sweet william

A few weekends ago we were in Wales visiting family - and you'll soon see the fabulous garden where this amazing bloom came from

but first it was a day out on Anglesey - starting at Moelfre

gazing over the straits to the Great Orme

then setting off round the headland for a walk . . .

the clan

the lovely original lifeboat station

Dic Evans, a very brave member of the lifeboat crew, born and bred in Moelfre

and some moving accounts of rescues

This is the swanky new lifeboat station and it's latest boat

old fishermen's cottages along the headland

We spotted porpoises in the sea just near this spot 

and enjoyed wandering the grassy tracks

filled with butterflies and wildflowers

This is the bay where a famous shipwreck took place - the Royal Charter went down in 1859 and its a fascinating tale of wrecking and gold ingots!  Read all about it here

And finally, back at the ranch and that stunning garden - "all my own work"!!

all that and a magnificent backdrop of the grandeur of the Carneddau too

A beautiful secret garden, great company and a fabulous weekend.

To the lighthouse

Thursday 2 July 2015

I'm starting with this beautiful Welsh poppy which I caught right at the end of the day at Y Parrog, hence the lovely light on it.  But more later . . .

Dare I say, that despite an early shower (and our only one of the week) and a bit of morning cloud, it soon turned out to be yet again a fabulously hot sunny day!!

and this time our route was taking us over to Strumble Head

and soon the lighthouse was in view

so up hill and down dale we ambled

until we reached the headland and the sun broke through

Time for a rest before venturing to the lookout below

which it turns out was an old WWII observation point for submarines

and is now a brilliant bird watching hide - from where we spent a happy half hour watching an enormous jelly fish swimming around - must have been a few metres long - but still too far down for a good photo.

So after our rest, it was off again along the glorious coast

until we found a little inlet full of seals - more later when I showcase Vince's close-ups - but you can probably just see my greyish elongated dot in the water near the shore to the left!

and again, flowers abounding

Leaving the coast, we picked up our cars and headed back up to Newport

because we all had the urge to sample the amazing Canteen nosh and if you read their Tripadvisor reviews, you'll see we weren't the only fans!

and here we all are

I like to think the junior school child who drew this for the Post Office window had also spotted our jelly fish!!

And so, before we trundled back to Llanrhian, Mike and I decided to explore Y Parrog - the lovely little quay at Newport.

and as you can see - utterly charming

even though my shadow got in the way!

and this was looking towards the estuary where we'd walked the other evening when the tide was out!

So we walked around the quay

and past the old fisherman's and sea captains houses of yore

to get a different perspective on the harbour

then we spotted this confusing set of signs - just why were there two routes? . .

ah ha - yes ........... best take the high road today!!

Next we drove back to LLanrhian with a quick whisk to watch the last of the sun going down at Portgain

which was quite beautiful

and suddenly it was the end of another wonderful day and an all too quick creeping nearer to the end of this magical week.

Welsh word of the day: mynydd = mountain
And if you'd like to read on to Friday's adventures then please click here
(or if you want to go back and start at the beginning of this holiday - then click here to go back)