Sunny.

Lovely weather again today.

Because it was only 6.30 when I first woke I decided to go back to sleep for a few hours after feeding Speedy. That was nice but resulted in a late start to the day so that I ended up cramming in all I wanted to do and then not having time for a relaxing afternoon on the terrace. Instead, after our usual croissants and Archers breakfast, I got some washing out on the line and aired another lot of dustsheets and then with Peter's help got the bedroom tv and some other stuff up into the loft. It was incredibly hot up there, so much so that I'm imagining the paintings melting. We left the loft hatch open for the rest of the day to let some of the heat disperse. After that I went out where most of my time was spent weeding and sweeping the paving slabs that run alongside the garage and then moved on to general weeding and garden tidying. I still squeezed in some time out on the terrace but in future I'll try and avoid those extra hours snoozing in the mornings.

Finally carnival photos are being posted on FB. While I got to see the houses and the floats that were near us in the procession there were a lot that I didn't see until now. I think that in Borth the carnival is the equivalent of Halloween in North America which despite the efforts of the supermarkets etc trying to cash in on the idea is not really celebrated here.

Welsh dragons are always popular.

The Friendship Inn being transformed into Peaky Blinders with a Borth twist.

Celebrating Cantre'r Gwaelod, the kingdom that was drowned 3,000-6,000 years ago.

Pesky seagulls/rubbish/recycling.

Another Welsh dragon.

Sea creatures.

Contrary to my original thoughts all these floats are made by local groups for this carnival only as apart from a smaller one in Aber there are no others in the region. It's just Borth's special day when the community gets together to amuse the holidaymakers.

 Just found this brief clip on FB. So glad I'm incognito.

Sunny.

It's been a nice sunny day with a good breeze. Perfect for airing out more of the stored dust sheets.

First thing this morning I walked down to the shop for a bottle of milk. I knew we were running low yesterday but didn't have the energy to go back to the shop before it closed. Instead I had a sunny walk along the cliff while the village slowly woke up after yesterday's extravaganza. I heard that there were at least 2,000 people here. 

Straight after breakfast I drove down to Ynyslas to a small garden centre. It's not so much a garden centre but sells a large range of concrete garden ornaments and summer bedding plants plus a few perennial bedding plants. They had advertised that they were selling off their perennials for £1 each so I thought I'd have a look. Unfortunately they began their sale yesterday and by this morning only had about a dozen plants left. To save it being a wasted journey I bought three pinks; one white, one striped and one pink. As I was leaving I spotted a gorgeous kitten and of course I couldn't resist playing with it for a while. So small and cute and soft pawed but no I'm not in the market for a kitten at the moment. Not that this one needed a new home.

We now have very tall lettuces.

Back at home I bagged up some stuff for the loft and then discovered that my furniture wax has dried up and even after being left out in the hot sun is unusable. That meant I couldn't wax two old wooden chairs one of which at least I'd planned to put in the loft too. Instead I had a sort out in the garage. Peter's enthusiasm for this job seems to have waned and all too soon it will be autumn when we should start keeping the car in the garage not out on the drive exposed to salty winds.

Then I got out the mower and carried on tidying up the front garden. I had planned to shape the wildflower area into more of a circle but somehow took too much off the top so it's just a random shape. At least mowing the paths made it look much better. Mowing done, even just the paths filled a bin bag with mowings, I finished off the edges that I'd left as I didn't want to mow down the mint. It's a really strong spearmint growing there and the smell was wonderful as I worked. Not so enjoyable was climbing over the azaleas to trim the inside of the hedge and pull up as many of the brambles as I could.

Thoroughly worn out I ended my day on the terrace watching people out on the water.

Not too many carnival photos appearing on FB yet, just a few more decorated houses and here is a FB video of the Peaky Blinders float and here is the rowing club float starring The Owl and The Pig.

 Sunset tonight.

Carnival Day.

Apart from one shower ealier in the morning the weather today has been pefect for the carnival.

We met at 11.00 down in the car park where the tractor pulled out the boat from the small field the club keeps its two surf boats in. (The two celtic longboats are kept in the boat park by the lifeboat station.) As it was quite windy it was decided to decorate the boat once we were up by the golf club at the other end of the village. 

