A Sunny Afternoon.

As I sat outside this morning with a coffee enjoying the feel of the warm wind on my face I began to realise that I was also feeling the pinpricks of sea mist being blown at me. Sure enough when I looked down at the terrace paving there were the tell tale speckles of what had become rain. Pete cancelled a proposed row as the waves were getting really high. It was only later in the afternoon that the weather turned sunny again.

The morning stayed wet and cool and I had to wait until midday to walk to the pharmacy to collect my prescription. Just before I left I had a phone call from the surgery -

                                 'We have a letter here for you to collect.'

                                 'Is that by any chance a letter from the doctor saying which medications are on my                                    prescription?'

                                  Rustle, rustle - 'It is.'

                                  'Um, I collected that letter yesterday, and paid for it.'

                                  'Ah, okay.'

No comment. 

Before going out I'd spent over an hour gluing more sparkly gems on my disco trainers or rather on one of them. By the end of that time my hands were covered in glue and one shoe was covered in bling. The other shoe will have to wait for another day. I'm looking forward to disco aerobics starting up in a few weeks.

Eventually the better weather tempted me out to do some work in the garden. Mostly removing leaves and seedlings from the shingle with a bit of cutting back. I'd planted the artemisia (and other aromatic plants) by the path so that they would release their scents as we brushed past them but the artemisia holds a lot of water after the rain. Not so nice ending up with soaking wet legs.

The sweet peas in the back garden are doing well. I go out most days to cut them and there are jars of them in most of the rooms. (Those square glass relish jars are just the right size.)

Zoo Day.

Though cloudy at times there was lots of sun and wind today.

It was a perfect day for going to the zoo. It took a while to get there as there was traffic snarl up along the High St. I sat in the car for almost 10 minutes by the RNLI without moving at all. It was all due to 2 bin lorries working their way up the road.

I called in at the pharmacy for my prescription but their driver was still sitting in his car unable to even get to the surgery. They have a half day on Wednesdays (that's a thing from the past) so I'll walk down tomorrow morning. It's so convenient having a pharmacy in the village even if they do mix things up every now and again. 

 

The zoo was really busy today as it was one of the 6 VIP days when they are allowed to let the public see the 'private collection' of exotic animals. These include the reptiles, insects/arachnids, wallabies, racoon dogs and emus. For the rest of the year the public can only see domesticated animals. Even George the cockatoo lives in an aviary by the food prep room. 

So there were families everywhere. I went straight to the gravel by the wolf-dogs where thankfully I didn't see anymore plant losses. I placed the beach stones with their entreaties to not pull up the plants, in prominent positions and then went on to weed and clear away the leaves from the neighbouring tree. (Sometime I wish I could take a chainsaw to that tree.) These were so dry I had to pick them up very carefully to avoid them crumbling into tiny unmanageable pieces. Once all the dry leaves were removed the plants were more noticeable so possibly won't get trodden on so much.

Before I moved on to weeding the large play area I spent some time with the pigs. They love their scratches though Truffle nearly sat on Otis' head in his attempt to get closer to me. While I was with the pigs I could see swallows swooping low into the nearby stable block and later I got some good photos of the young swallows being fed.

As part of the VIP day there were lots of talks and handling sessions. I happened to pass by when there weren't many too people there and had a chance to hold Goo a 3ft long Boa constrictor. The markings along one side spell out goo or possibly goop. I had his tail end in one hand while he wrapped his head around my other wrist. He was using his tongue to smell my t-shirt which was still dusty from the crumbled woodchip of the play area.

It was only when I went to sign out that I realised I had spent five hours at the zoo. Time flies when you're having fun. Before driving home I walked along the lane and picked a bag of sloes for my Christmas sloe gin. I think they are ripe enough and I've put them in the freezer as insurance in case I have difficulty find more later on.

I've just returned home from choir. We had a nice relaxed evening, no new songs and none of the more difficult songs we learnt for Sing For Water. Right at the end we sang This is home, where I belong. which I think sounds better acapella. 

Siarad yn Gymraeg.

(Speaking in Welsh) Lots of sun and wind today. it was so windy that as we drove past the golf course on our way to Mach a golf ball bounced into the road and hit the car. Luckily there was no damage. 

It was quite chilly first thing (for once I'd had a good night's sleep and was up by 7.00.) so much so that I needed a bodywarmer over my dressing gown and fluffy pj bottoms as I sat outside with my tea.

This morning we were off to Mach to meet up with our friends to practice our Welsh in the library. As it is Tuesday and our favourite café/ deli would be open we set off early to stock up on some treats for home. We got our usual favourites - cream slice, lasagne, pizza pocket and lamb pasties plus I got a slice of sweet potato (and other veggies) strudel. They call it a strudel I just call it a slab. We put everything in a cool bag with ice packs to keep it fresh until we got home. Lots of nice things for the next few days.

