Joy!

Saturday was a long day. After tidying and packing, I left Pool Cottage and set off down the west coast to the tiny village of Moylegrove, not far south of Cardigan. I needed some supplies, so stopped at a local store and also grabbed food for lunch. Remembering my rule of ‘picnic when you are able’, I turned off the road onto a small track. There was nowhere to park and so I kept driving and ended up at the sea!

I enjoyed my cheese, oatcakes and a perfectly ripe pear and then went for a potter along the shore. The tide was out and I have never before seen such a collection of beautifully coloured seaweeds.

Needless to say, I spent far too long and ended up arriving later than planned at Banc Cottage. It is a dear little place, and I soon unpacked and settled in for the night.

I awoke to a sunny morning and a feeling of such happiness, for today I was going to see Emily and Jordan, who were down for a holiday weekend with Jordan’s parents, celebrating a family birthday

What joy it was to see them! They wanted to show me the beach they love so well, so we all walked down there, except Julian, who nobly agreed to come and pick us up later and drive us all back up the steep hill.

Tresaith beach is most charming.  It has that beautiful curve, there is sand, there are rock-pools, and it has the most amazing waterfall!

It was such a happy time, Emily and I beachcombing, Jordan and his Mum chatting. As Rhian said afterwards, it was such a treat to spend time with our children.

It was a perfect start to my week where I have spent every possible moment by- or in-the sea.

How green is my valley

 

Over the next few days, the dark clouds lifted and so too did my spirits. I had known that I was surrounded by beautiful countryside but I'd not been able to appreciate it properly before.

Once the light came back into my days, the colours took my breath away. I have never seen green like it. The rain makes the fields and meadows so verdant and at this time of year when the new autumn grass is growing, the whole landscape glowed!

One perfect example is Pont Minllyn. I had read about this old pack-horse bridge, which had been built by Dr John Davies in the middle of the 17^th century and so I went to find it; now disused and covered with grass, it is such a lovely thing to see.

The following day I packed myself a picnic and was looking for a secluded place to sit and dream the hours away. I have been letting Fate take me where she wills and I was not disappointed. I followed another steep and tiny winding road until I was high in the hills. I noticed a path leading into trees, so I went exploring.

It was an enchanted place. The ancient Oak trees were covered in moss and ferns, there was an ancient crab apple which had more lichen than fruit and the berries of Rowan trees shone a bright orange. The woodland was quite open with small meadows and patches of gorse and bracken.

The path led me upwards until I came to the top of the hill and I could see across to the valley below. The sun came out and it was like looking down on Paradise.

I have fallen in love with these lush wooded hills and valleys, they are so different from the wild and bleak mountain tops, each has a very different spirit.

 I am so glad I decided to move from place to place- it is exciting and challenging getting to know the feel of different landscapes.

An elegant residence

 

Life is full of happy coincidences. Not many months ago I was reading about the huge redwood - the Wellingtonia or Giant Sequoia and I longed to have the chance to travel to California and see these mighty trees. Well goodness me- who would have guessed? Mr Humphries who originally owned the house where I am staying and created the gardens, brought over a Wellingtonia from Canada to add to his collection of unusual trees and plants. It’s now over 100 foot tall and as soon as it has stopped raining, I am going to go out and hug it.

My body has been complaining about the uphill walks and so I spent a quiet first day at Pool Cottage. There are several holiday lets here but it is quiet and still has the feel of an old country house. 

The gardens are full of winding stone paths and fern lined steps. I enjoyed playing with some colourful leaves...

The next day dawned dank and dark with grey clouds and rain. I know that I can’t be in alt all the time but I felt rather ashamed of feeling so down-hearted. I missed the clear blue skies, space and clarity of my week on the hillside.

However, I gave myself a talking to and in the afternoon headed out to do some gentle exploring. I followed a quiet winding lane, with moss and grass in the middle and pootled along trying to get a feel of the countryside. I found a place to park and continued my travels down the lane on foot, enjoying the sound of robins singing and the peaceful feel of misty rain on my face. Then to my delight I saw that the hedgerows were full of blackberries. Now I had a purpose I felt much more cheerful, I gathered a large handful and also picked a little posy of late summer flowers.

Returning home to my cottage, I felt much more at home.