I was woken by thunder. The view across the bay was spectacular... ie no view, just dense rain.
When it calmed down a bit I went into Mumbles to buy some pasties, broccoli, rolls and soya milk, and got some sweetcorn as well. But I did come back quite damp.
In the afternoon I took the family exploring the path behind the house; it led into a housing estate and we asked a local person which way to go at one junction, and we decided to go to Langlands Corner. But a minute later, the boys decided they were tired so they and Gill went back, and I walked to Langlands Corner and from there, down to Rotherslade Bay.
I bought an ice cream and when I'd finished this, climbed up the rock in the middle of the bay and watched the tide come in. Then I moved to the east side of the bay where I could see the waves crash against the rocks a bit better, and stayed here til about 4pm, which was high tide. Then I walked slowly back to Bryn Terrace, collecting blackberries on the way.
Gill and the boys had come back and Gill had boiled the rest of the potatoes and then cooked the sweetcorn in that water. The potatoes she roasted and then heated the pasties in the oven, and this plus the broccoli made a good last meal here.
After this, I went on a walk with our eldest down to the promenade, and along to the pier, and as the tide was going out, we tried to get to the lighthouse. However, the channel between the first and second island had still got deep water in it, and it had started raining again, so we turned tail and walked home, past Bracelet Bay and up the hill and back to Bryn Terrace. We got back soaked but happy we'd had a nice walk together.
I lit the stove to dry off our wet clothing. At intervals through the evening we were getting our bits together.... I stewed the balckberries on the stove and filled two peanut butter jars with it, which will go back to York with us.
Whilst we were cleaning under one of the sofa we found a pair of socks left by the last visitors... or maybe the ones before that, who knows?
Showing posts with label Mumbles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mumbles. Show all posts
The forecast was rain but later in the day, so before it started I went to find a bit of firewood for later, as I anticipated needing the stove. Gill rang George and Rhona and discussed whether to meet up at Plantasia in Swansea today, but George said it was expensive and good for younger children, and the Waterside Museum was better and free. He offered to come and collect us, Gill couldn't persuade him to let us get the bus in. So he dropped Rhona off at a cafe in the Marina area, and came to pick us up.
When we got into Swansea he parked near the new and controversial tower block ... which I quite like and find attractive... and we walked past this and looked at the bay, and then walked quite a long way around the Marina, past the statue of Dylan Thomas and into the Waterfront Museum where Rhona was waiting.
Due to our long walk it was after 12.30 and some of the group were hungry, so we had lunch here, then had a leisurely wander around. It is an excellent museum; I could have spent much longer here but some of the group were ready to move on. But it was now raining, so George took us to the Leisure Centre where there is a good swimming pool, flume, water slide, river ride and much much more. We went to the viewing area and watched... but neither of the boys wanted to be bought swimming trunks and get into the pool so we just watched for a few minutes.
It was still raining hard but we needed to get back. Gill had seen George and Rhona talking about how to get us home, as George's car only had space for four passengers. But we said it would be perfectly easy for us to catch a bus back to Mumbles, and this is what we did. We got a purple FTR bendybus as far as Brynmill Lane and then, our luck was in, the 2B to Limeslade came in just 2 minutes later! We'd got a family day rover for £8 and this got us all the way to the stop really near to our house, with no hill-walking needed. I lit the stove as soon as I came in and dried off a bit, then took the umbrella and walked down into Mumbles for bread, milk, potatoes, baked beans, mushrooms and chocolate.
I got back extremely damp but with all the provisions and peeled potatoes whilst Gill did a mix of onion, green bean, courgette, mushroom and baked beans, and then the boiled spuds were mashed and plonked on top.... a very filling and wholesome nosh.
We watched a DVD of Toy Story, the first one, which I'd not seen before... it was great!
Then we watched a programme about the wildlife of the Himalayas and then another hour of archaeology. Whilst this was doing, I decided to do the washing up without the use of fossil gas, and put two saucepans of water on the woodstove, and when they were hot, poured them over today's plates, bowls and cutlery. I refilled the saucepans and got another batch of 'carbon neutral' hot water to pour over, and this meant I was able to do an 'ethical' wash up.
When we got into Swansea he parked near the new and controversial tower block ... which I quite like and find attractive... and we walked past this and looked at the bay, and then walked quite a long way around the Marina, past the statue of Dylan Thomas and into the Waterfront Museum where Rhona was waiting.
Due to our long walk it was after 12.30 and some of the group were hungry, so we had lunch here, then had a leisurely wander around. It is an excellent museum; I could have spent much longer here but some of the group were ready to move on. But it was now raining, so George took us to the Leisure Centre where there is a good swimming pool, flume, water slide, river ride and much much more. We went to the viewing area and watched... but neither of the boys wanted to be bought swimming trunks and get into the pool so we just watched for a few minutes.
