Tuesday 19 June 2007

The Little Blue Potting Shed



This place is so beautiful. It's a magical hotch potch of veggie plot, greenhouse, ducks, a shed, baskets, bathtubs, wine boxes, tea cups and cottagey type things all put together in a really imaginative way. The owners have used all sorts of interesting old things as containers for plants and flowers. It gave me so many great ideas. They have a lovely honesty stall in the lane at the front and I often see people stopped there buying their veg and eggs. Everything is labelled in chalk with little pieces of slate. It's so idyllic! Even better, I've discovered that they deliver veg boxes so I'm currently investigating further.



For the next couple of weeks I'm going dark (in the words of Jack Bauer!). I'm going to be taking a short break from the blog but will hopefully be back with lots to tell you.

Happy summer solstice everyone!

Monday 18 June 2007

Tagged!

I've been tagged! Thanks Nà. Now I'm sitting here with my nice hot drink I'll make a start...

Three jobs I’ve had:
1. Chamber maid
2. Graphic artist
3. Graphic designer

Three places I’ve lived:
1. Cheshire
2. Exeter, Devon
3. Back to Cheshire again!

Three places I’d like to visit which I’ve never been:
1. Isles of Scilly.... soon to be rectified!!
2. Brittany, France
3. West coast of Scotland with it's islands.

Three most unforgettable places I’ve been on holiday:
1. That's easy... Pembrokeshire, Wales!!
2. Paris
3. Rome
Can I have 2 more??!!
4. Prague
5. Cornwall, England

Three things that bring me comfort:
1. My family and friends
2. Peace and quiet
3. Nature

Three of the most memorable books I read last year:
1. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
2. The Food of Love by Antoni Capella
3. She's come undone by Wally Lamb

Three books that I started because I felt I ought to, but didn’t finish:
(I second Nà when when she says in honesty she's never read a book because she feels she ought to, but always because she feels she wants to.)
1. The God of Small Things... just couldn't get into this one. Was it good?
2. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway... still might finish this one.
3. The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart... Really didn't like this book. Found it disturbing!

Three songs that give me goosebumps:
1. Little Red Corvette by Prince
2. Find My Love by Fairground Attraction
3. Aidia by Sarah Mclachlan... I could list so many more!

Three loved films from my childhood:
1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
2. Stand by Me
3. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (watched this again a few months ago and it's still good!)

The last three films I saw are:
1. American Splendor (was really enjoying this until the DVD decided to stop halfway through)
2. Angel-A
3. Walk the Line

Three things I didn’t do as a child that I wish I had:
1. Realised that you really can be whoever you want to be
2. Been nicer to my parents!!
3. Joined the rowing club at an earlier age

Three things I’d like to do that I haven’t done yet:
1. Travel round the world
2. Make a fantastic veggie garden
3. Live by the sea with a lovely studio to work in.

The three people I’m going to tag with this meme:

I'm not going to tag anyone this time but please feel free to join in and leave me a message to let me know.

Monday 11 June 2007

Pembrokeshire...


I hope you're not getting bored of my Pembrokeshire ramblings.

I never feel like I've been on holiday properly unless I've been on a boat trip. We took an evening trip around Ramsey Island to see the manx shearwaters returning home after a day's fishing, little puffins (oh so cute!), seals, kittiwakes, fulmars, black backed gulls, ravens and even some choughs which are rare in the British Isles.

Apparently I was 'made' near St. Justinian's. Thanks Mum for that information!!! I'm not sure I wanted to know that. This is the lifeboat station from the boat as we were heading out to sea. The water can get very choppy around the island and it's incredibly bracing. I could really taste the salt on my lips.

Later on we went into St. David's. Look... petals on my plate!! I think they were marigold petals, orange and yellow. So pretty! This was my starter at Morgan's - a Caerfai cheese souffle. I love it when restaurants source all their ingredients locally. I ate the petals too.

The next day we went to the very wild and romantic beach at Marloes. It has lots of little sheltered spots amongst the rocks when the tide's halfway in. Could have been some smuggling here in the past... what do you think Nà?

It's usually me who has to be rescued but for the first time ever P got stuck. There wasn't a thing I could do so I just took photos! Wicked aren't I? Don't worry, he did come down eventually.

P.s. On a completely different note I just want to say hello to my cousin, Mo. Hope you're reading. xx

Wednesday 6 June 2007

More tales of Wales


Porthgain is a lovely place embedded deep in my heart. You can walk up onto the cliff top for some beautiful views. We had a bit of a snooze in the warm sun amongst the flowers. The bluebells were swaying in the breeze and it was lovely listening to waves below with that intoxicating scent of salt spray, flowers and grass.

Safe harbour... you can just see the steps leading up to the clifftop by the side of the little white house.

If you're ever in Porthgain you must pop into The Sloop Inn. It's a proper, cozy old place with heaps of character. There are bits of wood bearing the names of old boats and old metal signs hanging up everywhere. It must have heard some stories. The food in there was delicious. P recommends the Angry Dog burger as being one of the best he's ever tasted.

What a look of satisfaction!

One of the old metal signs hanging from the ceiling:

Nobody stuck around long enough to find out what this was...!
:-)

An adventure into Wales

Sorry for the delay in posting but I've been on an adventure and taken so many photos that it's taking a long time to decide which ones to post!

We drove through Snowdonia to the sea...

Where we had a quick pit stop at Aberystwth for some fish and chips while the sun was starting to go down.

When we finally made it to Castle Morris in Pembrokeshire we were so happy with the holiday cottage. It was called Ty Moch Bach which I've been told by a flickr friend means 'Little Pig House'.

So now I know why there was a bacon press in there! Poor little piggies.

See those wooden beams in the lounge? One day we were surprised to find a swallow perched on one of them! It had flown in through the skylight and was sat looking at us. So very cute! Close up the colours were beautiful... blues and reds. I wish I had got a photo but we thought it best to leave it be so as not to distress it. It flew out soon after.