Posted on

Twisters Waltzers and Wheels…Ffair Borth

Ffair Borth 2013. Menai Bridge fair 2013
 

Well it’s the 24th of October and that means only one thing… Ffair Borth or Menai Bridge Fair – a blaze of lights, disco, twisters, waltzers and wheels… ‘She Who Must be Obeyed’ sent the ‘Obedient Husband’ off to the evening fair with his camera while She relaxed in the Winnebago munching an evening lunch after a long day teaching Quilting.

Obedient husband, it has to be said, not showing a morsel of willingness, was in fact eager to try out his new wide angle lens. Standing near, on, or under anything unsafe to get a shot and with a plastic bag over said new lens to ward off flying sick, Obedient husband had a ball. Shame it all can’t be shown here but one has been ‘chosen’ by the Winnebago Brigade for the blog … roll on Nov fireworks at Beaumaris; it’s a sight to behold and I’ve got Her insured – Cottage is booked, book the apartment while it’s still free and bring your camera (don’t need the sick bag for fireworks)!!

Obedient Husband

Posted on

Moggies and Meesums in the curtains

We have been working so hard getting the Apartment ready for guests, but we haven’t taken our eyes off the Cottage, where we are adding new touches which we’re sure you’ll love. The single bedroom at the front of the Cottage has already had a ‘make-over’ with new curtains, Egyptian cotton bedding, a lovely new duck-egg blue throw and cushions.

A couple of days ago we bought new Egyptian cotton bedding for the other single room and today we went to the market in Llangefni to see if there was any fabric we liked to make new curtains. Amazingly we found the fabric we had seen elsewhere and had set our hearts on.

 
Buying fabric for the cottage and apartment
 

After that we popped into DW Williams and came out with a lovely pale blue throw: the cushions came from Bangor. A successful day. Tomorrow I’ll set about making the curtains, then Daf can photograph our ‘new look’ bedrooms and you’ll see them for yourself on the website.

We have other plans for the cottage, so we’ll keep you in touch with developments!

Dorothy
12th October 2013.

Posted on

5 Star Grading for the New Apartment at Coed y Berclas

The new Apartment at Coed y Berclas is now ready to receive guests.

Both the Cottage and the Apartment have been graded this week by one of the inspectors from ‘Visit Wales’, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Tourism Department. The cottage has had 4 stars since we began letting it, some years ago, and we are very pleased to say that the Apartment has been awarded 5 stars (and a lot of compliments on the work we have done). It has been really enjoyable selecting all the furniture and textiles to decorate the Apartment, and watching its personality develop: now what we need is some guests to come and enjoy it.

 
Misty view of Bangor Pier
 

The views are wonderful – I know a lot of holiday websites boast this for their property, but look at the images to see the view from Coed y Berclas and decide for yourself – the sitting/dining room, and one of the two ensuite double bedrooms, look out directly across the Menai Strait, and Bangor Pier, to the Snowdonia Mountain range beyond, and you can lie in bed and watch the sun rise over the mountains.

Each of the rooms also has its own terraced area just outside the French windows.

The view from the cottage is partly occluded by the main house, which is just down hill from it, but opens to its full glory from the orchard, which is used only by cottage guests. We lived in the cottage as our children grew up and I well remember us all standing on the muddy patch (which became the orchard!) at millenium midnight, watching all the bonfires, fireworks and flares across the water. The reflections were wonderful too.

Speaking of fireworks, it’s getting very close to Bonfire Night in Beaumaris (Saturday 2nd November): the cottage is booked, but the Apartment is still available. The fireworks are always spectacular (a very good adjective for fireworks, n’est pas!)

 
Dining/Living room of our new apartment
 

Give me a call.
07941 102185 and 01248 716316

Dorothy

Posted on

Beautful British Weather – who’d have guessed it would be like this?

The beautiful hot weather continues over much of Britain and the met office predicts more hot days for us and perhaps a few exciting thunderstorms. There is a lot of plant watering and the lawns, despite Daf’s attention, are looking rather parched – they will recover and meanwhile, we are basking in this glorious summer.