It was still raining hard but we needed to get back. Gill had seen George and Rhona talking about how to get us home, as George's car only had space for four passengers. But we said it would be perfectly easy for us to catch a bus back to Mumbles, and this is what we did. We got a purple FTR bendybus as far as Brynmill Lane and then, our luck was in, the 2B to Limeslade came in just 2 minutes later! We'd got a family day rover for £8 and this got us all the way to the stop really near to our house, with no hill-walking needed. I lit the stove as soon as I came in and dried off a bit, then took the umbrella and walked down into Mumbles for bread, milk, potatoes, baked beans, mushrooms and chocolate.
I got back extremely damp but with all the provisions and peeled potatoes whilst Gill did a mix of onion, green bean, courgette, mushroom and baked beans, and then the boiled spuds were mashed and plonked on top.... a very filling and wholesome nosh.
We watched a DVD of Toy Story, the first one, which I'd not seen before... it was great!
Then we watched a programme about the wildlife of the Himalayas and then another hour of archaeology. Whilst this was doing, I decided to do the washing up without the use of fossil gas, and put two saucepans of water on the woodstove, and when they were hot, poured them over today's plates, bowls and cutlery. I refilled the saucepans and got another batch of 'carbon neutral' hot water to pour over, and this meant I was able to do an 'ethical' wash up.
Awake early again as the curtains are far too thin, and I got up and after breakfast went to explore the footpath behind the house, and I found some nice lumps of dry wood which I brought back in case we light the stove on Tuesday evening when it could be cold and wet.
Then Gill and I walked into Mumbles together and had a wander around and did some shopping, and found two greengrocers and a health food shop, a love spoon shop and two charity shops. We spent more than an hour out of the house... and when we got back we thought the boys hadn't noticed that we'd gone, as they were so totally immersed in their DS games. So we had lunch and then had a family conference about what to do with the afternoon. Both the boys wanted to go and play Crazy Golf, as there is a place just at the bottom of Village Lane. So we all walked down and on the way we met a friendly Australian-sounding chap called Karl, who's currently teaching physics but is interested in working in a more creative way, and we immediately hit it off, and chatted for a short while.
I'd never played Crazy Golf before, but the idea is to knock the golf ball along the concrete playing area, past or through the obstacle, and into the hole at the end. This course had about 12 playing areas, all with different shaped obstacles. We all had our own club and different coloured ball, and four score sheets and a pencil. We just totted up the number of putts we each needed to get the ball in the hole, and at the end of the round, we totted up the number of points... and the person with the least had won, and, amazingly, that person was me. Beginners luck!
This was enough activity for most of the family so we came back home. Gill had prepared some tea earlier, a mix of Bulgar wheat, finely chopped onion, mixed seeds and grated carrot, and the middles of the hollowed-out mini-marrows, brought from home. The marrows/large courgettes were stuffed with this and baked with some grated cheese on top. We had this at about 6pm and it was really nice.
Before dark I went to a hedgerow where I'd seen a lot of dead wood and came back with a bag full of lengths of stick, which I may use if we have the stove going sometime.
In the evening I added chopped cooking apple to the de-stoned York cherry plums, and Gill's going to make a crumble with it to take to George and Rhona's.
Then Gill and I walked into Mumbles together and had a wander around and did some shopping, and found two greengrocers and a health food shop, a love spoon shop and two charity shops. We spent more than an hour out of the house... and when we got back we thought the boys hadn't noticed that we'd gone, as they were so totally immersed in their DS games. So we had lunch and then had a family conference about what to do with the afternoon. Both the boys wanted to go and play Crazy Golf, as there is a place just at the bottom of Village Lane. So we all walked down and on the way we met a friendly Australian-sounding chap called Karl, who's currently teaching physics but is interested in working in a more creative way, and we immediately hit it off, and chatted for a short while.
I'd never played Crazy Golf before, but the idea is to knock the golf ball along the concrete playing area, past or through the obstacle, and into the hole at the end. This course had about 12 playing areas, all with different shaped obstacles. We all had our own club and different coloured ball, and four score sheets and a pencil. We just totted up the number of putts we each needed to get the ball in the hole, and at the end of the round, we totted up the number of points... and the person with the least had won, and, amazingly, that person was me. Beginners luck!
This was enough activity for most of the family so we came back home. Gill had prepared some tea earlier, a mix of Bulgar wheat, finely chopped onion, mixed seeds and grated carrot, and the middles of the hollowed-out mini-marrows, brought from home. The marrows/large courgettes were stuffed with this and baked with some grated cheese on top. We had this at about 6pm and it was really nice.
