Long Weekend

Extra few days off either side of the weekend gone - time to visit my parents, do another parkrun, make the sunny drive home, have a Sunday in the garden, and a day out in Caerphilly while Martin was in work.

First off, a sunny Thursday afternoon / Friday with Mum and Dad, doing a bit of gardening, trip out to Houghton Mill . . .

. . .  Huntingdon Garden Centre for a bit of shopping, and a family dinner Friday night.  Nice to see everyone and catch up.

Saturday morning parkrun, before saying my goodbyes and heading for home - sunny drive, but a long one, getting back mid-afternoon  Pottered the rest of the day away, before settling on home-made fish and chips for tea . . .

We'd acquired a deep-fat fryer a bit back - which makes some very nice chips - and decided it was time to give battered fish a go.




It was all going very well, until we put one too many pieces of fish into the frying basket, and they got a bit stuck together.  The result looked a mess - but still tasted pretty good!

A day in the garden on Sunday, then a sunny Monday off (part of my new four-day week working pattern), so took the opportunity to accompany Martin to Caerphilly.

While he went to work, I had a lovely sunny morning wandering round Caerphilly Castle:

All in all a good - but busy - few days!

Greenhouse One

Got our first tomatoes planted today - courtesy of a work colleague, after the almost wholesale failure of my cherry tomatoes to germinate.* 

So we have: 3 Alicante; 3 Cherry - plus 3 Tumbling Tom in the pot:

I'm usually even later planting up, so hopefully we'll get some eating tomatoes before the end of the summer this year!

*Fair play to Fothergill's they did send me a replacement packet of seeds, but a bit late for planting up this year.

Flying High

Glorious day in West Wales - afternoon walk up Consti and over to Clarach with paragliders overhead:

Enough said!

May Days

A few days off and a trip to Ludlow, calling in at Craven Arms and the Ludlow Food Centre on the way (egg custard tart - to die for!). 

Beautiful sunny afternoon in town, had a wander, a pint or two, and dinner, before the half hour or so walk back to the travelodge (with bottle of wine!).


The following day we re-visited Croft Castle - not the most memorable property, but nice grounds (even a vineyard) and with some Hafod connections.











Got back to Ludlow to find the fair had hit town in a big way - had seen some lorries arriving the evening before - it must have taken some really careful driving to squeeze those trailers through Ludlow's narrow roads to the market square!


Interesting that on our walk back to the travelodge we spotted this window where someone was celebrating the fair's arrival in model form :)

All in all a nice couple of days away - good food, a lot of walking, and a historic property or two!

Van Living?

With the weather getting a bit warmer we finally decided to test out the new car's sleeping potential. 

Removed the back seats, sorted out a makeshift mattress, blocked out some of the windows with bits of cardboard, and brought down our bedding, ready for - yes - a night on the drive!

It was a bit on the chilly side - but for the most part we slept ok - and we could get in and out via the two sliding doors.  By the morning we were a bit 'condensated', and we were awake early with the sunshine (not having blacked out all the windows) - but yes, it works as a place to sleep.

Less convinced how it will work as a 'living' space with two of us out and about - trying to get changed, going out for a walk, etc.

Still considering the options!

A Tale of Two Weekends

So, this weekend(ish) took me East to visit my parents for a couple of days - beautiful Spring weather, and we were out and about, including a visit to the Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre at Spalding - shopping and tulips (etc.) :)

  

While I was basking in glorious sunshine (and shopping!), Martin was busy in the garden tackling our moss problem:

Generating lots of bags of moss for the tip . . .

By the time I got back - on the Saturday afternoon train - the moss had all been dealt with.  

Met at Borth, for a walk along their prom, and a look at the Borth Scarecrow Festival, including this happy group at the old YHA Borth (stayed there back in the day when I was contemplating coming to Aber to university!):

All in all a good couple of family days for me - even managed to fit in my first ever parkrun - and some productive garden tasks completed at home!

Creme Brulee or . . .

. . . roasted teeth mold??  

Having recently invested in a small 'blow-torch' for cooking purposes, it was time to try it out - and reading the instructions on the packaging, it can apparently be used for 'roasting teeth mold'.  

No I don't know what it means either!

Decided to stick with the more traditional Creme Brulee - and very nice it was too!