Walking up alng the High Street I took photos of some of the houses that had also been decorated, some very elaborately.

The Friendship Inn had been turned into a set from Peaky Blinders and they had an amazing float. The photo I took of the float wasn't very good (I was using the phone camera ) but I'm sure there will some posted on FB that I can share.

Our float was quite last minute but we threw on a ton of tinsel and then just before the procession set off the wooden mast with its sail emblazoned with 'The Owl and the Pussycat' was lashed to one of the seats in the boat. Once I'd put on my costume and mask it was too awkward to take photos.

We processed back down the High Street shaking collecting tins at all the people watching. Peter got many nice comments for his owl costume and I made lots of children smile as I wiggled my curly tail at them. I enjoyed hamming it up (see what I did there?) pleading for 'pennies for the piggy?' from the children who were watching with their handfuls of change and exhorting adults to support local charities. And I thanked everyone in english and welsh. Nearly everyone was taking photos and videos and I was quite glad that I was covered up with my mask so that I could be a silly as I liked.

I hadn't realised that after the carnival there is great gathering on the playing field with a kiddies fun fair, some food stalls, a beer stand and dance music playing loudly. (It would make a fantastic venue for a small music festival.) I quickly marched home to offload our costumes before coming back to join Peter who was having a beer with a friend.

What I liked to see was that holidaymakers and carnival participants had brought chairs and picnics to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I'll have to ask, maybe there is live music later on.

Peter's back and ankle were hurting after all that walking so he walked slowly home while I had a wander round soaking up the atmosphere and nibbling a piece of lemon drizzle cake bought from the community hub's stand. To cheer Peter up I brought him home a bun from the hog roast stall which included a big piece of crackling.

Arriving home I chatted to our neighbours who have come down to work on their house. Then I had a much needed rest sitting out with a coffee on the terrace.

 

Costume Making.

The wind is making things distinctly chilly but apart from that it has been a nice sunny day. This morning Speedy, who has been staying out most nights, came into our bedroom at 7.00 and woke me up by bopping me on the head. As I had a lot planned for the day I thought I might as well get up and get on with the morning routine.

There had been a few messages on FB from people saying they wouldn't make it to cake and chat today, (including the lady who was going to make the cake) so I wasn't too surprised when only one other lady turned up. We had a chat for a while with a chap who has one of the allotments and then we attempted our alloted task. We had been asked to cut off any of the fruit tree branches that were showing signs of fire-blight but in the end we only found one. We retired back to the new benches where we shared some (shop) biscuits that I had brought along and I had my coffee. I offered to share the coffee but my companion didn't drink coffee. It was good to be out for a bit and the bike ride is good for me too. I'm now able to cycle up most of the slopes without having to get off the bike and I'm not puffing so much when I get home.

And then it was time to make our carnival costumes. This is a good old fashioned British carnival with weird and wonderful creations rather than the glitz of a Rio carnival. Now wouldn't that be a sight on a chilly summer's day?

(Remember we're only doing this to support the rowing club and the community plus the carnival raises fund for various local projects.) My piggy costume wasn't too hard to put together though I suspect I may end up very hot with cushions strapped to my front and back. I need to go over the lines on Peter's wings as the brown felt pen was fading and I still need to make a sign 'To the land where the Bong Tree grows.' to go on either the boat or the tractor. I may even make some owl feet for Peter. It has taken me all afternoon and I feel quite worn out.

A nice bright evening to end the day.

 

Sunny.

I wasn't too sure what the weather would be when I looked out of the windows this morning as overhead we had clear skies while from the kitchen window all I could see were dark grey clouds inland.

Fortunately the westerly winds kept the clouds away and even though this evening there was a cloudbank over Snowdonia (below) here it was fine. Perfect conditions for surfers and kids with bodyboards.

In the morning I cycled to the zoo where in my quest to clear the weeds from the gravel in front of the main gates I spent five hours digging away with a hand hoe. It looked lovely when I finished though I didn't take a photo.

