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Lovely November day

We have had some very mixed weather for the past few days: we even had a first dusting of snow on the highest mountains, but it only lasted a few hours and today brought a balmy 15°C along with blue skies and sunshine.

The fuschia in a tub outside the cottage doesn’t seem to have realised it’s autumn yet.

 
Fuschia in November outside the cottage
 

Daf and I enjoyed lunch with friends, Paul and Peter, who were cycling on Route 5 from Holyhead to Bangor, which brought them near Coed y Berclas. It was great to see them and catch up with their news.

http://app.strava.com/activities/94690056

As they cycled up the drive to complete their ride, Daf and I decided the day was too lovely to stay indoors, so we went for a walk along the lane to the lake, where we watched waterfowl while the sun was getting lower in the sky. We walked back home just as daylight was fading into dusk.

This evening I have plans to get some more work done on the two quilted wall hangings I am preparing for the next Cwilt Cymru travelling exhibition – ‘Connection’.

What a lovely day.

Dorothy Russell

12 November 2013

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MILD AUTUMN

Misty Autumn view of the Carneddau

ceanothus still in bloom

This autumn the weather has been incredibly mild, which has been a delight to us – I’ve been catching up on a bit of gardening, enjoying fresh air and bird song and it has been lovely to go for walks, but there are plants which are getting a little confused. The roses have been blooming as though it was still summer and some sections of the ceanothus have burst into bloom; they must think it’s May!

We have had stunning blue skies and starry, moonlit nights to step outside and gaze up at – no frosts yet! I just hope the birds don’t start to think it’s spring and begin nesting.

We are still eating the fruit we harvested in late summer/early autumn and have plenty left in the freezer to see us through the winter, so that when winter does arrive in a white coat, we will be reminded of the balmy days of summer.

Dorothy Russell

20th Nov 2011

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Walks Around Beaumaris

Beech tree in a Beaumaris glade

Today was a beautiful early Autumn day with the sun shining from a blue sky. As yet there is little sign of the leaves changing colour so the trees are still in full leaf. Daf, Joshua – our son – and I took a short walk following a leaflet left by visitors to our cottage. The trail took us to the West End of Beaumaris, giving snippets of information as we went along about the old slipways on the shore where passengers and goods disembarked and the Customs Officer – only the third to exist in Wales, checked ships’ cargoes. In 1792, there were 327 ships registered at Beaumaris – compared to only 11 at Cardiff – and wealthy merchants built themselves the beautiful houses which still adorn the town.

We left the edge of the Menai Strait, turning inland and following a lane which lead under one of the old bridges supporting a carraigeway on the Baron Hill Estate leading up to the, now derilict, great house of the Bulkeley family. We followed the path up a wooded valley to the ruins of two watermills. As our route meandered up the valley, on the left, the stream tumbled through its deep birch planted ravine, while to our right was the leet – the ditch along which diverted water once ran to power the mills. Beyond stood the moss covered stone dam whose pool had once provided the water, now sadly out of use – a romantic reminder of a past age.

We emerged from tranquil woodland by the Primary School – very close to the spot where the Roundheads defeated Royalist forces in 1648, before taking over Beaumaris Castle – then we rejoined the 21st Century, walking past Sunday homes, on past the massive stone walls of the old Gaol, to Castle Street and a welcome ice cream treat at Redboat.

The walk takes only about half an hour but is one of the tranquil things to do on Anglesey and is a reminder of just how much history is held within the lovely, small town of Beaumaris.

Dorothy

4th October 2009