 

In the library we had a revision session asking random questions from a game that we played in class last year to get ourselves back to remembering present, past and future tenses. That was after we'd done some catching up with each other's news in both English and Welsh.

At home I did more hedge trimming on the garden side. I stood on the walls of the raised beds and used the secateurs which was so much easier than with either of the trimmers. That's three more bags to go to the dump on Friday.

Then Pete came out to tell me that my doctor's letter was already waiting for me to collect (and pay for). On the way to the surgery I called in at the pharmacy to find out what had happened to my repeat prescription. I'd only noticed today that I had run out of one set of tablets. The pharmacy had no knowledge of my repeat prescription but I know that last month I stood at the counter, filled out the form and handed it straight back over. I had to make a special request at the surgery for the tablets I'm short of (well I do have an emergency 2 weeks supply of everything so not a disaster) to collect tomorrow morning. The rest of my prescription will be ready next week.

All that took up most of the afternoon so there wasn't time for much else. To dissuade people from pulling up the plants I've put in the gravel by the wolf-dogs I got a couple of large beach stones and have written 'Please do not pull up the plants.' on them with a permanent marker. I also painted a coat of varnish over the writing to hopefully make it last longer. (Yay, a split infinitive, naughty me.)

Sunset last night.

Storm Floris.

Storm Floris made itself felt this morning with plenty of rain and wind. We only caught the edge of the storm and by the afternoon the sun was back again.

While Pete went off to take all the bags of garden waste down to the dump I took the opportunity to go and see somebody about buying a picture for a future present. (Hence the secrecy.) With the rain pouring down I donned wellies, waterproof trousers and one of our Naval coats and set off for the Community Hub. 

When I returned home in order to provide an explanation for the wet clothing but mainly because it's fun to be out in wild weather, I went for a walk along the beach.

I thought I might as well also call in at the surgery as I need a letter from the doctor saying which medications I take. I was a bit taken aback when the receptionist said I had to present my request in writing and even more surprised when she said it could take 4-6 weeks! I also asked if I could book our flu and covid jabs. While she went off to do that I was thinking about having to ask for the letter in writing when an idea popped into my aged brain. When the receptionist returned I asked for a sheet of paper. She gave one to me, I wrote my request using the pen that was there for a petition and handed it back to her. Problem solved.

 

I enjoyed my walk on the beach despite the wind and rain. A lot of seaweed had been washed up and the beach looked as if a noodle factory had exploded and festooned the beach with noodles.

Back home I carried on tidying away the carnival stuff, just a few things to go in the loft and the garage and then my study will be back to normal. I also put some elastic through the waistband of the skirt I got at the jumble sale and baked yet another Bara Brith.

I've even done a bit of deadheading in the garden and sat outside to do some crocheting.

A Walk From Rheidol Falls.

Our walk began at Rheidol Falls on a day that had started with rain but gradually turned warmer. There were a few worrying spots of rain as we began our walk but eventually the sun won through and we ended with a sunny afternoon. (Update - the rain is back tonight.)

We were a small group for our walk today made smaller by some of the group forgoing visiting the falls to make a head start on walking up a steep track on the southern flank of the valley.

 

Everything was flourishing along the river bank and we walked through waist high knapweed and other flowers while butterflies and dragonflies flew around us. We also found, and ate lots of luscious blackberries to keep us fortified on what was going to be a shorter than usual walk.

Our route took us along the single track lane to some pretty farm buildings (now run as Air B&Bs) where we turned up the rough track that would take us up the hillside.

Despite how it looks in the photo the track is very steep necessitating a couple of stops for some people to catch their breath before we reached the point where we turned off. I've ridden down this track and along the valley road several times on the long hacks I've been on. Having the memories of past walks and the rides created a feeling of both familiarity and belonging very different to simply being a visitor to this part of the world.

Almost reaching the top of the hillside we were rewarded with stunning views across the Vale of Rheidol. The hill tops on either side side rise up to almost 250m so I guess we had climbed at least 200m upwards.

A short walk across a field brought us to Suzanna's home where we joined the rest of the group for an extended lunch break. Much later we walked down a more direct track which brought us back down to the road again. 

Back home I cut some wood (a piece of the beech worktop) to put under the side of our bed which I have noticed creaking each time I sat on the mattress. I suspect the creaking is a sign of the age of the wooden bedframe which is relatively modern and therefore not as well built as in the past. Making an extra support should hopefully prevent the sudden breakage of any of the joints which are mostly wooden dowels.

I also went out in the garden and banged in an  extra metal pole by a large fennel to stop it flopping over in the bad weather that is supposed to be coming in.

The Day After.

