Keeping Busy

The almost complete lack of activity on my Project has given me time to fill. I have done my best to keep busy by addressing the never ending to do list that is generally summed up as life.

This morning I arranged for the Builders Merchants to deliver a sheet of ply and length of 4" x 2"  tomorrow morning. I will then have enough materials for my work bench and plan to throw that together on Saturday. I then wandered out to the garage, Ducati keys in hand ...

... Another filthy dust sheet was removed and I swear she winked at me as daylight hit her for the first time in months. I put her alarm in to service mode and spent a few minutes maneuvering her so she was facing the garage door and put her up on to a workshop stand.* The ignition was switched on and the instrument cluster lit up. I hit the starter button and she fired up. I instantly hit the kill switch to give her a chance to throw some oil around the long dormant engine before running her for any length of time. I repeated this a couple of times and then let her run filling the garage with her throbbing engine notes and petrol tainted exhaust fumes ...

... next job on the list was to send a text to Moto-vation to see if they can find an MOT and Service slot for her in the next couple of weeks.

I headed back to my desk for a while and a little after eleven the dining table was delivered. I gave the Driver a hand to carry it in to the Dining Room and it looks absolutely fantastic. It is a late Victorian. mahogany extender with ball and claw carved feet and is in beautiful condition for it's age. I can't wait for the chairs to arrive, curtain poles to arrive, curtains to be made ...

... Yes, I know there are still a few jobs to do before the room is finally finished!

Later on in the day I was "pinged" by IM who advised that he wanted me to continue to wind down my current project and provide a little process support on another contract extension activity. I am more than happy to help out but am becoming more than a little frustrated at the gulf that seems to be appearing between my job title and the nature of the work I am being allocated.

The "working" day ended and all three of us headed over to TP's school for a meeting about a 6th Form exchange programme, in which TP is interested in participating ...

... it looks like he may be heading out to Zambia next Easter!

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* she has a racing pedigree and a result of this is that she cannot be started whilst her side stand is down. I therefore either need to hold her or put her on a workshop stand to start the engine.

Always the Quantity Surveyer

A few weeks ago I bumped in to C&M ..."C" was pushing a trundle wheel in an attempt to determine the actual length of the Three Miler.

Today, whilst walking the dogs, I met C&M out for a blustery walk and remembered to ask about his findings ...

... I can now report that, measured as a "circular" route starting at the Pub in the Green, the Three Miler is officially 2.66 miles in length.

I can, however, still claim a three mile walk as the return journey from home to the Pub is at least 600 yards.

Going AWOL

It was another quiet day and I had absolutely zero motivation to fill my time with the on-line, patronising attempt at brain washing that Dante's Nine Circles of Hell like to refer to as Education. I therefore spent the first half of the morning finishing the draft of my CV and sent it out to Job Finder Steve to get the benefit of his experience with IT Industry curriculum vitae.

By eleven o'clock I was finished and took T&M out for walk. Lunch followed and I then clambered in to the Defender and headed over to raid BMS's supply of timber ... I spent an hour or so with Pater; fighting off the attentions of Tilly and chatting, before loading a few lengths of timber, for my work bench, on to the roof rack and heading back home. I took a minor detour via the feed store and picked up a few bags of Layers Pellets while I was out and about.

I made a call to see whether the Honda was ready to be collected and  learnt that the MOT had been completed but workload had delayed the service and tyre fitting. Chris apologetically asked if I could put off collection until later in the week. This seems to be the norm at his workshop but he is such a nice chap and I am in no hurry so advised that I would see him Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather.

As afternoon turned to evening I headed out to the garage with the aim of making a start on the work bench but was overtaken by a bizarre urge to tidy ... within the next hour I had transformed the floor space in the garage. 30%'s abandoned shelving/storage unit project was relocated to the front cellar under my recently imposed statute of limitations ruling.* Two wooden pallets were taken outside and converted in to firewood.** Various items of clutter were packed up in to the roof space and the floor was given a bloody good sweeping.

I am amazed at how much space I have managed to recover and there is more yet to do!

