Just Life

Well, the rest of September has been pretty uneventful on the whole - just life really . . .

As ever the garden has needed a lot of attention, with Martin focusing on the annual 'autumn' hedge cutting, and me strimming back my 'still-not-a-proper-meadow' (although I have now invested in some Yellow Rattle seeds, which are supposed to suppress the grass and allow the wild flowers to thrive - so fingers crossed for next year!).

Started my next Welsh class - moving up to the Canolradd (Intermediate) level, with two online classes a week.

Continued with my swimming three times a week (other things permitting), and some home Zumba sessions too.

Also indulged in a Lego set - the brother-in-law is a huge Lego fan, and I finally succumbed to this Lego lighthouse, when it came on offer.  Haven't started it quite yet, but have been doing a few jigsaws again.

Martin managed to fit in a fishing trip or two, and of course we've been out and about walking the prom when the sun has shined on us.

Socially, we had a trip across country to visit family, and I had an online meet-up with old university friends (one now living in the US). 

Said goodbye to our Peugeot diesel car along the way - we've been looking for a van to convert into a camper for a while now, and although that search continues, it didn't make sense to continue to run two cars in the meantime (in light of the car insurance renewal quote anyway!).  

We were offered a decent price for the Peugeot and so let it go - that just leaves us with the petrol Astra we acquired when my Dad gave up driving back in 2021, which will do until we go 'electric'.  Still sad to see it go - especially when it comes to tip runs with the garden clippings!

So, nothing terribly exciting to report - but pretty good all the same.

Ar y Campws

This month we have mostly been  . . . Dysgu Cymraeg!

Earlier this year we both signed up for the intensive Welsh summer course at Aberystwyth University - Martin at the Canolradd (Intermediate) level and me at Sylfaen (Foundation) - and for the last three weeks we've been on campus every day, Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm.

It's been a bit strange being back at the university (after all these years), and surprisingly tiring spending all day in a classroom (although we do get lots of breaks).

On the whole though we've both enjoyed the experience - we've met new people, improved our Welsh, and enthused ourselves to carry on when the courses finish (still a week to go!).

We've also had some encounters with the local wildlife - notably this bold fellow, who nearly gave me a heart attack when he jumped out of the bin I was putting my biscuit wrapper in!

At least the University is trying to discourage the seagulls - spotted this hawk being 'flown' around campus one day, and it certainly got them excited, although there was no evidence that they'd actually de-camped the next day.

Anyway, that hopefully explains the lack of activity on the blogging front this month - back to normality from the end of next week.