Lodge Life :: August 2025

Hi there everyone 😀

We began August still in the midst of our three-week stay at the lodge.

With David, Alison and Bobby having come and gone, we had a few quiet days to do a swift ‘changeover’ before Jackie and Phil arrived for a long weekend. Those in-between days were very relaxed …  although we did make it out to The Gallery in Llanbedrog for lunch, using a voucher I’d been given by friends for my birthday back in November …

Once Jackie and Phil arrived, the pace picked up again with another jam-packed itinerary of outings and adventures. After four full days of fun, we waved them off and settled back into lodge life for the final few days of our break.

One of our last outings was to the airport café at Caernarfon, where we happily timed it with ‘Pizza Friday’ … the perfect treat …

We were also spoiled with plenty of airport activity while we ate, and the highlight was definitely watching the coastguard helicopter take off right in front of us …

We rounded off our summer stay with a quick stop at Caffi Prysor in Trawsfynydd, where we enjoyed lunch with a lovely view … the perfect way to end our time away …

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Christmas Charm & Historic Halls #1 :: Charterhouse, Coventry

Hi there everyone 😀

We are just back from the most lovely, very full and festive, pre-Christmas week spent exploring in and around York.

In the week before we went we definitely made the most of our National Trust membership … visiting three different properties. Two were for the first time and two were decked out for Christmas.

Charterhouse - Coventry
The Charterhouse is a medieval monastic house surrounded by acres of tranquil green space. This Grade I listed, 14th century building has quite the story to share. Founded in 1381, Coventry Charterhouse has served many different purposes. From a 14th century monastery to a family home and later as a garden that produced exotic fruit for wealthy locals. Former notable inhabitants include Robert Dudley, famous favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, and John Whittingham who cultivated the nursery and walled garden for food production. In more recent years, the house has a whole new tale to tell, with tenacious members of the community coming together to save the building from sale and possible demolition.

It was our first visit to Charterhouse and we had no idea what to expect. It really was a bit of an oasis of calm.

The property is a lovely building, with the key interest inside being the ancient wall paintings …

For me the garden was of much more interest, even at this time of year when there isn’t really that much to see …

There was still a bit of colour in the rose garden …

… and the vegetable beds …

The building in the corner is the old Apple Store …

The area around the fountain was particularly tranquil …

We spent a while in the cafe where the food looked delicious. We didn’t have lunch on this visit but it was definitely a lovely spot and somewhere we would want to try out.

Back outside and It all looked very pretty in the winter sunshine …

Upon the recommendations of the NT staff we had a walk over to the London Road Cemetery and Paxton’s arboretum …

We had been given a leaflet which detailed a number of the residents resting places … as well as some impressive tree specimens …

We had a good wander and found reading about the people who were buried there really interesting …

It really was a lovely wander in the autumn sunshine. Not something we were expecting to do but really enjoyable all the same …

I’m really glad we visited. We really enjoyed it. There isn’t loads to do there but I’m sure we will make another trip when there is a bit more to see in the garden … and to take advantage of the cafe 😋

I will tell you about our visits to Upton House and Hardwick Hall in my next posts 😀

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Nearly 61

Hi there everyone 😀

I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I wrote about turning 60 … yet next week my 60th year will officially be over and I will be 61 …

So … what felt different about being 60? To be honest … not an awful lot.

There have been a few benefits on the health side …

I’ve saved money on prescriptions as they are now free and I’ve had my first free eye test. 

I have also had the pleasure of a flu vaccination and the real treat … free bowel screening 😲

On a bit more of a positive note I now get 10% off at Iceland on a Tuesday and at our local garden centre on a Wednesday

I also fall into the ‘concession’ category when visiting certain touristy venues and events. In fact I get most perturbed now when I see that discounts are not available until I am 65 … though I don’t want to be wishing my life away.

I remember when I was younger I used to think that 60 was absolutely ancient but now … other than a few twinges here and there and being heavier, I don’t really feel any different to how I did when I was 40.

