Funnel Clouds.

The showers today while even more frequent than yesterday's downpours haven't been as fierce.

It was hot and humid as I went to drink my morning coffee outside. I had to forgo my usual perch on the edge of the raised beds and instead leant against the rockery as I didn't want to disturb the sparrow fledgling on the furthest wall. I guessed it had been left in the hedge while the adult birds went foraging.

It sat there quite happily in the sun and even had a little preen. I was getting concerned about it sitting out in the open like that when sure enough a seagull followed by a rook made a low pass over the garden. I clapped my hands to scare away the predators and the little sparrow hopped back to safety.

A bit later I caught sight of the little gang of sparrows feeding on their morning ration of seeds.

It was too wet to work outside so I got on my DIY jobs. Another coat of paint on the hook bar followed by more mastic. This time around the kitchen window. Naturally everything that lives on the wide window sill had to be cleaned before being replaced. A real mix of treasures and practical kitchen equipment.

While I was in the middle of doing that the builders turned up. The boss wasn't with them so I very diplomatically (I hope) pointed out the tile I was unhappy with and it is being replaced as I type. They have put up the light, one of my lovely torchieres from Dingles' sitting room and the bench seat is also being fitted. 

Earlier during a wet spell I spotted a funnel cloud emerging from the blackness above and then two more closer to shore. To my disappointment none of them touched down to form a waterspout and they soon dispersed.

I'm blogging early today as later on I'm heading back to the dentist later to smooth out the tiny hole. Actually I don't notice it now but I need the dentist to file/sand/grind? some of the gaps between my teeth as they have become very difficult to floss since they have been built up.

Very Wet.

The day began hot and humid but later the first of many heavy showers arrived.

Even before the weather took a turn for the worse I'd already decided not to go on the walk this week. Instead I planned to get on with a couple of small outstanding DIY jobs. I don't know why but I don't feel like wielding tools when the builders are here. Or by the time I've realised they aren't coming I've made other plans. 

Photos from yesterday.

Back to today - my first job was to pre-drill some holes in a length of wood which is going to be a hook bar in the utility room for small items. I'd already gone over the knots with the varnish stuff and today I gave it a coat of undercoat in the morning and a coat of vinyl silk in the afternoon.

A much bigger job was to seal up the cracks around the sitting room and dining area windows. I'd been noticing dust and grit building up on the sills and at first blamed it on the not very good window fitters we had in the beginning. But then I realised those windows take the brunt of the storm winds and it was probably just natural movement which had caused the cracks that were letting in the grit. 

At first it sounds like a simple task to run some sealant around the windows but of course there was a lot more to it than that. All the collections of glass, ornaments, shells and stone needed taking down and washing. And of course the plants which left the venetian blind accessible for washing. Then the frames and sills needed washing after which I carried on to wipe down the skirting boards and anything else that was dusty and in reach. 

It was only considerably later that I was ready to wield the sealant gun and fill in those cracks. Being unskilled I've found the best way is to wear latex gloves and smooth the sealant down with my finger. Not a perfect finish but it will do and that's another job out of the way.

There are some lovely but expensive things in the Aberystwyth Museum shop and look at those wonderful stairs. (It used to be a cinema.)

Below- inside the bandstand at lunchtime.

Yesterday we had a different leader for our warm up. Neck exercises are a standard part of singing warm ups but we also had to turn our heads very slowly and take note of things around us. My mind immediately focussed on the amount of blue I could see. The room was full of chairs and 150 (or more) singers dressed in many shades of blue. Being a seaside location blue was also the accent colour in the room and I could see blue; chairs, curtains, pictures, signs and an accent wall. Once I looked through the open doors behind me there seemed to be blue everywhere as well. 

That inspired me to try and create a series of 'blue' pictures on my lunchtime walk around Aber some of which are in today's post. 

Sing For Water.

We had perfect weather today for our Sing For Water event at the bandstand in Aber. Early morning had looked a bit grey as if it might rain but in the end the sun shone and it was a lovely day. 

As three hours is the longest you can park for free in Aber Peter acted as my taxi service dropping me off at 9.30 and returning at 3.00 to hear our choir sing and then drive me home.

There were 150 of us from six local acapella choirs (there are many other accompanied choirs in the region too). We sang six songs together and then each choir sang three songs. I had forgotten just how nice it is to sing in a large group as there are generally only about 15-20 of us in Leri Voices. Many of our choir recently went to a street choirs festival in Bradford where there were 1,000 singers but I didn't have the social confidence to join them for that.

The bandstand is on the prom by the beach and it was quite fitting to hear the songs, which had watery themes, accompanied by the regular shushing of the waves upon the beach.

Once we had given our names and put the customary sticker on our blue clothing (plain blue of any shade was the suggested dress code) we warmed up and then practised the mass songs. Although Susie our choir leader organised the event she shared conducting the mass songs with several of the other choir leaders. It is interesting to see the different styles of conducting all of which were very positive.

We then gave our performance and since the weather was so nice a lot of people came and listened. It's just a shame that the council in its latest revamp of the prom has created a motorbike parking area right by the bandstand. We get a lot of people on big touring bikes who come to ride the winding mountain roads. And do those bikes have loud engines. But we weren't too badly disturbed.

During the lunch break I had a short stroll in town before returning to eat my sandwich with a group from our choir. Some of them treated themselves to ice creams and kept a careful eye out for marauding seagulls. It was hard to resist the single young bird that sat looking at us hopefully but one of our group had already had her sandwich taken out of her hand in a sneak attach from behind. Lesson learned I think.

