It's Summer!

Never mind that it's still April, today has definitely been a summer's day. Blue skies, warm winds and sun all day. In town this afternoon it must have been in the high twenties and it was still lovely here with a light breeze. A noticeable number of people in town were wearing shorts, lots of pale legs getting their first airing. (Mine aren't much better.) 

Sitting outside this morning it was very relaxing watching the waves rolling in. First there would be just a hint of a rise in the sea's surface then as each wave began to form the morning sun lit up the constantly changing curves as they rushed towards the shore. Finally the waves would break upon the sand with a delicate web of foam behind. All this was accompanied by the gentle shushing of waves upon the shore. A lovely way to start the day.

At the stables I had my chunky favourite, Tex. He was looking very dapper with a carefully brushed mane and tail thanks to 3 or 4 members of the Pony club. I took the photo after the lesson when I'd tied him up in the yard as he was needed for a half hour private lesson. (Yes, I can see that the buckle of his flash noseband needs to be pushed back up to the middle.) You can also see by the length of the leathers where my feet come to. But he is a strong pony and I'm not too heavy for him. 

Our lesson today was all about creating 'bend' and I have to say that Tex managed it really well including working on the bit. We had to do a lot of 'change the rein' diagonally across the school bending one way to start with, straight in the middle and then bending the other way.

Afterwards I took bags and bags of hedge cuttings to the dump plus a few other things. I came away with two tins of satin finish white paint for the skirting boards, some white masonry paint for the garden walls and some blue also for the garden. If they're no good I'll return them next time I go to the dump. Considering paint is over £20 a tin it's worth checking the dump first. Then I bought a tin of white stain cover paint at Screwfix and had a wander around Hahav.

In town I found this colourful cardigan (for the carnival) in a charity shop's zero waste tub for 20p and Peter got something too. After I'd found him the cashmere jumper he'd asked me to keep an eye out for a polo neck one to wear when he goes rowing. And today I found him exactly that. M&S, grey, XL and 70% cashmere for £4.50. Not bad.

At home once we'd unpacked the shopping and I'd loaded the washing machine I baked a Bara Brith. Not for Peter this time but for Romas and Laura as we are driving up to see them tomorrow. We'll be having a meal out with Laura's family to celebrate their engagement. After that I had an hour of sitting out in the sun trying to get a little bit of colour in my legs.