Easing into Autumn 🍂🍃🍁

Hi there everyone😀

Whilst there are things I love about all of our seasons I think autumn has to be my favourite.

I love that feeling of hunkering down, cosy nights in, slow cooker dinners, home made soups and crisp sunny days.

It’s a time for finishing off projects, cramming in a few last jobs before winter sets in, putting the garden to bed and starting to think about the festive season.

For us it’s also a busy season socially too … with lots of birthdays for special friends and family, my own birthday … a big one this year … and festive celebrations to look forward to.

Since getting home from our week away at the lodge in October there has been plenty going on …

❤️ We said our final farewell to our car … it has served us very well for the last 10 years but we have been plagued with very expensive problems over the last six months and we finally decided it was time to cut our losses … we are now hopeful for a good period of stress free motoring …

We have gone for something very similar but a bit bolder on the colour front …

🧡 Autumn colours are abundant in the garden …

… and we’ve been lucky enough with the weather to have a couple of good sessions outside. Firstly we repotted the bays out the front …

… and secondly we had a big leaf clearing session … probably the first of several …

🩷 I had the first of my 60th birthday celebrations … a very early one. Jackie, Rachel and I all have autumn birthdays and we always make a point of doing something special together. This year we opted for a ‘pink’ afternoon tea at The Belfry. We’d not been there before and, whilst it was not the cheapest of treats, it was a lovely way to spend an autumn afternoon …

… and I wore  another dress 😀😀😀

🎃 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Lodge Life :: October 2023

Hi there everyone 😀

In October we managed to fit in a week at the lodge with mum. We took a different route from usual both on the way there and back … opting for going through Llangollen and taking a scenic drive up over The Horseshoe Pass …

We didn’t do lots on this visit but did manage a couple of days out and about starting with a visit to Porthmadog. We detoured along the front in Cricieth to take in the views …

… and to take in the Halloween themed post box toppers…

In Porthmadog it was cold but bright and we had a walk along to harbour to the Ffestiniog steam railway station …

There were no trains due in for a while so we just had a drink in the sunshine and a wander around …

It really is one of the most picturesque stations ever. 

With still no trains due any time soon we had a drive to the other end of town to run a few errands and have a look at the other steam railway … The Welsh Highland Railway. It was the first time we’d been to have a look and, though not as pretty as the Ffestiniog, there was a train in … it was absolutely immaculate …

By now there was a train due in at the other station so we hot footed it back to the other end of town and Martin just dropped mum and I off to have a look …

Having had our fill of steam trains for the day we headed for home, with a quick call in at Borth y Gest for a sandwich with a view on the way …

Our other big day out was to Penrhyn Castle …

… which is one of the most impressive castles, both inside and out, that we’ve visited …

… with the most fantastic views looking out across the Menai Strait …

We picked up a few Christmas gifts in the shop and had lunch in the cafe, before having a quick look round the rail museum …

There was just time to snap a couple of pictures outside before the buggy arrived to run us back to the car park …

As we were over that way, and not quite ready to head for home, we we decided to take a drive to the Ogwen Valley, where we discovered the old Roman road for some great views of the waterfalls …

And we couldn’t be over that way without a quick call in to Zipworld to show mum how the old quarry was now being used … none of us felt anywhere near brave enough for a go but it’s always good fun to have a look …

That was pretty much it for October, though there was another bit of a detour in the way home … Llangollen again, but this time for a look at the Horseshoe Falls …

… and to show mum the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct …

Visiting places on the way back is always good and really squeezes every last drop out of our visits … though sometimes it is nice to just get in the car and get home … and North Wales in the autumn has been a real treat 😀

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