Lodge Life :: January '23

Hi there everyone 😀

After the new year we had a trip over to our lodge in North Wales for a post Christmas break with mum. The weather forecast was pretty dreary so there wasn’t an awful lot on the agenda … we just really wanted to make sure all was good before shutting up for the season.

We’d already had plenty of rain and this was pretty evident as we made our way through the mountains …

It was quite bright though as we entered the national park …

The lodge was freezing when we arrived but it didn’t take long to warm up and we were soon snug and toasty.

On our first full day it did start out quite grey but we decided to head to one of the beaches in Pwllheli for a bit of a breezy walk …

This beach is a beachcomber's dream, with all sorts of interesting bits and pieces just lying around waiting to be wondered at ...

We narrowly avoided a pretty heavy shower but we did actually get to see a bit of sunshine and blue sky …

In fact it was so nice later in the day that we headed over to Criccieth for another walk along the beach …

… ending up in Dylan’s for a quick drink before heading back ...

Day 2 and the weather was not that good at all. We decided to head to Llanbedrog for brunch at the café at the gallery. We were gutted to find it closed so headed back into Pwllheli and ended up in the café at the station for breakfast.

It was very quirky, but breakfast was fab …

In the afternoon we made good on one of our New Year’s resolutions by trying out the indoor pool at the local leisure centre …

We finished off the day with the first of the new series of The Apprentice 

… where Antigua looked very inviting …

… and the usual antics were drawing the usual reactions from Karen and Claude …

Day 3 and the weather was looking good so we headed over to Penmon Point on Anglesey to show mum the priory…

… and the lighthouse …

We did manage a quick drink and a pizza in the warmth of the café …

… before stopping off in Beaumaris for a very windy walk on the pier before heading back to the lodge for fish and chips for tea ...

That was it then really for this visit … our last day was spent cleaning and packing up, ready to come away until March, when the park reopens for the 2023 season.

We had another good run home with everything looking really pretty with a light frosty covering …

Time now to get cracking at home getting the garden ready for Spring before we are back again in March ... we just can't wait 😀

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The Theatre, The Instant Pot & The Mushrooms

Hi there everyone 😃

I didn’t really know what to call this post as it really is just a mish mash of a few bits and pieces … namely the theatre, the instant pot and the mushrooms. On reflection it sounds like a good potential title for a crime thriller … do you think it would sell?

Swimming today was cancelled and I have to admit to being just a little bit gutted. I’d really been looking forward to it but apparently the boiler at the pool has packed up so the water temperature was just too cold to swim in.

I have everything crossed that it’s fixed soon and we can perhaps go later in the week.

In other news … we’ve been to the theatre. It’s the first time we’ve been anywhere like that since pre-Covid and it did feel a little strange being squashed into such a small space with so many other people.

We took mum and the little chap to see his mum in the local amateur dramatics performance of Priscilla. There may or may not have been a small incident relating to an arm of one of the theatre chairs but I don't think it was us that broke it …

I’ve never seen Priscilla the film and didn’t really know what to expect but it was fabulous. It was funny, it was engaging, the costumes were amazing and Alison was brilliant and I did take a sneaky photo of the finale …

After the show we headed back to mums for an evening of escape room playing and Bobby wrote his own personal review of the show …

In other news we’ve had another go with the instant pot/air fryer. This time we tried the sauté and pressure cook function for a Thai Penang chicken curry which was delicious. We did make the paste ourselves but it sounds like you could just use Thai red curry paste with a mashed up stick of lemongrass for the same effect …

We sautéed the paste and coconut milk for about five minutes then added the chicken and pressure cooked for another five. We did a quick release of the pressure then added the remaining ingredients and sautéed again for another five minutes.

I guess in total, with heating up times it took about half an hour to cook … but no dirty splashed hob to clean or expensive non stick sauté pan to wash by hand so I’m counting it as a win.

Today we harvested the mushrooms …

We fried them in butter and had them in toasted sourdough with poached eggs. They were very tasty and hopefully we will get enough for another harvest …

I did feel a bit odd though … looking at the strands on the bottom of the stalks … if you watched Jess get the ‘kiss of death’ in The Last of us you will know where I am coming from …

Tonight we are trying a sausage pasta bake in the pot and I’m not sure how the pasta will go but it will be an experiment … but not till after 6pm as we are taking part in the National Grid’s demand flexibility service … so until then we will sit here in the near dark with no TV on and as many appliances switched off as possible … I draw the line at turning off the heating though 😜

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New for 2023 ...

