Bluebell walk at Dinefwr Castle Woods

This is a walk we did recently.  Here is Paxton's Tower in the distance, whilst we are at the edge of Dinefwr Castle Woods.  I must do a walk up at Paxton's Tower again and then do a proper post on it.  It's quite a landmark in the Towy Valley.

The bluebell photos don't really need much in the way of words, and I have awarded myself a couple of hours off to sit and read a book on my Kindle, so enjoy.

The castle as viewed across the Park.

I think the flowers look a bit sparse this year, but perhaps it is my memory leading me astray - mind you, we had a dryish winter which is unusual here, and then almost draught conditions in the last month.

Moving on . . .

Looking out on yet another grey wet miserable day, I need some sunshine and SPRING thoughts, so I thought I would put a couple of bluebell wood pictures up.  This is Castle Woods at Dinefwr.

I have seen the Consultant now.  Not the best of meetings, as he seems to think my problems are COPD, and seemed at one point to be denying I even had a chest infection in the first place!!! though how he worked that one out, I really don't know after test results came back so hugely positive on that front.  I shall just sieve out the good things which are that I can stop taking the steroids (5,4,3,2,1) so by next week I shall just be taking my regular Seretide inhaler, and even that without the bedtime top-up which my GP had advised, and that I can get back to walking.  My body will be glad of that.  It was even gladder last night, when I allowed myself an Aspells' Organic Cider, which I thoroughly enjoyed and which helped me get a decent night's sleep.  Hooray!  Onwards and upwards now.  I know I was able to improve my peak flow levels before, through walking, so I shall endeavour to do so again.

I need to start walking daily again, up hill and down dale, rather than always on the level and just across town in recent weeks.  The weather is hardly encouraging, but this is for me, and at least I will be able to note the first tiny signs of spring as they appear from the dreary winter landscape.

I have been busy listing things on ebay and two have sold already - one was a Welsh blanket, so that has provided a big chunk of spending money for when T and I go to Florence next month.  I am allowing myself to start getting excited now!  Ever since seeing a film of Romeo and Juliet which was set there (I think it must have been the late 1960s) I have wanted to visit Italy, Florence especially.  I am preparing my mind by reading E M Forster's A Room With a View!

I can now look at my garden (awash, like everyone else's) and think, yes, I can sort it out now.  When it dries up a bit.  A little bit at a time though, as I am Couch Potato Unfit in a big way.

I was hoping to get to the Craft shop in King Street yesterday, to get some Kapoc stuffing for the Clothkits Peacock cushion, but I was waiting an hour between tests and seeing the Consultant and so we ran out of time, so I shall do it at the weekend.  I need to get some pretty paper for relining a little wooden box I got at the car boot sale last weekend.  That will transform it.

Now, onwards and upwards.  Hopefully I can leave all this ill health behind me, and move on.  I have been preoccupied with it far too long - not difficult in winter, when it is hard to even step outside the house because of the weather (and we have scarcely had a rain-free day since early December).

Bluebells and birthdays

I couldn't resist that new header. The first bluebells are out here, and they are one of my favourite wild flowers, especially en masse. As it's my birthday today (a scary big bad round number involving a 6 and an 0. . .) I am about to indulge myself with doing some baking - I just fancy a cake - probably carrot, as I have a lot of those to hand. I have had some lovely cards and presents - and I found two lovely old cottage prints (Sylvester Stannard, a Bedfordshire artist 1870 - 1951) at the car boot sale yesterday and they came home with us. I will pop up some photos later.



The only thing missing is . . . chocolate. I can just taste it and we only have my husband's 81% stuff in the house. YUK! I fancy some Munchies so will indulge when we go out later to collect our offspring from various points in the Carmarthenshire landscape.