As I write, the delicate moon, two days from being full, is rising slowly above Carnedd Dafydd, in a still blue sky: it is 8:49 in the evening and the long days tempt us to stay out of doors as much as possible. We haven’t eaten a single meal indoors for weeks now and our guests have made full use of the cottage orchard, spending hours basking in the hot sun and occasionally tearing themselves away from this ‘lotus-eater’ existence. Their view from the top of Snowdon was spectacular in its clarity.

Looking down on Llyn Idwal

 
Looking down on Llyn Idwal in the Ogwen valley
 

The birds mainly fall quiet by midday, apart from the swallows who are building their strength for the next long flight and the odd raucous gull passing overhead. There is an air of somnolence which comes over our land – if this weather continues, could we take to siestas like our continental neighbours?

I hope this dream weather will stay with us a little longer so we can find out.

Dorothy
22nd July 2013.

Posted on

Magic Tile at Coed y Berclas

The magic tile at Coed y Berclas was not in the bathroom or the kitchen; ‘magic tile’ is the name of a specific layout in patchwork and quilting. Eileen, who was staying in our cottage with her husband and young son, was bought three days of ‘one to one’ tuition with me and she chose to make a Magic Tile Quilt over the three days.

She brought her own fuscia drawing and from that we went through all the stages to turn her pile of gorgeous fabrics into a very individual and lovely quilt top which was then layered and Eileen started machine quilting it. She will finish it in her own time and has promised me a photo of the finished piece which will appear in a later blog. Over the three days we covered a lot of different techniques but also enjoyed each others company and ‘put the world to rights’!

 
One to One workshop in quilting
 

One to one workshop in quilting

Dorothy

Posted on

Wholecloth Quilting at Coed y Berclas

I had fun working with two sisters, Tracey and Shelly, who stayed at the cottage for a few days with their husbands, John and Patrick. For Shelley’s birthday, her family treated her to a day of Wholecloth with me, so she and Tracey designed a 16” block, transferred it to fabric, layered it and started quilting. By the end of the day you could see how good they were going to be – and each totally different from the other.

They had stunning weather and managed to do a lot of walking.

While we quilted, John and Partick went to Elin’s Tower at South Stack, at the north-west corner of Anglesey, where they could watch the nesting sea-birds on the cliffs below, via cctv.

 
Elin's Tower. RSPB observation post by South Stack
 

The lighthouse at South-stack is a beautiful sight in all weathers, sitting on its twisting rock. We love sailing round it, but only in settled conditions! The sea can become quite dangerous there in rough weather, but it’s lovely to stand safely on shore and gaze down on it.

 
South Stack Lighthouse
 

Dorothy

Posted on

Happy Valentine’s day 2013!

Happy St Valentine’s Day, although in Wales we celebrate St Dwynwen’s Day on 25th January.

Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers. She was one of the many handsome children of Brychan Brycheiniog. Maelon Dyfodrull fell in love with her but her father would not permit them to marry. (that’s fathers for you!)

Maelon was angry and threatened to rape her (it doesn’t look as though there was much love involved in his side of the relationship!!) Dwynwen anxiously prayed to be saved from his advances and Maelon was turned to ice (that probably slowed him up a little!)

Given three wishes by an angel, Dwynwen wished to be free of Maelon, that she would never marry and that she would be able to help others to find love.

With a sister and a brother, Dwynwen travelled, preaching and establishing Christian churches, finally settling on a little island just off Anglesey, now known as Llanddwyn, Dwynwen’s church/parish.

 
Dwynwen's church/parish on llanddwyn Island
 

Llanddwyn is a beautiful place, with miles of sandy beaches, walks through mixed woodland and is lapped by the Irish Sea in all its moods The island is accessible by a short causeway at most states of the tide and is well worth visiting, whether or not you are encountering difficulties in love. Currently, work is being done to maintain the remains of the little church dedicated to Santes Dwynwen on Llanddwyn.