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* any abandoned item or project can be relocated / put away / thrown away, without feat of retribution from the item / project owner, after a vaguely defined period of abandonment that is generally greater than 14 calendar days
** it has been such a long time since the chainsaw last broke cover and she performed beautifully, as usual

Another quiet day in the office

There is not a huge amount I can say about work today as I didn't exactly do much of it. The future of my current project is unclear; one Exec expects me to hand it back to him another is suggesting that we should hold on to it and just "mothball" it for a few weeks. There is absolutely no clarity on the Engagement or Sales strategy for this opportunity so, in the absence of any guidance, I am wrapping things up and hoping to disengage within the next two to three weeks.

I pottered around the edge of my project for a while today but, if I am totally honest, most of my day was spent pulling my CV together.

At about ten o'clock in the morning 30% rang and was very excited. She had been looking at a mahogany dining table on eBay for a few days and yesterday had asked a few questions of the Seller. Her call was to advise that she had spoken to the Seller, liked the sound of it and had bought the table. I was somewhat amazed as 30% can be frustratingly slow to make a decision, lingering for literally weeks over minutiae, and then just go for it in the blink of an eye. The table does look beautiful and, as I learnt, in the next couple of breathless calls, a) it will be delivered on Wednesday but b) I needed to pay for it!

Eventually the PayPal invoice arrived and I dutifully made the payment only to have the damned thing reversed by PayPal moments later! Apparently their fraud detection algorithms had identified unusual activity on my account. I think it is fair to say that I was somewhat frustrated by this as I use PayPal regularly and the cost of the table was hardly an order of magnitude higher than the Mitre Saw I purchased last week. The other frustration was I then had to jump through a series of hoops to restore my account to normality. One of these was to submit an electronic copy of a recent credit card invoice and wait for some invisible and uncontactable gnome to deem it suitable evidence of my legitimacy.

I realised that account reactivation was never going to happen today and in the end just rang my bank and performed an electronic transfer of funds to the Seller. What did I learn from this? ... PayPal is an incredibly easy way to transfer monies but, unlike a bank, they are virtually impossible to talk to and hence I have no idea how I would have forewarned them that I was about to make a significant purchase using their systems.

Oh well, the table is on it's way and I can't be arsed to get up tight with a bloody on-line e-commerce service.

The rest of the day was quiet, the dogs got walked and last week's to do list was closed and this week's was drawn up. It looks like I will be getting my box frame finished and a new work bench installed in the garage.

Rugby match consumes day

Today TP had an away game up on the Eastern side of Coventry. This meant we had an early start and there was no opportunity for dog walking before we climbed in to the car and headed off for the match. It was a good game that could have been great if the referee had calmed down, used a little less whistle and allowed a little more rugby to be played. The two teams were fairly evenly matched as the 19:10 final score to TP's team demonstrated. When play was actually permitted we saw some very strong rugby from both sides and TP's team seemed to finally be tackling effectively and taking back possession from the opposition. It was a very different game to the last match we played at this club which was a 53:5 drubbing of the home team.

By the time the post match activities had been concluded it was well past midday and two o'clock was approaching as we arrived home to be greeted by two very enthusiastic dogs. Lunch was rapidly devoured and I was, again, back out in the fresh air taking T&M for their walk.

I returned in time for a quick snooze on the sofa before BMS & SMS arrived with Tilly to join us for Sunday Dinner. We had a pleasant few hours catching up on each others news, although SMS is a regular reader of The Journal on her iPad and consequently tends to know what we are up to as it happens... Apparently Bad Man Senior, who eschews computing devices, receives edited verbal highlights with the occasional viewing of any pictures I post.

Dad & Sue left fairly early in the evening after I had extracted a couple of lengths of sturdy timber from their car. These are destined to become the legs of my new work bench and I may be making a visit in the Defender as BMS mentioned some surplus 2" x 4" timber kicking around too ...

... at this rate I will only need a 8' x 4' sheet of 1" ply from B&Q and the bench will be sorted!

Going "off list"

It's the weekend and after a toast and caffeine injection I, once again, hit the to do list ...

... first item this morning was to take the Defender over to the mobile car valeting service. Yes, mobile as in a service that comes to the consumer, but obviously in this instance, mobile as in I take my car and leave it conveniently on his drive for the day! Fortunately he is only a couple of miles up the road and 30% provided a lift back home.

We paused, briefly, for further coffee and then headed in to Redditch for grocery shopping and to collect the glass for the Box Frame I am making. It was lunchtime by the time we got back and after refuelling I headed out around the Three Miler with T&M.

