Dry.

The day began beautifuly with blue skies and plenty of warmth (above). It was still sunny when I had I completed all my jobs but by the time I got out the chair cushions out the clouds had arrived and the temperature had dropped (below).

I decided that today should be a 'no grubbing in the dirt' day as I wanted to let a raw bit on top of my toe get some air for the day. A few days ago I'd scraped my toe on the leg of the bed, nothing serious but quite painful at the time. I've always had poor circulation in my fingers and toes so healing especially now I'm older, is a slow process. I've been putting on an iodine dressing and keeping it covered and will continue to do so but I thought a day to air would help. But not if I got dirt in it so no gardening. Instead I played the piano, did my Duo Lingo and took my folder out to do my Welsh homework. We've been doing a lot of revision so I had to use my brain to skip around the topics. I ended my afternoon ironing the washing which had dried nicely on the line. 

Yesterday.

There was a flash of drama with the sunset last night and before that ('scuse the lean.) an interesting spotlight effect on the sea.

Yesterday evening we were eating our supper when we were alerted to the presence of a dolphin by our neighbour stopping his van at the bottom of the garden so his girls could watch the dolphin. We all had a great view as the dolphin fished close by in the gap between the two reefs. But then a swimmer decided to swim out towards the dolphin and got to within about 6ft of it. And then ..... no Disneyesque interaction between human and dolphin but simply the dolphin left, scared away from its food source. I was so cross though it was more likely ignorance on the swimmer's part. Research has shown that the main cause of the decline in the population of dolphins in Cardigan Bay is disturbance by humans which is why it's illegal to take a boat or jet ski within 100m of dolphins. I wish I had given in to my initial desire to go down and have a word with the swimmer.

 

Warm.

The day began grey and warm with a calm sea. Later the clouds began to clear and it got even warmer. Warm enough to dry the washing out on the line.

I have spent as much time as I can gardening. Before I could think about putting down a last row of slabs in the back garden I had to sort out the concrete edge for the vegetable bed. It was a shame that the space wasn't quite right, if I put the edging slab in one position there wasn't enough room for the slabs and if I set it further in then the second edging slab didn't fit. I've gone with that solution in the hope that Peter can cut the concrete with his stone cutter. Having got so far I made a start on digging up the narcissi bulbs which is a harder job than I thought it would be. I don't remember planting them so deep. I took the bulbs that I dug up down to the front garden and got them planted at the back of one of the raised beds.

The next clematis to flower.

 

Chilly.

The weather has not been kind to us today. It rained heavily overnight with some showers in the morning. It did dry up for the afternoon but there was the ever present threat of more rain and it was decidedly cold. 

While we ate our breakfast I spotted a seal in the sea. It stayed up long enough for me to be able to watch through the binoculars as it ate a fish it had caught. Yesterday evening we'd seen two dolphins swimming nearby and then moving down the coast.

I still got in a little gardening after breakfast. I planted the spring star flower bulbs in swathes around the herbaceous perennials in the raised beds. They flower very early in the Spring so should provide some colour while the main plants are still sleeping.

Later on we went to the local street party which this year was timed to coincide with the Jubilee celebrations. A much smaller turnout this year not doubt due to the cold weather. I was glad I'd 'layered up' which kept me reasonably warm. However we enjoyed renewing aquaitances and meeting more of our neighbours. The new family that moved in next-door also came along and it was good to start getting to know them. 

Seeing the way we got together to share food got me thinking about the recent item on social media about how in Sweden children or even adults visiting another house would not be offered food and might even be expected to sit at the table unfed while the family ate their meal. Very different cultural expectations. I come from a background where hospitality means sharing food, the best you can offer so it is very difficult to understand. It just goes to show what coming from a different culture can involve. I found the map below very interesting. I wonder how the rest of the world would fit into those categories? BTW I never think of myself as English, just British with a Lithuanian heritage. Guests to my home will be fed.

Cooler.

Most of the day it's been grey, warm(ish) and windy and generally dry. There have been the occasional moments of sun but they had passed each time I planned to sit out. 

