Grey turning to Sun.

The morning looked quite grey so I wore my jacket for my walk into town but it soon warmed up and I stuffed the jacket into my backpack. I called in to the bank to pay for the last three skips we'd had in Borth. Apparently the skip hire is a lot cheaper than down here and because we have a driveway we don't have to apply for a licence to have a skip on the road which adds to the cost.

While in town I called in at the bank to check out some Which reviews using the library's log in. Which do their own testing and reading their reports cuts out fake reviews. The only problem is that it is expensive to have a subscription and using the one free month often leads to inadvertently signing up for a year. So when I need a review it's off to the library I go. I was checking out microwaves as the new one I bought 6 weeks ago from Tesco's has already begun to form a line of rust inside the oven. This used to happen with the cheap supermarket basic models I've had before but not for 12 or 18 months. I thought buying a more expensive model would prevent this from happening not escalate it. And we do wipe the inside including the roof each time we heat food up. Unfortunately the Which testing didn't cover rust formation but I'll still buy from their list of best buys once I get a refund from Tesco's.

This afternoon I was up in the loft to track down a particular photo of my mother I wanted to show somebody. I did find that photo but naturally I looked through the photos in the box. Sadly all too often there are no dates or names on the photos and I can only guess who the people are. Funnily enough looking at class photos I could still pick out my mother from the large groups of girls with similar hairstyles even though she would only have been about 12 or 13.

Wet.

Extremely wet for most of the day and it's only now in the late afternoon that the rain has stopped. A good day for taking things easy. Also a very good test of the conservatory and hooray! no water has got in. My efforts have finally been successful. The only thing out of the ordinary that I've done today was to climb up in the loft to bring down a couple of pictures.

The snapdragons are still flowering. The conditions must be just right for them but I'll be digging them up when we do finally move. Too nice to be left behind and descendants of the plants I brought home over 30 years ago. 

Cool and Breezy.

Windy again today with a late appearance of the sun. 

I drove to the sawmill to collect the wood all ready to be made into a tv unit. Looking at my inspiration below I see that the middle shelf is set further back so I should have had it cut narrower.  A little extra work for me. I don't plan to shape the sides until we are in Borth and know exactly where the tv will be. Going into the sawmill workshop the air was filled with the glorious smell of fresh cut wood. I'm assuming that everyone likes that smell. It takes me back to my childhood when workshops and studios also smelled of wood. Maybe that's why from an early age I announced that when I grew up I was going to be a carpenter like Joseph. That lasted until about 6 or 7 when I decided to become a vet and that ambition lasted until I failed to get the grades to take up my place at vet school. Mind you I don't think I was studious enough to get through the 7 years of training and I'd have a hard time putting anything to sleep.

With the sun out in the afternoon I decided to finish off sealing the conservatory roof. I'd done the accessible side but a little rain was getting in on the side nearest the garden wall. The difficulty was that the space between the conservatory and the garden wall is only just enough to slide into and even if I put the ladder up neither the plastic conservatory gutter nor the trellis of the garden wall were sturdy enough to lean the ladder against. Luckily our aluminium ladder is the sort that converts into an A shape and you can vary the joining point and make one side shorter than the other. This I did sitting the short side on the decking and the long side on the paving below which gave me enough height to reach nearly halfway along the roof. Hopefully that will do it otherwise the last option to reach the rest of the conservatory roof is to hang out of the window of Peter's study and I don't fancy doing that.

I was flopped in the armchair after a pedalling session when I noticed what looked to be a sheep in the front garden. Of course it wasn't, being the reflection of the fluffy fleece on the sofa but it made me smile.

Windy.

Today has been quite wild and windy and apart from a brief shower which blew in through the window as I did my exercises, dry. I love the wind so instead of shutting the window next to me I just put on a warm top. It's been a good day for me in that  I've got things done. All my exercises and a return to my music practice which I'd been a bit lax with. 

