Today was the first outing for my new (reversible) skirt from Skirt Fanatic. I was all dressed up to visit my mum for a fish and chip supper for her birthday. I am looking forward to wearing it with its detachable pocket and sandals on summer walks.

My skirt was a joy to unwrap, it arrived beautifully packed with love and attention to detail.

The Elan Valley is a place of childhood memories. As a family we visited often at the end of the school  holidays just as the trees were turning to shades of autumn. It has been on our wish list (Mr C and I) as a place to visit for over 20 years. On the occasion of Mr C’s birthday this year we finally made the trip.

On our arrival, we found that the cafe in the valley was closed for refurbishment so we had to venture back to the nearest town, Rhayader, for lunch. Mr C chose the cafe and as we entered I wondered why we weren’t going into the pretty tea shop we had noticed as we drove through the town. I didn’t say anything; it was his birthday.

We enjoyed sandwiches freshly made to order and there were some delicious cakes on offer although we chose not to indulge. After we left the cafe we went for a brief walk in the town and Mr C noticed the pretty tea shop and realised that we had eaten in a different place than he intended. Later in the day we found out that we had had a lucky lunchtime escape. The food and service was much better in the unassuming cafe where we had lunched.

After lunch we returned to the extremely windy Elan Valley to explore the various dams. I was reminded of a childhood memory of a family picnic on a Welsh hillside where it was so windy that our food blew off the plates!

I insisted that Mr C took a detour to see the Claerwen dam and reservoir. As a child I found the immense size of the damn breathtaking and due to the amounts of water a little scary too. Mr C was astounded by the dam in the same way that I was when I first saw it. The structure still amazes me to this day, as does the immense expanse of water behind the dam.

Next, as we drove from the valley towards the town of Rhayader we were treated to a wonderful sight; looking down on Red Kites gliding in flight rather than seeing them from below. It was amazing!

We stopped in Rhayader for a cup of tea in the pretty tea shop before we continued our journey homeward and found ourselves treated to another spectacle; I noticed a Hercules flying directly towards the car, at my eye level. Just as I started to point it out to Mr C, he jumped in his car seat as he noticed it for himself. In the blink of an eye the plane flew out of sight.

This incident reminded me of another childhood memory; a family picnic in the Elan Valley. My mum, dad, brother and I were sitting at a picnic bench underneath (i think) Pen-Y-Gareg. The water level was higher than on my recent visit so the water was cascading over the dam. The picnic had been unpacked and my dad (with his back to the dam) was pouring soup into a dish.

I pointed as I saw two planes emerging from just above the dam. The sound of them kicked in, causing my dad to jump and spill the hot soup. The view of the aircraft and their noise above the water was stunning!

Later in the day we enjoyed fine dining (chicken cordon bleu) on the patio as the sun went down.

His journey’s just begun

Don’t think of him as gone away
his journey’s just begun,
life holds so many facets
this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.

And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched…
for nothing loved is ever lost
and he was loved so much.

Ellen Brenneman

Yesterday family and friends gathered for a birthday tea to celebrate the eighteenth birthday of nephew number two.  Unlike his brother who went to Uni when he turned 18 nephew number two still has another year of schooling to do before he makes his career choices.

The second birthday was celebrated by a couple of days away from home in the Yorkshire Dales.  It was a nice relaxing time, but it flashed by  far too quickly.  More detailed posts with photos to follow (soon)   On my return from this break I had to quickly get sorted and packed for a train journey to the moon for the third birthday (a 40th celebration).

The train journey was quite relaxing despite an agitated Chinese lady, who was speaking continually on her mobile (loudly at times).  She didn’t speak English and didn’t have a clue where she was, but needed to get off at Euston.  The relaxing part was an ‘on train picnic’ of salmon, salad and potato salad accompanied (dressed with lemon vinaigrette) by wine.  An added bonus was that I was able to catch an earlier connecting train, which meant arriving at my destination half an hour earlier than expected.

I was staying with family and one of the first things I needed to do when I arrived was remove my contact lenses because the journey had dried my eyes out.  When I entered the bathroom to do this I was mesmerised by some rather sparkling black eyes!  I was being assessed by a HUGE spider that was peeping out from behind the blinds.  Each of us hoping not to be seen by the other…  I made it out of the bathroom in one piece Then I arranged for the spider to be re-homed in the garden amongst the flowers.  The window was shut so he couldn’t sneak in again.

The weekend was enjoyable but hectic and on arriving at Euston station for the return journey I did wonder if I was going to be able to get back home in time for work.  There had been a major electrical fault at Watford Junction which had caused the signals to fail.  In addition to that there had been a fatality on the line in another location.  The amount of people milling around at the station was very reminiscent of weekday rush hour.  The station information and advice to passengers wasn’t very clear, causing confusion all round.  Some of the passengers had been waiting for over an hour, luckily I didn’t have to wait that long.  When the train did arrive (half an hour late) it declassified the first class section so that all passengers from the previous trains could be accommodated too.  The first class passengers were given advice on how to get a refund.

The joy of train journeys…

It is good to be home

But today family and friends  celebrated with a birthday tea (absent friends were fondly missed) (no alcohol honest )

The future?  Big D got the right grades to get into the University of his choice, so he will be embarking on a great journey of discovery…