Before dark I went to a hedgerow where I'd seen a lot of dead wood and came back with a bag full of lengths of stick, which I may use if we have the stove going sometime.
In the evening I added chopped cooking apple to the de-stoned York cherry plums, and Gill's going to make a crumble with it to take to George and Rhona's.
Woken early as the morning sunshine came straight through the unlined curtains and was very bright. I had breakfast and then as Gill had a bath, I got in after her to reuse the water; the bath was so short that I couldn't sit in it with my legs out straight. It was nice and hot though and I had a good scrub. I went to dry off in the bedroom, and as the sun had moved round it had become less bright and I went to sleep for a couple of hours, getting up again at 10.30ish. Luxury!
I had noted that there was the raft race this morning at 11, and from the house we could see boats converging from all around the bay. But no-one else wanted to come to see the race, so I went down by myself. The race had just started so I went to the finish and got a good spot to see all the rafts come in... they took almost an hour to come in, and it was a lot of fun. There was a probable father and son in a sea-going canoe, the child was collecting water bomb balloons which had been thrown at incoming rafts but hadn't burst, and threw some of them back into the spectators. At least three rafts were unable to get to the finish by themselves and got a tow in. Several rafts broke up on the way, although a couple of these did still make the finish line. This event raised thousands of pounds for the RNLI... at least £250 entrance fee per raft, and then street collections (there were apparently 25000 spectators) and other fundraising. They were hoping for £70k today.
When the last raft had come in, I walked along to the Co-op and got bread and soya milk. Then back to the house for 1pm and lunch.
I had my sandwiches whilst watching Monster Moves, and had some laughs with the boys, play fighting/horseplay... we call it 'bundling'... but at 2pm I wanted to have some quiet as I wanted to listen to Gardeners Question Time. Immediately after this, the rest of the family were ready to go out so I took them to the beach at Bracelet Bay... much complaining about having to walk down a steep hill and then up one to get somewhere they weren't sure about.... but once on the beach the complaints disappeared and we played in some soft sand, letting our feet sink in up to our ankles... and then we made a long sand barrier to divert a stream, and made the pretty sand-dribble turrets all along it, and enjoyed watching the erosion that happens when the stream is forced to turn a corner.
After at least an hour, probably two, we washed off the sand in the sea and went to the top of the beach where Gill was chatting to a nice chap called Steve who is a singer, who'd recently been working with Jon Lord of Deep Purple fame, and I had a nice chat with him. Then we left to go and find a place to eat, and I showed them the pier and we went to the Mumbles Pier Cafe. I had pizza and chips, Gill beans, chips and salad, and our boys had pasta Napoli and a veggie breakfast! And onion rings on the side. And a J2O each.... It was a nice meal and we needed the walk afterwards from the pier to Village Lane which leads up to Bryn Terrace.
I had wanted to go and explore the area behind the house, as there's a footpath up into the woods, but I just cuddled up on the sofa with Gilly and watched Antiques Roadshow, which Gill especially likes. She's got several antiques books and has pretty good guesses at what things are and what they are worth. Then I got trapped by Secret Britain and when this finished it was too dark to go exploring.
I had noted that there was the raft race this morning at 11, and from the house we could see boats converging from all around the bay. But no-one else wanted to come to see the race, so I went down by myself. The race had just started so I went to the finish and got a good spot to see all the rafts come in... they took almost an hour to come in, and it was a lot of fun. There was a probable father and son in a sea-going canoe, the child was collecting water bomb balloons which had been thrown at incoming rafts but hadn't burst, and threw some of them back into the spectators. At least three rafts were unable to get to the finish by themselves and got a tow in. Several rafts broke up on the way, although a couple of these did still make the finish line. This event raised thousands of pounds for the RNLI... at least £250 entrance fee per raft, and then street collections (there were apparently 25000 spectators) and other fundraising. They were hoping for £70k today.
When the last raft had come in, I walked along to the Co-op and got bread and soya milk. Then back to the house for 1pm and lunch.
I had my sandwiches whilst watching Monster Moves, and had some laughs with the boys, play fighting/horseplay... we call it 'bundling'... but at 2pm I wanted to have some quiet as I wanted to listen to Gardeners Question Time. Immediately after this, the rest of the family were ready to go out so I took them to the beach at Bracelet Bay... much complaining about having to walk down a steep hill and then up one to get somewhere they weren't sure about.... but once on the beach the complaints disappeared and we played in some soft sand, letting our feet sink in up to our ankles... and then we made a long sand barrier to divert a stream, and made the pretty sand-dribble turrets all along it, and enjoyed watching the erosion that happens when the stream is forced to turn a corner.
