The Grey Returns.

Today has been grey and sometimes wet.

Yesterday afternoon, when the pharmacy had its half-day, I discovered I was out of one of my painkillers. First thing this morning I walked to the pharmacy to find out what had happened to my repeat prescription. And there it was, it had been ready for over a week, crisis averted. But I was annoyed because when Peter went there two days ago he asked if there was anything for me and was told 'no,' When I complained all I got was a 'sorry'. It's no good them sending me the notification because I don't turn my phone on (it sits in a basket unless I'm going in the car.) so they send both sets of notifications to Peter.

After a late breakfast I cycled down to the community gardens for C&C. I brought my heavy duty gloves with me so that I could carry on hacking back the brambles that were making their way across the paths. Today's cake was a Lebanese cake made with tahini, semolina, coconut, almonds, lemon and orange. It was interesting and tasted like baklava. C who makes the cakes said the recipe was very unclear and has found a different recipe for this cake which she will try another time. I came home with more cooking apples which I've already stewed, and a couple of eating apples.

Later, C's son who was doing some gardening for my next-door neighbour, brought round a load of arum lily tubers which he'd dug up for me from my neighbour's garden. They are now at the end of the front garden where hopefully the calm green leaves will tone down the vivid yellow of the euonymus. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with sorting out the gatepost for the new gate. My first attempt wasn't secure enough to hold the heavy gate. This was mainly because the granite blocks it needs to be screwed into are very uneven and the post wasn't lying flat. Also I need more and longer screws. This afternoon I chipped away at the granite to level it down and also found a strip of wood to act as a wedge near the top of the post. The next step is to drill more holes in the granite blocks, a long process but doable.

At choir we are practising songs for Sing for Water, a nationwide charity event to raise money for WaterAid projects in Africa. About 100 of us will be singing in Aber in October. One of the songs we are singing is Water is Life, a beautiful song which was written as part of the protest against the Dakota access pipeline (Standing Rock). Such a sad sign of how money triumphs. The initial protest were successful but the following administration overturned the ruling halting the pipeline.

We've recently begun watching 'Hinterland' on tv. We'd finally caught up on 10 series of Silent Witness and I thought that a crime drama based in Aberystwyth might be interesting. It was made for S4C (the Welsh channel) 10 years ago. Most of the dialogue is in English with about a third in Welsh. Although I can understand words and phrases I still need the English subtitles. Imagine my excitement when the opening shot of the first episode was the view down the hill road into Borth with the village and beach spread out beyond. That first episode was set in Borth/Ynyslas and Devil's Bridge so we recognised lots of places. One character kept getting interviewed outside his workshop which I go past every time I go to the zoo or the community gardens and according to the sound effects there were a surprising number of trains running through Borth. The funniest thing is when they cut in different locations that are nowhere near where the characters are supposed to be or they travel along lovely scenic roads that don't lead to where they are supposed to be going. So far about half the episodes have been heavily based in Borth/ Ynyslas, we do have the beach, the bog, the river and film worthy boat yards. The hinterland settings are harder to identify, okay I haven't recognised any of them but the scenery is very familiar. It's taken a few episodes for me to realise that one of the two main characters lives in a house just along the road from us which in real life is the home of R who teaches the Pilates and aerobics classes. It makes it all fun to watch.

 

Warm Again.

It looks like the full force of autumn is holding back for another day at least as today the air was warm and  sky was blue. And with the sea being almost flat I see that I was mistaken about the buoys being collected up as they are still out there shining brightly in the sun.

I've had lots of outside time today which makes it a good day for me. I was awake very early and had my mug of tea sitting outside in the dark. Well it's never completely dark with the street light on all night which suits the little bat that flies there catching all the insects attracted to the light. But it was dark enough with just the merest hint of light on the clouds. In the far distance on the slopes of the mountains a farm light was already on. All was quiet apart from the constant shushing of the waves. So peaceful. The first bird sound was a single squawk from a gull, maybe it had been pushed off its perch? But the early risers while it was still dark were the oystercatchers with their distinctive high pitched drawn out chirring. Not to be outdone the little garden robin with his cheery song was next. Then as the sky lightened the silhouettes of the herring gulls moved quietly overhead as they made their way inland behind me. I watched the lights of the early train as it made its way by the saltmarshes and round into Borth where it went out of sight behind the houses. Eventually I was ready to start the day and as I set to baking a Bara Brith the sunrise turned the clouds shades of pink and orange. We never really get to see the sunrise from here and at this time of year the best view is from the kitchen window.