On my return 30% advised that the Defender was ready for collection so we headed out again. Ten minutes later I was back in the house, my wallet £50 lighter*, but now in possession of a much shinier Land Rover. Spurred on by the improvement in the condition of the Defender, I finally got my arse in to gear and repaired the tip-up seat retaining strap that one of TP's mates had buggered a few months back. This involved aluminium plate, rivets and assorted power tools and I can report that a) my repair looks quite factory and b) I will kill the little fucker that broke it, if he ever comes anywhere near my car in this or any other lifetime.

As afternoon turned to evening we were joined by 30%'s brother and the Elf for dinner. A pleasant time was had by all and day#1 of the weekend can be declared a success ...

... two items crossed of the to do list; valet car and collect glass, plus an item that hadn't even made it on to the list yet; fix Defender seat.

I may be getting ahead of myself here.

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* To be fair, he had done a reasonable job and had MOP'd out a couple of scratches that I picked up negotiating the track down to Pwll Du Bay.

The Devil makes work for idle hands

After some minor procrastination, I finally settled down to one of the major tasks on my to do list and made a start on updating my CV. I have an internal CV, which recounts my rock pushing history in Dante's Nine Circles of Hell, but it is way too specific for the marketplace and, at five pages in length, is way too long to be considered a resume...

... Fortunately an old boyfriend of 30%, works in IT Recruitment and was more than happy to provide a couple of good quality sample CVs for me to use as a foundation. As an aside, all three of us attended Wolverhampton Polytechnic over thirty years ago and I actually used to live in the same Hall of Residence Flat as Job Finder Steve...

... Anyway, getting back on track, much of today has been spent on the first draft of the document. As is usual, I have done less than I would have hoped for but have made a reasonable start and would hope to be in a position to send a draft over to Steve for comments later on next week.

Away from work today's main activities were taking the Honda for a Service and MOT and more work on my Box Frame...

... Starting with the bike, I dragged her out from under a filthy dustsheet and gave her a quick whizz over with a duster. She is still very grimy but looks a little less dusty after that minimal cleaning attempt. It was great to be out on her again but I am nervous of the grip provided by her ancient tyres and their replacement is one of the Service items requested. After an all too short ride I filled up her tank and pulled on to the forecourt of Redditch Motorcycles just managing to avoid the shower that had been threatening all afternoon. It will be later next week before I can collect her but I have to admit that my eye fell upon a BMW R1200GS in the corner of the showroom. It is a beast of a bike with a mountainous seat height. At 5'3" in my stocking feet it is probably ridiculously high for me but that hasn't stopped me making a few Internet searches which involve the bike model and the phrase short arse riders!

The frame project has taken a massive step nearer to completion. I have now sanded the frame and applied a coat of wood reviver to soak in overnight. Tomorrow it will get a coat of wax polish and then it will just be a case of getting the glass, mounting the spear heads and assembling it.

As for this evening, I am spending it alone as 30% and TP have headed in to Birmingham to see Meatloaf perform at the NEC ...

... I have far more sense!

Progress on the Box Frame Project

After clearing the minimal work from my in-box I headed out to the garage to inspect the frame that had been glued up and clamped overnight. Free of its shackles it looks quite impressive and I am somewhat more optimistic that this project might be successful.

The next stage in it's construction was to rout a sizable rebate around the back inner edge of the frame to accept the box that will display the spear heads. To give some idea of dimensions, the frame is a bit of a beast at 27" x 31" and the box it surrounds is 21" x 26". After offering the two components together and marking up I found myself needing to produce a rebate about 0.5" deep and 1.25" wide ...

... As a result the garage is now full of wood dust again and I can report that ancient elm does smell quite peculiar when worked. There is no other way of putting it, some of these boards smell like cat piss when the router bit cuts through them.

A trial fit proved that the box will rest snugly in it's rebate. All I need to do now is get the frame sanded and finished, get a sheet of glass cut and get the spear heads mounted in the box.

Oh, and get the bloody wall dried out, stain sealed and repainted so we can hang it in it's intended position!

In the words of young Mr. Grace*

It was another quiet day at work and I did what I could to tidy up my project and prepared my weekly report. Shortly before the call where I read out what I have written in my weekly report I was pinged by the EMEA Sales Exec** ...

