Journal for Georgia (2)

Sunday 4/7

Rainy / misty day.  George and I went to Bishop's Palace.  Met Mum at the Refectory for lunch.

Fell asleep in Secret Garden... - showed Mum the tapestry.

Walked to Richards to discuss cottage with him.  Late dinner @ The Farmers - half pint prawns and nachos.

Monday 5/7

Georgia came to house earlier than arranged - had read timetable and we needed to catch an early bus to Porthgain, which we did.  Had coffee and croissant at The Sloop.  Easy walk to Abereiddy - lost coast path - came out at Porth Carreg - limping guy showed us where to pick up path.  Big but beautiful walk.  Saw seals near St David's Head.  My feet feeling very squishy!  Lost path again & had to hunt for Cromlech - saw it from the steps.  Trudged into Whitesands - powercut - no lunch!  no coffee!  Milk, cake & fruit - bus to St Davids.  Glorious last supper at the Bench:  dolce latte salad, basic pizza & fungi ravioli.

Tuesday 6/7

George and I catch bus to Haverfordwest.  Saw Bethany - Richard hailed bus to get her to school - kissed Georgia goodbye.

I had omelette at station.  Waved goodbye to George.  Wandered around Haverfordwest but heart not in it - still tired from day before.  Went to Lidls to look for chocolates.  Caught bus home.  (Had coffee & chocolate twist in Haverfordwest - very hungry!)

Journal for Georgia

Wednesday 30/6

Dave, Frances, Mum and I to Tenby - Prince Charles and Camilla there for Fish Week.  Mum & I to Caldey Island - disgusting tea room.

Georgia arrived approx 9.15 pm - Dave and I picked her up from Haverfordwest - 'death on the line' at Reading.

Took Georgia to Uncle Dai's, then went for a double-dragon at The Farmers.  Went for a walk around the cathedral and up Quickwell steps.  Smell of garlic... Saffron, Indian restaurant just closing, allowed us to have a glass of wine and garlic naan.

Thursday 1/7

Georgia and I went to fish print-making workshop at Info Centre - Debbie Withey - Cheese and Pickles.  12 - 2.30pm.

Went to Grove for dinner but fully booked - went to Farmers instead - fish pie & ham, leek & chicken pie.  Left George to photograph cathedral, etc.  Breakfast @ Bench?

Met lady from workshop at Refectory for afternoon tea - she showed us the Pembrokeshire Tapestry.

Friday 2/7

Climbed Carn Llidi.

Mum, George and I caught bus to White Sands [see Georgia's blog].  After climb, had lunch at cafe - pannini.  Caught bus the long way  home.

Booked table at Grove - but a quiet night.  Shared 'blanchebait' with George, then she had Welsh lamburger (like a sausage), I had more seafood bits.  Terrible chips.

Breakfast @ Bench?

Georgia stayed at the Coach House.

Saturday 3/7

St Davids to Porth Clais to Solva

George and I set out to Porth Clais but kept walking to Solva.  Blue grass on outcrop after Carbydi - soft tussocks as I remember them.  Went to Royal George for lunch but not doing food, to Harbour Inn - another Brain's pub - blue vein cheese sanger and shredded cheddar cheese sanger!

Tapas @ Bench?

George at Coach House - rebooked for Uncle Dai's.

George - I've lost all of your St Davids photos since the laptop was stolen.  If you email some, I'll add them in the blog.

Full Circle

Friday 4/6
The long awaited, & and much imagined, day.  One week after the bus trip to Adelaide, catch the bus to St Davids.  Cynthia had booked for us prior.  John and Cynthia drove us to Reading - waited at Sainsburys.  Caught bus at 1 pm - little spat with the driver.  Lady from Monastery at Milford.  Beautiful drive to Haverfordwest via Chepstow (?), Swansea, Cross Hands, Port Talbot and Milford.  Mum and I last on the bus.  Waited at bus station in H/west from 7.10 - 8.05pm - not very cheerful.  'Shiloh' sheepdog on bus - very comforting.  Lots of surfers and campers at Newgale.  Shiloh and family got off after Solva.  Frances and Paul waiting for us at bustop - short walk to their house.  Huge pile of ham sandwiches.  Still light at 10.00pm.
So began the magic 6 weeks.  I can never thank Frances, David, Mark, Paul and Cairo enough for their hospitality - they made everything so easy for us.  I still see so clearly Frances and Paul waiting for us in St Davids that I think I must have a photograph of them - but I don't.

 Our home for 6 weeks

St David's Cathedral photographed from 'the best spot' divulged to us by our favourite bus driver, Jo.

Looking up to The Refectory from 'our secret garden'.

The grating we stepped over many times as we passed from our secret garden to the Refectory for lunch or a coffee.  I think this is what rekindled my interest in crochet.

