Storm Eowyn.

While Storm Eowyn produced gusts of 114mph in Ireland and 100mph in Scotland we escaped the worst of the wind.

This morning the sea was a mass of churning white waves and foam but due to the shelter of the hills behind beside us there was hardly any wind on land here. No violent swaying of the hedge, just gentle rippling along its length as the wind flipped over the large leaves revealing their much paler undersides. Out at sea a large flock of seagulls swirled around above the waves. It was fascinating to see them riding the gusts of wind. It didn't look like they were fishing, perhaps they were simply enjoying the ride.

Driving down to the stables the wind began to pick up and I gave myself extra time in case there were any obstructions along the way (there weren't) while keeping a wary eye out for swaying trees and flapping power lines. In a few places where it looked like the trees were leaning suspiciously close to power lines I drove past as quickly as possible. My route takes me along the start of the main A road that leads inland across the mountains. I drove past a large lay-by and saw a couple of high sided trucks and a flat bed truck that had extra large panes of glass (shop front sized) standing in the back all waiting there, presumably until the wind died down.

There were six of us in the class this morning and I rode Margaret. One of the girls told me she had been racing around in the field earlier and I found she was a bit more aware of outside noises than usual. The main exercise today was trotting 20m squares with poles set down across the school to ride through. That's something I haven't done before. After the lesson I was leading Margaret out of the arena when the wind caught and knocked over a jump that was stacked up outside which startled Margaret. She swung her body round giving me a good thump in the back and also knocked Bella, the stable's elderly Jack Russell. Bella was fine thank goodness.

Driving to town afterwards I could hear a strange scraping sound which made me think that our poor old car was falling apart. But the noise continued when I pulled up in Morrison's car park and I realised it was the wind whistling in the car's aerial that leans backwards along the roof. Even opening the car door at that point was a struggle. In town it didn't feel so windy in the sheltered main shopping street though gusts blew up from the side streets.

I had to go into Tesco's for frozen blueberries since Morrison's didn't have any and bought myself another winter hat in the sale. It was 50% off and then an extra 10% because I was using my Clubcard. And of course I went into M&S to see if any of the party wear was still there in the sale. The flapper style dresses had all gone but I bought this super sequinned skirt, original price £69 reduced to £16. I bought the largest size I could find and will do my best to convert it into a top for disco aerobics. With the same object in mind I also bought a long sleeved top covered in smaller gold sequins. That was originally £36 and was reduced to £8. I foresee sequins all over the house once I start chopping those two up.

The sea continued to be wild under a gloriously sunny sky for the rest of the afternoon but now it's dark I hear rain falling. 

So that I didn't feel the house cleaning was being neglected I cleaned all the ceramics and objets d'art from the top and sides of the big bookcase in the hall as that is the next area I'll be doing.

Storm Approaching.

The day began with torrential rain, possibly the same band of rain that caused a mini-tornado in Cornwall. It was quite nice sitting in our warm home, drinking coffee and watching the rain and the wild sea.

Later in the morning there was a break in the clouds and for an hour or so we had lovely sunny weather though still very windy. I took the opportunity to clear the drain from the kitchen sink. It wasn't blocked but for a while now it has been making glugging noises and occasionally an unpleasant smell would waft up from the plug hole. I checked that there was nothing in the U-bend by poking around with a wire and then turned my attention to the outside pipe. Luckily all the plumbing was redone after we bought the place and the pipe taking water from the sink running along the outside wall has easily removable end caps where the pipe bends. Opening these up I found some sludge which I cleared out with a wire and then the garden hose. Feeling very pleased with myself I poured some soap and a kettle of hot water down the kitchen sink only to see it not running away at all. Somehow I'd made things worse. Off came the covers again and by repeatedly sending the wire right along each section of the pipe and flushing with the hose I cleared everything. I got the job done in the end, no need to call a plumber.

 

Things got grey and windy in the afternoon and there are dire warnings about Storm Eowyn which is due to arrive in the early hours of the morning. The whole of Ireland and the Irish Sea is under a red warning for wind. It's only a yellow warning here but I've made sure there is nothing that can be blown around outside, we'll put the sofa across the French doors before we go to bed and fill a flask with hot water in case the electricity goes out. It only takes one tree to fall on a power line and off goes the electricity. I also hammered a few very long metal garden stakes down through the hedge at the bottom of the garden to try and reduce the effect of the wind.

We had our Welsh lesson in the afternoon and it looks like we will have just one more week on the Mynediad (entry level) before we move to the Sylfaen (foundation level) course.

And of course as it's Thursday it was time to cast away the stresses of the week dancing around to loud disco music. The session is so much fun and a good cardio workout too.

Sunshine.

Quite mild today and with more gaps in the clouds came some welcome sunshine. It had rained much earlier on and now as evening approaches the rain is back in earnest.

