Mountain walks and steam train rides

We're back home, rested and raring to go, well, sort of, lol  

It doesn't take long to get back to normal routine after a holiday does it.

We unpacked as soon as we got in, before we even put the kettle on, and I had some washing on the line in the afternoon, the rest of the washing was done and hung out on Sunday morning, and as Mark put it, stretched as far as the eye could see, lol

And so normal service was resumed.

We had a great week though and visited some lovely places, the scenery in Wales is just stunning and I think even though Mark would have liked to go somewhere warmer that involved getting on a plane, he enjoyed it and was able to have a proper rest from working.

We were quite lucky with the weather really, we did have one day when it rained more or less all day, but we just stayed in the flat that day and watched films, (something we don't really do) and I got a whole day's uninteruptedbyhousework, stitching done, which is unheard of!

We saw and did everything that we intended t, Snowdon is 1,085 metres (3559 feet) above sea level and is the highest point in the British Isles, it has been on my list of things to do for a while, I would love to try walking up Snowdon but Mark wouldn't be up for that so I booked us on the Snowdon Mountain train.

Actually when I booked this trip It didn't register how far it was from where we were staying, which turned out to be a 90 minute drive, Ops!  Still the drive there was through the most beautiful scenery and it was a lovely day, so that was ok.

I only found out about Talyllyn Railway through a google search and although neither me or Mark are steam train enthusiasts we thought it would be a nice trip out.  The trip takes you through some of the wonderful Welsh valleys and some beautiful scenery.  You can get off at a couple of the stops and we had intended to get off at Dolgoch and walk the falls, but then decided to just go to the end of the line and then do the return journey and have something to eat in the station cafe.

We decided to drive to Dolgoch Falls in the afternoon, it wasn't far and we would be able to spend more time than if we had got off at the train stop.
This is such a beautiful place, neither google images or my photos do this place justice, it was a lovely sunny day and the light through the trees was just amazing.
Surprisingly we only saw three other people while we were walking.

Looks like someones been having fun building a camp :-)

When I post about holidays or trips out I'm doing it for my own record to look back on more than anything else but even so, I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of the Welsh scenery too :-)

See you soon

-X-

The view from here

Were having a week away in Aberdovey, Wales, this week.  We drove down yesterday and are staying in a flat overlooking the estuary.  The flat is absolutely lovely and the view from the window is just perfect.

I've bought along some stitching and the socks I started last week, I got to the heel on the first sock but I want to do both heels together, so I started on the second sock, I'm almost done with the leg on the second one now.

Maybe this time I will get socks :-)

Over the last week I only stitched a couple of times, I got Suznnah's hair done.

We haven't gone very far today, had a lazy morning then walked to the pub and had a lovely Sunday roast followed by a long walk on the beach while the tide was out.

Looking out towards the Irish sea.

Looking back at how far we walked

I loved looking at the patterns the tide made in the sand

And we saw quite a few jelly fish

 And looking back towards the colourful houses.

We are staying in the last coloured house (next to the block of white ones) on the right as you look at the photo

 We might take a trip out tomorrow, we'll see what the weather is like when we get up as to how far we venture.

That's all for now folks, see you soon.

-X-

Coming to you from a different location today

Saturday was our stitching meet up at the Nimble Thimble.

A group of us meet up twice a year, April and October, for a day of stitching, stashing and eating.

For the last few years I've made a weekend of it and stayed over, I stayed at Everglades once before, It's run by a lovely couple who extended their bungalow to have separate accommodation for visitors, they also have a chalet in the garden, and this is where I stayed this time.

I'm going back home in the morning, it's been lovely to get away and enjoy some uninterrupted stitching and knitting time.

I made a new stitching start while we were there yesterday, Suzannah by Carriage House Samplings, this was the chart I mentioned in a previous post that I was waiting for fabric to start.

This is how much I got done yesterday, It doesn't really look a lot does it?  Funny how when you look at a chart you can underestimate how much actual time it will take to stitch, lol

I have done a little more this afternoon and made a start on her hair.

I didn't venture into the shop until after lunch and I was very careful about what I bought.