The doors to the Cathedral from the sensitively constructed new link between the Refectory and Cathedral.

Bizarre, I know, but I loved this sign on the toilets at the ford behind the Cathedral.

The singing bins of Whitesands - a much loved joke shared by Mum, Georgia and me.

2 doorways we loved.

'The Cross', social hub of St Davids.

My favourite school gates in the world.

On the wall leading back to David and Frances'.

David gave me the CD 'The Boy with a Note:  An Evocation of the Life of Dylan Thomas in Words & Music', by Ralph McTell.  It is played frequently...  I love the lines '...to wake up at home in the house on the shore with you by my side in Wales'.
And I love that Georgia loves this place too.

Maybe I lied...

Maybe there'll be 2 more posts.  Yesterday marked the anniversary of arriving in England last year, so I started to read my journal:
'Thursday 1/6/10
Finally I get to write in this beautiful book.  Bought, I think, in Armidale many years ago to be used on our next o/seas visit.
And here I am, at the attic window in Cynthia's, overlooking a muted morning and gardens of lilac, rhododendrons and a huge magnolia, and green, green trees.
Cynthia &John picked us up from Heathrow in the late afternoon.  Mum and I had been up since 5.30 am KL time.  The drive to their home was perfect.  They saw the new 4 lane highway in progress but I saw soft rolling greeness, cow parsley, rogue poppies.  It is a muted canvas, beautiful, like a well worn shawl or throw.  And now a blackbird sits on a drooping pine.  And now he's gone!  But the link to my blackbird family at home is made.
It has been light for hours.  I got up thinking the others must have given up on me & gone out without me.  I made a cup of tea in the kitchen - just past 6 am.  And last night it was still light at 9.30pm.  It is dreamlike.
I have a room perfect for me.  Another eyrie.  This one filled with Enid Blighton books &books on Wales.
I travelled to Mum's (W/W to Adelaide) last Friday by bus.  My jottings:

• wheeling pelicans @ Renmark
• sedate pace - snail's pace - but good speed & I recognise the country well
• fellow passengers always smell of chow mein noodles

 I had seen Lucky the Pelican and my blackbird during the week, so the omens were good.  It had also rained for about a week & I'd realised how I take dust dry weather for granted.  I had not smelled 'damp' for a long time.
At Mum's I walked in spitting rain to the Sushi Bar in Marden & we had sushi rolls for tea.
The flight to KL was good.  The Melia Hotel excellent - and outdoor lift to view Times Square - and Mum had her first paella.  We caught the monorail for a glimpse of the city.  We return to this hotel on the way back - we like everything about it except the location is not best for us - we don't need to be in the Golden Triangle shopping area.  We don't go into any stores, I get ringotts from the Seven 11.  The footpaths are narrow and uneven.  Mum is hesitant to cross the roads.  It was Sunday and the money changers & reflexologists were either having a day off or sleeping in.  Parum, the driver, talked nonstop to the airport on the Monday morning.  The flight was long but just bearable.  Mum told me about cycling around the area as the plane touched down.  The Immigration official noted Mum was born in Hayes & Mum repeated the cycling story.  He said she should write a book...
The blackbird returned to its pine perch while I was writing this but now is gone again.
And the pigeons coo like at Mum's.
Birdsong in the morning & at night.'

It was to be such a magic holiday.  Couldn't blog this yesterday cos the modem packed it in and Steve had to buy another one today.

All good things...

I think it's about time to suspend Blogblodwyn for a while.  I plan to make this my penultimate post.  This time last year I was mad with excitement, thinking 'I'll be there NEXT MONTH'.  At the moment I'm thrilled to bits that my Cousin David (with whom we stayed in St Davids) has sent me his recollections of holidays there as a child.  I'm hoping some other cousins will do likewise.  Two of my cousins have moved, as adults, to the St David's area to live.  I'm not the only one under its spell.  Today I'll share some more gardeny things with you.

Walking from David's to the aunts, we pass this garden which takes its proximity to the Cathedral very seriously.  Sadly, I don't recall the gate ever being open.  I think it may be the back of the National Trust Shop.

This gate was often open, and very tempting...

This power pole always made me laugh.

If we walk from the aunts to St Non's, we see this wall, allegedly the wall of the dwelling where Non gave birth to St David.  Both Georgia and I were captivated by the embedded plants.

On the way back to David and Frances' we pass the local nursery

but sadly miss this planter with its gorgeous hedgehog feet, which is on High Street.

Here's one of the many beautiful baskets at the Haverfordwest Bus Station where we caught the coach to return to England.

Pub dogs

I've been doing a bit of net surfing (thanks to an online St Patrick's Day card send by the lovely Bill and Bron) and saw something about pub dogs which reminded me...