After at least an hour, probably two, we washed off the sand in the sea and went to the top of the beach where Gill was chatting to a nice chap called Steve who is a singer, who'd recently been working with Jon Lord of Deep Purple fame, and I had a nice chat with him. Then we left to go and find a place to eat, and I showed them the pier and we went to the Mumbles Pier Cafe. I had pizza and chips, Gill beans, chips and salad, and our boys had pasta Napoli and a veggie breakfast! And onion rings on the side. And a J2O each.... It was a nice meal and we needed the walk afterwards from the pier to Village Lane which leads up to Bryn Terrace.
I had wanted to go and explore the area behind the house, as there's a footpath up into the woods, but I just cuddled up on the sofa with Gilly and watched Antiques Roadshow, which Gill especially likes. She's got several antiques books and has pretty good guesses at what things are and what they are worth. Then I got trapped by Secret Britain and when this finished it was too dark to go exploring.
An early start, as we had to leave the house at 8.30 because we were booked into the 9.05 Shrewsbury to Swansea train. This four hour journey was definitely part of the holiday... we could have chosen a quicker route, but it wouldn't have been as pretty or interesting. It was a lovely journey, lots of beautiful scenery, trees, mountains with clouds on their tops, valleys with livestock and interesting homes, farmsteads and rivers. The boys filled in a Michelin Eye-Spy book and I wrote down as many of the station names that I could. We had lunch at midday, sandwiches made this morning.
Then we were next to the South Wales estuary and then a steelworks. The train changed direction at the next station and we crossed the estuary and were soon in Swansea.
We had a bit of an argument about how to get to Mumbles... I wanted to get a bus but the others wanted to get a taxi. I found out where the bus was due to go from and we walked there, it was only about 7 minutes walk, and a bus came along immediately. There was some good humoured conversation amongst the locals and myself, but the boys weren't feeling like it. I found out that the taxi would have been about £17; the bus was £7. A helpful lady on the bus showed us where to get off and how to get to the 'Home From Home' office... we arrived at 2pm and it was due to open at 2.30 to let people get their keys. Gill and the boys went to find an ice cream, and I chatted to another early arriver, a nice old lady called Sue, from Northamptonshire, who was collecting a key for a house for her two daughters, and some grandchildren.
Gill and the boys came back, bearing 'BoojaBooja' ice cream (vegan) and much happier. I got the keys and directions to the house, which was down to the seafront, turn right and then third on the right, and back up the hill... about 10 minutes walk. We did eventually get to the house, on Bryn Terrace, and at the top of a steep hill. The house is apparently called Cymylau, which means 'clouds', an apt name when you look out of the window.
After an hour recuperating, we left the children playing with their Nintendo DSes and we went to the Co-op at the bottom of the hill, and got a rucksack full of provisions, plus several bags... including two little bottles of Welsh cider and two of Welsh Perry! That should be ample til next Friday.
I helped Gill make tea: pasta and veg, including the tromboncino squash from home. I then went for a walk which was lovely. I found a good place for some sticks for the stove (cold wet day forecast on Tuesday) and took some photos of the evening sun on towering clouds. I got back at 9pm.
Then we were next to the South Wales estuary and then a steelworks. The train changed direction at the next station and we crossed the estuary and were soon in Swansea.
We had a bit of an argument about how to get to Mumbles... I wanted to get a bus but the others wanted to get a taxi. I found out where the bus was due to go from and we walked there, it was only about 7 minutes walk, and a bus came along immediately. There was some good humoured conversation amongst the locals and myself, but the boys weren't feeling like it. I found out that the taxi would have been about £17; the bus was £7. A helpful lady on the bus showed us where to get off and how to get to the 'Home From Home' office... we arrived at 2pm and it was due to open at 2.30 to let people get their keys. Gill and the boys went to find an ice cream, and I chatted to another early arriver, a nice old lady called Sue, from Northamptonshire, who was collecting a key for a house for her two daughters, and some grandchildren.
Gill and the boys came back, bearing 'BoojaBooja' ice cream (vegan) and much happier. I got the keys and directions to the house, which was down to the seafront, turn right and then third on the right, and back up the hill... about 10 minutes walk. We did eventually get to the house, on Bryn Terrace, and at the top of a steep hill. The house is apparently called Cymylau, which means 'clouds', an apt name when you look out of the window.
After an hour recuperating, we left the children playing with their Nintendo DSes and we went to the Co-op at the bottom of the hill, and got a rucksack full of provisions, plus several bags... including two little bottles of Welsh cider and two of Welsh Perry! That should be ample til next Friday.
I helped Gill make tea: pasta and veg, including the tromboncino squash from home. I then went for a walk which was lovely. I found a good place for some sticks for the stove (cold wet day forecast on Tuesday) and took some photos of the evening sun on towering clouds. I got back at 9pm.
