Posts that Didn't Happen: July 2025

July arrived with more nice weather and a trip to The Mumbles to meet up with holidaying family - lovely to catch-up, have a spot of lunch, and visit a location we'll have to come back to.

This was followed a week or so later by another trip across country in the Van, for a family birthday celebration (weekend barbecue and Sunday lunch).

Great to get together again with extended family, and we managed to keep the Van cool enough overnight to sleep, despite the baking weather.

After we'd gone though, one obsessed little dog was still staring at the barbecue for a day or so (just in case!) . . .

Back home again, weather a bit cooler and variable, but still nice enough to get out in the garden, and on the wetter days had a few consultancy bits and pieces to be getting on with.

Had a day out to Lampeter / Aberaeron on one of the nicer days.  Harvested this year's 'marrow mountain', and did a bit of pruning / garden maintenance.

Along the way managed to confuse Martin over which holly tree I wanted the top taken off, so ended up with two lopped holly trees - generating a lot of debris for a bonfire (at least holly leaves burn really well!).

With all of that we just did a bit of tweaking on the Van - looking at cab blinds, and fly screens, and electrical bits and pieces - plus some major to-ing and fro-ing with van insurance, which thankfully got sorted in the end.

On to August . . .

Family Time

Back to East Anglia for a family birthday, and the usual mix of time together, trips out, and helping where we can.

This visit included the purchase of a wheelchair - and the jigsaw puzzle of getting it in the car with the walking wheels, so both parents could be fully mobile.

Then the wheelchair's first outing round Manea Gala:

Of course, there was also a family dinner, plus a meeting with my aunt and uncle who were over to visit too on the day we arrived, and as ever, one small dog curled up with some footwear!

Day Out and Dinefwr

A not so sunny Saturday saw us on the road to Swansea - for reasons that will become clear in the next post - but on the way back we decided to revisit Dinefwr (hard to believe it was 2011 when we were there last!).

Parked up and made our way up the drive past a new, and rather charming, 'fairy village' Tref Tylwyth Teg 'feature' - the door in the tree was particularly effective.

Did the usual tour of the house, indulged in tea and cake, and then walked it off with a very pleasant wander through the deer park and up to the old castle:

It all made for a rather nice day out - especially as the weather was distinctly better than at home - we even saw some sunshine!

Will try not to leave it another 12 years before we visit again though 😀

Shrewsbury Trip

End of June, and we decided on another day out - this time to Shrewsbury.  Hadn't realised how long it had been since we were last there for a proper look around - working out that it was probably 2011!

Parked in a side street and made our way into town along the river bank and had a good wander round the antique stores, and town centre.

Lots of lovely old buildings, although the 'Mardol Dragon' pictured here, isn't actually that old - having been added as part of a 1980s renovation to disguise the end of replacement steel 'Dragons Beam'.

Had our lunch sitting in the Quarry park overlooking the river, followed by a wander round the central sunken garden, 'the Dingle' - a part of Shrewsbury I'd missed on previous visits.

Finished with a wander along a section of the old town walls, past the National Trust's Town Walls Tower - again something we've missed in the past.

Headed for home having concluded that there is much more to see here - we'll be back!

A Good Day

With our holiday weeks drawing to an end - and after a busy few days cleaning, tidying, gardening, cutting hedges etc. - decided on another trip 'out' - this time a (pre-booked) day trip to Powis Castle.

We've been really lucky with the weather so far, and today did not disappoint, with another day of glorious sunshine, so the gardens were looking their very best (no access to the Castle itself still):

Also took the opportunity to pop in to the nearby Coed-y-Dinas store / garden centre on our way home for a browse round.

Must say I'm not sure why anyone would want a gorilla in their garden, but it was good to see that he was wearing his mask!

Back home again, and as it was still dry, sunny, and relatively calm decided to light the bonfire (which had built up again with garden waste, hedge clippings and various bits of rotten shed panelling / old leylandii).  

We'd scattered the hedge debris around the fire pit to help it all dry out a bit - but it still looked like far too much for one bonfire:

It did turn into a longer job than we'd planned, but it was a nice evening so we stuck with it - ate our dinner by the fire, had a drink, and watched the stars come out.

By 9pm we were down to the dying embers, and had actually managed to burn the lot - time to shower off the smoke, and pour a glass of wine!

Family Outings

Parents visiting for a few days - picked them up at Telford Services, then on home through mid-Wales.  Weather had finally cooled down a bit, but still nice enough for days out and a barbecue.

Outings included a day trip to Aberdyfi, walking the seafront, round the shops, fish dinner, then home via Tal-y-llyn and Corris Craft Centre.

Particularly taken with the 'Time and Tide Bell' which hangs under one of Aberdyfi's jetties.

A celebration of the legend of the submerged kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod beneath Cardigan Bay, whose bells, it is said, can still be heard ringing beneath the surface.

Back to Telford Services at the end of the visit - meeting up again with my sister, who took them on home after we'd all had a hot drink and a break - even Marci got some coffee froth!

Detoured our way home via Much Wenlock (in search of remembered sausage rolls - not to be found although we did have a very nice cream tea).

Bristol, Bridge and Boat

So from East Anglia, it was on to the South West for a couple of days. First stop Portishead (where Martin was working), and where I took advantage of the emerging sunshine to revisit the nearby National Trust property Tyntesfield.

Things have moved on since we last visited in 2012, and the property feels in much more of a 'finished' state.   It looked glorious in the autumn sunshine, and it was even warm enough to sit outside and snack on an NT cheese scone.

Had a good wander round the house and gardens, before returning to Portishead to meet up with Martin, who took me on to see the famous Clifton Bridge.  Gorgeous views out over the gorge:

Evening in Bristol, where Martin left me the following day for a bit of shopping, and a walk along the river back up to Clifton where I was due to meet him late lunchtime after work.

Walking by the river, spotted the local replica of the Matthew, the ship that John Cabot sailed to Newfoundland in 1497.  Bit of deja vu here, as we'd seen another Matthew replica on a visit to Bonavista in Newfoundland back in 2006!


A good couple of days - and Bristol is definitely a city to return to.

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 . . .