... This was something of a surprise as he was supposed to be on holiday hence I have spent much of this week slacking, doing the bare minimum, concentrating on non project activities.  After a brief chat it became apparent that he had been called over to Germany to attend to another deal and that a couple of recent discussions in the Sales Organisation now propose that our project is not handed back to the Account Team but is retained and progressed. This deal is on and off more frequently than the proverbial Whore's Drawers! There is still a distinct lack of clarity on what we are supposed to be doing and how, or when, we are to encourage a reluctant client to sign the paperwork so I summarised with the statement "I'll just carry on what I'm doing then".

At one point this morning a knock at the door sent the dogs in a frenzy and I wandered out to take receipt of my new mitre saw. Within minutes the new Makita was unpacked on the dining table and shortly thereafter was taken out to the garage and bolted to it's own table. The now redundant Ferm is sat on the garage floor whilst I decide on it's fate. Since I was out in the garage it seemed rude not to test the saw so I checked out it's mitre settings and carefully trimmed up the frame components that had been cocked up on Sunday. They now fit beautifully and there is a chance that the box frame project might well be back on track. Later on in the day I found a few minutes to cut the biscuit joints and glue up the frame. I cant wait to see what it looks like when the clamps are taken off.

The afternoon saw a me take a walk with T&M and an early finish from work. I then headed over to Worcester to drop my holiday films in at the photo processors and to pick up the dehumidifier.

That is another two items off the to do  list.

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* Carry on, Everybody, You've all done very well
** Who, I fear, may well be taking on the persona of young Mr Grace

Chipping away at it

It is Tuesday and I am not sure whether I have managed to find a modicum of motivation or have simply realised that I will go barking mad unless I find something to fill my time this week ...

... I do not have a huge amount of work to do at the moment and the key task is to get my current project tidied up such that I can pass it back to the Account Team to progress. The problem is that most of the people I need are still away on their Easter holidays and, as a result, I am not going to achieve much this week. However, I did what I could and danced around the edges of the project hassling for outstanding deliverables and collating what little had been provided. I also spent some time polishing up a spreadsheet, as my time in Dante's has taught me that the majority of the Managers and Execs are suckers for style over substance. This file will be the principle device to hand the project back so a few hyperlinks and a bit of formatting will work wonders to make the sow's ear look a little more like a silk purse.*

In order to fill my day I also addressed my to do list once again. First task was to chase up the Blacksmith about the curtain rails. After a quick phone call I had learned that he was still in business but had a new e-mail address so, after ending the conversation, I updated the specification to also include the rails for the Hall and Office and re-sent it.

Towards lunchtime I again felt the need to escape from the desk and headed out to the garage with the keys to the Honda. I removed the sawdust covered sheet that had kept the worst of the ukulele project's debris from her and slipped the key in to the ignition. After several attempts the first cough of the engine attempting to fire was heard and, with some tweaking of choke and throttle, she was soon running on three of her four cylinders. Cylinder number four eventually decided to join the party and she sat there purring as her engine temperature rose. After a quick check of lights, brakes, clutch and gearbox I turned her off and headed back in to the house where I made arrangements for her service and MOT on Saturday.

I also made arrangements to collect the dehumidifier tomorrow and planned to combine that with a trip in to Worcester to drop off the holiday films at the photo processors.

Late in the day PtP arrived and, after his traditional and incredibly enthusiastic greeting by Tyson, he set to repairing the two leaking pipes. He is a really nice chap and I think we spent more time chatting than him actually working but after an hour two new sections of copper had been soldered in to place and the leak was finally cured.

I make that one objective actually achieved; the leak and three pushed slightly further along; humidifier, bike and curtain rails ...

... at this rate I will be getting to the one I should do but seem to be avoiding for some reason.

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* I like this analogy as I certainly wouldn't want to put any of my money in to it.

Things to do

Monday ... bleugh! The first day back in the virtual office after a week away.

I opened up the email application and noted that I had a little over one hundred emails to review. This was nowhere near as bad as expected but then I realised that I had only been out for four working days and most of my colleagues had been out for Easter too. I set to and deleted the junk which comprised more than half. It then took little more than an hour to review the rest and make a couple of phone calls to catch up on the minimal progress made last week. The EMEA Sales Exec is on holiday this week so hopefully I will have a reasonably quiet week where I can plan the handing back of this project to the Account Team for them to take forward.

