Gone West – Page 3 – From living on a narrowboat to a village in Pembrokeshire – Steve & Viv have Gone West . . . . to Trefin !

Stretching the legs

With so much weather about, it has been difficult to get out and do a decent walk along the coastal path. Today, the forecast was good, low winds and plenty of sunshine. We parked at St Justinian and did a circular walk – heading to Porth Llyski and then back on an inland route. This was quite a walk for us (and Toby) but it did feature a beach and then a pond, so Toby would be happy.

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The new lifeboat station at St Justinian, with Ramsey Island in the background

A glorious day with few souls about. The tour boats were working and doing trips around the island.

Still a few seals about (bottom left here – mother & pup)

Zooomed in of the lifeboat stations – the iconic old one – still used to embark tourists, as seen here

Viv & Toby – keen walkers . . . at the moment!

The tour boat approaching the rocks, called the Bitches – this was a very low tide and it was running fast. You can actually see a few inches difference in height around these treacherous rocks.

The beach is in sight – time for a lunch stop and to rest. Never seen such a low spring tide.

The route back – very gentle and soft underfoot – suits me, said Toby.

Steve’s Tiger’s Jaw cactus – faucaria tigrina – it only flowers if it gets more than 3 hrs of sunshine! Beautiful

Some rather fuzzy (must get a decent video camera) videos of the tour boat zooming out to the rocks

Same Sea – Different Days

Here’s a couple of videos – should probably be under the heading of “Compare & Contrast”. The first compilation was around Porth Clais and the walk to Porth Lysgi. The sun was out and it was beautiful. The second one is during the arrival of Storm Alex – over in France they had 500mm (that’s a foot and a half!!) of rain, causing widespread damage. Here, it was just the usual Pembrokeshire – 50mph gales and rain.

Did we make the wrong choice?? Many years ago we lived in quite a difference place, different country and a very different climate . . . . .

Saga Run to Sychpant and Beyond

Before summer fades . . .it’s time for a longer day trip. Back to Sychpant in the Gwaun Valley and up the steep hill to Penlan and the hills of the Preseli ridge. Has to be a longer trip as we’re booked in at the Golden Lion in Newport for 6 pm.

Helpful map – we’re going straight up and off the map at the top right.

And, Toby comes too! Very keen at this stage but in 3 hours time??

It really is a beautiful spot – no traffic, no people either.

Out of the standard path and through Penlan – marked on the old OS map as woods but they cleared all the non-native trees and put back the trad gorse and heather.

No map for this bit but not easy to get lost . . .?

It’s a warm day – we have sandwiches and drink – onwards and upwards

Lunch stop – even Toby got a few bits plus a rest.

Made it to the Bronze age standing stone at Bedd Morris – not much more “up” to do now.

Highest spot and grand views down to Dinas Head & Newport Sands

View down to Newport – Toby beginning to flag a bit – us too. Still it’s all downhill now.

Final pic – it’s just gone 1700, pub’s open and we can have our table early. They are very friendly and very efficient. Bluestone beer is on and the menu is brilliant! Nice end to the day – 15,000 steps!

https://www.goldenlionpembrokeshire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Evening-menu-07_20.pdf

Seals 2

Back for a second visit – this time with Viv. Seem to be more seals around too. Quite a lot more activity, with mother seals feeding their young plus a juvenile seal squealing a lot and trying to get to the sea. We also saw one of the white pups go out for a swim – never seen this before they normally just laze on the beach waiting to be fed…

Some new characters today – a brown seal – undergoing the change from white to grey plus a slightly older buddie who is almost there – he/she was making a lot of noise – probably complaining that Mummy hadn’t come ashore to feed him – he was trying to get to the sea but made painful progress.

Looks like the parents are out in the water – sometimes calling to their offspring

Hmm, did see a batch of kayakers but thankfully they didn’t come any closer. One of the guard parent seals did start to head towards them . . . just in case.

Meanwhile Eric (or Erica?) continued to moan and after a minute’s rest moved another 6 inches . .

Back on the main beach lots of mothers came ashore to feed their pups

Eric makes it to the rocks but no more for today . . .

A rather bored Toby says “Won’t anyone play with me??”

