Posts that Didn't Happen: November 2025

And finally November (after which normal service shall resume!)

Another month of rather mixed weather, so nothing really happened Van-wise (every time we thought of doing something it would start pouring with rain!).  Although we did have at least one rather gorgeous sunset down on the prom:

In other news, I may have overdone it on the Lego - had already indulged in the Christmas Alpine Lodge set (which I'd had my eye on for a while, as an addition to last year's Holiday Main Street), then talked myself into the LOTR Rivendell too.  

(And of course then I saw some other Lego sets I'd been looking at on sale, and the rest is history!)

Life otherwise just pottered along . . .

. . . did a bit of 'work', sorted some stuff for charity / sale online, gave blood, ordered new glasses, participated in an ONS survey (vouchers for which mostly funded the Lego Santa's Sleigh!)   . . . and completed my Rivendell mega-build.

Later in the month, there was the usual trip across country to visit / stay with family, this time with some added dog-sitting for one night.  She was very good, spending most of the time asleep, as she's a bit of an old lady now.  Although she still managed to take us on a nice long woodland walk!

Diverted to Stratford-upon-Avon on the trip home, got to admire the Christmas lights, enjoy an evening out, and a bit of shopping.  Then home again to think about putting up our own Christmas decorations.

The Order of the Slipper

Time to head across country from Wales for a few days - to dog sit and visit with family - while my sister and her husband travelled to Wales for a short break to climb Eryri (the mountain formerly known as Snowdon).

Waved them off and enjoyed a couple of days of sunshine, dog walks, and helping out with shopping, household tasks, etc.

Was honoured to find one day that my slipper had made it to companion status on the sofa!

Still, lovely to be home again - back to our own bed and a beautiful sunset on the prom.

Hello Summer :)

After a somewhat dismal July and August, September has arrived with the sun, and some actual summery weather . . . 

Rali Ceredigion was back in town, there was a tall ship out in the bay, and the beaches have been packed (just as the lifeguard service shuts down!).

Even at sunset people have still been out and about enjoying the water and the almost Mediterranean evening heat . . .

We even fired up our new wood pellet pizza oven one evening - we bought this back at the start of the summer, but have only got to use it a couple of times so far.

It does make a very nice sourdough pizza - and Martin roasted off some of his chilli harvest while we were about it - hopefully there will be more opportunities to experiment over the next couple of months.

Aside from the lovely weather, we've both been suffering with heavy colds (not Covid - we did test!), so haven't felt quite as inclined to enjoy the sunshine as much as we would have otherwise.  Fingers crossed, for a sunny Autumn!

Seagulls and Sunset

 

The lovely weather has continued, and we've been enjoying the sunshine at home and on the prom.  The 'well' feature in the kitchen 'courtyard' is still going strong, and looking lovely in the sunshine, with the water playing and a poppy in bloom.

On the prom one of the seagulls seemed to be posing for me - generally they are a complete nuisance, but this at least made for a good photo!

A couple of days later and more of the gang were hanging out at the end of the Pier in the evening sunshine - probably watching out for opportunities to steal people's food this time.

I'll finish this with another sunset picture, this one taken at Ynyslas on a metal detecting trip (and no we didn't find anything, but the walk and scenery were lovely!).

Glorious

Sunset and Starlings

A sunny Sunday and another extended walk along a busy prom - people paddling, fishing, and stone-stacking . . .

. . . jackdaws strutting, and starlings gathering for the night on the pier:

Then on the way back to the car, glorious pink sunset skys behind an Aber roofscape . . .

Lovely!

Costa del Aberystwyth

Bucking the traditional bank holiday weekend weather expectations - today was truly gorgeous.  An evening walk along the prom felt positively Mediterranean. 

Musicians playing, boats in the bay, and a beautiful sunset . . .

. . . and naturally parties and fires on the beaches.

We finished the day ourselves with a glass of wine, sitting outside on a still very warm night, listening to the distant sound of the Big Tribute festival.








We also had company . . . (actual size - think it's a Speckled Bush Cricket).

By the Sea . . .

First sunny weekend of the New Year, and we were out on the prom enjoying the sunshine and the sea.

Storm Eleanor may have moved on (leaving its debris behind it), but there were still some impressive waves to be seen at high tide on Saturday.


Here we are by the harbour, trying to capture a good wave while freezing our fingers off in the bright cold that comes with a sunny January day!




Sunday saw us walking alongside a much more civilised sea - as the sun set on the horizon . . .

Still pretty cold out mind you - at least it wasn't raining!

Eastern Travels

Bank holiday weekend and off to East Anglia . . .

Catch-up with family, and some nice days out to some new local sights - for some reason we'd never made it to St Ives before, with its charming waterfront and C15th bridge with a chapel built into it:

Another trip took us to Gooderstone Water Gardens and we also made a return visit to Oxburgh Hall:


Unfortunately we couldn't get inside, as they'd recently experienced the dramatic collapse of a Victorian dormer window into the courtyard (as seen here) at which point I guess health and safety kicked in!


All in all a good weekend, with some great fenland skies:

Christmas Cake and Candy Skies

Christmas is rather creeping up on me - can't believe it'll be December in a couple of days. Bit late but finally got the Christmas cake in the Rayburn, after soaking the fruit for the last few days. Haven't made one for a couple of years, but having heard a Rayburn cooks a good cake thought I'd give it a try.



Tweaked the recipe a bit since I'm not keen on candied peel and currants - substituted these for glace cherries and dried cranberries - and added a few crushed pecan nuts as well. So we'll see how it turns out . . . it smells pretty good anyway (maybe that's the brandy and cherry liqueur!). Cooked beautifully, went in at 7.30am, came out about 1pm.

And to finish my second blog of the day (that isn't entirely weather related!) here's a picture of today's candy pink sunset:

Glorious Skys

After what can only be described as a really rather ghastly day yesterday - ranging from plain dull to driving wind and rain - we were graced with this amazing sunset.

Overall the weather this year has been really disappointing - it seems in retrospect to have rained for most of the summer - but that may just be my poor memory I suppose. So, in keeping with the 'British' obsession I've decided to include a round-up of the week's weather in a Sunday post. Will actually have the evidence then to back up my impressions, and it'll be interesting to compare with future years.

Sunrise / Sunset

Up early this morning, and caught a rather dramatic, if ominous sunrise. Needless to say, the weather is now grey, damp and windy!

More likely to see the sunset mind you - the best to date has to be this one from early June.