Actually clearing my e-mail was not my first activity of the day, that was a 'phone call to Steve about the second leak that I discovered yesterday. He advised that he would pop over at some point today to "have a look". He did mention that he was rushed off his feet and away for a Lads Holiday from Thursday so I already have a nagging suspicion that I will be calling in Paul the Plumber for the repair. Steve eventually turned up around five thirty and confirmed what I already knew; that I had another leak, and then, after rummaging around in the back of his van, advised that he didn't have anything that could be used as a temporary fix. We agreed that PtP was my best bet for a speedy fix but that Steve would step in if PtP wasn't available. After a quick call we had PtP lined up for a visit tomorrow.

Steve's late arrival meant that I had been waiting at home all day and, as a result ended up taking T&M for a very late walk around the Three Miler and returning just in time for dinner at seven.

The enforced wait for Steve and the limited amount of work in my virtual in tray meant that I had plenty of time to cross a few items of my latest to do list. The main task was to produce a specification for some curtain poles for the dining room. In any normal house one would simply measure the width of the window and then head in to the nearest retailer, however things are slightly more complicated here at The Pile. Firstly because we found a local blacksmith who made some fantastic rails for our upstairs rooms a couple of years ago and secondly, because both the window and door apertures are such that his standard design just will not fit. As a result I ended up producing a detailed specification with photographs, diagrams and measurements. After an hour I hit send on my email specification and offered a prayer to the Gods that he was still in business.

I also managed to get the local mobile valet service booked to come and give the Defender at good scrub and polish at the weekend.

Next on the list was to get the bikes booked in for services and MOTs but I held off that as I thought I had better make sure they start before I commit to riding them in to the respective workshops...

... That will give me something to do tomorrow while I wait for PtP.

King Midas I aint!

Today was one of those days when it felt like everything I touched turned to shit. I know that in real terms it wasn't so, but it is fair to say that a couple of activities have not progressed as well as I would have liked ...

... Let's start with the leak that Steve & Andy so kindly applied a temporary fix to just over a week ago. I noticed that the damp patches were not drying out as quickly as I would have expected and that the condensation in the back porch seemed to have increased rather than the reverse. I gave the temporary fix a close inspection and it was fine but the pipe that runs alongside it was also wet. On closer examination it became clear that the second pipe was also leaking and it looks like S&A will be getting a call tomorrow morning ...

... it is also a good job that the eBay dehumidifier auction finishes this evening as it is most definitely needed.

The second cock up was the box frame that I have been working on. After spending several hours preparing the old elm timber for the frame I cut the joints using my mitre saw ...

... it didn't go well. Firstly the timber is old and twisted which doesn't make accurate cutting easy and secondly my mitre saw has always been a complete bastard. It is fine for stud framing work* and so forth but as a precision mitre saw it is worse than useless. It's 45 degree setting is slightly out and as a result it needs a huge amount of messing around with to make a decent frame. I am now in possession of four pieces of finely routed firewood and am expecting a new Makita to be delivered in the next couple of days.

Now I turn to the parts of the day that went reasonably well ...

... first thing this morning I took T&M for a walk around the Three Miler whilst 30% dropped TP off at the rugby club. Tyson's paw seems fine although I suspect she is about to come in to season based on the number of strategic pees she took on the walk.

After the walk, 30% and I returned to the club to watch the match. It was one hell of a game against incredibly strong opposition who were fielding a team with several overage players. TP's side didn't win but they held up incredibly well against a side that played barely within the rules of the game, as the two players sin binned and the huge number of penalties given demonstrated. The 24:7 final score is a testament to how well the lads played.

After the match we were joined by Jules for lunch and she came bearing 30%'s birthday gift. I have already recounted the afternoon's gripes so will finish by saying that I decided that the safest place for me was sat on the sofa where I could break anything else.

Oh, and I did win the dehumidifier!

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* as in a shed or chicken coop frame

Shit you don't want to hear

I thought Saturday had started hideously early until 30% informed me that we had not yet got around to putting the clocks forward and it was a quarter past eight. As she bustled around preparing to leave for a hair appointment I opened the door on the Grand Father Clock and set the pendulum swinging again.

