pieces that I could get in the muck buckets which then get taken up to the compost heap (not by me). There were more visitors around as it's half-term in England. It will be half-term in Wales next week so should be even busier then. Poor Mr P. the peacock is currently shut in an enclosure due to the latest avian flu regulations.

Back home there was no time for a rest. I cooked up some potatoes and other veg to bulk out the remains of the soup which we had for supper, ironed the sheets and did my exercises before going down to the hall for Pilates. Rachel likes to pick a different theme each time and tonight it was all about strengthening our pelvic floors. She assured us that we do exercises for our pelvic floors in the regular class anyway but tonight she went into a lot of detail about all the different muscles and how they attach to the bones especially the spine. She gives us all the names too but I don't remember them now. It was hard work as my lower back is my problem area but I guess that means I need to do more to strengthen those muscles.

 

Sun.

There was more than a touch of blue in the sky this morning which made a welcome change. And then the day kept on getting sunnier and sunnier albeit with a light sea haze. And gone was the icy wind, wonderful! 

Our Welsh practice has been rescheduled to next week so although the spring cleaning isn't quite finished I couldn't not spend a large part of the day out in the garden. The first job was to remove the hawthorn that I had planted by the garden wall. I like native plants and when I came across a sapling randomly growing in the garden I thought it might be a good way to extend the hedge. But with the variegated Griselinia doing well despite having most of its roots chopped off when I dug it out of a wall and the realisation that it probably wasn't a good idea to be growing something that had the potential to be a small tree, right by the garden wall and very close to the foundations of the house next-door I decided it had to go. Last year I planted fennel plants by the wall which in summer should screen next-door's giant window that overlooks the garden. I'm not that fussed but they tend to keep the curtain drawn there as I would be looking right into their sitting room. That done I turned to the other side of the garden and thinned the long hedge to stop it from growing over the plants in the raised bed. That included the lovely lace cap hydrangea near the end of the hedge. Some of the hydrangeas have buds that are already opening which told me it was time to prune the ones that need their size restricting. Some do fine if I leave them but others needed a bit of tidying up. The hedge in particular now looks bare and generally too tidy for my taste but it needed doing to allow all the other plants to flourish. 

It is strange to think that this time last year I was still removing the lawn.

14th February 2024.