Enjoying a wonderful visit from my best friend

My best friend Trish and I go back a long way.  We have been best friends since we were 5 years old - that's since 1957.  We don't have any secrets from one another.  When she was diagnosed with Cancer last year it was a huge blow, but she is responding well to the chemo and is fighting back.  She and her husband came down for a short break with us this week, and must have ordered the weather in advance as we have had 4 dry sunny days in a row - for the first time this summer!  We went down to Rhossili Bay on Tuesday, picking up my middle daughter on the way.

It was just a tad windy!  I'm the fat one on the left, and the combover is not a good look for me!  That's Worm's Head in the background and in the top photo.  We had something to eat and drink on the clifftop cafe and had a wee stroll before coming back and heading down to Caswell Bay, where it was a little less windy.

This took Trish and I back as we remember being given lifts home on scooters like these back in the day, when Mods and Rockers ruled!  I can still remember sitting on the back of one like this, hair flying behind me, wearing a camel coloured coat and hands in my pockets, all nonchalant!!

Here is our middle daughter Gabby, who had a fortunate day off so we were able to all meet up and have an outing together.

A lovely photo of Trish and John on the beach.  I was brave enough to take off my shoes and hoist up my trousers and go in for a paddle.  A wee bit chilly once you got ankle deep though.  John took a photo with his phone, but I'm not sure if I will be able to transfer it up on here.

Caswell Bay was fairly quiet - the houses up on the cliffs have a fabulous view.

Yesterday we went to Laugharne, and walked up to Dylan Thomas's writing hut and the Boathouse where he and Caitlin and their three children lived.  This view is looking out across the salt marshes at the edge of the estuary.

A moonlit-looking photo taken looking towards the sun.

Trish and John again.  Having been chilled the previous day, we all put on an extra layer and were sweltering by this point as it was hot and just a little breeze.

Looking up at one of the walls of Laugharne Castle.

Trish and John on the little bridge crossing the stream which feeds into the estuary.

One last look at the clock-tower in the village on the way back to the car.

There was a little car boot sale (I'd forgotten about it) in the bottom car park and we had a wander round that and I bought a piece of good leather hide to make a new cushion for a damaged one on our leather sofa.  We probably won't keep the sofa when we downsize but at least it will be sellable once it's mended.

We went on to Pendine, but a brisk wind had got up, Trish was tired, the chippy was shut and so was the Museum.  There was a charity there from Heathrow, with some rescued Owls, and so we had a chat with them and stroked a beautiful Eagle Owl (I think her name was Daisy) who was a rescue bird.  She used to be used by a drug dealer, who kept all his stash in the shed where she was locked and she was treated badly and would attack anyone venturing in.  What a difference when she allowed us to stroke her feathers, blinking her big orange eyes at us.  There was also a Little Owl, a Tawny, a Barn Owl and a Long Eared Owl (think I am right about the latter).  Stupid here left the camera in the car, so no photos sadly.

Waving to our other best friends Rosie and Lin, here are the photos as promised!

Back to Builth - more pictures than words

Just to prove those wretched lights on the A40 are ALWAYS on red for us, here is the evidence!

On the road - heading towards the Sugar Loaf.

Not that I'd have wanted to buy them, but these dragons were a . . . statement piece.

These photos are largely things which I would love to buy for myself.  This Celadon dish was so pretty.

Pussums!

A sad little nighty case . . .

Masses of Torquay pottery to tempt me, but the only thing I would have liked (the £15 price ticket stopped me) is shown below:

The little jug on the left, although the one beside it was lovely too.  Cheaper on Fleabay.

I am a sucker for thatched cottage pictures but no way was this one worth £38!  The horse picture on the left also attracted me (£25 ditto).  The stall holder approached me after I had taken these photos and said I should have asked permission to take the photograph as it was known that some people came round and took photos to "case the joint" and come back later and knick stuff.  Looking at what he had on his stall I thought "Well love, if that's what I was doing, I wouldn't have bothered here!!!"

These two lovely pieces outside took my eye, especially the one on the left which was Belgian.

A nice little Continental spinning wheel.  I have a soft spot for them and currently own four, though in my defence, three are for sale.

I don't care for the colour-way, but a nicely made old Carmarthenshire quilt which dates from 1909.  I thought £250 a little steep though.

I just LOVED this Chinese piece (on later stand).

Beautifully painted top, using Elm.

This early Walnut chest of drawers was beautiful too.

Colourful modern Tiffany style lamps always look pretty. I liked the Dragonfly one on the left.

What a poppet.

A teddy bear's picnic in one of the sheds . . .

Taken from the balcony, an interesting corner with some gorgeous Winstanley cats.  I'd love to collect those.

A bevy of Hares.  I think I took photos of this stall last time too.

This stall with the hessian walls had the most lovely (to our eyes) pieces of country furniture - primitive stools, a lovely Windsor chair, spoon racks, candle boxes, salt boxes, samplers, what looks like a bushel measure.  LOVELY.  Us exactly.

Another lovely quilt, in a delicious Log Cabin design.

Finally, what my dear husband would have liked to have brought home - one of a pair of  cannon trolleys (is there a more technical name?)  He'd have liked them complete with cannons though.  Repel all raiders!

Wish list

We had a day out at Builth Antiques Fair today.  A poor photo of a print I'd have loved to bring home with me.

