Foel Fawr.

Still sunny today with more in the way of clouds and less of the icy wind. In other words an excellent day for going out for an afternoon's walk with friends.

Five of us met at Furnace for a walk up Foel Fawr (big baldy) the hill that rises up from the main road. After crossing the road and stopping to admire the water rushing over the dam built in 1755 to power the furnace waterwheel we scrambled up the wooded slope .....

.... to the old toll road with it's wonderful moss covered stone walls.

We stayed on the road as it zig-zagged up the hill cutting off some of the bends by following narrow paths that went straight up through the bracken and brambles.

Eventually we turned off the road onto the path that runs along the side of the hill giving great views out to sea.

We stopped at the official viewpoint and perched on the rocks to eat our lunch. A robin was hanging around hopefully so I crumbled up a couple of oat biscuits for it to eat once we had gone.

As we continued along the side of the hill the darkening skies inland made the perfect backdrop for the spotlight effect of the sun on the bare trees and the golden bracken.

We came to the lone tree in the sheltered dell favoured by the ponies that live out on the hill and sure enough above us were three white ponies. It's not often that we see the ponies so that was a treat for me.

More views across the Dyfi as we made our way down the hill across some very wet sections of path before picking up the old toll road at the bottom of the hill. We then followed the toll road back to Furnace, crossed the main road and were back at the car park before dark.

Back Again.

Here I am again with things almost back to normal after a lovely family Christmas. 

The weather has been crisp and clear for the whole holiday and looks to remain so for a little while longer.

Vytas and Sally arrived Christmas Eve for our traditional meal. Christmas Day began with a light breakfast after which we exchanged gifts. The grunting pig provided much merriment especially when we played 'There and back Again.' a Hobbit dice game in the evening. (Vytas is a keen gamer and usually brings something interesting for us to play.)

Then, after I'd prepped the vegetables I took Vytas and Sally out for the same walk I'd done on Sunday. Up the hill behind Cletwr stopping to investigate various mine buildings and then back down again. The icy wind on the top of the hill fair took our breath away and frost still glistened over the grass that had stayed in the shade all day. 

Meanwhile Pete had been at home juggling the chicken and veg in and out of the oven so that we returned to a delicious roast dinner. I'd caved in and bought a Christmas pudding at the last moment for those of us who could find space for desert.

Next day we took part in the annual Boxing Day Dip in aid of Amnesty.

Plenty of smiles before we went in.

Followed by somewhat shocked expressions as we emerged. It was a lot colder than last year's dip but I still swam 10 strokes which I felt was quite an achievement. Here is a YouTube video (stills and video) of the event.

Vytas and Sally left this morning planning to call in at our friends on the way to deliver a hamper. I've been busy putting my study back to rights (it now looks so spacious and peaceful) and getting the first lot of washing in the machine. There was some wind so I hung the washing out but things aren't ready to iron yet. 

Early morning today.

 

Happy Holidays.

We had a visit from Santa this afternoon but in true Borth style he came on his jet ski. 

I was up early again this morning. As I sat out under the stars with my tea I needed a few extra layers (big coat and a throw) on top of the bodywarmer and dressing gown that usually keep me warm. The easterly wind brings the crisp cold which is okay so long as you have the right sort of clothing.

Later I saw someone from the council topping up the salt in the bin at the corner of our road. There's quite a slope going down past our house and an icy road there could easily have cars slipping out to the cliff.

I have spent the day preparing for kucios, our traditional Christmas Eve meal. 12 dishes, no meat and no dairy (ignore the butter). There will also be a couple of hot dishes, traditional mushroom filled koldunai (super sized ravioli) and spring rolls (non traditional).

Things were a bit frantic this morning when I realised that if I hurried I could get rid of even more packaging and food waste before the bin men came. That was the fastest I've every peeled eggs having seen the bin lorry going up the next road but I did it in time.

We're looking forward to seeing Vytas and Sally who should be arriving in the next hour or so.

More Shopping.

It looked grey and gloomy this morning. Later, when I was in town there was quite a bit of sunshine but as I got to the crest of the hill overlooking Borth and across the bog to the mountains I could see the haze of a damp mist covering the whole area.

A pair of blue tits came to feed on the insects in the hedge at the bottom of the garden this morning. Perhaps I should think about a bird feeder for them now that we don't have a cat. (I haven't ruled out getting another cat but not while we're going off on three week holidays.)

I got to town at 10.00 this morning which was a bit later than I had planned but although the roads and shops were busy it wasn't too bad. I got everything on my list including the free-range chicken and didn't try and go in any of the charity shops. 

I got back in reasonable time and then had fun and games trying to fit everything in the fridge. You couldn't fit another thing in there now. In case of emergency I have a clean storage tub with lid sitting in the cold garage for overflow food storage.

Then it was back to the schedule, my study is now a guest bedroom, the ironing has been done and everything is tidy. While I was out Pete had cleaned the bathroom and done the hoovering and then he went off to discuss RNLI shop matters and rowing club stuff with his mate Dave. That means that all I have to do tomorrow is prepare our traditional Christmas Eve meal which is mainly cold dishes.