Dorothy
Valentine’s Day 2013

Posted on

Hello 2013!

Daf and I celebrated the change-over from 2012 to 2013 watching the Beaumaris fireworks from the mainland. It may seem strange to drive along the coast road when we live only two miles from Beaumaris, but Daf wanted to take photos of the fireworks reflected in the waters of the Menai Strait.

 
New Year fireworks at Beaumaris taken from the Llandygai shore
 

The weather was calm, the sky was clear and, most importantly, the tide was high, giving good reflections.

We had a walk along the lane on the morning of the 1st January and were delighted to see our first lambs of the year. I hope they have lovely thick wooly coats in case the weather turns cold – so far it’s damp but mild. Why is it always so lovely to see young lambs? Is it all about new life, or the promise of spring and the return of warm sunny days.

 
Sheep with new lambs along our lane
 

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2013 – let’s hope this year brings a better financial situation around the globe – I’d love to wish for an end to the greed which brought the econimic downturn, but I’ll try to stay realistic!!

Now Christmas is ‘done and dusted’ it’s time to book a ‘recovery break’ at Coed y Berclas – well, I had to get a plug in somewhere!

Happy New Year

Dorothy

Posted on

Merry Christmas 2012

It’s ages since I wrote a blog — sorry — the bit I don’t understand is how I can find any time this close to the madness of Christmas. Well … the decorations are up; the cards are sent; the presents are wrapped and are actually under the Christmas tree; we’ve had a lovely lunch with my quilters and I’ve written a list of what we’re eating during the festive season; so maybe it is a good time to write.

 
Snow on the Carneddau at night in December 2012
 

Outside the light is beginning to fade, but the snow capping on the mountains of Snowdonia is still clearly visible through the windows: the cloud is descending and soon it will be totally shrouded.

The lights of Bangor are twinkling across the Strait, and it is clear towards the west, but eastwards along the coast, towards Llandudno, both land and sea have vanished behind a veil of mist.

In the morning, the sun will rise again from behind the mountains, bouncing light between the snow and clouds bringing us one day nearer to Christmas.

Our family will be home with us and I can’t wait…….

Have a lovely Christmas and a very good New Year.

From Dorothy and Daf xx

PS As I have been writing, the mist has gone from the east and I can see the twinkling amber lights along the coast: the hills have darkened to deep, deep blue and the light in the clouds above them is amazing. I never fail to be entranced by our constantly changing views.

Dorothy Russell

December 2012

Posted on

Beaumaris Festival 2012

Beaumaris Festival happens every Spring Bank Holiday week, and this year, as always, it was a great success. The Festival Society members should be congratulated on another varied agenda of events – something for everyone. Daf and I went to one of the concerts – ‘Expresion Cubana’ – an energy filled performance by a Cuban salsa band – and, yes, there really was dancing in the aisles! I suspect that other performances were also well attended – next year we must get to more of them.

 
View of wheel at Beaumaris 2012
 

On Monday 4th, Bank Holiday Monday, four of us popped into Beaumaris for a last chance to look round the Craft Tent and a couple of exhibitions. It was a stunningly sunny day and I have never seen so many people on the pier – lots of crabs were being line-fed by serious dads, with groups of excited net-waving children watching captive crustacea scuttling round the bottom of crabbing buckets. I’m sure the crabs must be trained by now to swap a little boredom for a good meal.

The wheel, standing on The Green, towered over the town, turning in a stately fashion and giving visitors and locals a brand new view of Beaumaris – the castle looked stunning from such an elevated position.

There were even some families, with little children, sunning themselves on the small, but sheltered beach by the root of Beaumaris pier.

 
View of wheel at Beaumaris 2012
 

The family staying in the cottage had a brilliant time at Beaumaris Castle on the evening the beacon was lit there. They were entertained by bands and the evening finished with a superb firework display – a very special Diamond Jubilee evening.

Dorothy Russell
16th June 2012