These two cider mugs were made by the short-lived Exeter Pottery.  The one on the left says:

Y Y U R
Y Y U B
I C Y R
Y Y for me

Translated, this Elizabethan motto reads: Too wise you are, too wise you be, I see you are, too wise for me.  !!

They were £95 each - I wish it had been Christmas!!!

Another post tomorrow.  Too tired now.

An end of summer tea party

I picked these in the garden yesterday.  The colours aren't true because of the flash - the roses are a soft custardy yellow - but this little posy made such a statement on the table.

We had our friends Pam and Dunc coming over for coffee and cake so we could catch up on a summer's chatting (we've all been busy).  Apart from the cheese and the coffee, everything was home made.

Little cheesy biscuits topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Oatcakes.

Scones with lemon zest and raisins.

A bung it in the breadmaker oaty loaf.

However, this was the Disaster Area!  A chocolate apple cake which I have successfully made before, but I used a different tin and left it in a low oven (as per recipe) whilst I went for a walk.  It just got over-cooked, dry and heavy and although I put it on the table, I said it wasn't one of my best - and the birds had it in the end!

I hadn't realized that I had picked the flowers after I laid the table.  It looked a treat.  I can manage recipes later if you'd like.

A busy Saturday.

On Saturday (when I had a LOT more energy than I have today!), I made up a batch of Banana Flapjacks so we had an energy bar snack to eat yesterday, and last us through this week.  Here is the bowl just after adding the Craisins (dried Cranberries) which stop them being over-sweet because of the Bananas and Syrup.  I don't add the sugar from the original recipe either.

BANANA FLAPJACKS - my version of a recipe found on the internet

50g butter, melted
2 tblspns golden syrup or honey
250g porridge oats (Lidl do a good version)
1 tspn cinnamon
60g Craisins (dried cranberries)
2 ripe bananas, mashed

6" x 8" baking tray (15cm x 20cm)

Melt the butter in a pan and then add the golden syrup or honey.  If you have a sweet tooth, you can add 60g of brown sugar too).  Stir well.  Mash bananas and add them to the butter mixture.  Mix the oats and craisins in a bowl, and sprinkle on cinnamon and stir again.  Add the banana and butter mixture and mix and spread into a greased and lined baking tray.  Flatten with the back of a spoon and bake at 200 deg. C for 15-20 mins, until slightly brown.  These keep well in an airtight container.

Then I baked a batch of rough-hewn rolls using a mixture of spelt, oat-bran, wholemeal and white flours, with a couple of tablespoons of honey added.

The previous day I had started off a batch of Blueberry Cordial, using a recipe which Dawn, over at Doing It For Ourselves in Wales made last week.  Go to her A Blue Day post of 28th August. (Thanks Dawn). It's very simple to make.  Because of my asthma, I washed the blueberries first in the mix which removes preservatives (one cup water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon vinegar, scaled up as necessary, and then rinsed off afterwards).  This has made a lovely cordial which will keep in the fridge for up to 6 mths. due to the acidic lemon juice, or you can if you wish, freeze it in an ice cube tray (I did that with some of it too.)  I was going to dehydrate the strained blueberries, until I put the pan containing the muslin straining bag and contents in the washing up water!

Finally, Friday's walnut loaf made in the bread maker, as I just needed a bung-it loaf.  This is made with my husband in mind as he loves Walnut Bread.

Today is more or less a Day Off here as I am still shattered from the lack of sleep on Saturday night .

A little P.S.  I have just given myself half an hour off after we had eaten our evening meal.  I took the lounger out to the south-facing yard and chased the sun around in the lounger whilst I read a book Dawn has loaned me, Ruth Jeanette Buck's "Place of Stones", in which she and her family uproot from the town and buy a small hillfarm up in North Wales.  It's very good reading and if the sun hadn't gone behind the oak trees bordering the top field, I would have stayed out there a bit longer.

What I did notice, with sadness, is that the Swallows have left us.  They were here on Saturday, but must have made the most of yesterday's sunshine HERE (we left it behind us to chase the rain to Malvern!) to head South for the winter.  The yard is so quiet without them and how I miss their chattering as one or more sit on the electricity cable across to the stables or the farm, or their swooping over the house and in through the window above the cart shed or into the hay barn at the back.  There were three nests in there, all empty, although I have a little souvenir in the form of an addled egg which mama Swallow through out with the hatched shell remains whilst housekeeping.

Looking out of the window up in my office, there are half a dozen farm House Martins still about, but I expect they will soon be gone too.  They sometimes have a very late extra brood so perhaps these ones have, or the youngsters are not quite ready to go yet.

Another thing I noticed whilst sitting in the yard was that my barely-ripening Elderberries on one of the two bushes is being stripped by a Wood Pigeon.  The slugs are nobbling my Courgettes before they get big enough to harvest so I must put down more animal-friendly slug bait.  Having lost all my Blackcurrants, Redcurrants and Boysenberries to the Blackbirds (which I don't mind too much), and the entire tree of Rowan berries to something else, and with the Blackbirds/Crows/Jays/Jackdaws all making free with the topmost apples ripening on my apple trees, it's just as well I am not relying on the garden for too much this year.  The Damsons are rotting on the tree before they are ripe enough to pick, and out of 25 tomato plants, I have perhaps 2 lbs of fruit, if that.  At least the garlic harvest was good, and the runner and flat beans are finally doing me proud.  Let's home 2016 brings a better summer, though I have a feeling this winter may be a hard one. . .