He is a delightful time piece and very reliable in a temperamental sort of way. The bell striking mechanism has a tendency to jump forward when he is being wound leaving the hours chimed one in advance of the actual time. This is easily rectified by taking the clock through the chiming cycle but it does become bloody irritating when you have to do it it three or four times a week ... However, since the New Year we have noticed that it is more than happy to be wound at eight o'clock in the morning without upsetting the hourly chimes. Provided that this regime is adhered to it will quite happily run without complaint provided a weekly correction of the time is made, as he does run a little slow.

Apologies for the minor diversion, but I had consciously wound and then stopped the clock before we left so that he could be just restarted without any fuss upon our return. He stands in the hall measuring out the heartbeat of the house once more.

30% left and I wandered out to the garage to pick up a stalled project. I spent the best part of an hour cutting some elm floor boards to size to form the frame components for a box frame I have sketched out. It's ultimate purpose will be to display some spear heads we acquired a couple of months ago. I had to keep an eye on the time to ensure I made the appointment at the Vet's for T&Ms' inoculations.

The Vet checked out Tyson's paw and decided that it didn't seem to be anything more serious than a bruise or strain but she unnerved me when she was carrying out T's annual check up and asked about a heart murmur. Apparently T has the slightest of heart murmurs on the left hand side. The vet reassured me that it was nothing to worry about as it could barely be heard, had never been picked up before and was  obviously not impacting T's energy or activity levels. She advised that it could even be a temporary anomaly and that we should get the vet to listen for it on our next visit.

Both T&M were jabbed after receiving great praise for their general condition and I returned back home to clean up the boards that I had cut and plug the nail holes in preparation for routing, mitre cuts and assembly tomorrow.

After lunch 30% and I made a trip in to the supermarket to restock the cupboards and upon our return we were visited by 30%'s Mum and Dad who came bearing birthday cards and gifts. Tea, chat and a warm in front of the fire consumed what remained of the afternoon and evening drew in. TP disappeared off to a party and 30% and I took a quick spin out in her new toy in an attempt to get her to master the clutch and gearbox! A minor adjustment of the seat seemed to help and we took a relatively crunch free drive over pay a brief visit to her brother and the Elf.

As the sun set we headed back to The Pile and spent the evening in front of the television until a little before midnight when I headed out to collect TP from a thankfully convenient party just a few miles down the road ...

... every other one he has been invited to has been bloody miles away.

Time to go home

Today was our last day at Pwll Du and the day can be summed up as breakfast followed by packing, a brief walk on the beach, a three hour drive home, unpacking and a very late lunch.

We arrived home around three in the afternoon and most of the day had gone by the time we were settled back in to The Pile. All seems well although one of the Minorcas has gone missing and Tyson appears to be favouring one of her front paws. We think she may have twisted or sprained her leg on the beach and an appointment has been made at the vets for tomorrow. Both T&M are due their inoculations anyway so we may as well kill two birds with one stone.

It is 30%'s birthday today and, as she was somewhat jaded by the packing and travelling, she declined the offer of a meal out but perked up at the offer of a Chinese takeaway ...

... she does the 'phoning, I do the fetching.

It has been a fun week away and having been twice before it is very easy to relax there as we now have a reasonable knowledge of the lie of the land. We therefore don't need to worry about any of those things that concern a first time visitor.

It is possible we may be in a similar situation with our Summer break as Luxor has been suggested ...

... watch this space.

Pennard Castle

It was another grey day today, although nowhere near as cold as it was on Monday.

Today's plan was to walk up to the castle ruins at Pennard. That would be quite a distance from Pwll Du so we drove up to South Gate and parked in the cliff top car park close to the coastal path. We then ambled along the coastal path and within twenty minutes were looking out over Three Cliffs Bay ahead and Pennard Golf Course away to our right. It was fair to say that the path wasn't particularly clear and numerous tracks lead through the dunes in all directions. After a brief recce' of the area we let 30% have her way and we headed away from the castle towards the Club House where we picked up a path that lead across the middle of the course to the castle.

