Lumishrooms.

In between an early morning shower and later light drizzle I was able to sit outside for ten minutes enjoying the sound of the birds and watching the smallest of waves breaking on the sand. The sun didn't really break through until much later in the day.

This morning I got to think about the 'Simple Pleasures' that I get to enjoy; getting into a bed with freshly ironed sheets (well worth the time spent ironing), a good night's sleep (they happen sometimes), watching the sea in the morning, spending an afternoon walking in the hills and chatting with friends, that first cup of tea or coffee in the morning, sitting on a rock with a view, coffee and a slice of cake (bliss), watching insects and butterflies in the garden and being able to eat our meals at a table overlooking the sea. So much to enjoy in my life.

 

Got to the stables this morning to find I was riding Hazel again. She didn't have the lovely dressage saddle with the comfortable knee rolls but instead a GP saddle that creaked continuously. When I went to sort out the stirrups I could see that one of them was going to be too short even on the end hole. I ended up having my stirrups swapped with another rider's stirrups as her legs are a lot shorter than mine. We were going reasonably well, for Hazel but then our instructor noticed that Hazel had her mouth open and was not responding to the bit. That was down to me being too kind and leaving the flash noseband quite loose. That got done up as it should have been, Hazel went better but oh my there was a lot of head tossing going on.

After riding my first stop was the dump to get rid of some garden waste. They always stop you at the gate to find out what you are bringing along (black bags of general rubbish get checked for items that should go in the recycling) and today I was also asked for proof of my address. I guess that's to stop people from outside Ceredigion using the dump. Luckily I keep a letter from the physios in the car in case we need to prove we are entitled to free parking at Ynyslas. Though maybe that's changed now the visitors' centre has been re-organised. Speaking of the closures the visitors' centre at Nant yr Arian is completely closed and they've brought in portaloos instead. Apparently there were many unhappy visitors wondering why there was no café, gift shop or proper toilets anymore.

I called in at Charlie's for a little browse of the plants and while I didn't buy any plants I succumbed to more garden lights. These are sweetly called Lumishrooms and are small (egg sized) mushrooms that will glow with a white light in the evening. I'm trying not to get too carried away but I do like a bit of a fairyland effect. 

At Lidl I saw they had trailing geraniums and for the first time I found some that were dark red. I've been wanting the dark red ones for a while but last year I could only find ones that were a tomato red, too orange for my garden colours. I only bought two (£1.99 each) as they're easy to propagate once they get going. When I got home I sat outside for a while and then did a little gardening. I've just put some fish parcels in the oven as I got some smoked Basa in the reduced section at Morrisons. Oven baked with onions, mushrooms and red peppers with boiled potatoes, peas and broad beans. A lovely supper to look forward to.