The zoo's current licence allows them to have a limited number of days when they can show the exotic animals to the public so today was the first of the VIP days. The public are allowed into the hill section of the zoo where they can see the emus, wallabies, coatis, and some other animals and they also get to meet some of the reptiles and creepy crawlies. The zoo was full of people which was good but I think I may change my day to avoid the crowds.

After I finished my weeding I went up to the hill where I met and chatted to one of my friends before having a wander around to take a few photos.

Back home, after I stopped puffing after cycling up most of the slope home I hung out some dust sheets. When I was sorting out the utility room the other day I'd found that the dustsheets in two boxes were quite musty. I'm going to give them a good airing before deciding if any of the spare sheets are in a good enough condition to be given to the charity shop.

Then it was time for a brief sit out on the terrace before going out again. This time it was with Peter to meet some- which turned out to be two other members of the rowing club to discuss preparing one of the boats as a float in the carnival - on Friday. The theme is The Owl and the Pussycat and amazingly Peter agreed to dress up as the owl, I'll make his costume. Somehow I've been roped in too and though I initially thought about being a cat (there'll be more than one of some of the characters) I'm going to be bold and be the pig with a ring in his nose as I have a selection of pink dressing gowns to chose from and all I need to do is make a mask and a curly tail.

After the meeting in the car park I walked home and Peter stayed on a bit to discuss club business with the organiser. He brought home some fish and chips which we shared for supper and now I need to think about costumes.

Ever wondered what the inside of an emu's mouth looks like?

 

Warm.

Lots of rain in the night and today a southerly wind that brought warmth and clouds. We've had a few light showers so not the best day for the beach unless you're a surfer.

This morning I took the bedroom tv down from the cupboard and got rid of the accumulated dust with lots of hoovering and wiping. I then carried on to hoover the bedroom rugs (still laid over bare floorboards) and had a bit more of a sort out. Some shoes are headed off to the charity shop and so also will some used but servicable curtains.

In the afternoon I used up the last of the apples in the fruit bowl to make apple pancakes something we both enjoy.

Eventually I made it outside. It was raining lightly when I went out but I decided to ignore the weather and sure enough it dried up and I was able to prise out all the weeds growing between the paving slabs at the top of the steps and cut back the montbretia blocking the way down. Every bit helps.

Just listening to an article about Morrisons feeding some of their free-range hens on insects produced on Morrisons food waste instead of carbon expensive soya. I had to smile when the interviewer got the spokesperson to reveal that the insects are a type of fly but neither of them used the word maggots which I suspect is the life-stage I suspect is being fed to the hens. That might put some people off.

 

Warm.

I woke at 5.00 to see a deep red sunrise over the hills. It only lasted for five minutes before fading but was a confirmation of the forecast which was for rain. However when I emerged from a second sleep it was beautifully warm and stayed that way for most of the day. It wasn't until I was going out to hang up a fourth lot of washing that I felt tiny flecks of wet from the incoming sea mist and rain finally set in by 6.30. 

We saw a couple of dolphins lazily swimming in the bay as we were preparing breakfast which made for a good atrat to the day.

As well as getting lots of washing done I bleached out the big cat carrier for a second time as there were still some marks on it. Then it was time for more garden work. With the heatwave well and truly over it was time to roll up the hose again. At the moment the reel is in an awkward spot for winding the hose back on so it was easier to leave the hose out. The front garden could do with the path around the lawn/wildflower meadow being mown but the grass is too long and wet to mow and I worry that using the strimmer might injure small creatures. Instead I hand cut the corners the mower doesn't reach and hacked off the worst of the long growth so that hopefully I can mow once it all dries after this current rain. Then I turned to the silly job of weeding the earth heaps. There are two, one of subsoil and one of compost and topsoil and they were in danger of turning into weedy hummocks. As it may be a while before I need to use the soil I'm considering putting the soil into the dumpy bags to save ongoing weeding. 

I finished off the afternoon by baking some chocolate and peanut butter cookies for Peter.

Some more photos of Chalkfest (taken by Dean Tweedy, the organiser) when the pictures had been completed.

Dean chose to highlight global warming and included a reference to Ukraine.

I think this one is my favourite.