Monday, 13 December 2021

Tales from Wales #8 :: Picton Castle Gardens

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

Though we didn't actually realise it at the time Tuesday ended up being the last of our 'planned' days out whilst we were in Pembrokeshire back in October.

We were off to Picton Castle Gardens and had no real idea of what to expect ... but it was part of the Gardeners' World magazine 2-for-1 entry so we had to give it a go.

We were soon parked up and in Maria's Courtyard Restaurant having lunch, where we had a good look at the map to see what there was to do ...

I can't actually recall if the castle was open during our visit, I don't think it was, but I believe that guided tours are available when it is open. Our visit was definitely more focused on the outdoor areas, though we did start with a look at the castle from the outside ...




... and very pretty it was too.

There is also the Mansion of Mystery on site ... which is a set of escape rooms, though we weren't trying these out on our visit ...

The main reason for our visit was to see the gardens and from what we'd seen so far it looked like we were going to be in for a good bit of autumn colour ...

We didn't really explore the East Garden at all, but headed through the woodland in search of the walled garden ... we do both love a walled garden ...
It was a lovely walk through the woodland, with plenty of hydrangeas still in flower ...



... and plenty of fairy doors to hunt for too ...
Eventually we hit the walled garden ...
Whilst not the best time of year for garden visiting the walled garden was still lovely and there was plenty to see ...
... and a few busy bees still going about their business ...
Through the walled garden and out the other side was the glasshouse ...
... and a fernery ...


We were then heading back through the West Garden towards the main courtyard, passing the Jungle Garden and The Maze, which we didn't take our chances with ...


Back at the main courtyard we had a quick look round the lawnmower exhibition ...

That was nearly it for our visit, though we did have a quick look round the Welsh Owl Garden, which I actually found very sad and didn't really like it much at all. Such beautiful birds, in such small spaces ... it just didn't feel right to me ... we didn't stay long ...
From here we made our way back to the car and set off to try and find Llawhaden Castle ... which we'd spotted from the main road on a previous outing ... but I'll tell you about that in another post πŸ˜€

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Monday, 6 December 2021

Tales from Wales #7 :: Dodging the Showers at Carew

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

Though we are currently holed up in the wind and rain of Northumberland, with friends, in the most comfortable and cosy cottage ever … we are back to Pembrokeshire for today’s post …

On the second Monday of our fortnight in Pembrokeshire it was forecast for heavy showers ... but it didn’t actually look too bad so we decided to head back to Carew.

We weren’t fussed about actually going in and exploring the castle but we did want to walk down to the tidal mill and have lunch in the castle tea room.

It was a day of real moody skies and a definite threat of rain …



… and the castle looked totally different to how it had when we called in to take our blue sky shots …

We had a really nice walk … down the lane …

... passing some pops of bright colour ... despite the colour of the skies ...


We were heading for the tidal mill ...
... where we headed across the causeway ... where the tide was most definitely out ...

Over the other side there were more great views looking back at the castle ...

... and back to the mill ...

By now, the rain could hold off no more ...

... and we did experience a bit of a shower ...

It didn't last for long though and it brightened up again as we made our was back up to the main road along the opposite of the lake …

... and then back across the road bridge ...

... to take us back to where we started.

We’d managed to avoid the majority of the showers and ended our visit with scrumptious artisan baguettes sad outside of the tea room ... of which, for some very strange reason, I don't seem to have taken any photos of.

I'd definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area. You can park for free and it's an interesting and reasonable length walk and you can visit the cafe without having to actually pay to visit the castle ... what more could you ask for?

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Saturday, 4 December 2021

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: December #1 … Decoration

Hi there everyone πŸ˜ƒ

We are away this week, though it so very nearly didn’t happen … we are staying in Northumberland and the holiday cottage we are supposed to be staying has had no electricity for over a week … courtesy of Storm Arwen. At the last minute we managed to find an alternative cottage to stay in … and very nice it is too.

Because I knew were were away I was hoping that Astrid’s challenge for this week would allow me to find some pictures on my iPad as that is all I have access to whilst we are away.

When I saw that our challenge was ‘decoration’ I did have a look back through last year’s posts and realised I don’t have any more photos than the ones I used this time last year.

Fortunately we had to make a trip in the week to our local garden centre and I thought I’d just take a few photos of their Christmas displays, which are normally pretty impressive and worth a visit in themselves … it was a bit of a stark reminder as to how quickly this year has gone …
The displays at this garden centre have gradually grown bigger and bolder as the years have gone by. There are now trees decorated in all the colours you can imagine and decorations of all kinds … large …
… and small …
Cosy looking montages …
Animated snow scenes …
Lots more animation …
Plenty of Christmas stockings …
Christmas wreaths …

Plenty of the traditional …
… and the not so traditional …
… and even the downright crazy …
Santa’s grotto …
… and the icing on the cake …
But what of our holiday cottage? Well … the owners did a bit of last minute decorating for us …


The Christmas crockery is about in abundance …


even the flowers are festive …
Just the nice festive feel that we needed to start us off with the Christmas Spirit πŸ˜ƒ

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Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Our Step Challenge #4

Hi there everyone πŸ˜ƒ

Well … I’m pleased to be able to share the last update on ‘Our Step Challenge’ for November and I’m even more pleased to be able to say that we managed to achieve our goal of walking, at least, 2000 steps each day for the whole of November. In fact … for the last week we managed to hit our increased target of at least 2250 steps … even in the snow ❄️❄️❄️

So … for the last time … here we go …

Monday, 22nd … 2882
On Monday we had our first real frost and it was just a tad nippy for our walk, which was a roundabout wander to the Co-op for sourdough …
Tuesday, 23rd … 4931
Today we had a drive into town and parked further away than usual before having a wander to complete some errands. It wasn’t the brightest of days but at least it was dry …

Wednesday, 24th … 2917
On Wednesday we had a wander round our local garden centre and did a few errands, as well as another leaf clearing session in the garden … and I forgot to take any pictures πŸ˜ƒ

Thursday, 25th … 2732
On Thursday we just had a walk for walking’s sake. We headed down to the nature reserve and actually walked round the lake for the first time, which made a nice change …

Friday, 26th … 3205
Friday was another day for running errands and we had a walk to drop our duvet at the local laundrette for cleaning and came the long way back …
Saturday, 27th … 2668
Today we had a small flurry of snow … and it was a very cold circuit of the nature reserve …

Sunday, 28th …2473
A quick wander to Jackie’s and then back to the Co-op for milk …
Monday, 29th … 2436
Today we had proper snow … and lots of it. We were in two minds about heading out in case it was a bit slippy but we went for it and ended going a bit further than we thought we would …
Tuesday, 30th … 2546
For the last day of our challenge it was another day of errands … garden centre, Asda and M&S and we were both surprised at how quickly we clocked up and just over our goal …
So that’s it for our November step challenge. We managed to get out and walk every single day … not something that either of us would normally do. We were both hoping that it would get easier on the old creaky knees the more we did it but that doesn’t really seem to have been the case.

I suppose the big question now is … will we continue with it? I’d like to think that we will … though we may not feel too guilty if we miss the odd day here and there 😜

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