What We Did on Our Bank Holiday . . .

A lot of gardening . . . at various points over the weekend.

Martin dug and rotavated the veg plots, and we got the courgettes and potatoes planted out, as well as the main greenhouse.

The rest of the garden is looking very colourful too at the moment, with the clematis, rhododendrons and azaleas out:






A sunny Saturday afternoon on the prom watching the Cyclefest events - including the Women's Tour Series:

And on the bank holiday Monday itself a slightly too hot walk round the Hafod grounds . . .

A nice extended weekend - and a sunny one at that!

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!