A Wild Day.

It's been a day of strong winds, enormous waves, sudden downpours and sunny spells.

Vytas and Sally left after a leisurely breakfast weighed down by a couple of my homegrown courgettes.  (I hadn't seen the larger one before.) We've already arranged their next visit which will be just before Christmas so that's something to look forward to. 

Keeping up with the youngsters yesterday resulted in a lot of aches and pains last night and little sleep. I must try and remember to stick to a slower pace. Apart from the heavy rain in the middle of the day I just didn't feel like going out for the group walk even though it's much more of an amble than a march.

Instead I put my study back to rights, did several loads of washing which dried between showers and also did some ironing.

Here are a few more photos from yesterday taken by Sally on her phone. For most of the walk my camera was put away in my back pack. I didn't want the camera to get wet and I was also worried that I might slip and knock it on the ground.

Starting the path beside the waterfall.

A Wet Walk.

A quick post as my study doubles as the guest bedroom. 

Not put off by the forecast, which turned out to be correct, the three of us set off for a walk in the Cambrian mountains. We parked by Llyn Pendam (it was still dry at that point), walked through the forestry land and down to the cottage at the bottom of Craig Y Pistyll waterfalls. The trees provided some shelter from the rain while we ate our lunch but then it was up the narrow and somewhat perilous path up the side of the gorge. More walking, sometimes through very wet vegetation and back to the car. All of us were soaked by that stage.

Home to dry off and then a nice supper. Have to stop now as they've finished washing up.

 

Toothache.

It looks like we are in for more wet weather. Not the best when Vytas and Sally are coming for the weekend. I'd been looking forward to taking them up into Snowdonia but I'm not sure about going up steep and narrow wet paths in the mountains.

There was enough of a break between showers in the morning for me to walk to the pharmacy to collect my prescription and it was sunny for most of the afternoon but there is no doubt that the clouds are looming. Oh well.

This morning I set up the guest bed in my study. It's not too hard to put up but things have to be moved round so that I can pull out the trundle bed and make the beds. I keep the guest bedding in a plastic storage tub but when I took out the white duvet cover which had been ironed and put away spotless it had brown stains down some of the folds. I can't imagine what had caused that unless it was something on the inside of the plastic tub. Luckily I have several brand new sets which I bought because they were 70% off but the stain is a mystery.

Conveniently the riding lesson had been moved to the afternoon as the Pony Club children had had a sleepover in the stables (not actually with the ponies). I rode Hazel again. I saw from the list that I had been put down for Meg who had then been crossed out and Hazel written in with a question mark. Hazel was her usual scatty self. She spooked straight away when she heard my foot on the plastic mounting block. It was a good thing I hung onto her reins as she managed to knock Iola over at the same time. I wisely avoided the scary corner while we were warming up by doing more transitions across the centre of the school and circles when I could fit them in.

Apart from another small spook at the smallest of noises from the other side of the wall Hazel was fairly okay. When it came to practising coming to a halt she did really well. Not so much because my aids were spot on but I think more because she responds well to voice aids. I only had to say 'Stand' almost under my breath and she would come to a halt and then would trot away when I asked her to. It's getting more energy out of her that I struggle with, my legs just aren't strong enough but a little flick with the end of the schooling whip generally does the trick. 

It was a bit disconcerting having the lesson later in the day but I carried on as usual doing the supermarket and town shopping before arriving home in time for a shower and then a lovely cup of tea.

I came home to find that Pete was not a happy bunny. He thinks he broke a tooth or dislodged a filling a day ago and had toothache all night long. I know it's bad because he phoned for an emergency NHS dental appointment. He is utterly phobic about the dentist and will only see one when he really has to. He's now waiting for a call back, within 24 hours they said but who knows? He can't eat so would not be able to enjoy the Chinese takeaway we planned to have tomorrow. He says it's better now he's put some gel on it but he's sure the tooth needs to come out. I've fished out my bottle of Oil of Cloves if he gets desperate.

We're still waiting to hear from Vytas and Sally who will be driving up after work. It can take them over four hours so I don't expect to see them until later.

 

A Touch Of Whimsy.

It's mainly been a day of heavy rain with a short spell of sun later in the afternoon.

And here is my latest mad project. I'm happy with the street side of the door with its blue paint and glass blobs on the fan light. But the inner side looked too mundane for my taste. And since I had spare glass and a tube of clear builders' adhesive (I used bathroom grade silicone for sticking the blobs on the porch windows), I thought 'Why not?' I think it cheers up that space between the house and the garage. 

