Sunny.

A bit on the chilly side this morning but look at the colour of the sky. 

It would have been a perfect day for a walk if yesterday's labours hadn't taken their toll on us. Nothing major, just some aches and pains but we need a couple of days rest before we complete the job.

Instead I looked for something less strenuous to do in the garden. The bits that need weeding were still in the shade but at the far end in the sun were the last few brambles lurking under a hydrangea. I'm not so sure that it was an easier option but I'm relieved to have dug up the last three brambles. Even crawling under the bushes I couldn't get to all the roots, breaking some and cutting others. I'll have to keep an eye out for any regrowth and either have another go at digging out the roots or spraying with chemicals.

And that's been my day. A bit of a panic on my part over the trade white paint they've used for the utility and my study which isn't as bright white as the white in the rest of the place. It's more noticeable in the sun, less so at other times so I think I'll have to live with it. On the plus side I had a hunt for the kitchen curtains (Laura Ashley white with blue and yellow sweet peas) and though I haven't found the curtains I did find more of the same fabric. It would be nice to chose something completely new but would that be the best option either environmentally or economically? Once I've sorted out all the curtains for this place I will be giving away the rest.

 

Grey.

Grey all day long today. By late afternoon it felt distinctly cold and clammy.

Yesterday evening after blogging I came across a post on the local FB page praising a food van currently parked in the High Street. As well as the usual fried offerings; chips, burgers and fish they also had lamb curry on the menu albeit with chips rather than rice. (Understandable as rice has the potential for food poisoning if reheated.) To support a local venture and for a change we decided to try the curry for our evening meal. As I walked down the road it felt like the village was coming to life again. With no wind it felt warm, there were a couple of groups of people standing around on the beach and there were more people out and about. Once I got it home the curry was very pleasant and I could see how if you had been surfing or just for a walk it would be a tasty meal eaten on the beach. There are three pubs and at least four other places you can eat in the village but only one, a pub which has a terrace, overlooks the beach. I think the majority of holiday makers would be staying at one of the large holiday parks which have their own eating places but it would be a real boost to the village if there were some places where people could eat overlooking the beach.

This morning Peter and I worked together to fill half of the remaining raised bed in the back garden. Peter loaded the concrete blocks on our trolley and wheeled them down the garden where I stacked them (very technical work you know) inside the bed. I finished off with more half bucket loads of rubble brought up from the front garden.

After a short break my intention was to start putting window film on the windows of my study as I'm not comfortable with people walking in the street being able to see in (the builders have taken down the plastic I had covering the windows.) However I could see that one of the window sills needs sanding and repainting so I held off with the window film. Instead I gave the windows an initial clean which was quite a job in itself with paint, plaster and some sort of grease smears on the frames and wood and plaster dust everywhere.

I finished off the afternoon with some weeding in the front garden and digging out another bush that had rooted down through a big pot.

 

Dry.

A silvery morning turned into a sunny afternoon at least for a short time and now the clouds have begun to roll in.

We had an early morning phone call to say the lads would be with us for the day. They've been been painting walls and woodwork and are nearly done. As my tester for the toilet walls had turned out to be a bit on the blue side they had taken my 1/4 tile sample to see if they could get a better match from a different paint brand but both the tester pots they brought for me to look at were too grey. In fact the tiles colours are greyer than I realised but in the end I went for a light blueish grey (as in the middle of the sea below) that toned in with the lightest grey of the tiles. If that turns out not to be 'right' it's only a small area to repaint.

Having had a good night's sleep I felt ready to give heaving concrete blocks around another go and by splitting the work into two sessions managed to fill the first of the raised beds. That's half-way up and as well as the concrete blocks I filled in the gaps with smaller rubble. This mostly came from a pile in the front garden and I was able to pace myself by only filling up my bucket half way. The sun was still shining when I finished so I gently pulled up weed seedlings in the pebbled area before going on to dig out the roots of one of the shrubs that had grown down through the bottom of a pot. I'd long since chopped off the branches but the roots needed work. That's one down and a few more to go.

