Baby birds. Three fab days in Pembs.
Also I have a cold, so BriefNotes.
Tuesday morning = an hour of admin then the Cockyard Circuit with K.
Showers on our return, but a lovely sunny afternoon – perfectly timed (not) for work. Escaped at 6.20pm to join Phil in his daily Thistly Field walk. Took some photos of the former Stockley Coppice.
Usual Weds & Thurs, including VWW and Family Zoom.
Friday to Sunday were spent with Steffi in sunny Pembrokeshire.
I drove across Friday morning and we had time for a stroll with Bessie through Slebech Woods before lunch. Then to Newgale via Lidl and out again to walk the extended footpath route through the Southwood Estate. A rather too close encounter with a herd of bullocks required restorative rehydration at The Haven in Nolton Haven before taking the coast path back to the van and a G&T on the deck and dinner.
Saturday saw us walk from Whitesands to Abereiddy and back. A fab day, flowers galore and sightings of seals and a sailing ship, and the coastguard helicopter at the Blue Lagoon. We rewarded ourselves with giant ice creams from The Bench in St David’s then back to the van for a small G&T and burgers.
A bit more cloud on Sunday, and an early start to drive to Castlemartin for one of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park‘s occasional guided walks along the section of the coast through the MOD firing range, which is usually out of bounds. Another fab day out, with four very knowledgeable volunteer leader-guides taking us from Stack Rocks to Brownslade Farm. Fossils, amazing geology, wildflowers and butterflies, iron age forts and D-Day Landings, sea birds – and complicated car sharing!
Back to Steffi’s for a slap up Sunday tea from / with Maurice – sausages, mash, cavalo nero, carrots, leeks, cheesy broccoli, a yorkshire pud and gravy – then back home, with a doggy box of dinner for Phil.
The only fly in the ointment was discovering a scratch all the way along the MX5’s back bumper, presumably acquired in the Whitesands Car Park 🙁 That’s sealed its fate…
Phil’s cold had manifested on the drive home so I didn’t do much on Monday other than wash the MX5 and look at options for selling it. In the afternoon I indulged in a nostalgia marathon watching Top of The Pops’ The Story of 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996.
In other news, I got an email telling me that I’d won the Crickhowell Walking Festival Photo Competition with my photo of the snow on the slopes of Waun Fach:
The prize is the hire of an Electric Day Boat for a day out on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, donated by Beacon Park Boats.
[I was due to be presented with my voucher today, but postponed due to cold.]
In bird news, it’s the time of year when the new arrivals go a bit mad with their new found powers of flight, bombing around from place to place without a care in the world. As a result, lots of bonks on various windows – and (so far) the greenhouse has claimed two tiny casualties and the conservatory one. All Great Tits.
But – alive – they are very cute and fluffy:
TV: Derry Girls (final series – wonderful), Better Call Saul (final series, in real time – no spoilers still!!!), TOTP: The Story of 1993, TOTP: The Story of 1994, TOTP: The Story of 1995 and TOTP: The Story of 1996 and The Morning Show (season 1).
Podcasts: You Must Remember This, SheDunnit.
Photos: Herefordshire week 126 on Flickr.
Phil: w/e 2022-05-27.