Still Warm.

A warm wind has been blowing all day and despite the morning forecast's talk of showers and even thunderstorms it has been dry and reasonably sunny all day.

I must have overdone things again yesterday as my back ached all through the night. Today I planned an easy day and waited until later to do my first set of squats. In theory your back is in a neutral position and shouldn't be affected by doing squats but I wasn't taking any chances.

Thinking it might rain later I had paperwork and maybe some sewing scheduled but first I ventured outside. It's wise never to waste a dry day, not in this climate. 

My first job was to convert the plastic tub into a seagull proof container that would be easy for the bin men to open. And I wanted to make sure the lid wouldn't blow away. I drilled holes in the lid and box and used rope to make 'hinges'. More holes and rope made a handle with the wood adding a little extra weight to keep the lid shut. That should keep the seagulls out. For the time being the food waste caddy sits neatly inside the  tub which has a brick in the bottom to stop the whole thing from blowing away. I still have a second black tub that I once rescued from blowing over the cliff. I put a sign up but nobody claimed it. 

 

Once the tub was done and the washing out on the line I did some gentle gardening in the front garden, mainly clipping off the old hydrangea heads. They looked quite nice at first but now the new leaves are out they are starting to look messy. 

Then I was able to sit out on the terrace and read a book that I need to return to the library in Mach on Monday. It's a history of Ceredigion which I won't finish but I was mainly interested in the early history of the area. It's the really early history that intrigues me but sadly there are very few artefacts and clues about the people who lived here after the ice age (iron age/bronze age) up to the arrival of the Romans in AD70. At one point it was thought that these early people were confined to the bare hilltops but now it appears that is simply due to farming and later settlements destroying or hiding any traces of settlements lower down. Digging for North Sea gas pipes at Bow Street laid bare a site used for thousands of years for habitation and burial. I've got as far as the 1300s and it reads like GOT with princes/lords fighting against each other, destroying castles, brothers imprisoning fathers, alliances made and broken, wives stolen sometimes willingly and even a false invitation to a feast that resulted in a slaughter. Funnily enough there's no mention of dragons (and this is Wales!).

On a domestic note the salmon last night was delicious and tonight there's some smoked Basa which I shall serve with a mushroom sauce and potatoes as well as veggies.