The sun had gone in by the time I sorted myself out to sit out on the terrace but it was still lovely to sit out joined by Peter and Speedy. Can you believe that cat who in the days when we lived on the farm would have been ecstatic just to have tinned cat food instead of dry biscuits has just licked the gravy off his dinner and left the chunks? Hmm, the chunks have gone back in the tin for tomorrow night's supper. He does that once in a while, he's probably stealing another cat's dinner somewhere.

I had a bit of photography fun this morning playing with lighting or rather holding a torch in one hand and moving it around to experiment with the shadows. I picked up this stone (about 2" x 1") from the beach the other day because it had a sparkly side and it wasn't until I got it home that I realised it had crystals inside though I'm not sure if it counts as a geode.

This large prickly cockle shell benefits from side lighting showing up the spikes that give it its name.

 

Dry.

The day began with silver seas and a misty view. Eventually the clouds moved off to settle on the tops of the hills giving a dark grey view from the kitchen window and blue skies over the sea. Driving into Aber I could see the cloud layer sitting down on top of the surrounding hills. Driving home on the Clarach road it was all quite gloomy until I crested the hill above Borth. As if a searchlight was shining down the coast and whole of the river valley were lit up with golden sunlight.

I'd gone into Aber with four bags of garden cuttings bound for the dump aka Civic Amenity Site. I didn't bother with the satnav as it could only get me to the industrial estate and I knew how to get there anyway. Instead I went old school using my common sense and a few lines jotted on an envelope after looking at the map on-line. There were only six cars waiting in front of me and including waiting time the whole visit took 25 minutes. The 'dump' is similar to the ones in North Devon, about the same size as the one in Ilfracombe and I have to say much cleaner. Two more visits and I'll have got rid of the current garden waste.

That job done I drove into town, parked at Lidl, went to the bank to pay the builder and did some shopping at Lidl.

Back home I began putting the old blocks into one of the raised beds in the back garden. I think I'll be sensible and take up the builder's suggestion of having one of his lads to work as a labourer for a day. That will get the job done in a day and save my back.

Last night's sunset. As time goes by the sun sets further over to the right so that eventually we'll be able to see it from inside rather than having to stand on the corner of the terrace. 

 

Sunny.

The day began grey, or more accurately with a silver sea against a silver sky and soon began to brighten up.

With no builders in the house we had a relaxed breakfast and then marched/puffed up the hill to the War Memorial. From there we had a good view of the village and all the building work going on. In particular there is a whole new house being built in the garden of one of the houses near us. That explains all the lorries and heavy vehicles going up our road. We didn't come straight back but diverted round the neighbouring roads to have a look at the houses and their gardens. 

Before going out to do some gardening I rang the local council to find out when I can take garden waste to the dump. I was very pleased to hear that it is possible to do so now even though it's not counted as 'essential'. I guess it's okay if I'm going shopping too. That sorted I bagged up the last of the clippings and dug up a couple more brambles which I'd found. There's one big clump right in the corner of the garden under a couple of bushes which is going to be a real struggle to remove. I also dismantled the fire pit as burning the twigs didn't work out. The garden at the time was in full sun and there was enough sun on the terrace later to make it worthwhile to sit out with a coffee.

The Boss builder came round and finished off the raised beds in the back garden. Now I can start filling them and even think about some planting. He and Peter had another look at the problem drain from the kitchen and it turns out that it had originally been emptying into a proper drain but our builder no 1 changed it with a new pipe leading to the soakaway. And it's not possible to connect back into the old pipe because that was cut when the plumber built the outside boiler and there isn't enough room to put a new pipe between the boiler and the wall. Problems, problems.

This afternoon I spotted these two chaps 'beach fishing'. To me it looked like they spent most of their time sitting in the sun and ruminating.

Half an hour ago there was a ring on the front doorbell and there was a delivery man with a lovely bouquet for me from Vytas. I was happy enough to have a long chat with him on Sunday but flowers are very welcome too.

Yesterday evening the wind had got up so when  we heard a loud bang I thought it was something large, maybe building materials being blown to the ground. I looked out from the terrace but didn't see anything or anyone else looking out and then I went to check the back garden but again nothing. It was only later on that I saw a post from the local coastguard saying they had blown up these two bits of ordnance at Ynyslas.

