Exploring Our Own Backyard . . .

Over the last couple of day's we've been taking the opportunity to explore some of the countryside on our doorstep.  Had a lovely sunny walk out to the coast one evening . . .

. . . wandered through the woodland above Clarach - some great old trees (although Martin seemed more interested in how long this one would keep the wood burner going!).






Even Clarach Bay looked nice in the sunshine . . .

. . . and the view from Consti was pretty stunning:





Today we had a wander through one of the smaller woods we can see from the house - then round on a circular walk through some of the surrounding fields.

Got an interesting view of the Atmospheric Radar Station up the road, and encountered some rather thuggish looking boy sheep:

Taming the Jungle . . .

Decided it was time to tame the jungle in the small greenhouse, in the vain hope that the cherry tomatoes will actually ripen.  Not sure that I haven't gone from one extreme to another, although so far no signs of imminent plant death!  I'll live in hope . . .





Tackled the tomato plants with a pair of secateurs, but Martin also has a new toy for tackling those hard to reach bits of hedgerow.  It also comes with a strimmer attachment, so no excuse for anything to get to the jungle stage now!

Long Weekend in the Rain

Catching up on last weekend - we had an extra couple of days off, and had plans to go away and do stuff, except it decided it was going to rain, hard, pretty much everywhere.  Didn't seem much point in paying out for accommodation just to potter about in the wet, so ended up staying home - which left us with the eternal question of what to do with a wet weekend?


As it turned out the Friday wasn't so bad (got some gardening done), and we managed to find some sunshine in Shropshire on Saturday, visiting a National Trust property we hadn't been to before.

Sunnycroft is a little more middle-class than most, but was interesting for all that.

Lovely avenue of Wellingtonia trees lining the drive, nice greenhouses, and cake on the veranda in intermittent sunshine.  The gardens weren't huge, but there was a bit of everything including some gorgeous hollyhocks:



Sunday was decidedly wetter - did domestic stuff, and managed an extremely breezy walk along the prom - and on Monday (still wet) resorted to shopping and the cinema in Carmarthen.  Enjoyed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) in full 3D glory.

Just outside the cinema there's a rather nice metal sculpture of a drover with his dog, herding a sheep and a goose.  It appears to have created an unforeseen health and safety issue though, and they've had to put up signs:

WARNING:

THESE SCULPTURES MAY BECOME VERY HOT 

DURING WARM WEATHER

Was left wondering if someone has sued - half expecting to see it fenced off next time we visit . . .

Mixed Success . . .

Past time for a garden update . . .

Starting with the greenhouses - the large greenhouse is doing ok - we've even harvested our first cucumber.  Some of the tomato plants have gone a bit funny (stunted with curled leaves), but most are doing ok and promising to crop well.

The small greenhouse has turned into something of a jungle (compared with the last update) - probably need to thin it out a bit - there are cherry tomatoes growing but unfortunately they are remaining stubbornly green.

The 'onion' plot is doing ok, but on balance think I'll get 'sets' next year rather than growing from seed.  We had a few spare sets given us and they've done so much better.  

We'll probably go with red onions next year as well (ordinary onions are really so cheap you end up wondering if growing-your-own is worth it!).

The real success story is the courgette plants which have come on leaps and bounds and are promising to bury us in courgettes.

The fruit cage is almost done now, but we have the promise of apples in due course - this is the third year since we put in the apple trees, and both the eater and the cooker should do quite well this year.

Get On Your Bike!

Took the bikes up to the Elan Valley on Sunday afternoon to follow the trail from Rhayader to the Craig Goch Reservoir.  It's 9 miles each way, but the trail is relatively level (no major ups and downs - which is good for me as I'm not the fittest of cyclists!).

Took us about 1.5 hours to get to Craig Goch - Martin could have done it much faster (he's gotten into mountain-biking of late).  I speeded up a bit on the way back, despite being a little saddle-sore (probably because it's got more downhill and gravity was on my side!).

Stopped at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre for a cake before the final stretch back to Rhayader.

All in all a very pleasant afternoon - a tad overcast in comparison with Aberystwyth, but otherwise I guess it might have been a bit hot - could have done without the horse-fly bite mind you.

A Fine Mess!

The fruit cage has been producing a glut of raspberries this year - the strawberries have been less successful for some reason.  Anyway, looking for things to do with raspberries (short of jam, of which we still have plenty in the store cupboard) tried a variation on Eton Mess, made with raspberries, greek yoghurt, whipped double cream, and meringue (here garnished with strawberries):

And very nice it was - will definitely be making it again - must remember to stir the meringue in just before serving though, as otherwise it 'melts' into the mix and you don't get the crunch (although it tasted nice enough!).

Gardens and Cake

As the last few days of the holiday draw to a close we've been enjoying some lovely Welsh sunshine . . .  The first day of July took us out to Aberaeron for chips by the sea, followed by a walk out to Llanerchaeron  through woodlands and meadows.

Had a nice wander then around the gardens - they've really upped the activity on the veg and fruit plots this year, and everything is looking very impressive (must post an update on our own garden soon).

No good pigs today, but the climbing roses dotted around the walled gardens and elsewhere were looking stunning:










Ended the visit in the Llanerchaeron caff with the traditional bread pudding and chocolate cake:




Then headed back to Aberaeron via a slightly different route through deep wooded paths.

Finished with some further indulgence - honey ice-cream sitting in the sun by the harbour - before finally making our way home . . .