Having had a clear out recently I'm determined to get through some of the charts I've had for a while and not add to my stash buying charts that will sit there for years.

My bargain buy was this complete set of all 12 months of the Calendar Girls series.

I paid £28 for the set, which works out to just over £2.30 per chart!

They are something that I've been wanting to stitch so I was very happy with that :-)

Two other charts, Robin's Song is so pretty, Ursh was stitching this at the meet up and I think I managed to nab the last chart!

Two sleds.

There were only 4 sleds on sale and Tina bought the other 2

  

The Morning Star Santa (chart above) will go on one sled, Tina bought the Snowman chart and we are going to do a chart swap

I also bought 2 small pieces of fabric (which are not photographing very well so I gave up).

I was watching an episode of Crafternoon Treats podcast the other week and she was showing her April Sock Club yarn.  The club had already been posted and received by those who signed up so it was not a spoiler but when I saw the colourway and she said there was some left in her etsy shop I had to stop watching and go over and order some!

The inspiration behind the dying was those little Cadbury mini eggs.

(image from Google)

She did a great job I think :-)

I wanted to have another attempt at socks and thought that If I chose a yarn that I really really loved I would be more inclined to want to see it to the end, lol

 Is't the yarn pretty knit up? I love it! and it's so nice to knit with, not at all like the commercial sock yarns I've tried with in the past. 

Ok, that's it for now, i'm off to enjoy a bit more stitching time while the light is still on my side, later I will do a few more rounds on my sock.

I hope you have all had a good weekend and hope you have a great week :-)

See you next week 

(when I will again be in a different location!)

-X-

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday

 We just couldn't have had more perfect weather for this Bank Holiday weekend, It's been absolutely glorious.  

Easter Sunday also happened to be my youngest daughters birthday this year too, she turned 25 today.  In 1994 the weather was nowhere near as lovely, either for Easter,(which was earlier in the month that year), or the day she was born, in fact i'm sure we had some snow just before she was born.

We decided to make the most of the weather and have afternoon tea outside, I made a Simnal cake yesterday, first time I've made this particular cake, it looks the part, can't comment on the taste because I haven't tried it yet, but i'm sure it's fine, what's not to like, it has two layers of marzipan, lol

 The kids had fun hunting for their eggs and playing in the sunshine

  

I've been enjoying sitting in my little blue house while the weather is nice, although it does get rather hot in there late afternoon.

Someone else has also been enjoying time in there, and doesn't seem mind the heat, lol

We still have lots of colour in the garden, I will be sorry when the Tulips are finished.

We have one more day of relaxation tomorrow, I don't plan on going anywhere, Mark is still working on Stevie's bathroom so I'm just going to enjoy some quiet time at home.   

I hope you all had a lovely Easter too.

Until next time

-X-

The Birthday Boy

Today is Arthur's first birthday.

I can hardly believe that it's been 12 months since Jenny and James allowed me to share with them birth of this gorgeous little boy. 

How time does seem to fly by as you get older.

I made his cake, don't look too closely at the icing, the cake tasted great but icing is not as easy as you tube makes it look!  I think cake decorating needs a gently touch and I've got a heavy hand, lol

Never mind, it was made with love, and that's what counts.

Jenny had been asking me to knit a rabbit like the one I did for Bonnie, Arthur's is a chocolate bunny

 :-)

 With a cute pom pom tail, (don't know how long the tail will last though!)

The pattern is a free one, you can find it on Ravelry, it's by Erica Knight

 I also made him a little embroidery

This is one of the DMC kits, I'm not happy with how it's sitting in the hoop so will have another go at fitting it in tighter.  The design is printed on the fabric but I have to say that they are very mean with the fabric, there is very little boarder when you put it in the hoop.

Still, it came out cute.

It's been a very busy week and weekend, we were at my Nephews wedding all day yesterday and I've been at my daughter's for most of the day today, no chance for sitting and resting at all this week!

I'll leave you with some photos of the birthday boy, my favourite is the last one, that sweet face!! :-)

Until next time

-X-