 

Grey Start.

The morning could only be described as asleep with a calm grey sea under soft grey rain that hid the view and almost blotted out the houses along the beach. I think the moisture in the air contributed to muffling out any sounds and even the garden birds had fallen silent. Though the rain eventually stopped it wasn't until the afternoon that the sun began to break through and the sea began to take on hues of green which had me saying 'Wow.' but I didn't succeed in capturing the brightest greens.

Due to the wet morning two of the builders turned up and have spent the day building door frames and painting. They nailed up an old curtain across the hall to stop the dust spreading which I was very happy about as I planned to wash the floors. I washed the sitting room and front hall floors before breakfast and the other floors afterwards in an effort to spread the pain which sort of worked. I really can't be washing floors on my hands and knees. One problem is that I'm loathe to mop the laminate flooring even though it is waterproof. I looked on line for hints on the best sort of mop to use and I think I'll get something small that takes a microfibre cloth that I could even wring out each time. Or maybe one of those that sprays a little water down the handle.

Floors done it was time to hang curtains in the sitting room. Not too successful, for a start the tub of white curtains contained not the ones I'd been using in Broadgate but the rest of the Dingles sitting room curtains ie. from the windows rather than the patio doors. No idea where the patio door curtains are at the moment. As to the length - forget floating, these ones are positively levitating and need another 6 inches. I think I might be making new curtains for the big windows and just use the old curtains on the small window and the dinning area. Possibly over the front door too. I've hung the short curtains up anyway as they will at least provide some privacy in the evenings when the sitting room can feel a little goldfish bowl like.

It was such a bright afternoon that we headed out for a short walk along the beach.

Lots of seaweed washed up on the sand and the remains of a couple of barrel jellyfish. The one below was about 12 inches x 18 inches.

The photos below are from the web showing a complete barrel jellyfish found on a Welsh beach. They can grow up to 3 ft across and weigh 35kg. There have been cases where large numbers, up to hundreds have washed ashore on local beaches. The short tentacles will only give you a mild sting though Peter says he doesn't want any stings thank-you. The bottom photo came from a BBC site. 

 

Getting There.

We had a bright and sunny morning with increasing cloud giving us a grey afternoon.

The indoor team, all four of them, have been here all day. All the floors are done, the grouting finished in the toilet and the walls in the toilet given their first coat of paint. 

Still to do is lots of plumbing; sink and washing machine in the utility room, toilet and sink in the toilet and radiators in all three rooms. Woodwork needs painting, blue walls in the toilet, door for the utility and a few electrical bits. Did I say 'getting there'? Soon I hope. They won't be back for a few days as they need to fix some roofs that were damaged by the recent strong winds.

They also put up the curtain poles in my study and the sitting room. After they left I hoovered all of 'our' part of the house but I think I'll give the floors a wash tomorrow before I start putting up the sitting room curtains. I'm hoping there's enough in the hems to let them down to fit. A fellow blogger described deciding if her new floor length curtains should be floating, kissing or puddling. I only hope I have enough for ours at least to float.

While the sun shone I worked out in the front garden which gets sun over the whole of the lawn area now. Two more bags filled and possibly another two will see all the twigs etc cleared up. In the afternoon I had a photo organising session after I'd failed to find a photo showing an early stage of my study as the builder wanted to know how the radiator pipes ran. When I finally unpack and find my 2020 photo diary I'll be able to go back and record each day's photos. For today I just went through all the files, copied any progress photos and put them into the individual room/area files I keep. Maybe not vital work but it gave me a sense of purpose and at the end it was satisfying to flick through and see how different parts of the house have progressed since we bought the place. While I sat at my pc I could hear the banter between the young builders which made me smile. I have to say it is heartening to find an established builder prepared to train up youngsters. If they stick at it they will be assured of a trade that is always in demand.

I was up early this morning and even before breakfast I'd washed the outside of the sitting room and dining room windows. For fun I checked how long it took me and it was a whole 11 minutes. That included some extra rubbing where some naughty seagulls had plopped down the glass. Window cleaning was never too high on my agenda but here the salt soon builds up and spoils our wonderful view so I'm glad I've found such a quick and easy method.