Thoughts and Sunsets

 

Having broken up the long journey with breakfast and a little antique hunting in Bath, we finally arrived at our little hideaway.

 

 

It's really tucked away, and only a minute from here, Whitesands Bay.

 

Amanda still has work to complete for her diploma, and so took a few hours each morning, and enjoyed the utter peace and quiet, while she concentrated on the subject in hand.

 

On the first morning however, we had decided to make it a full day together, and headed over to the National Botanical Gardens of Wales, where they were also hosting a large antique fair.

 

It was quite a surprise in garden terms, as being what we had imagined should be an old, well established and pretty much traditional layout for a botanical garden, it was instead an old framework of a garden that had been transformed into a modernistic wonder, with something new around every corner.

 

The biosphere is huge, and houses mostly plants from warmer, dryer climates. There is a waterfall, a lake, and although it was dry at the time of our visit, what appeared to be a river bed that can be flooded with running water when things get too hot and dry in the summer.

 

The antique fair is held here on a regular basis, and is not only staged in the sphere, but also in surrounding old buildings and areas within the gardens.

 

There are several cafes, and we had a lovely cup of tea on a raised terrace near this display in the sphere. Surrounded by birds and butterflies it was quite an unusual place and feel, after experiencing other similar projects elsewhere.

 

To us it was ideal, plants AND stalls to hunt for glasses and teacups.

Why am I looking so happy? Well, apart from the beautiful gardens that were indeed inspiring, and Amanda having found a rather special cup for her collection, I got hold of these little beauties.

 

A 'Bimini' liqueur set.

Although I have up until now only gone for individual glasses, and focussing mainly on venetian glass, these little beauties just had to come with me. The name of the glass type sounds italian, but are made by an austrian called Fritz Lampl.

 

But that's enough about glass for now. Back to St.Davids, and the following morning.

Amanda was studying, and so I took myself off for a walk through the surrounding lanes to St.Davids itself.

 

 

It was a damp and misty morning as I left the warmth and cosiness of our little place behind. It's nestled in the trees and bushes in the picture above.

As I stolled on this and a few other mornings, I never ceased to be amazed by the diversity of plants growing in the hedgerows. One of my favourites at this time of year are these yellow wild snapdragons, and yes, there were blackberries in abundance. I collected some of these, along with a few wild apples, to make a pie later.

 

 

St.Davids itself is very small, and dominated by it's cathedral. Right next to it are the equally impressive abbey ruins, seen through the trees here. There has been a place of worship here for 1500 years can you believe?

 

Ramsey Sound has some of the fastest tidal flow in the world, and during the tide changes is quite a scary spectacle. If you ever come here, then like us, take a boat out to Ramsey Island and The Bitches, it's quite an experience.

 

 

On a couple of days we took ourselves off for some coast path walking.

 

 

And found some lovely warm and sheltered spots for a 'loungy' cuppa.

 

It's time for the seal pupping, and the whole area has coves full of baby seals. The main colonies are over on Ramsey Island, but we still must have seen upwards of fifty during our walking. They aooear fearless, tucked into their tiny coves, with the might of the open sea thundering at them at high tide. The little fellow in the video below was making a heck of a noise, and giving his mother all sorts of grief as it kept moving this way and that. If you look closely, you can just glimpse her patting it's back. She did this, stroked and held again and again, to try to calm and reassure the little one.

 

 

 The clip is a little fuzzy on here.

 

 

We walked for miles and miles, and after each long day returned to the warmth of the log stove, some nice wine and a good book.

 

We pondered all sorts of things during our 'head clearing' time here. There are so many issues to deal with at home, some of which can at least be put on the back burner so to speak.

 

And as always I often found myself just staring at the beauty, lost in my thoughts.

But it all came to an end far too quickly. Where does the time go? As I get older, 53 in a few months time, life seems to pass by much too fast. Why does it all go slowly when you are young and oblivious to what life has to offer, and then when you are mature enough to know what you want, and how to enjoy it......Pow, that was your life mate....!

 



The last sunset at Whitesands Bay

 

We left St.Davids early on Saturday morning, as we had planned to re-visit Bath for a spot of lunch and a walk around. We popped into the Assembly Rooms, as we hadn't seen these before, and lo and behold there was an antique book fair going on at the same time.

Book fairs aren't our thing really. Books are made for reading, and these were more like mummified treasures, never to be read or handled, but to be traded like gold ingots, such a shame. Couple that with too many tweed jackets, rude behaviour and an overall air of self importance, and we decided to come another day. Not before getting in everyones way to take some photos though!

 

Bath is host to all manner of street performers, and I thought that this fellow in particular was earning his crust. He kept this up for more than the ten minutes or so we were watching him.

 

 

And the clock kept on ticking, and we had to leave there as well eventually. It was a two hour drive home, and once again a beautiful sunset.

 

 

During times like this holiday, it's easy to forget the stuff that we enjoy back at home, as 'stuff' and work get in the way. But there will be other sunsets. For now though, back to the proverbial grindstone.

 

Take care.