So … next week I will be 61 and I am looking forward to a chilled out afternoon tea with a very lovely lady I used to work with …

… and a day out with Martin visiting a new National Trust place … oh yes … I forgot the over 60s National Trust membership discount.

We are then off to Husthwaite in Yorkshire with Jackie and Phil for a week with lots of pre-Christmas activities on the agenda so I’m sure I will be coming back with plenty more tales to tell …

Until then I will relish in my last few days of being 60 😜

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Lodge Life :: October 2025

Hi there everyone 😀

This year has been a bit different to usual … with no ‘Lodge Life’ posts for either August or September. We were away in Bude with Family for August and then we spent September at home, whilst mum underwent a replacement hip operation … which thankfully seems to have gone very well.

It was so lovely to get back to our bolt hole for a week during October. The weather forecast wasn’t good but we weren’t bothered. We were just looking forward to hunkering down and having a week of not doing much … other than generally just chilling out and that is exactly what we did.

As is par for the course with that part of Wales the weather was better than predicted … though we did see our fair share of rain and high winds.

We hit some rough weather over the hills on our drive over …

… but once on the other side it cleared considerably …

And on our first morning we actually woke up to this …

We managed to get three good days out during the course of the week … starting with a bit of a wander at Trefor, a favourite spot, pretty close by, for a nice bracing walk by the sea …

This time we were both feeling a bit more enthusiastic than normal and decided to carry on up the hill to see what we could see from the top …

We were so glad we did … the views were fabulous …

… and not only that … we got to see a pod of five or six dolphins swimming about off the coast. It’s the first time we’ve seen dolphins over there so we were both pretty chuffed.

Our second day out was a bit further afield. We headed out towards Beddgelert … having to stop along the way to admire the Glaslyn, surrounded by autumn colour …

We were aiming for somewhere new … the Craflwyn Nature Reserve. It’s somewhere we’ve passed before but never had chance or the inclination to stop and explore. This time we were booted up and raring to go … in search of waterfalls …

There is quite a good walk here but we were just aiming to complete the first three stages, which would take in the waterfalls and felt within our feeble fitness levels.

It was actually a really lovely little walk … up through the woods, crunching over pathways covered with golden leaves and acorns …

There had clearly been some pretty heavy storm damage and we had to skirt our way around this huge fallen tree …

… before continuing on to the ‘dragon bench’ …

We soon spotted the first waterfall through the trees. It really was a beautiful spot. The water in the stream was crystal clear and was littered with copper coloured leaves. It really looked like pennies had been thrown in to make wishes …

We crossed the little slate bridge and got a bit closer to the waterfall. It was only a small one but so very pretty …

A pathway of stone steps took us up the side of the waterfall and on our way. We did take these very tentatively as it was quite wet and they were covered with leaves and we definitely don’t want to be slipping …

At the top of the steps we were back into woodland …

… until we could could the roar of the next, larger, waterfall. We soon spotted it through the trees and were excited to see what we would find.

I have to say … although it was a beautiful spot … we were a little disappointed. We couldn’t see the falls we had spotted through the trees and we couldn’t really see how we could find a way to them either …

Saying that we did stay a while, just taking it all in. More crystal clear water that would be just asking to be dipped in on a warmer day and plenty more autumn colour …

From the waterfall the path continues on to Dinas Emrys but we decided it was time to retrace our steps …

From Craflwyn we headed up to Capel Curig, stopping at the viewpoint to take in the views of Yr Wyddfa in the mist …

At Capel Curig we paid our first visit to Caffi Siabod for a welcome pitstop, where we enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and the view …

We made our way back via the Pen y Pass, stopping to capture the beauty of the landscape along the way …

We’d had another lovely autumnal day out exploring and got to see yet another spot we hadn’t been to before. This part of the country really does seem to have an infinite number of beautiful places to find … especially when you start to get a little off the beaten track. 

Our third, and final, day out was not off the beaten track at all. We had a ride over to Bangor, where we had some errands to run … but not before a breezy stroll along the pier …

And that was it … time to head for home. Neither of us was really ready to leave but hopefully we will be back soon 🤞🤞🤞

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