The photo above was taken during one of the sunnier spells but for most of the morning the beach was empty and the only people out on the water were some fishermen in their small metal skiffs. I thought I saw a seal close insore but it had gone before I could grab my binoculars.

It was dry so I was back out in the garden after breakfast. I began by tidying here and there and then gave the passage at the side of the house a good sweep. I'd got fed up of walking along it and seeing small drifts of soil and leaves so down I went on hands and knees and swept, prised out seedings from between the slabs and generally tidied up. There's a channel at the side that hold a hose pipe which over the years had filled with soil from the various planters kept there. No wonder elder bushes had taken root there. I'd cut back all the top growth last year and today I was able to pull up most of the roots and trim down the stumps which I'd already treated with weedkiller. I'll wait until the plumber moves the boiler to pressure wash the slabs. I had just finished the job when down came one of a number of brief showers.

When I stopped for a break I had a sudden hankering for some of this seeded rye bread so I popped down to the shop. It's expensive but oh so nice. I had a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of coffee for lunch. 

I had a baking session in the afternoon and made some peanut butter and chocolate cookies. I made some half size with a square of chocolate allowed to melt onto the top. My version of dainty which I'll take to the street party if it's not rained off.

Mrs. Kendall Clark, my favourite hardy geranium, is flowering in the new raised bed.

 

Some Showers.

A more typical British summer's day today. Mainly dry but not too warm with the occasional shower. In the afternoon there was a yellow weather warning for succesive thunderstorms over Snowdonia and a friend who lives further up the coast reported heavy rain. I heard the distant rumble of thunder but assumed it was a big vehicle.

Here it was dry enough for me to spend most of the day outside. I had to rush and remove the washing from the line when the first rain fell but it was soon over. Jobs done outside today included emptying out more of the big troughs ready for relocating by the street wall. They were filled with good compost plus a lot of polystyrene packaging beans which had been added as a filler. That's not a bad idea but a nuisance when you want to pick all the bits out. I also rescued half a bucketful of tiny Spring star flower bulbs and found some iris rhizomes which are now planted out in the front garden. I finished off by washing and moving more of the pebbles.

That's not a shark or a deceased dolphin following the inflatable canoe, at least I hope not.

More pretty sea colours.

Despite the need for the adults to wrap up there were plenty of families out enjoying the beach.

A blue tit visiting the hedge.

 

Warm.

It was a proper Borthbados day this morning, incredibly warm with barely a breeze to send ripples across the calm sea. A perfect start to the two day Bank Holiday that we've (the working population at least) been  allocated for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration. I will declare now (hate me if you wish) that I fail to see why we should revere one particular family (a German one at that) simply because their ancestors were better at fighting or politicking than their peers but ...... when you look at the behaviour and appaling lack of integrity and judgement of the head of our government, oh my. A government dominated by an elite who went to a limited number of exclusive schools that is only concerned with maintaining the status quo. Somehow they managed to get 43% of the votes in the last election, imagine if we'd been voting for a president, what an even worse mess we'd be in? So although though the Queen is not allowed to influence political decisions at least her position blocks the Government from assuming ultimate power.

With the majority of people not going to work and children on their half-term holiday it was noticably quiet this morning. Just the muted sounds of families walking down to the beach breaking the near silence. Unfortunately it began to haze over half way through the morning and the temperature dropped, at least here at the coast.

No Zoom class today as it is half-term but instead four of us met up to go through some of our course work and generally chat about learning Welsh. Instead of meeting in the cafe in Mach which was likely to be crowded we met at one of the group's home in Pennal, a pretty village about 45 minutes from here.

It was great to go through the parts of the course that confused us, a lot confuses me, and to share tips on where to access helpful resources. Our course is run by the Welsh Govt. (which is nothing like Parliament) and has excellent on-line resources. I now know how to find even more revision videos for the units we've covered which will be very useful during the long summer break. It's also helpful to share books for learners or children that we've found and it's just good to get to know each other better too.

Imagine having this view at the end of your road.