We then gave our afternoon performance before clearing up and heading home. A good day and hopefully lots of money raised for Wateraid. last year we raised over £5,000. Well done to Susie and the other choir leaders and organisers.

Riding Again.

The day began with rain and much as I wanted to photograph the spider webs bedecked with raindrops it was too wet even to venture on to the terrace. By mid-day the rain stopped and once the clouds cleared it was really hot in town.

Now that my toe is back to normal (almost) I felt ready to start riding and it was all fine. Getting back into doing squats last week paid off and I even managed to leap off Hazel, who is one the bigger horses there, quite easily. She's still tossing her head but a lot less than she used to. As Katie said it's still taking her 20 minutes to warm up and decide that she will listen to her rider. She doesn't misbehave but she is a bit unresponsive at times. 

My legs are are not as strong as they were in my younger days but a touch with a schooling whip helps reinforce leg aids. I'd left my schooling whip behind after my last lesson before the toe op but it had been kept safe and was waiting for me outside Hazel's loosebox under her bridle.

 

One bonus on the way to the stables was finding that most of the potholes in the track through the meadow have been filled. Usually I have to wind my way around the many holes trying not to let the car bump around too much. With horse boxes and big vehicles going down that track it's not surprising that it's usually full of potholes.

Since I'll be town tomorrow I didn't bother going round the charity shops today after doing the supermarket shopping. I did go to Charlie's to pick up some DIY bits and found a couple of white flowered rockery plants in the half price section. Earlier I'd been looking at the very sad (wilted) bedding plants at Morrison's reduced to 50p but had just told myself I didn't need them when a nearby voice said the same thing. It was one of my fellow riders who was also doing her weekly shopping.

I had a good gardening session when I got home clearing the trailing campanula from the rockery. It's one of the original garden plants that I've tried to keep but it's too vigorous and very messy once the flowers are over. It took a lot of digging to remove every single root since I don't know how likely it is to regenerate from the roots. There's another lot under the hypericum that needs to go leaving just one patch in the furthest raised bed.

Yesterday evening.

Wet.

As soon as we saw the curtain of fine rain first thing this morning we assumed the builders wouldn't be coming today. And that is exactly what happened, or didn't. In fact they had done the usual thing of disappearing yesterday without a word which I guess makes it easier for them to avoid saying when they will return. Don't you hate it when they do that ?

Later the rain eased off so that we could see beyond the reefs, returning every now and again adding to the generally wet feel of everything. Later in the afternoon I went out to climb on one of the walls to trim the hedge filling two more bags with cuttings ready for the dump.

 

I do need to have a word with the builders as I'm not happy with one of the floor tiles. Can you spot the first problem?

There it is, a chip off a corner right in front of the door. 

I was going to let it go, annoying as it is as we will probably have a doormat in front of the inner door but then I noticed that the tile was not level with the next tile. It dips down 0.5cm and I'm not prepared to accept that. There are a number of tiles left over so the builder will have to break the dodgy tile out and cut a new one.

Early evening brought a touch of blue to the sky and the temperature shot up again. Peter and I went down to the boat park to clean up the skiff ready for the carnival and to go over the arrangements for turning the skiff into a Viking boat. It's all coming together nicely and there will be up to nine of us walking with the boat this time.

Work Continues.

By morning the wind and the rain had died down and things were much calmer. It has been warm, almost humid with the afternoon's cloudy skies turning the sea a strange chalky green.

The builders were back again nice and early. I'd woken even earlier and had a peaceful start to the day out on the terrace. 

I wasn't too fussed over the floor tiles for the porch, anything non-slip plain grey would do. We still had a three-way conversation over one of the builders' phones as James sent through photos of the tiles that were available. There is a lamentably poor selection of tiles to be had in town but I'm more than happy with the 60x30 cm tiles the shop had in stock. These days there is an infinite selection to be had on-line with delivery costs of course and even the tile shop has to order in most of the tiles they have on display. Oh how I miss B&Q and there was always the possibility of getting reduced end of lines.

 

I cut back more stuff in the garden and filled the giant garden bag for Peter to take to the dump along with a number of small bags that I'd stored in the garage. The plants are growing so rapidly I may well have another load to take after riding on Friday.

With the builders popping in every now and again to check with me about various details I've had to spend most of the day indoors pottering about doing not a lot. Plus I needed to practise the songs for Saturday's performances before choir tonight. 

The recent bad weather has torn up lots of seaweed which is now drifting in towards the beach. Also one of the buoys that marks the 8 knot limit has dragged its anchor and is half-way into the bay.

Watertight.

It may have still been warm but it has been incredibly wet and windy today with the heavy rain not stopping until late afternoon.

No need to water the plants today or to put fresh water out for passing dogs.

 

We weren't sure if the builders would come but they did and carried on working despite the rain. I felt so sorry for them that I brought them slices of Bara Brith along with their tea and biscuits. The glass is in, the self levelling cement poured and all the trim done. They need a dry day to finish the roof and the rendering and then there is just the finishing off to do inside.

Apart from making mugs of tea for the builders and answering questions (they've learnt their lesson and double check everything) I've done a lot of small jobs, mainly tidying the clutter from various surfaces. I also made two long belts from faux leather for our Viking outfits and right now the next Bara Brith is baking in the oven. When the rain stopped I went out and tied up the tomatoes again as they seem to have grown inches since I last tied them in a few days ago.