Seeing friends

I had set the alarm for the car boot sale this morning, but woke at 4.30 a.m. for the loo and that was it for the night.  I got up half an hour later, having decided to go down and bake a couple of cakes - these are they: Dorset Apple Cakes, one for us and one to take as a gift for the friends we were visiting later on this morning.

Fortunately the storm last night died down before we went to bed, and although there was ice on the car windscreen, the ground underfoot was just wet, so we set off for the car boot sale.  It was pretty quiet, so close to Christmas (and so darn cold inside the building, which is the very same one we shall be standing (shivering!) in when we do the post-Christmas Fleamarket there.  I bought just two pieces of glass at the car boot sale - one small Victorian blue pearline basket vase and one large modern Murano type bowl.  We saw various friends and wished them a Merry Christmas.

Below: one of half a dozen Oystercatchers - spread out just enough to make a group photo difficult unless they were just specks in the distance!

We had arranged to see friends down at Ferryside, but came home first as we were away from the boot sale by 8.15 (only stayed 15 mins or so!)  I was kicking myself when we did set off to see them as his business card (and address) got left behind on the hall table!  Typical of me.  I had actually looked up where they said they lived on Google Earth so had a mental picture and I was indeed right.  Before we knocked on the door we went down to the beach at Ferryside and I took a few photos across the Towy of Llansteffan, despite the gloomy light.

This looks like an arrow pointing to the castle! and I couldn't resist taking this pic.

The tide was coming in - looking beyond the headland to the very end of Pendine sands, where it meets the River Taf, as it flows past Laugharne and meets Carmarthen Bay.  Below: a slightly closer view.

Looking left at Ferryside beach, where the River Towy feeds into Carmarthen Bay.

Llansteffan Castle - I can just make out some green tarpaulin, so they must still be carrying out repairs.

Eyes right a little, and this is Llansteffan village, with the little pastel cottages which line the back of the beach.  There were several people fishing, just off to the right, and I was reminded of Dylan Thomas's "heron-priested shore". . .

Anyway, we had a lovely time with our friends - C's sister S used to be my penpal and I went to stay with them back in the very early 1970s and fell in love with Carmarthenshire then - those two holidays are the reason we ended up moving to Wales.  When we were property hunting in 1987, we got priced out of the West Country - house prices were literally going up week on week - and the houses we viewed in Lancashire, Cumbria and the Welsh Borders (lots of them there) weren't quite right.  Then I suggested we considered Wales and we sent for a house brochure (lots of properties in various states of disrepair!) from a Carmarthenshire estate agent.  Our house literally leapt off the page at us, and the rest is history as they say . . .

It would have been lovely to see S as well, but sadly she is a bit of a recluse these days and will only see her sister, and no-one else.  Such a shame as she is a very talented lady, but various problems put a stop to that.

We ended up at Tescopolis far later than intended, due to chatting and chatting with C and her partner, and could barely get in the car park as it was chocabloc with vehicles - either folk shopping in Tesco's or up the town.  (There is a set amount of free parking there).