Yesterday's digging at the zoo did not do my back any good at all, I struggled at Pilates and had to ease off on some of the exercises. That said I did go out to do some tidying in the garden this afternoon. I just could not resist the good weather. Like yesterday I was down on my hands and knees but instead of weeds I was picking up stray leaves and stalks from the shingle garden. However pretty the old hydrangea petals are with their lacework of sandy coloured veins if left they and the other leaves would soon turn into a dark mess spoiling the restful look of the shingle garden. So far it looks as if everything has made it through the winter though of course spring is still far off. One sign of things to come are all the leaves of the spring bulbs shooting up everywhere. Last year I did some replanting of bulbs that came from the original garden and hopefully soon there will be swathes of bluebells, grape hyacinth, snowdrops, crocuses, star flowers and daffodils. Today I cut down the old crocosmia leaves that were covering the daffodil shoots in the raised beds. I also gave the hydrangea that had grown over one of the beds, a hard trim to let more light through to the plants underneath. That's a few more bags ready to go to the dump.

 

Grey.

Still very grey today, no rain, no sun.

I spent the morning at the zoo. I was only there for a few hours but in that time I weeded the whole of the gravel patch by the hens and guinea fowl. One end is not only wet and muddy but gets walked on by everyone as it's in between the entrance and the path leading to the rest of the enclosures. Just to make it look better I turned the stones in that corner over using my sturdy hand-hoe. That did the job but wasn't the best for my back. On the way to dumping the weeds I also did a quick weed-over of the small play area.

Back home I wiped the mould off the inside of our wardrobe (the bit that I treated with the 'special' mould wash and paint) as it's bin day tomorrow. I did a little tidying and altered the sports bra that I wear for Pilates which is tonight.

Yesterday's soup turned out okay so we'll be having it again tonight and maybe even tomorrow.

 

Swans on the lake at Nanteos.

HW Walk Part 2.

Grey again today but brighter than yesterday. We drove out to Mach in the morning to practise our Welsh with our friends. We shared the library with a mother and baby group but I think we were the noisy ones. The babies were a lot quieter than the toddlers that are sometimes there, especially the little girl who has perfected an ultra high shriek. Although none of us are planning to take the exam Anne brought along some past papers for us to try. They were surprisingly easy, at least when there were four of us armed with dictionaries and grammar notes.

Afterwards while Peter went to play pool I had a domestic afternoon. First I made a large pot of hearty soup. Lots of root vegetables with a tub of my tomato and onion base and some smoked sausage. But oh no! when I had a taste to see how it was doing all I could taste was chilli. As I prefer tasty food rather than hot food I never use chilli in my cooking. Garlic - yes, pepper - yes and even curry powder but not chilli on its own. I had added a generous amount of smoked paprika which is one of my favourite spices, had I bought chilli powder by mistake? But when I looked at the jar it said Smoked Paprika and then in much smaller font underneath was the word Hot. Looking at the back of the label in letters about 2mm high was the information that this was smoked paprika with chilli powder. I added more potatoes and may even add plain yoghurt to mine when I serve it up which should ameliorate the matter.

While the soup was cooking I did some ironing and then gave the wooden furniture in the sitting room a polish with Brywax. All bar the coffee table which could really do with being sanded to remove the marks before I polish it.

Now back to the second half of yesterday's walk. 

The mansion of Plas Nanteos is approached by a driveway through grounds that were landscaped in the natural style with sweeping vistas. It was interesting to see that the metal fencing and elaborate gates had been made by Ray Burrell, the local artisan blacksmith who originally was going to put in our balustrade but in the end was too busy.

The mansion is currently run as a hotel and restaurant but that very morning they had posted on FB that the restaurant and events side of the business was going to close. You can read a short history of Nanteos here. That site has b&w photos of the mansions interior though I couldn't get them to open properly. This site has a much more detailed history with many photos including portraits of the previous owners.

We of course did not go in to join the fine diners but made our way around the outside of the walled garden to the pet cemetery. Horses and dogs including favourite hounds had been buried in the grounds and at some point the surviving headstones had been gathered together around an ancient mulberry tree.

Nearby was a stone maze, built by Bob combining pagan beliefs about labyrinths and the Nanteos Holy Grail, a medieval wooden bowl said to have been carved from the true cross and to have healing powers.  The remnants of this bowl are now in the National Library of Wales.

Some of us followed the circular labyrinth to the centre and back out again with no cheating by stepping over the stones.

The central stone represents the bowl with scenes from the legend carved around the plinth.

After eating our lunch sitting on a nearby log we went into the walled garden. This 2 acre garden once housed a vinery, hot beds and cold frames and provided all the produce for the house with the surplus being sold in Aberystwyth. An attempt is being made by a local group to create community plots, strips rather than allotments. The gardeners amongst us were not convinced that having such narrow strip beds of a thin layer of mulched woodchip separated by paths made of fresh woodchips over weed matting was the best way to restore the beds which were already full of buttercups but I'm sure somebody has a plan.