This morning the village was eerily quiet. As I sat outside at 9.00 the only signs of life were a hiker heading along the coast path, a neighbour walking her dog and a single runner. Down on the beach two swimmers walked into the gently lapping waves while further down a group of five people stood in the water throwing a ball to each other.

I'm guessing everyone partied to their limit last night. Much as we would have liked to go on to listen and dance to The Refreshers (they play covers from the 80's and beyond) at The Star of The Sea the carnival and a few hours of socialising were enough for us older folk. My poor foot certainly had had enough.

Later with the better weather (sometimes hot and sometimes cold) the beach filled up with locals and holiday makers.

My aims for today were to put away all the carnival stuff and to do some serious cutting back in the garden. I haven't cleared everything I was using to create our costumes but most has been put away so that's a start.

In the back garden where some things have grown incredibly well I've trimmed the lavender, reduced the enormous rosemary and cut down some of the knautia. Where once was a bushy mass of tiny red pom-poms and straw coloured seed heads there's now just bare earth. Next I'll pull up the roots of two out of the four knautia plants that almost filled the raised bed and cut back the sage which must be at least four feet across.

Then I moved to the front garden where I cut down all the flowering spikes of the stachys. I felt bad for the few bees that still hung around but there were hardly any flowers left that might have had any nectar or pollen for them.

 

Now for a few more FB photos from yesterday. Above - The after party in The Field (that's its official name).

Pete was disappointed that I didn't include his photo yesterday so here he is. I couldn't help laughing this morning when I saw that the make-up pencil I'd used to draw on his head tattoo had acted to block out the sun and he now has a pale Viking tattoo mark on his tanned head.

This was the house that won the decorated house category.

And if you're not completely bored with the Borth Carnival this is a FB video of the carnival which shows the floats. The winning float was the WWII float on which they had built a Spitfire, a tank and a submarine and had more than twenty walkers plus the people on the float. They win every year but we did well to come second.

Carnival Day.

It's been a lovely carnival day. It hasn't rained and the strong winds amplified by the tunnel effect of the High St. literally filled the sail of our Viking ship so that it was mainly a matter of guiding the boat and holding it back as the wind blew it down the length of the village.

By 10.00 this morning we were in the boat park loading everything into the skiff before pushing it all the way to the other end of the High St. The road hadn't been closed yet so every now and again we pulled over to one side to allow the traffic past. With parking on one side even on a normal day the traffic flow is dependant on good manners with cars having to take turns to get past each other.

 

Having made it safely to the other end we converted the rowing club's skiff into a mini Viking longship which as we explained to the judges would have a mini Viking complete with small dog sitting in it. The ship was a real team effort. Nick had constructed secure fittings for the mast which came complete with a pulley system so that the sail could easily be raised and lowered. Something that can be used in future years. 

Di and Adi painted the sail with the Viking compass and Wendy built an amazing dragon figure head which along with the shields (my contribution) will now be used with the schoolchildren that Di teaches.

I had fun with face paints and make up pencils at home and then brought my stuff along so that other people could have tattoos as well.  If I'd had more time at home I could have made my eyes even more dramatic though even what I had took quite a bit of scrubbing to remove.

We decided it was safer for our mini Viking to sit in the boat rather than stand at the front by the prow so it wasn't possible to have bubbles coming out of the dragon's mouth but that didn't matter. He did a grand job with the bubble gun and the wind kept a steady stream of bubbles blowing forwards over the boat and the carnival walkers in front of us. We'll definitely be using the bubble gun again in future years.

Here is a FB video of the start of the carnival - samba band, walkers and us at 4.45. The rest of the floats were behind us and I'll post photos once they appear on FB. As can been seen it's very much an event where everyone, local groups, families and even dogs join in.

At the end of the carnival we brought the skiff back to the boat park and returned it to its undecorated state. I took as much of our stuff as I could home where I cleaned my face, brushed my hair which looked like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards and changed out of my costume. 

I then went back down to Gill's house which had been decorated for the day (decorated houses are part of the carnival competition). We had been invited to Gill's for hot dogs and other food and drinks. For me a mug of tea was exactly what I needed after so many hours on foot. 

Refreshed a group of us wandered over to the carnival field where there were food trucks, stalls selling funfair tat, children's funfair rides, a bar and a sound stage. This year there was the largest lorry ever which tows a similarly sized trailer that sells Indian food. Unfortunately the field has very soft ground and one side of the lorry had sunk right up to the axles. That's going to be difficult to get out. 

Carnival spectators and participants set up chairs and picnic mats to socialise and dance to the loud DJ. A sort of large open air party. It's a fun atmosphere but after a while Peter and I together with Dave and his dog Jake retreated to the relative peace of a bench by the RNLI overlooking the beach. I eventually got cold and came home and Peter followed later.

Update - we came second though it really is all about taking part.