I was out of the house nice and early as I had a 9.15 appointment to have my blood taken at the surgery. Usually I walk to the surgery but as I had several other things to do I took the car. While I was at the surgery I booked both of us in for our flu jabs at the beginning of October. No word yet of any covid vaccinations being offered. 

Next I drove down and parked near the zoo as I planned to pick some sloes. Yesterday I'd been told about some nearby bushes that had plenty of sloes but by the time I got to them today they had almost been picked clean. However I was able to stomp my way over the brambles and get to the higher branches and picked over a pound of sloes. Although I haven't done it before I'm hoping to make some sloe gin to give as Christmas presents. (I have tasted sloe gin made by a work colleague and though I don't drink, apart from a drop of Bailey's it was very nice.)

That done I had a little wander along the Leri enjoying the sun and the sound of the bees in the Himalayan Balsam. 

My trip out still wasn't over as I then drove to Dol-Y-Bont to buy a bag of compost from a farm that was cheaper than at the garden centre. 

The foraged sloes.

When I got home I had a welcome parcel. Meet my five ramshorn water snails who have come to live in the pond to eat up all the green algae.

I've spent most of the day cutting back the bushes where the metal gate used to be and removing handfuls of montbretia corms. I also potted the plants that won't go in the ground until next year, into much bigger pots. Speedy has been supervising. (Another dolphin sighting this afternoon but too brief to photograph.)

The orange mint that the person to whom I gave some small holly saplings and hypericum gave me is flowering. I can't smell the orange but I love the flowers and so do the bees. All the bees and flies are busy searching out the last flowers of the summer. For that reason I won't cut down the meadow until the last flowers are over.

Off this evening to choir. Might even do a warm-up beforehand which Speedy does not like.

 

Wet and Windy.

It feels very autumnal now with frequent showers and plenty of wind.

As Speedy and I sat in the doorway watching the early morning, well not so early, world go by a skein of Canada geese flew across the bay heading for the wetlands around the Dyfi. Not to be outdone our resident robin sat in full view on the signpost at the bottom of the garden. He was looking quite muddy and wet.

Although the rain had eased off when I was ready to go to the zoo I took the car which was a good thing as it was raining by the time I left. At the zoo I weeded over one of the gravel areas, that was after I replanted all the lemon balm and mint which another volunteer had 'weeded' out. I wasn't cross with whoever had done it but did think that that the person who asked them to weed those areas should have had more common sense. Luckily one of the staff saw what had happened and saved all the plants. Both lemon balm and mint regrow easily and of course it is nice and wet at the moment.

The few moments of sun in the afternoon brought out the colours of the sea which I was watching while I knitted indoors. I had the tv on as I can knit and watch at the same time. The crochet squares need  lot of counting so I can't do them at the same time as watching tv. Off soon for Pilates, in the car if it's still raining.

 

Wet.

Autumn has begun with clouds and frequent rain. Luckily not too cold yet.

        

You can tell the season is over, not a single person on the beach and out at sea a little blue boat was bringing in the buoys that mark the inshore water.

        

This morning I had an appointment at the hospital to have the cyst on my toe looked at. I don't know if it only applies to me but I find any hospital appointment utterly stressful. Not because I'm concerned about my health since I've been fortunate enough not have anything with life threatening consequences but because I always feel I'm going to to battle with the system. A system that is more concerned with saving money and ticking off numbers from the various lists that are used to demonstrate how well or badly the hospital or even the NHS is doing than actually sorting out patients' problems. It's taken 7 months from my first visit to the GP in the hope that the cyst could be removed to seeing anyone at the hospital. I thought that today I might be offered to have the cyst drained (a 50% reoccurrence rate) and had my arguments ready to push to have the cyst removed. But no, all that happened today was that he looked and then handed me two forms saying that I needed an x-ray and bloods and they would phone me in 2-4 weeks as to the next steps. He also said it might be arthritis, hah! and that even with removal the cyst would come back. Then he went all doom and gloom saying it's never just one operation and might be two or more and maybe having to have the toe bones fused. Pretty sure that was arse covering or trying to put me off surgery. So out I went clutching my two bits of paper wondering what to do next. Luckily the nurse followed me out and explained I would have to phone the hospital or my GP for the blood to be taken but I could go to x-ray straight away. The x-ray didn't take long and when I phoned my GP surgery they gave me an appointment for Wednesday morning. I guess it was too much to expect more progress.

       

I spent the afternoon peeling vast quantities of tomatoes, vowing to grow half the number of plants next year, to make lots of tomato and onion sauce to go in the freezer. No recipe, I just threw in plenty of the herbs I like plus garlic and now its simmering in the slow cooker to reduce.