In the morning we drove to the sawmill and ordered three 2 inch thick planks for me to build the tv unit from. Peter and the sawmill chap persuaded me that I should have all three from the mill rather than using some pine from the garage. The wood is Monterey Pine and will be planed and sanded bringing the price to just over £100. That's a lot of money but it should be a lovely piece of custom made furniture which I haven't even seen for sale. Our current 20 year old unit was second-hand when we got it and was adapted when we changed to slim TVs so I don't feel bad about throwing it away. (It's in too poor condition to offer free.)

The nasturtiums in the back garden are gradually being munched by Cabbage White caterpillars. I'm not overly bothered and maybe the butterflies should be given a chance too. I spotted the culprit laying eggs, oh well. 

Last year I used a lot of rose prunnings to keep the cats off the planters and a few of them took root. I saved a couple to try in Borth and one is already flowering. Garden roses are usually grown on a hardy rootstock but I'll give it a go in the sheltered courtyard garden. It would be lovely to have that beautiful scent again.

As we're now into September I collated my daily notes for the summer; June, July & August, ready to write into my family journal. 

I had a bit of fun using Google Street view to track down a property in Cornwall where I spent the summers of my early teens. Surprisingly, as they were quite isolated and are still on almost a dirt track I found the two cottages my mother's Bohemian friends lived in. One of them was originally a pre-fab or shed type building and I can remember standing on top of the flat roof helping to put up the wooden A-frames for the new roof. I was able to show Peter the downhill track we used to coast down on on a engine-less motorbike.

Grey.

Today has been cooler, grey but not actually wet. Peter went out shopping while I baked some biscuits and did the housework then both of us got on with organising a short trip to St Ives. We had planned to go before the summer but things kept happening. It's mostly a visit down memory lane revisiting my early childhood home and the place where we spent our honeymoon. We are also taking some of my mother's framed drawings which will be in an exhibition organised by the Penwith Society. 

Back to Borth......

On the Saturday we walked down to the lifeboat ramp to see the first act of Borth Begins- "Borth Begins is an inclusive community theatre event taking place on August 31st 2019. It will be a procession piece in four different locations around the village and will encompass the full range of creative arts including spoken word, dance, song, music, visual arts, drama, costume and set design. People are taking part from across the full age range in the village and from many local groups. Borth Begins is about herrings, history and Borth happenings from the old seafaring days to modern times. "

If they do it next year or something similar I'm sure I'll be joining in.  Three of our neighbours were in this and I've been following rehearsal progress on FB.

There is quite a large 'arty' community in Borth, can't wait to see what's going on. However I had wallpaper to remove so back I went. While I was working I could hear some banging. I thought maybe Peter had come back or that somebody was at the front door, there are a number of doors into the place, but when I went and looked nobody was there. Back to work I went only to hear the banging carry on. I checked the street and the back door and garage but I couldn't see anyone. Then I wondered if the builder was checking out the flat roof so I walked across the street so that I could see the roof and finally found the origin of the noise. A big seagull was up there trying to eat a bread roll while being harassed by a couple of jackdaws. 

Showers sweeping across the Enchanted Isles. 

Result!

My furious phone calls and emails to John Lewis have paid off. I spoke to them today and they initially offered me a full refund for the trundle bed and mattresses, however when I said we were quite happy with the bed frames they offered me a 50% refund and I keep the beds and mattresses. This was a 'good faith' payment rather than admittance that the mattresses were unsuitable but that's fine by me. We'll go into Bensons again and order new mattresses to be delivered the next time we go to Borth. It'll cost a little more than the refund but we don't mind. I'm sure there'll be a charity in Aberystwyth who will take the original mattresses as I think they'll be fine for children.

Unlike yesterday which was sunny and windy which got the washing dry in no time today we had a grey start. By the time the washing machine was done the sun had come out and the washing dried nicely. It's already been ironed and put away before the latest lot of showers rolled in.

Despite trying to take things a bit easier this time my ribs have begun to ache again. I still got through today's house work and the ironing without too much trouble. (Cue the violins.)

This time in Borth we concentrated on the back garden which had become so overgrown that we couldn't even get into it. While Peter cleared stuff from the garage and coal store I chopped away at the growth until the path could finally be seen.

