Posts that Didn't Happen: September 2025

 And so to September . . . 

Started the month with a very nice afternoon tea to celebrate a forthcoming retirement - lovely to catch up with lots of old friends from working days.

Was also offered some damsons (it's been a good fruit year), which are now steeping in brand ready for Christmas . . .

. . . something different from our endless apple crop - unfortunately couldn't pass on any in return as they also have loaded apple trees!

So far, we've chopped and frozen and stewed, made apple cakes and crumbles, given some to family, and still have a drawer full in the fridge . . .

Fitted in a solo visit to family across country - not a Van trip this time - helping out with this and that, paperwork and shopping, etc.  While I was away Martin got on with a few Van things, while we continued to debate table legs and fittings.

Back in Wales for the remainder of the month, with work continuing on Project Van and in the garden.  

The 'pantry from hell' was finally finished and fitted, more or less to our satisfaction, and the (hopefully) last hedge cut of the year completed.

In something of a landmark, the Van table was also sorted - with a removable 'island' leg, and the other end supported on the 'windowsill'.  

It really has turned out well - kudos to Martin for all his hard work.

Ended the month with more work in the garden, as Martin dug out and reconstructed the compost heaps.

While he was doing the hard manual labour, I got on with painting the garden shed (hopefully giving it some protection from the wet weather to come):

Posts that Didn't Happen: August 2025

August is usually a pretty 'stay at home and avoid the school holiday crowds' month, so it was an ideal time to be busy with consultancy work, which continued throughout the month off and on.

On the nicer days we got out in the garden for some weeding and de-brambling (generating material for the next bonfire!).

Martin also potted up some of the 'babies' from our rather prolific spider plant, and later in the month we started to harvest apples and potatoes from the garden (it's not been such a good year for tomatoes).

There was trip in the Van across country to visit with family - another hot one - and some minor works on Van things like fly screens, draw catches etc.  

Martin also got stuck into creating the much planned for table to sit between the front cab swivel seats and the passenger seat - again he utilised pallet wood, which was glued together (never quite enough clamps!), then cut to size.

This was then sanded to within an inch of its life, and is already looking beautiful.

Next steps are to 'finish' it with Danish oil, and work out what type of legs / fixings we need to put it in place, and allow it to be removed when not in use.

Towards the end of the month the dodgy window in the barn door was finally replaced - a bit of a saga that one, but got there in the end.

On a less savoury note, this month has also seen a house invasion of large green slugs - these appear mysteriously, almost every other night, in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Slugfest! (as it has become known), eventually came to an end when we tracked down their point of ingress to a gap under the skirting board by the back door - now safely sealed!

 

And finally . . .  

Is it dead yet?

No it isn't!

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 . . .

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.

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!

In the Eye of the Beholder

Still on holiday, and finally some sunshine - Martin duly headed out on his bike up to Nant yr Arian, while I got out into the garden.

Had intended to do some weeding in the fruit cage, but it struck me that we seemed to have less snowdrops in the garden than of yore, and I was inspired to investigate . . .

Two hours later - one large pile of ivy, and lots more visible snowdrops.  Yay!

All that scrabbling about under shrubs was not without its downside though - successfully avoided the magnolia branches, but fell prey to a hydrangea . . .







Martin meanwhile was enjoying some fantastic views, with a dusting of snow on the high ground:

Nice to see the sun, and enjoy the fresh air, although could have done without the poke in the eye!

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!