Pembrokeshire for the Everest Trek Get Together No. 19.
My first full week back home = still catching up.
Tuesday comprised catching up on admin and weeknotes 196 and 197, walking to and from Ewyas Harold for my first in person Physio appointment at the surgery (VG. Assessment = Hip pain, right glute med tendinopathy + some ITB / Iliotibial Band Syndrome symptoms), Pembs Prep, another catch up with Val, more apple collecting, a great update from dad on his jaundice.
Beautiful day.
Pilates in the evening – getting back into the gym routine, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks.
Having failed to book onto the morning gym classes, Wednesday was more admin, mainly money – I’m still working out my “being retired cash flows” – and we had our catch up with Carol. Also some Nepal prep – working out paying, online tourist visa (bearing in mind the max 15 days in advance constraint) and checking eBay for Expedition grade down jackets….
Over to J’s for dinner in the evening. Lovely. On my way there, I spooked an owl down by Blackmoor Farm.
A very rainy day.
Thursday morning featured LBT at the Gym and Chutney Transport Box pick up from the shop, then back home to finish off weeknotes 197, which also entailed fully Flickring Italy photos.
More gym on Friday morning, a petrol fill up at the Forge, more computing (I forget what), then off to Pembs for Everest Trek Get Together No. 19, picking up Hazel at Carmarthen en route to Mayhem where Steffi supplied a Greek Feast as a change from the usual Curries. Replete, Dave drove us to the van and we polished off a bottle of wine.
The heavy rain had cleared to sunshine on the drive west.
Steffi spotted Starlink low on the horizon. It was that or anti alien tracer fire….
Saturday’s walk was the Marloes Circular, with sunshine, seals and a super lunch at Runwayskiln.
Back at the van, a cup of tea then down to the beach for a gorgeous sunset.
Once darkness had descended, we relaxed in the van where wine and crisps were followed by cheese and biscuits, fruit and wine. And bed.
Mandatory Sunday morning stroll on Newgale Beach, then back to Mayhem for Mexican! Lovely sunny day. Cold and crisp overnight and in the shade. October has arrived.
Home by 6pm, got the log stove going – first time this year (well since the spring at any rate).
It had been cold overnight, so on Monday morning we put the heating on. First time…
A couple of hours prepping (these) weeknotes and updating already-flickred photos (Pembs and previous) and doing my new physio exercises, then out to bonfire.
Slow going, and very smoky, but over the next 6 hours or so I got through the three piles of hedge clippings and the older pile(s) of tree / shrub loppings. During the marathon session Phil brought my lunch out to me and laid on the 4pm tea and biscuit on the patio. I was done by 5pm-ish, give or take a few extra bramble cuttings.
In between times I trimmed the broken branches I could reach on our Wedding Plum, deconstructed the old, broken deck chair in the quarry and repurposed it as compost heap “fence” and refreshed the bait in the rodent trap – something had moved the box and dug a path to it; hopefully rats as the bait was all gone.
Listened to a lot of the Empire podcast episodes.
Got my Disney+ subscription up and running in the evening and started The Mandalorian.
The days are definitely drawing in. Dawn colours lingering over Grey Valley at 7.30am, and getting dark by 6pm.
TV: Fleabag, The Ghosts cast on the show’s final series | BFI Q&A (plus the Comic Relief Kylie Special and Bloopers on YouTube), This Farming Life, The Mandalorian.
Podcasts: In Our Time, Shedunnit, Empire.
Photos: Herefordshire week 198 on Flickr.
Phil: w/e 2023-10-15.