To be honest the ruins were less than impressive and the cold weather, the company of picnickers and a family with rowdy children meant that our stay was brief. After taking a couple of snaps we headed back, this time picking up the coast path that skirted the boundary of the golf course. Within an hour we were back in the warmth of the car and headed back to Ship Cottage to take a late lunch and light the fire.

Apart from a brief wander down the bay, we spent what was left of the afternoon in the warm and I did my best to help minimise the amount we needed to pack tomorrow by finishing off the gin and the last bottle of  beer.

Does anyone have any "nibbles"?

More fresh air and exercise

Wednesday, and the weather remained fine and dry with a cold wind. This morning we again walked up the Bishopston Valley and took the bridle path up to South Gate where we paused at a cafe and stuffed some very good cake in to our gobs ...

... refueled, we headed out on to the coastal path as our plan was to take a circular route back to the cottage. The views were fantastic and we took in more of them than expected when we followed a sheep track, instead of the path, that petered out on a quite precipitous cliff. I am sure that the cliff herbage provided some fantastic grazing opportunities but I just found the close proximity of the edges somewhat unnerving and will take my revenge in the future when welsh lamb is next on the menu.

We retraced our steps for half a mile or so and found the coastal path. The walk back around Pwll Du head gave some fantastic views of the coast back towards Caswell Bay and Swansea in the distance and early in the afternoon we were dropping through the woods and back to Ship Cottage for lunch.

Pwll Du Head looking towards Caswell Bay

After the morning's liberal doses of exercises and fresh air I took the mandated afternoon snooze but have to report that I somewhat overdid things and it was close to five o'clock before I hauled my backside from the sofa.

The plan for the evening was a walk up to The Joiners Arms in Bishopston for dinner so a little before six we headed up the cliff track and took the lanes in to the village. I really like The Joiners. It is a very "ordinary" pub with no pretentions or artifice. It has a friendly atmosphere and serves some damned fine food at very reasonable prices ... and T&M are most welcome to sit under the table and, in the case of Marauder, occasionally bark at other dogs that dare to enter.

After dinner we wandered back down towards the cottage in the fading light and arrived as dusk was turning to night. I estimate that the return trip to the pub is a good three  miles and, combined with this morning's ramble I think we probably walked further today than we did the day before.

The tenth best beach in the world?

Tuesday saw the sun make a welcome return and after much faffing around we eventually left Ship Cottage and headed over to Rhossili Bay. I mention "much faffing" as TP has now joined us and now even the shortest trip will require that he receive several reminders and make repeated returns to his room or the bathroom for a wide variety of forgotten items or ablutionary tasks ...

... where was I? Oh yes, after much faffing we eventually climbed in to the Defender and headed over to Rhossili Bay. This is a splendid three mile arc of sand that makes a compulsory appearance in any Welsh Tourist Board advertisement but despite it's beauty and popularity it is never crowded and within one hundred yards of walking we had the sands virtually to ourselves. We walked with the dogs to the far end where we sat on Spaniards Rock and rewarded our exertions with coffee and a selection of cakes. It was well past midday at this point and by the time we had walked the three miles back to the car park and then driven home I'm not sure whether we ate a late lunch or an early supper.

Our original plan had been to head up to Bishopston for dinner at The Joiners Arms but after the six mile walk and a huge helping of fresh air none of us seemed particularly interested in leaving the comfort of the log burner and sofa. As a result we dined much later at home and agreed that a shorter walk tomorrow would leave us in the mood for a walk up to the pub.

 As the sun started to drop in the sky I wandered out to empty the dogs and took a few photos of Pwll Du Bay. The panorama below is stitched from five separate frames and is a 300 degree view from the Tyson's favourite widdling location

f-f-f-f-freezing!

This morning the sky was grey and leaden and the short walk down to the beach with the dogs was enough to prove just how bloody cold it really was ...

... back in the cottage as I spotted a brief appearance of a watery sun through the clouds and had possibly one of the stupidest ideas in my forty nine years. "Let's go for a walk on Oxwich Bay" I proffered, when asked what I wanted to do by 30%. We breakfasted, got our stuff together, threw the dogs in the back of the Defender and drove the few miles along the coast to Oxwich. As we parked I had my first doubts. The few people there were dressed for a Siberian Winter and the wind driving in off the sea was blasting everything with an obscuring cloud of sand picked up from the narrow strip of beach between sea and dunes.