On the way back home we stopped in Mach to get milk and a few things at the Co-Op. The town was busy but while the shops were open the charity shops were all closed so I didn't mind not stopping for a walk around. However going into the supermarket was a good reminder to me to avoid shopping with Peter. Even with no time constraints and nothing being said I could feel the vibes coming off Peter, vibes that said 'Hurry up.' and 'Let's get out of here.' which he admits are exactly what he was thinking. That put me in a fluster and instead of a calm walk through the aisles of an unfamiliar shop I rushed around, didn't look at my list which means we have no croissants for Sunday and generally didn't enjoy the experience. Next time he can stay in the car.

We had a change to our sedate routine this evening walking down to the beach as the sun was setting. A minimal sunset tonight. (Unlike yesterday when we had a tropical sunset with the Llyn peninsula sihouetted against a band of deepening orange above the horizon. Above a clear crescent moon and below a sparkling sea with a small bat fluttering above the garden.)

Tonight's event at the Lifeboat Station was part of a countrywide lighting of Jubilee Beacons. We had imagined a giant bonfire, think Gondor, but it was in fact a gas powered flare. Before the lighting the lifeboat crew were given Jubilee medals for their service. One chap had been part of the RNLI since the sixties and this was his fourth Jubilee medal. I remember the silver Jubilee when Peter and I watched the London fireworks from the King's College student union building. Somebody had found a ladder up onto the roof and a number of us climbed up for a grandstand view of the fireworks.

After we walked back from the beach we stayed out for a while watching a number of bonfires, some on the beach, one on the hill above Aberdyfi and even further away one right on top of the headland above Tywyn. Later I was just getting changed for bed when there came the sound of large display type fireworks being set off from this end of the village. I rushed out and caught a glimpse of the fireworks as Speedy disappeared into the bushes.

Windy.

The day began with rain, not a good start for the first day of summer but then it brightened to what constitutes a British summer's day. The British view is 'never mind the cold wind, at least the sun is shining.'

I went to the zoo all togged up for rain but it wasn't long before first the coat came off, then my jumper and I began wondering if I should have had a sun hat with me. Today I had a thorough weed of the big play area. Last weeks' hoeing and raking would have been more effective if we'd had hot dry weather. The wet weather we did have only encouraged some of the weeds to start growing again so I went over the whole area on my hands and knees removing every weed and fluffing  up the woodchip at the same time. 

It took nearly five hours which is probably too much for my back but I wanted to get it all done. There were lots of visitors at the zoo and the play area was very popular with the children. While I didn't stop for a coffee break with any of the other volunteers I did have some fun conversations with the children. One little girl, aged about 6 years old, told me she was going to be a (sub)marine biologist and another even younger and quite petite little girl told me about going to gymnastics as she hung from the monkey bars. One toddler, able to walk but not talk came and stood by me as I dug over the woodchip with a long handled hand fork. He obviously wanted to have a go with the fork so I handed it over, he gave a couple of digs and then gave me back the trowel, so sweet. (Granny was standing close by). It was interesting to see how the children tackled the climbing tasks and how their parents interacted with them. One mother came over and told her child ' There's no such word as can't', and then gave the child advice on how to tackle the obstacle. I was also impressed with the father who asked his son, who had been getting too boisterous and ignoring an adult, to sit down by him in time out for a while. 

When I came home I sat outside with a cup of coffee for a while. I was just about to go back inside when I spotted two dolphins quite close to the cliff. I'm always excited to see the dolphins. There were a couple of walkers going by on the grass so I called out to let them know about the dolphins and they got a chance to see them too. 

I realised that yesterday's biscuits were a bit too pale so after a test run I put them back in the oven for another 8 minutes to crisp them up. Then it was time to decorate them, lemon icing and sprinkles on one lot and chocolate on the others. Instead of the usual palaver of melting chocolate and having messy bowls to wash up I just put a square of chocolate on each hot biscuit as soon as they came out of the oven, swirled the chocolate around to spread it and then added some chocolate sprinkles. So much easier. I haven't tried any of the decorated biscuits but Peter was very happy with the chocolate one he had after supper.