Silver Wedding Weekend

Five years on, and it was up to the Lake District again, to meet up with some old schoolfriends - this time for the Silver Wedding 'Do'!



Lots and Lots and Lots of Cake - and some fun activities too . . .


There was time for a wander round Kendal while we were there - think we spotted an otter in the river - and a day trip out and over to Keswick, with windsurfers on the lake, and ever more tourist shops and cafes.



Then it was home via Oswestry, and the British Ironworks Centre.

Stopped for tea and cake, and a tour of the very impressive Sculpture Park, although I think my favourite was the dragon in the car park  . . .




A bit of a packed weekend, but lovely to see everyone - the sun even shone on us some of the time - might stay away from cake for a bit though :)

First Strawberry!

Hopefully more to follow . . .

Out and About

A family visit saw us out and about over the bank holiday weekend . . .

Checking out the Aber Cyclefest races in town.










Up to Nant-yr-Arian for a photo shoot with the Kites.



And the now traditional visit to Llanerchaeron - sun shone beautifully, toured the gardens, saw some pigs, ate some cake.

The highlight was probably watching one of the chickens trying to escape the others with his purloined slice of ham . . . a joy to behold!



All in all, it would have been a great weekend - except for the cold from hell which descended on me on the Sunday, and took some shaking.

Keeping Busy

So Martin has been a 'man of leisure' for a few weeks now (having taken redundancy), and is keeping himself busy:

Stripping back and repainting the gates, and other bits of garden woodwork . . .

. . . tidying up in the garden itself . . .





. . . and painting the house, inside and out.

He's already beginning to talk about going back to work for a rest!

Spring Garden

The garden is looking nice in the spring sunshine . . .

. . . the lily of the valley is in flower












. . . the potatoes have gone into the small veg plot, and the first greenhouse has been planted up.  It'll be another busy summer in the garden :)

Update 20 May

Second greenhouse planted, and the last veg plot (with its Heath Robinson bean frame), courgettes, onions and stray potato plants, done.

Just got to keep it all weeded now!

Abbey and Endgame

An extended weekend away, catching up with family, and helping out in the garden, sorting through old books, etc., etc.  

Time also for a day out, revisiting     Anglesey Abbey on what proved to be a nice sunny-ish day (despite Storm Hannah - which was raging back at home in Wales).







A nice wander round the gardens, to the Mill, and eventually on to the house - the jeweled crosses are still there, as is the crouching cat on the pillar in the hall . . . 





As our visit also coincided with the opening weekend for Avengers Endgame we took the opportunity to get tickets - Epic!

Nice to see everyone (and escape the storm) . . .

Baking Baklava

My first foray into filo pastry (shop bought - haven't got the patience to make it from scratch!) - all a bit Greek.

First off, spanakopita (spinach and feta pie), which came out well, then the leftovers, and a (small) batch of baklava - honeyed, nutty, sticky goodness:

Yum!