While it was still pouring with rain in the morning I deep cleaned the bathrooms, polished the silver spoons I bought last week and baked a chocolate courgette cake for Vytas and Sally's visit this weekend.

Pete went down to man the RNLI shop this morning. His takings for today were ..... £6. Luckily he was able to pass the time chatting to his friend who is the station manager or else he would have been very bored. There's only so much rearranging of the shelves you can do in the tiny shop.

Off soon to disco aerobics.

The Next Project.

We had some very heavy rain in the morning, a side effect of Hurricane Erin I believe. But amazingly it all cleared up in the afternoon and once again it was very hot.

I waited until the worst of the rain was over before driving to the zoo and had kept myself busy by cooking up the bag of cooking apples that my friend had given me yesterday. Stewed apple goes nicely with our morning porridge. 

At the zoo I was determined to finish weeding the gravel by the guineafowl so despite a number of brief showers I carried on weeding. I had my yellow jacket by me and would put it on as the rain began and then moments later the shower would stop and off came the jacket. This FB reel made last week shows my work area, beautifully weed free.

The zoo was very busy today as it was the last of the VIP days when people can see the exotic animals and there were almost back to back talks and demonstrations. The zoo staff must be exhausted by the end of the day. I just get on with my weeding though I did have a long chat with someone I know who was there with his visiting family.

Before tackling the last corner of the large play area I went over the planted up gravel by the wolf dogs removing any weeds and picking up fallen leaves. I further distracted myself by spending some time with the pigs. They had been tucking into a heap of fresh grass but came running and squeaking as soon as I went into their field. Tummy scratches are better than grass any day.

Back home I got on with household chores before finding time to sit outside and enjoy the sun. I was all changed ready to go to choir when I realised that both my knee and my back were aching and after waking at 4.00 this morning I didn't feel like going out again. 

Having decided to stay home when I found  out that it might be raining tomorrow I went ahead with my latest wild idea and began sticking glass blobs on the inside of the back gate. I eventually ran out of energy and hope I get a chance to finish off tomorrow. I'm using the expensive builder's adhesive so the glass should stay stuck but you never know, I might go out tomorrow and find a pile of glass blobs on the ground. 

White Not White.

After overnight rain it looked as if we had come to the end of the hot weather. The waves were coming in thick and fast much to the joy of the surfers and the skies were grey. But later in the afternoon we had a sudden change back to hot sun though still with the wind and the waves.

In the morning we went to Mach to meet up in the library with our friends to practise our Welsh. Since we'd had to change to Tuesday this time it meant the Royal House would be open. Of course we never miss an opportunity buy something nice to take home having left a little earlier bringing our cool bag with us.

In the library we did our best to revise anything we thought might come up in the first Zoom class of the year and to go over the next unit in our course books.

By the time we got home the sun was out. After walking down to the surgery to speak to the receptionist I was ready to do more painting. Yesterday's paint had dried whiter but was still more of a warm white rather than the cool white I had hoped for. There's not enough difference for me to go and demand my money back from Charlie's and I can use the paint up painting the garage window frames that face my neighbour's garden. Luckily I had enough white gloss in an old tin to go over everything I painted yesterday and it looks a lot better. Maybe most people wouldn't notice but I have eyes like a hawk especially for colour.

While I was painting Pete put up a second wall light in the porch. The wiring for this one isn't connected as I intend to put a small plant in it. I shall have to choose carefully as it gets very hot in the porch.

I finished off my day with an hour of Pilates. It was a hard workout today but I'm sure it does me good.

A Hot Bank Holiday.

It's been another very hot day but the word is out that this current spell of good weather is coming to an end. 

I've been painting again today. I started on the door frames and was quite shocked when I opened a new tin of 'brilliant white' gloss to find it nearer to cream with maybe a hint of green. I went ahead anyway and the paint has dried to a whiter shade though not as bright white as I hoped. That included the inside of the back gate as I have a plan for it which is still in the design stage.

I did some more wall painting as well but it was too hot and hearing the sounds of families enjoying being on the beach drained my enthusiasm for working. As soon as I came to the end of the paint in my paint kettle I put everything away and headed for the terrace.

A few more photos from yesterday.

I love the way horseshoes have been used for the name of the farm. This was a very organised and neat farm with everything in the large barns stored tidily. 

Somebody expressing their view? To be fair the cave has been 'closed' for years. We reckoned the signs were just for insurance purposes. 

Autumn?

I found this photo of The Big Tribute Festival on-line.

A Unicorn and Robbers' Cave.

