All my plants and seedlings had come on in leaps and bounds while I was away, my new sowings of runner beans were only just beginning to show when I left, they grew about a foot in a week!  

The garden needed a good tidying up after being unattended for a week, I spent all day Sunday doing that as well as my holiday washing.  Good job I did as it hasn't stopped raining since, looks like I chose the best week to go away 😉

Tons of strawberries just waiting now for a bit of sun to ripen them.  The birds have been eating some of the ones on the allotment, we've covered them in netting now so hopefully that will stop them.  It's not a problem I've had with the ones in my garden

Beautiful yellow roses, all came out in the week I was away, hopefully the rain won't destroy them all.

Monday was a Bank Holiday, I met up with Joanne at the allotment and we spent the day there, it drizzled most of the time but we managed to fashion a structure to grow our courgettes up.  We finished just as the rain started to come heavier.

We have lots of lovely lettuce and rocket already and still picking radish.  We will plant more in the coming weeks so that we have a supply through the Summer.

Do you like our cute signs?  We bought a few different ones from the Malvern Spring show and I've ordered another couple from Amazon.  They are metal so should last longer than the wooden ones we used last year.

I didn't get home until late on Saturday, I decided to have a ride to Bangor and Beaumaris on the way home.  Bangor town was much the same as Colwyn Bay, a bit run down.  I did walk to find the pier, It was a bit of a trek though and there was a charge of £1.  

Nice views looking out over the Menai Strait though.

This house looked like it would a bit too close to the water for comfort when the tide came in. 😨

Beaumaris was only fifteen minutes away so I thought I might as well go there too as I was so close.  

In hind sight I should have given Bangor a miss and gone straight to Beaumaris.

I managed to get a parking spot right by the pier but It was limited to an hour I did take a walk along the pier but is was so windy, honestly I've never experienced trying to walk in wind that strong! and I was wearing a dress not a good combination, never mind hanging on to my hat, I was making sure I hung onto my dress to save my modesty😅

Beaumaris castle stands on the edge of the town, sadly I didn't have time to explore either the castle or much of the picturesque street but I did stumble on a little doorway that said Castle Garden Centre.

What a gem and what a great entrance to a garden centre 

And beyond that was a lovely space, more garden than garden centre selling not only plants but garden ornaments, pots and quirky things with lovely winding paths, beautiful,  I could have spent more time there but was aware that I had to be back to my car before the hour was up.

So if you are in the area my advice would be to bypass Bognor and head to Beaumaris instead.

On a completely different note, we have new neighbours.  My lovely neighbour, Doug, died at the beginning of the year, he was 96 and was such a lovely man and I still miss popping in to see him and taking him some cake and having a natter, he did love my homemade cakes bless him.   Anyway now his family have sold the house.  I haven't seen anyone yet, a small van came yesterday and bought some bits of furniture and I saw lights on last night.  

It's always a bit of a worry getting new neighbours isn't it?  

-X-