We climbed out and a freezing wind was driving in off the sea. As we started along the beach we diverted on to the dunes to seek what limited shelter they could offer against the blast. After twenty minutes of walking 30% had very rosy cheeks and I swear my face was starting to go numb on the seaward side. I am not a huge fan of the cold and by this time I had most definitely reached the fuck this for a game of soldiers mindset. 30% claimed that she was enjoying it. If she was, she was the exception that proves the rule, as everyone else we encountered commented on how bitterly cold it was.

30% graciously, or was it sensibly, decided to pander to my onset of frost bite so we turned and walked to the Oxwich Bay hotel and settled in front of the fire to thaw with coffee and, in my case, a portion of caramel apple flan.

When feeling eventually returned to my extremities we headed back to Pwll Du, lit the fire and settled in front of it for an afternoon of indoor pursuits. As evening drew in I had a dry dinner and shortly after nine o'clock I headed up the cliff track and on in to Swansea to collect TP from the station. His train arrived on time and just after ten o'clock we were slowly negotiating the cliff back down to the bay. The steep and rocky path is very different when everything outside the pool of the headlights is pitch black and your world is limited to the next twenty yards before a bend or drop robs you of perspective.

We fed TP and caught up on his news before retiring to bed in front of the orange glow of the fire.

Photography & Foraging

Sunday was another fine, bright day however the unseasonably cold wind ever present. We wrapped up warmly and took a walk from Ship Cottage along the footpath that runs up through Bishopston Valley. The wooded valley provided shelter from the wind and we enjoyed a lovely walk alongside the river that empties in to Pwll Du Bay. After half an hour of walking we turned left on to the Bridlepath and headed up towards South Gate. The path emerged from the woods and fields through a farm yard and the last hundred yards were along a residential lane. At the end of the lane was an area of common land at the top of the cliffs giving splendid views along the coast towards Oxwich Bay.

 After taking in the views we headed back down in to the valley. Virtually every square yard of woodland floor was covered with narrow green leaves and for some strange reason I had a vague suspicion that these might be wild garlic. A picked and crushed leaf confirmed our thoughts and a healthy handful was collected. Back at the cottage the identification and use of the leaves were confirmed with a quick Google session and they were then washed, chopped and added to the Bolognese sauce prepared for dinner this evening.

Lunch followed this discovery of wild food and in the afternoon, after a restorative nap, we took a short walk across the beach and back up on to the cliff path to take some photos as the sun started to drop in the western sky.

We wandered back to the cottage having had our fill of some of the freshest air I had experienced in a long while and I set to lighting the fire whilst 30% prepared wine, olives and nibbles.

Looks like another evening in front of the fire with wine and spag bol warming us from the inside and a large pile of burning driftwood doing the same on the outside.

Receiving Visitors

I woke a little before seven this morning and first order of the day was to take the dogs down to the beach to relieve themselves. The weather was splendid. The skies were clear and there was a cold crisp wind coming in from the sea. It was most definitely hat, coat and scarf weather but unfortunately I had donned none of these when I wandered out to take T&M for a pee. Luckily the dogs decided to perform promptly and I was soon back in the cottage getting myself on the outside of a warming cup of coffee.

This morning we decided to take the cliff path to Caswell Bay. It was a lovely walk in the sun with T&M charging hither and thither taking in the new smells on the cliffs within forty minutes or so we had reached Caswell Bay where we stopped at the cafe for a coffee before heading back to Pwll Du. It is a perfect little walk with fantastic views and is just the right distance. By the time you reach Caswell you are ready for that coffee and feel that you have exerted enough energy to justify a cake if the fancy takes you.

Upon our return we had a light lunch and even found time for a post-prandial snooze in advance of our afternoon's socialising ...

... The Oranges & Lemons clan are staying in the vicinity for Easter as Ian's parents live just around the coast in Swansea. 30% arranged to meet up with them for the afternoon so at the agreed time I drove up the cliff track to collect them from the village. We had a splendidly lazy afternoon; drinking coffee, chatting and took a gentle stroll on the beach to allow the children to get soaked in the rivulets and pools left by the receding tide.

As evening drew in I lit the log burner and then ferried the O&Ls back to their car. On my return I was greeted with a glass of wine and nibbles and we settled down for dinner and a relaxing evening in front of the fire.