English pubs are a bit dark inside so you'll have to forgive the use of the flash. 

I think they did take-out too.

Being dogless, we settled for a beer.

Here's Cynthia and John

and here's a satisfied customer.

Time on my hands

so I thought I'd blog a cuppla things that amused me during the Welsh Tour.

I don't know why I find this so screamingly funny.  Perhaps because the first time I heard Rosemary talk about going to a hole in the wall I had no idea what she was on about.  So I was flabbergasted to find it's official.

I know I've posted the unicorn before but I love the whimsy, and it sums up how I feel as I approach St Davids.

Blog for Bronwyn

Featuring the Farmers Arms aka The Farmers

 Mum outside The Farmers

Mum and Aunty Eirwen having a pint, probably of the Reverend James, or possibly Double Dragon in the beer garden at The Farmers.

Georgia, complete with Tregwynt Mill cap, in earnest conversation with an Aunt in the garden at The Farmers.  Georgia stayed at the house which you can see in the background - very convenient.

Happy St Davids Day!!!!!

Amazingly I left my Welsh recipe book at work so can't whip up a batch of Welshcakes as I'd intended - though I probably could remember the recipe, or use the internet...  I've decided to leave Welsh cooking for my day off tomorrow.  So I will treat you to a few photos of St Davids that I haven't posted before.

I believe this is the Pembroke Rose.  I shall have to check it against the Pembroke College logo.

A hedge-row on the way to Non's Well.

The snail in close-up.

The wall at ???? (it will come to me) where my cousin Frances works.

Theres Welsh

I wasn't actually going to blog blogblodwyn today but I found myself here and realised it's a good opportunity to tell you of my cultural weekend.  I've read Lovesong by Alex Miller.  It's being discussed with Eat, Pray, Love at the Wentworth Book Discussion Group (not to be confused with the Buronga Book Club from which I think I must retire) in March.  I'm intrigued that the books have been linked together so I'll probably mosey along to the Discussion.  AND I've seen two (2!!!!) films at the cinema - that's usually my average for a year - and still could be, I suppose.  Yesterday The King's Speech which everyone is raving about so I hardly needed to see it.  But regardless, so glad I did because I love the fashion and interior design from the 1920s, 30s.  And I also remembered that my Mum had told me (when we were in Wales, actually) that her parents were taking her to see a show in London for her 13th birthday but the war was declared that day and when they got to the theatre it was closed.  The film I saw today was South Solitary.  I was drawn to it because it's about a light-house and for many years I thought it would be lovely to be a light-house keeper.  It turns out that the film was shot in Portland, now home to Mrs History, but it also has a lovely curly haired Welshman in it (well, actually his accent wavered a bit, but it was mostly Welsh).  I've just remembered that it also had Esse Davis in it - a Bellerive girl.  And I've done no housework but one load of washing...

The Swan Thieves

Georgia made reference to this book in her blog and I have just finished reading it.  It is about mental illness and art so I felt right at home.  It is a very worthwhile read.  It also made me think of another day Mum and I spent with my cousin Cynthia and John.  This time in Kew Gardens at the beginning of our holiday before we went to Wales.

Share the love

In honour of our 10th !!!!! Wedding Anniversay, love spoons carved by Steve a long time ago.  And a beautiful Welsh blog and website:  Jackie Morris  Cheese and Pickles  The lady from Cheese and Pickles, Deborah Withey, took the workshop that Georgia and I graced in St Davids.  I love her painted stones.  Jackie Morris lives in an old cottage with her children, dog and cats (who also have their own blog) and does the most beautiful book illustrations.  Enjoy.

The Ebullience of Cousins

I've been looking forward to doing this post for sometime.  It is a day from our time in England that I had forgotten and that then came back to me with all its emotion attached.  Just before we left England to come home, Cynthia and John drove us to Rickmansworth and we walked around a lake and along another part of the Grand Union Canal.  Mum was pretty tired by this time and sat watching the lake while John, Cynthia and I walked.

The Man who loved Lock Dancing

We saw this cat as we walked back along the canal.

She had a sort of come hither look so we followed her to this barge.

Then a young man came along carrying a duck.  He was like the personification of the Green Man.  He and his father lived on the barge.  He had found the duck injured some months ago and had nursed it back to health but it still had difficulty swimming, so he took it for a supervised swim everyday.  As you can imagine, I was enchanted.

If you look very carefully, you can see the duck by the open door.  Cat and duck get on fine together.

And here's another barge cat we met - just in case Ella is looking.

The Brilliance of Cousins

The seats in the Secret Garden where Mum and I used to read and doze after yummy lunches at The Refectory at St Davids Cathedral.  Captured by my Cousin David around Christmas time.