Yep, another rather jerky video sequence! Focussing mainly on the trials of Eric but also some shots of Mothers feeding their young and even going for a swim with one.

Seal of Approval

It’s that time of the year! The seals come ashore to have their pups. The conspicuously white pups just lie around doing not very much – feeding off mother . . . . . here’s some photos from our nearest cove at Pwll Llong – I counted at least twelve in this small bay with probably six pups. The short film is about eight pieces joined together – it won’t be included in any Blue Planet but it is all mine!

Pwll Llong – in between Trefin & Abercastle

When I first saw these I though that maybe it was a dead sheep, that had fallen off the cliff . . then I saw it move. I mean they don’t move much . . .I think in the next life, I wanna be one of these . . .

Tucked in close to the cliff and not visible from the main beach were these ones

I even saw one pup drinking in all that high fat milk

This must be the photo of the day – I’m sure he must have seen me! Caption? “Hello World!”

Nearly eight minutes long – movie maker just joined all the short video sequences together

Goodbye to Summer

Taking a break. . . .until something good happens . . . . could be a while . . .

Meanwhile, here’s Anne Lenner with a topical song . . .

End of an Era

Some good but also sad news, the boat Adagio has been sold. Paul & Alison Jerome – experienced boaters have chosen Adagio to be their holiday boat and sailed away last Wednesday for a new base in Cropredy. We wish them well and maybe start a blog? We went up to North Kilworth to hand over the boat and also to see old friends! Had a great afternoon and evening with Gail & Jess.

Other news? We continue to explore the wonderful coastline with walks around Strumble Head, Newport Sands and our immediate locale. We now have a new stove. Took a while to fit it but Barry Williams of Silverstoves, Fishguard did a good job.

An evening walk out to the “point”.Very still with excellent light.

New phone takes very good panorama photos

Trying to give old Toby more walks – shorter but more often – it seems to help his digestion – ours too

Ah, yes, the saga of the inset stove. Open fireplaces are OK but only 30% efficient. And being used to our old Morso Squirrel stove on the boat, decided to put in a new stove (Carron Darwin 5kW)

It wasn’t easy but Baz & Connor got stuck in…and so did the lining but we won’t go there…it all got done in the end.

Quite a bit of drilling to get the old firebricks out . . .

Finally, Baz gets it to fit and does an ignition test – it works!

Shut all the air vents down and it goes out – lots of smoke but none escaping into the room! Brilliant. Hottest day of the year coming up tomorrow, so we’ll have to wait a while to give it a test.

Another walk to Newport sands – walking along the estuary

Bit of a jungle – then out across the golf course . . .

To the heaving beach….. quickly avoiding all crowds . . .we came here early as it was low tide . .

And a certain dog could have a game on the beach . . .

A more local walk from our village (in the background) to Porthgain – not done this one since lockdown!

We’ve also found another new walk – perhaps for rainy days . . .

At the old airfield . . .looks like a lot of history here . . .

And finally – goodby to Steve & Lucia as we met up for a cuppa on our way home . . .

A Cautious Re-opening

Well, the coastal path was re-opened a few weeks ago and last week they allowed self-contained accommodation to be used plus cafes & pubs can serve folk, outside. The result has been like a starting pistol being fired! Everywhere is HEAVING. £4 to park at Abereiddy, cars everywhere. And practically every holiday let is let. Not so much as a second wave as a Tsunami!

So, what have we been up to? Cocktail hour continues, intermittently, as some of the poisons come in at a high octane, viz 5 units a go!! We’ve ventured out to other areas to do a dog walk, re-visited the Perennial Gardens and cautiously went out to sample our first pint outdoors for four months.

Time stills seems to move oddly – there is little to provide punctuation

Hunting down an old Spanish recipe for albondigas (meatballs), using beef mince, ham and smoked bacon . . .we improvised! Handfuls of fresh parsley, smoked paprika and a few other herbs and spices.

Greenhouse now free of aphids thanks to “Horseleads” for supplying a bottle of evil smelling Neem oil. dilute 1:28 and liberally spray. It works and it doesn’t effect bees, larvae that pollinate or eat bugs…just evil bugs that eat the plants. Peppers coming along nicely (F1 Pepperone, spangles, citrus and Thai hot)

Repeated visits to the beach at Pwll llong – cutting back the vegetation.