A few more photos from Sunday's walk.

Turkey tail fungi. It is reputed to have medicinal uses but is currently banned in the UK as it wasn't generally eaten in the past.

My dream restoration project needs a bit of work.

With family coming to stay tomorrow I may not get a chance to blog for a while. So see you on the other side.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas.

Busy.

No wind, no rain and a calm sea today.

 

It was already light by the time I had my first cuppa sitting on the terrace. The recent heavy rains have given the ground a thorough soaking forcing the worms up to the surface. Out on the cliff there was a steady stream of birds; oystercatchers, rooks and seagulls, searching for the worms.

I've been busy all day long working my way through my to-do list. Plus a few extras.

Yesterday afternoon Pete went to a Christmas gathering of the RNLI shop volunteers and somehow came home with among other things a whole load of ripe bananas. I made banana ice-cream with most of them which might provide Sally with a lactose-free alternative to cream and with the rest I made two banana loaves. They nearly weren't banana loaves. I'd put the cakes in the oven, set the timer then turned to see the mashed bananas still sitting in a bowl on the counter. Thank goodness I noticed.

       

Another baking task, which was on my list, was to make the meringue case for a pavlova. That's still drying in the cooling oven. 

Pete had offered to pick up the chicken from the butchers' tomorrow but as I added more and more items to the shopping list I thought I'd better do the shopping myself. 

Other things done today were finishing packing the hampers, a bit of mending, washing the floors, and clearing my study so that all I need to do tomorrow is set up the trundle bed.

This evening's sunset kept getting prettier and prettier until the light got too low for photos.

Happy Solstice.

It's the Solstice, the year has turned and from now on the days get longer which is something to celebrate.

I was up at 6.00 this morning (pulled myself out of an unpleasant dream,) and had a relaxing time sitting on the terrace waiting for the world to wake. Above me the stars shone through light cloud cover and around me was the sound of blackbirds tchk tchking their alarm calls. I expect the street lights which are on all night (to prevent people driving off the cliff) mess up their sleep patterns. A solitary blackbird came down to the garden to eat the bird seed by the light of the street light before the sun made its appearance.

 

It was such a shame that what began as a lovely sunny morning then turned into a damp grey day. The clouds were looking so dark that I checked the forecast (which gave a 30% probability of rain) before deciding that I would go on the walk in the afternoon.

Todays walk began at Cletwr only 15 minutes drive away and took us into the Cambrian uplands. There were only 7 of us plus Sasha the dog.

We walked up paths and tracks that zig-zagged up the steep hill behind Cletwr. Some of the hill is still managed as forestry but in other places native birches have been allowed to re-establish themselves.

Eventually we reached the more gently sloping fields at top of the hill where we stopped for our lunch break.

With all the recent wet weather the ground was very wet underfoot but thankfully my walking boots are waterproof and I avoided sinking past the tops of the boots.

Right at the top of the hill is the ruined farm of my dreams. That is if I was thirty years younger and had very deep pockets. For now I'm perfectly happy in our finally completed home.

From the other side of the building there are amazing views across the bog, to Borth (that tiny bump below the horizon in the centre of the picture) and onwards towards Aberaeron.

From there we walked along the top of the hill before making our way back down through the woods to Cletwr. We had to rush as we were losing the light and made it down to the village by 4.00. 

It was good to spend the afternoon out in the fresh air as although I'm organised I don't think there will be much opportunity for getting out before Christmas.

No Rain.

Not a drop of rain today which made a lovely change. Although it was cold in the shade I wrapped up and gave the front garden a good tidy up. 

The lavender has finished flowering (just) at last so I gave it the lightest of trims taking off a little more where it overhung the stepping stones. Then I worked my way up the path picking up all the dead stalks and leaves from the shingle. I found more myob lurking in the one of the flowerbeds so that went too and I did some cutting back of the hydrangea that overhangs the raised beds. 

 

Eventually I retreated back indoors for an afternoon in the kitchen. (How anybody does this for pleasure is beyond me.) At least now all the shallots have been chopped up and put in the freezer for future use. 

Also in the freezer are a large number of sage and onion stuffing balls. Peter prefers the stuff you buy in boxes which saved me having to make the stuffing for our Christmas dinner from scratch. I did add cooked chestnuts to half the mixture and put more chopped onion in both lots. I hadn't been sure how much to buy (won't eat supermarket chicken and can't remember when I last had a roast dinner) so ended up buying 4 boxes which made an awful lot of egg sized balls. But we only need to take out as much as we need and the remainder will do for later. 

I finally decanted the sloe gin. This year's version is more of a tawny colour than last year's which was redder, maybe from the blackberries I used with the sloes. Once I'd removed the sloes I thought about putting them out for the birds but decided against that idea. I'm not sure how well inebriated seagulls would cope with floating on the waves.