Beyond the far end of the walled garden was the old stable block in which some of our group remembered going to wild parties back in the '70's. A large bronze horse once stood over the central arch with stone eagles on either side but these have been long since sold off.

HW Walk Part 1.

Today has been dry but with a clammy dampness in the air that felt quite chilly. Driving home in the afternoon I could see that the sky had the slightest wash of pale blue between the strips of almost white clouds. Once I reached the brow of the hill above Borth the view across the bog to Snowdonia was veiled by a light mist that turned each layer of hills a paler shade of grey much like a Japanese painting.

Today's walk was very interesting so here is the first part where we walked in the nature reserve in Coed Penglanowen, the woods around Plas Nanteos. Eight of us met up by one of the entrances to the nature reserve though later one left early for another engagement and three went home via a path through the woods.

 

Our path took us along the Nant Paith which flowed through a woodland planted up with specimen trees by one of the former owners of the mansion. They were mostly deciduous trees but Bob, one of our group is a knowledgeable woodsman and was able to point out many interesting features.

Bob and his wife live in woods just over the hill and has done a lot of work both in the reserve and around the mansion including building this stunning bridge. He built it around 20 years ago using the trunk of an oak tree for the base and handrails with the main joints being fixed by dowels.

This is a specimen redwood. There was a sign nearby which said that it is one of the tallest redwoods in Wales. We have seen similar sized redwoods in the grounds of other mansions as it was quite the fashion at the time to have one in your arboretum.

Some early snowdrops. We saw many clumps of green shoots of snowdrops, daffodils and crocus in the woods and around the mansion hinting at a carpet of colour in the spring.

We crossed the Nant Paith by a much more recent bridge. There was much discussion and examination of the method of construction. The bridge was at least redeemed by the curve which gave it a slightly oriental look as opposed to the basic straight over construction of yet another bridge over the stream.

On our way back to the cars we passed an entrance to  the reserve which although showing signs of age was immediately identifiable as Bob's work.

Our walk also included the grounds and walled garden of Plas Nanteos, photos and information to follow.

New Drawers.

Contrary to what some UK readers might think today's title does not refer to new underwear but to the new pull-out drawers that I fitted in a kitchen cupboard. After mentioning how awkward those deep base cupboards are the other day with things getting lost at the back it hit me that we already have pull out drawers under the hob and that it might be possible to get some for the cupboard in question. Sure enough I found some on-line though with that cupboard being 60cms wide my choice was limited. Most had wire bases which are great for saucepans as you can stand the lids up in the gaps but I found one place which had pull-out drawers with solid bases. Yes they were expensive but as we get older it gets harder to bend down and the drawers make it a lot easier to reach things. The instructions were a bit basic, along the lines of -screw the runners to the sides of the cupboard then fit the tray, but it wasn't too hard to work out. I could have done with some guidance on the positioning of the runners as when I finished I found that the drawers tapped against the back of the cupboard on closing. Less than 1cm further forward would have been fine. I thought about it for a while and then decided that while I had all the tools to hand I might as well do the job properly and did it again moving the trays forward an inch. Just getting the runners in level was fiddly as was putting back the cupboard door which I'd had to take off in order to slide out the existing shelf. I'm quite pleased with myself for getting that job done. All that twisting and bending did set off the pain in my ribs (costochondritis) so I abandoned my plan to do the ironing afterwards and had a rest instead.

There was a slight hint of blue in the sky this morning but for the most part it has been grey and a bit chilly. 

This morning I walked down to the hall for the Charities Fair, the one that was cancelled due to the bad weather at Christmas. I look for things to buy but some of the stalls had raffles or a tombola which don't interest me. I did get; a new gift set of lip balms which are always useful at this time of the year, some learn Welsh cartoon books and this glass eagle which fits with my clear glass collection and also could be one of the eagles from LOTR. I chatted to a lot of people I knew many of whom had read the post I put on the village FB page offering the tins and dry cat food we no longer need. 

And then this coincidence. There are nearly 70 million people in the UK and only just over a thousand living in Borth yet somebody I know from the community gardens is good friends with Sarah our next door neighbour when we lived in Devon. Mary used to work on her mother's farm, knows Sarah from childhood, has visited Sarah at the stables and thus knows our old house too.

On the way back from the hall I went for a walk along the beach. The tide was in so I walked on the stones along the tideline. By the time I reached the end of the beach I had a large stone in one pocket, an egg shaped piece of wood a bit smaller than an ostrich egg which from the colour might have come from the submerged forest (that would make it a few thousand years old) in one hand and a delicate shell in the other. That is what happens when I go waking on the beach.