November 23 Racing at Ffos Las November 23, 2009

Well it’s all go around here..never a dull moment! There are so many interesting places to visit and places to go…keeps everyone busy and happy!

Today it was a trip to Ffos Las- the new race course near Llanelli  about 40 minutes from Lletty Cottage. On the way we saw lots of flooding on the Towy flood plain but no actual flooding of roads. 

It was surprising  how many folk were at the meeting considering how wet and cold it had been. The weather took a turn for the better  during the afternoon and stopped raining but it didn’t stop blowing! This didn’t seem to upset the horses who ran and jumped their little hearts out. It was sooo exciting to watch. I began  with a £5 bet on the first race and my horse came second so it was off to a good start. I bet £5 on every race and ended up the afternoon with the same £5 plus £3.50..so I was a winner!

 

 

Jim standing by the statue on the race course

21 November Art class with Wendy Powell-Jones November 21, 2009

 

Another wet weekend …but it didn’t matter ..as I was off to an art class with Wendy Powell-Jones.  Although it poured with rain all day we were all warm and dry in Gelli Aur church hall enjoying a lovely watercolour session with Wendy. After coffee, chat and tuition we watched a demonstration by Wendy of ‘wet into wet techniques’  and then it was our go!   Through the day and after lots of encouragement, demonstrations , discussions and more encouragement the whole class were delighted with their  artistic results.  They  all left the class  at the  end of the afternoon clutching their very impressive and delightful hand painted Christmas cards and all looking forward to their next  day course in the New Year with their new knowledge and understanding of  some water colour techniques.

 

 

 

 

Wendy has a  gallery in Ammanford and details of her next courses may be found on her website:     www.cornerhouse-gallery.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 November November 21, 2009

Christmas fir cone mobile

 

Christmas fir cone mobile with bauble

 

Christmas is in the air!

The garden is too wet to do anything so indoor activities tend to take over.  Just spent a wonderful day  in our kitchen, with my friend Ann , making Christmas mobiles to hang in the shop at Aberglasney. ( We are both volunteers at Aberglasney Gardens…aren’t we lucky.) We collected all the cones from near and far and using a magic glue gun stuck them to a circle made from willow. We decorated  around the cones with dried   poppy heads, dried love in a mist  flower heads and various other bits and pieces left over from old pot pourri. Only bought items were some super holly sprays  with juicy red berries from  Wilkinsons.

At Aberglasney I had great fun and was given the honour of sprinkling all the mobiles with glitter before they were put on display.  Ann meanwhile arranged two magnificent displays for the corner shelves in the shop and all the other wonderful Christmassy arrangements  all around the shop were completed by the  artistic customer service administrator.

Christmas mobile with bauble

Decorations around the shop

 

The Aberglasney Winter Fair takes place on December 5th and 6th …it is the best!

Friday 23 October October 27, 2009

Friday morning shoppers in Llandeilo

 

Prince Charles leaving Heavenly..his chocs have already been taken to the car

Do you know..you never know who you are going to bump into when you drop into Llandeilo for a bit of Friday morning shopping. Prince Charles was just popping into Heavenly to collect a few  delicious chocolates- very low key and very lovely. Heavenly is an amazing confectionary shop..chocoholics keep away- obviously Prince Charles has tasted their delicious chocs and couldn’t resist coming back for more!

Speech bubble: Hope I've chosen the ones with the soft chewy centres!

Friday October 16 October 16, 2009

Another wonderful autumn day- the cottage is all ready clean and tidy for the new visitors arriving tomorrow so we have another day to explore our locality. Today we set off on the A40 towards Brecon- we were off to an exhibition of Art and Sculpture at Penpont Estate about 20 minutes drive . ‘Penpont is one of the finest houses in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It has been the home to the Williams family since it was first built in 1666 and remains in the same family today.’ The place is being restored and repaired and is only open to the public on these exhibition days although one can call in to buy from the organic shop at weekends between June and December.