Hi there everyone 😀

There seems to be quite a lot of ‘new’ stuff happening over here at the moment … which actually feels just a little bit invigorating. I’m not talking mass scale change or exciting huge goals … I’m just talking tiny increments really … but each has given reason to smile or feel just a little bit of an achievement.

I guess the most unexpected is that Martin and I have actually been swimming once a week since the New Year … something that neither of us would have ever imagined us doing.

Our first swim was whilst we were at the lodge in North Wales … not in the outdoor pool I hasten to add. We actually tried out the pool at the leisure centre in Pwllheli and, whilst Martin did need more than a little encouragement, we were both surprised to find that we did actually quite enjoy it.

The pool was lovely and quiet and I found swimming up and down strangely relaxing. We couldn’t coax mum into the pool though she did say she regretted not coming in afterwards …

Once back home I did some research to try and find somewhere nicer than our most local leisure centre, which held nothing but bad memories of grotty changing rooms for me ... and we decided to try out an over 50s swimming session at the pool in Atherstone.

It did actually end up being quite busy with everyone getting back into it after the Christmas break but other than that it was great. This week we have been back to Atherstone to a general swim session early afternoon and it was just the job. We’ve booked again already for next week ...

At home I seem have revived my enthusiasm for houseplants and have decided to say good bye to a few sad looking specimens that have been struggling for years. These have been replaced with some new varieties which we are currently trying to get settled in … which has not been easy in our cold and draughty abode.

It’s very early days for the calathea which is looking good so far. It’s fascinating to watch its leaves all heading upwards at the end of the day, into its 'prayer plant' position, and to see them all spread outwards again during the day …

This is a syngonium arrow and seems to be quite happy in the first spot we placed it …

The same can’t be said of this delicate looking fern … I’m not sure of the variety … I have now moved it three times and am hoping it will finally settle. The ends of the leaves keep going all dry and brittle. I am not sure why but think it’s either a lack of humidity or it’s been in a spot that has been too cold. It is now on the kitchen windowsill and I am hoping for the best …

Also at home we have had a new addition to the kitchen. I’ve literally inherited an Instant Pot and we are currently building up to having a good play with it.

We’ve managed to find a home for it and so far we’ve used the air fryer function for crisping up jacket Potatoes and cooking oven chips. We are very much looking forward to seeing how we get on with the pressure cooking function as this should really save us in energy usage, as well as not totally trashing the kitchen when cooking in the hob …

Tonight it's a 'new' thing for us for dinner ... we are having gnocchi for the first time. Something we’ve been meaning to try for ages. I’m afraid we didn’t make our own… though the process doesn’t actually sound that difficult. We will see how it goes …

We are using this recipe for a creamy ham and mushroom gnocchi bake, with home cooked ham from the freezer.

These next new bits were really due to be done in December but got postponed. It does make me feel quite good though to have ticked something off the job list this early in the year … even though really they have been done late …

We had our annual gas fire and boiler service completed and, after years of saying that the coals on the fire were really shabby and not burning brilliantly, Martin had ordered a new set for about £30 and it now looks like new …

Whilst the plumber was here we also had a new tap fitted in the kitchen, which was long overdue as the old one was all corroded and leaking from all joints …

This next one wasn’t really new this year as I had my new coat for my birthday in November … though it didn’t have its first outing until January. Whilst it’s not quite as warm as my old one I do love it and it certainly stands out in photos …

Martin had a grow your own mushroom kit for Christmas and we currently have a good crop nearly ready for harvesting, which we are really looking forward to … though having watched the first of the new Sky series ... The Last of us ... I’m not too sure how I feel about anything fungi at the moment. I can't quite believe how quickly they grow though …

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

And last but not least … today was the first wear for my new socks I had for Christmas … I just love new socks and these are soooooo pretty 🌼🌼🌼

I think that's all for now. It feels like we've actually achieved quite a lot so far this year, even though they are only small things, considering it's not yet the end of January. Perhaps this is going to be the year we get all those 'things' that have been waiting for ages done ... we shall see 😀

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