The weather has been hot and sunny. Perfect for all those Bank Holiday activities like spending the day on the beach or going to The Big Tribute Festival (tribute bands, drinking, dancing and chilling) which is being held near Aber. Even out in the hills there were people everywhere.

As I sat outside this morning gannets began to appear. A few at first and then more, diving so close that the sound of them hitting the water reverberated through the air. 

And then there were flocks of hundreds of shearwaters interspersed with gannets and gulls all hunting the shoal of small fish that had swum into the bay. I've not seen so many birds that close to the cliffs before. 

After all that excitement I still had the group walk to look forward to. But first I started the sloe gin using a felting needle to prick the sloes before adding them with sugar to a litre of gin. That's the first of my Christmas presents started.

We began our walk at the home of one of the group in Cwmystwyth. From there we walked through farmland and a small wood where we encountered a unicorn peering down at us through the trees. You have to admit he was a truly beautiful creature.

Just before that we had crossed high above the River Ystwyth which had carved deep channels through the rock. (More about this bridge later.)

Soon we entered Hafod, an estate that was developed in the 'picturesque' style in the 18thC.  

There are many paths and trails across the estate which is now run by The National Trust with the NRW managing the timber plantations. We decided to ignore the signs that said the way was closed and headed up the side of a small ravine to Robbers' Cave aka Cascade Cavern where we stopped to eat our lunch.

We sat just below the entrance to a short tunnel that leads to an opening that normally sits behind a waterfall. But with so little rain this summer water was only running down a small section of the rockface. It was still impressive.

Up until last year the way to the cave had been along a wooded valley but last year's Storm Darragh had felled most of the trees and the fires earlier this summer had caused even more devastation.

Lower down the stream looked very different.

Our circular route brought us back to the road bridge. Unusually it had large rubber mats fixed along both sides of the road surface. As I walked over them they felt especially bouncy So we investigated further and this is what we found - rotting wood and holes! It didn't look like a very safe bridge to be driving over.

Returning to John's home we sat in his garden enjoying a cup of tea. Our leader had brought a carrot cake in honour of my birthday along with two candles. The candles were duly lit, Happy Birthday sung and I blew out the candles to complete the tradition. A lovely gesture that began a few years ago after I had complained that I never got a birthday cake.

A Whale Of A Time.

I'm having a really lovely day on this my 69th birthday. 

After what admittedly was a poor sleep I woke to tea, chocolates, roses and cards and then a phone call from Romas. While we were chatting a dolphin went swimming by in front of the reefs. It happens sometimes. The sun was shining and Pete had planned a day out. My favourite sort of day that involved mountains and a picnic with views. 

As we drove through the village to our surprise and joy the tasteful gift shop was open. A rare occurrence indeed though the owner told us she had been open on Saturdays over the summer. We dashed in and Pete bought me this large metal whale as a birthday gift and I bought myself the small sea bird made from wood collected on Borth Beach. 

Having first stopped in Machynlleth to buy food at the Royal House deli we headed into Snowdonia to tackle The Precipice Walk. On the way we stopped in a layby so I could take photos.

The 5km walk starts near Dolgellau [dol-ge (hiss like a cat) lie/le]. A small road winds its way up to the car park on a hill 800ft above sea level. A free car park with a picnic table and clean toilets, perfect.

From the car park we walked through woods until eventually the heather covered hill came into sight. Our route ran uphill from left to right just above the stone wall. With the geology being the same as North Devon we could have been walking around Morte Point, the same rocks and the same vegetation. There was quite a bit of uphill walking and rough going and I worried about Pete's ankles but he managed okay.

As the path swung around the spur of the hill the track narrowed and it became obvious why it is called The Precipice Walk. Not a walk for anyone with a fear of heights. Here the hillside was smothered with heather in flower and the air was filled with the heady scent of honey. There was some humming too, not from bees but from the traffic on the main road far below.

By the time the path reached the tip of the spur the noise had faded and the view got even better. Westwards the Barmouth railway bridge spanned the Mawddach Estuary with the open sea beyond while to the south were the cloud wreathed flanks of Cadair Idris. 

Just as we reached this point the only bench on the walk was vacated. Great timing for us to stop and enjoy our picnic (smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich and a brownie from home for me and a chicken and Brie panini for Pete along with a flask of coffee).  I couldn't imagine nicer fare or a nicer location.

From there the path swung around the far side of the hill until we reached a small lake. At last we were able to stride along without having to keep our eyes on the rocky path.

The car park was behind the tree covered hill on the right. From there it was just an hour's drive home.

Vytas phoned for a chat in the evening and we are looking forward to seeing him and Sally next weekend.

I could not have asked for a nicer day.