It is clear that this garden was much loved in its time by keen gardeners. The front garden and sides of the bungalow are filled with planters while the back garden boasted two greenhouses fully kitted out with staging and trays. With my aim of turning the garden into a future proofed ie. low maintenance garden I don't need the greenhouses. These are already being offered free to anyone who wants to come and dismantle them. Peter cleared all the rubbish out of the first greenhouse and he'll have to remove the wooden and metal staging before the greenhouse is ready to go. Across the end of the garden and about 10ft deep is a substantial wooden shed which we will be tackling next time. 

Opposite the second greenhouse was a wooden pergola structure which I took down. Then I turned my attention to two trees growing behind the pergola. The one next to the first greenhouse was tricky to cut down in that I didn't want the heavy branches crashing down through the greenhouse roof. The fence on that side is about 8ft high and the neighbours must have wondered what was going on as branches shook and then disappeared. I've left about 3ft of the trunk as I may let it stay as a smaller bush. There's a small mahonia? on the other side of the garden about which I haven't made my mind up as I'm not that keen on mahonias.

Here you see the tree safely down, half is in the skip and the other half piled up in the foreground. Once everything is cleared out it should all look a lot bigger. The current plan is for a sunny, sheltered courtyard garden with a washing line. 

After Peter cut back the street side of the front garden hedge I made a start at hacking back the hedge from inside the garden. There's now a massive pile of branches on top of the old lawn. Later the gang of sparrows flew down into the hedge with much twittering. I could imagine them saying 'Oi, what's happened to ar 'ome!' (Sparrows have to have a Cockney accent.)

As the sun goes down in the evening it lights up the hills behind Borth. Can't wait to go exploring.

Back in Devon.

We're back home again after another working 'break' in Borth. Both the journeys proved trouble free with just a smattering of rain and the usual miles of speed restrictions on the motorways. Before we left Borth this morning we called in at a chap's cottage with some bags of coal Peter had found when clearing out the coal store (a horribly mucky job). We have no use for them so Peter asked around in the pub if anyone wanted them and was put in touch with a disabled man who could use them.

While there were a few showers while we were in Borth they generally didn't last long. For some reason the air usually seems balmy giving a real holiday feeling to the place. We still can't quite believe that this isn't just for a holiday but soon will be our full-time home. Popping out to buy some milk  and walking down the road alongside the sea feels unreal and amazing at the same time. 

My first task on Thursday after the long drive was to continue clearing the middle section of the front garden getting as far as the gates that separate it from the lawned front of the garden. Sitting up on the terrace I've been allowing plans for the front garden to gradually evolve, thinking of how I can re-use what's already there and what to do with the plants which are so very overgrown. We brought the electric hedge trimmer with us and on Saturday Peter cut back a lot of the lower section of the hedge while I chased the branches being blown up and down the road and got them into bags. Even with the stepladder Peter could only reach halfway into the hedge but a lot of the width will be cut back from the garden side. (Forgot to take a photos.) For our rest breaks we sat out on the terrace watching the mountains, sky and sea and of course people. This time the stronger winds brought more surf and surfers. Conditions are never going to be as good as Putsborough but I'm sure Romas will be out there on his board while Sally and Vytas bodyboard. 

We call these the Enchanted Isles as sometimes they are there and sometimes not. In fact the only real island Bardsey is out of sight to the left while the others are high points on the Lleyn Peninsula 30 miles to the north across Cardigan Bay. 

We're still waiting for a start date from the builder but the electrician called round and was most impressed with the amount of work we've already done. I took the wallpaper off a couple of walls in the room that will be my study/guest room but most of our work this time was outside. We've been wondering if it would be possible to simply tile over the existing fully tiled walls in the kitchen, bathroom, utility and 2nd toilet. The walls are 8 1/2 ft. high so that's going to be a lot of tiles to hack off. Peter has taken advice and it seems that although you can score the tiles first before tiling over them we really  need to take them off. Oh my.

Sunset yesterday evening. While I was watching the sun go down a brother and sister aged around 10 years old were playing hockey on the newly cut cliff top. I kept hoping that they wouldn't hit the ball right over the cliff and they didn't. I expect the number of dog walkers we see on the cliff will drop when the 'No Dogs On The Beach' restrictions are lifted at the end of September.