Penpont House and grounds

Anyway we were unprepared for the wonderful surprise of finding such a glorious property in such a fantastic setting..with such special, interesting people to chat to ..owners, artists , authors…it was magic!

The conservatory

The elephant hedge

Part of the brilliant elephant hedge

Looking through into the courtyard

The walled garden

View from the bridge

 

Inside  and outside the house there were paintings and sculptures to look at and enjoy. This exhibition ends on Sunday but hopefully there will be more so that even more visitors can enjoy such a great day out.

October 10 Visit to Pembrey Country Park and beach October 10, 2009

Looking over towards the Gower

Another wonderful and sunny day and although there’s lots to do in the garden we decided on a trip to the seaside!

About an hour away from Lletty Cottage we have the choice of going North West-ish to the coast and visiting Aberaeron and New Quay and all the other lovely seaside villages on the Cardigan Bay coastline .(The visitors staying in Lletty Cottage  visited these seaside towns today and had an excellent time in the sunshine and ate some very delicious icecream too!)

But today we decided to go South West-ish not to  Tenby(an old Favourite) but to Pembrey Country Park.

We entered the Park and drove down to the beach…parked up and went for a long walk along the 8 mile sandy beach. it was fantastic…especially my paddle in the sea!

The view along the beach

Where is everyone?

After walking along the beach we turned inland and did a spot of bird watching from the hide

In Wales most signs are bilingual!

Monday September 21 Walk to Aberdeunant September 21, 2009

On our way to Aberdeunant we passed this field of sheep

This afternoon we went for a walk from our house through the country lanes to visit  the National Trust property: ABERDEUNANT . The property is a traditional Carmarthenshire farmhouse with a thatched roof in an unspoilt setting.

Our first glimpse of the farmhouse with its thatched roof and lovely setting The back entrance into the farmyard During the walk home through the lanes we noticed how many trees were autumnal in colour. We stopped, picked and ate some juicy blackberries  and passed the field with the black faced sheep again.

Monday September 12 -Mystery visitor! September 14, 2009

We have had a mystery visitor to the garden! At the base of the old  telegraph pole where we hang the bird feeders- niger seed and peanuts- our mystery visitor has scrabbled away and dug up all the turf leaving a near perfect circle  of soil/seeds and mess.

Who has done this? ..a fox, badger or squirrel!

Anyway..I’m grateful to whichever animal has done it as I shall now make it into a feature and plant  the daffodil bulbs that I bought at Aberglasney yesterday.

Cyclamen hederifolium under the trees at Aberglasney

The Upper Walled Garden at Aberglasney in September sunshine

September 9 09/09/09 September 10, 2009

Corn Du looks a long way away from the start of the path!

Today the sun shone so brightly that we thought we would go for a long walk. Only 40 minutes away from our front door  by car is the start of the path up the highest mountain in South Wales -Pen Y Fan.

At the start of the path..Pen Y Fan looks a long way away!

We made it! On the summit of Pen Y Fan...the view was breathtaking

Stunning vistas all around

All this on our doorstep…the Brecon Beacons are just fantastic!

September 8 September 8, 2009

Red Admiral

The weather has not been too good but visitors to the cottage have all managed to get out and enjoy their visits to this beautiful part of Wales.

The field has now greened up again and the lambs will be put on it shortly with the ram. The lambs have all been taken back to the farm this week for a ‘wash and scrub up’ by the farmer who dips them all and checks on their health.

View from the top of the field over Yew Tree Farm with the Brecon Beacons in the distance.

Jim has made a new bench for the top of the field so everyone can sit and enjoy the view.

The hanging pouches and hanging baskets outside the back door of Lletty Cottage have been really pretty this summer and well worth the effort.

I’ve just taken some cuttings from this fuschia- hopefully to grow some more- but I’m not too successful with things like that..it is really lovely though.

Yesterday the sun was out and the garden was full of butterflies, bees, dragon flies, moths – all flying creatures..it was humming!

Peacock, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell

The dragon flies  and damsel flies wouldn’t stay still for a photo  over the pond but honestly they were stunning!