A Walk Across the Bog. (Cors Fochno)

Hot, humid and showery today.

Our walk today began in the tiny village of Dol-Y-Bont a few miles inland from Borth. 

The village sits by the River Leri and our meeting point was the stone hump-back bridge. The bridge is just as steep on the other side, no way to see what was coming if you were driving over it, and gouges in the road indicate that some vehicles find the hump too much. It may have been built like that as the area is prone to flooding. In June 2012 people had 3ft of water in their houses as the whole area was flooded.

From the village we walked down a lane until we found ourselves on the edge of the bog looking towards Aberdyfi and Snowdonia beyond.

We then followed a track uphill, round the corner and then along.

We walked through a farm and up into a field where we ate our lunch looking out over the bog to Aberdyfi on the right and Borth on the left.

It was at this point that the rain which had been fairly light became heavier and I put my camera away in my bag and didn't take it out again until we had swung round and were walking back through the bog.

I couldn't get over the vast swathes of sheep's bit scabious that lined the path. I think it's such a pretty flower and I'm really glad I bought some for the garden..

Looking back at Snowdonia a break in the clouds lit up one of the peaks but it wasn't until I got home that the clouds parted, at least for a while.

Transformations.

Still hot but it feels as if the weather will be changing soon. The haze, which the nice lady reading the 5.00 weather forecast this morning called fog, was back but only in the distance. For us it has been sun all the way.

Back too were the dolphins this morning. My first shot of two dolphins leaping out of the water crossing over each other would have been a stunner if only the camera had been quick enough to get it in focus. (I kept the blurry version anyway).

Lots of leaping about this morning.

After breakfast I carried on transforming the camper from it's previously tired looking state into a smarter and cleaner version. Today was the turn of the inside which wasn't too bad. Because the camper has been kept in the barn nothing had become damp. It was mainly cobwebs and dust though there was mildew on the inside of the sun visors which was hard to scrub off. The bathroom, fridge and cooker are all sparkling and the rest is up to Peter. A little bit of rust and some chips on the bonnet seem to be all that needs dealing with.

How do you transform a metal gate into a wood sandpiper? Offer the gate for a reasonable price on the local FB selling groups and 24 hours later take the cash down to the nice craft gallery. With the rest of the money I'm going to buy some pond snails to keep the algae under control.

As a reward for all the hard work on the camper I promised myself a visit to Uncle Albert's Ice-cream Emporium. Before we moved here I became very excited to find that such a place existed but then it closed for lock-down and took a long time to open and it still isn't open every day. They sell Welsh ice-cream in a variety of flavours but highly recommended are the ice-creams they make themselves. They also sell home made vegetarian and vegan cakes, salads and lunch stuff like pies and quiches. I had two scoops of their own ice-cream, golden syrup & ginger and mint chocolate in a tub which I ate on the beach. Both were delicious and it was good to support a local business. I walked home along the beach paddling in the edge of the waves flip-flops in hand. Not surprisingly the beach was crowded as people made the most of this spell of good weather.

Back home I gave the hedges a trim as they were beginning to look quite straggly and I wanted to get them done before the weather changes. We had our supper outside again, no sign of the dolphins, plenty of people still in the water after sunset. 

Dolphins and a Toothbrush.

Another very warm day with a low level haze that looked like smog but was a sea mist.

And what do you clean with a toothbrush? A campervan of course. Peter did the first stint of cleaning using the pressure washer then when he'd run out of steam I took over. Apart from the toothbrush which was handy for cleaning the bike carrier which has many awkward corners, I used a cloth, mop, pressure washer and our biggest ladder, the sort that folds into an A shape, to give the outside of the camper a thorough clean. This was the first time I'd been able to get to the roof which was very grubby but after four hours and many trips up and down the ladder the camper looked pretty good. Earlier I'd taken all our belongings out, aired the duvets and washed all the bedding. Before putting everything away I used the pressure washer to give our drive a clean.

I was very glad to sit down on the terrace for a rest even if the sea mist kept creeping in.

We were eating our supper outside when into view came three dolphins fishing all around the rocks. I've finally got round to the using the continuous shooting mode on my camera and took 450 photos of dolphins and the sea. Took longer to go through but I got some nice shots.

Although some of the paddleboarders did move too close the dolphins didn't seem bothered and much to everybody's delight swam even closer.

The dolphins stayed around for at least half an hour and even later as the sun was setting one was swimming very close to the beach and the last few (human) swimmers.