Still a bit of a dodgy path but a lot better now.

It’s that Robinson Crusoe moment – when you discover that you’re not alone . . somewhere else has been here and quite a few of them by the looks of things. Oh well, they’re not here now – chance to strip off and swim/sunbathe sky clad! No pix of this sorry!!

Another pretty beach we like – round from the port of St David’s (Porth Clais) – is the beach of Porth Lygsi. Not only was St David’s heaving, the car parks at Porth Clais was all full too. And then the coastal path had dozens of walkers . . .

Viv swears she took this picture for the beautiful flowers along the path and NOT the hunky runner!

Friday night came around and we were booked in to the Artramont Arms in Croes Goch – locals only! All physically distant (2m here) plus a one way route, hand sanitisers in abundance plus waiter service! Tom brings out the ales (Drop Squint & Seaweed Ale from Caffle Brewery) and only £3.20 a pint.

Viv’s happy! And wearing her new cashmere poncho for the occassion – fish n chips to go at 1800 (£7 odd) – brilliant. Must go again unless . . . tsunami comes . . .

Toby has been getting several, shorter walks a day and that seems to suit him better. He knows where he is here and adopts the required resigned pose.

Steve made a Negroni for himself but madam wanted a Catalina Margarita . . . .

Easing

As Wales slowly eases the Lockdown – we venture out onto more of the coastal path. Still pretty much deserted – hours of walking without seeing a soul. It won’t last, I know.

A local garden centre, near st David’s has a small garden and nursery

Quite a collection of plants – most for sale

Back in our rockery – we have this delightful plant that suddenly spring up – a big fruit, evening primrose

Is it a sea otter? No, it’s Toby. Going for a swim in Porthgain harbour.

Up Spirits! Yes, cocktail hour continues . . . working our way thru 365 cocktails! Manhattans tonight

An old walk but newly reopened to us – Pwll Deri ridge- usually seen from our window and it acts as a weather gauge!

Looking back to strumble head . . .eagle eyes can see the top of the lighthouse

Well, we all need our spirits and souls lifting at the moment – not sure if this does the job but it tastes nice

I bought this delightful Scilla plant for Viv – a succulent with miniature bluebell like flowers – she was not impressed . . . give it a few years

At last! We spotted Harry in the garden at night and managed to operate the flash on the phone camera!

Thursday’s walk – always wanted to walk up those hills you see on the way into St David’s. Carn Pen berry. We’ve done it before some 20 yrs ago. We parked on the main road, not far from those perennial gardens and did a circular walk (red line)- 2 hours+.

The footpath down to the coastal path has not seen much in the way of walkers

Stunning cliff views – once we’d got the dog over a very unfriendly stile

Despite being ill the day before, Toby was back to his normal self – yards ahead of us and knocking on the next gate.

Dramatic it is. Not often do you get to see the outline of the coastal path snaking away from you . . .

A very rugged stretch of the coast and again, not a soul about.

Surprised at how close to the edge this bit of the coastal path gets . . . it’s a long way down.

That was quite a stroll. We headed into town to do some shopping – noticing quite a few young lads in shorts, buying food and returning to their camper vans, surf boards on top – the hordes are coming!

The Grand Erection

Regular viewers may remember the plans for a greenhouse – now that the overbearing sycamore tree has been cut back. And after much dithering, we opted for a Palram hybrid greenhouse with polycarbonate panels. Hmm, it arrived – together with the 104 page instruction manual.

Well, Steven put the galvanised steel base together…trying to find the most level spot – the weather for Thursday was set to be Scorchio, so we postponed the Grand Erection until Friday 0900. Note the hefty instruction booklet!

Short time lapse sequence – it did take over 4 hours with two of us plus the odd appearance of the dog

There were a few worrying moments as the wind got up and those flimsy uprights started to wave about but the kit was good – all the parts were numbered and the panels went in fine. It’s called a hybrid as it has clear side panels but translucent roof ones (82% transmission compared to 90% of the clear ones), should help with shading on hot days. Should we ever get those again.