Icy Winds.

There has been a lot of sun today but it was also very cold with the strong and icy northerly winds. 

I was out nice and early on the terrace, well wrapped up drinking tea and then coffee. I spent some time watching a lone surfer who wasn't having much luck as the waves though large were too choppy and irregular to surf. I'm not sure the single cormorant that was fishing close to the cliffs was doing better either as eventually it flew back to the reef. Later a single red kite flew past, cruising low above the edge of the cliff looking for small creatures in the grass.

Whatever the weather (well maybe not rain), sea conditions are usually good for one sport or another. And with today's strong winds out came the kite surfers and a few brave kayakers.

Having got the water butt project out of the way I spent some time working on mix and matching two bar stools. Stage one was to re-cover the seat of one with a piece of leather (salvaged from an unneeded sofa) that was just about the right size. I also used an old exercise mat for a little extra padding.

I used every single upholstery pin in the jar to get it looking reasonably neat and then joined the back piece back on. Next step was to put the seat on the pedestal of the new stool. That's where I ran into problems as I could only undo one of the four bolts. At that point I gave up on the whole project and began looking on-line for a new stool instead. But I couldn't find exactly what I wanted there anyway.

After a coffee and an old episode of Call The Midwife I thought I'd give the bolts one more try. With the aid of a pair of pliers I was able to turn the allan key and soon the old seat was on the new pedestal.

The old seat is still not as padded as the new seat but the new seat has a metal frame that goes up at the sides and presses into my hips so I'll stick with the old seat.

I felt disappointed that I didn't get to work in the garden but it really was bitterly cold and yes my back was twinging after working on the seat. At least I got to see the sun.

A possible heads up to anyone who might be visiting Aber - I've just heard that the Matalan/ Iceland car park has reduced the time limit from 3 hours to 90 minutes. £45 fine if you stay longer. I believe this is due to the council taking away free parking on the prom. I'll have to wear a watch or park in Tesco's if I want to stay longer. Update - There's some confusion about this on the local FB page. It may be that the original person was in the Lidl/ Argos car park which is 90 minutes as people are posting photos of the sign in the Matalan car park which still says 3 hours.