Appreciating All of It

Coppet Hall, Saundersfoot

A glorious October afternoon at Coppet Hall Beach, fluffy white clouds, reflections in the wet sand.....

Reflecting, watching the fisher men, women and children patient in their pursuit,

 

listening to the rush of the waves....

Basking in the beauty of the sun, the sky and the clouds

The glare in the West as I turn and photograph 360 degrees

Circles on the pebbles, circles of life

How lucky I am to live here, to be here, to feel the peace that so many do not have in their lives. I do appreciate all of it.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

  

After arriving home from work today, I was in the mood to bake. I decided to try a new recipe from the BBC, a Coffee and Walnut Cake. 

Baking, and cooking too, makes me feel that I'm doing something creative. I really enjoy getting everything ready, mixing the ingredients, putting a little love into what I'm doing, the smell of the baking in the oven, the anticipation of whether it will taste good, or if I'll under, or more likely in my case, over cook it, as the timings in the recipe never coincide with the settings and timings of my oven.

But the cake turned out just perfectly. I was really pleased, and it does taste mighty good even if I say so myself. 

Caught in the Rain

This afternoon I walked down the steep hill that is Bridge Hill, passing the gates to a graveyard,  I hadn't realised was there. I walked in to have a look, I didn't know any of the names who lay there, but I always find cemeteries an interesting part of our social history.

     


The grave that stood out for me today was a young man, 23 years old, a Pilot in the Second World War, killed in action in 1944. So young like many of those who sacrificed their lives for us. I think that it is important to remember them all, to thank them, respect them and their families and to never forget that if it wasn't for men and women like this young man, our lives might have been very different indeed. 

I left the cemetery feeling humbled. I had intended to do the full three mile circular route, But I got side-lined.

I decided to take an alternative route; the sign said Public Footpath, but in effect you walk through two very muddy fields, divided by a lovely meandering stream.

The temperature today was a bit unpredictable, I was cold, then hot then cold again taking my coat on and off as though the wind and the sun were having that age old argument to see which one could make me take my coat off first. 

I sat for a while admiring the running stream and the trees that shadowed it. I took some photos wanting to the feel of the stream. The meandering of its curves, the sounds of its small falls, my mind drifting at its metaphors for life's twists and turns, and of time moving always onwards.

After a while I pulled myself up the steep incline of the field to reach the gate leading out on to the lane. But only to find that the gate was locked by an old rusty padlock and two lines of barbed wire at the top of the gate that prevented me from clinging over.  The gaps between the gate's bars were far too narrow for me to climb through so my only option was to head back down the hill. I couldn't see another exit from the field, so I headed back to the road.

I noticed the clouds were getting darker, the colour of the trees and hedges more vibrant in this light, but I knew for sure that the rain was about to arrive. I wasn't mistaken. By the time I reached the first road junction, the heavens opened. The clouds poured buckets of water on my head. I didn't mind. I hid my camera inside my coat, put up my hood and felt invigorated by the fierceness of the rain's anger.

Bridge Hill is a steep hill but it was the only way home. I stopped a few times on my way up but felt quite proud when I arrived at the top! I'm not very fit, I love to walk, but I don't exercise enough, I really should. 



 

I arrived home, a hot bath to welcome me. 

Cor I Pawb (Singing for Everyone)

I had been looking forward to a day of singing, and I wasn't disappointed. We all arrived for 10am with six hours of vocal harmonies ahead of us. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day's event. The sounds of about 80 voices singing in harmony was just glorious.

The day was organised by the Cheerful Project, part of the Span Arts in Narberth. The teachers were Maya, Rowan, Henry, Molara and Cat. They were all fantastic teachers and I wish that I could go to their regular group workshops. Unfortunately my work commitments don't allow me to do this as the times of the workshops clash. Shame. Still I'm looking forward to more weekend workshop events that I could go along too. They announced that there would be one in the new year.

The day was filled with different songs from different countries, and they were all fabulous songs and harmonies. Our voices together making such beautiful sounds, they made me feel quite emotional.

I only shot one image on my camera as I was then told that some of the people in the group had requested that they did not want their picture taken, so rather than upset anyone, I put my camera away. The one shot I did take was to see if I had the lighting right and this is it below. 



But actually I didn't mind because I was caught up in the actual singing and it was so nice to focus entirely on that.

At the end of the day we recorded two of the songs and were told that we would each receive an email with recordings of two of the songs so that we could listen to the whole group. I'm really looking forward to receiving that email.

Monkston Beach

After my walk at Lawrenny yesterday, I just wanted to have some fresh air today and go somewhere near by. I called at the garage for fuel and as I was talking to Pete, he said why don't you go to Monkston beach. He said the views are spectacular and the beach is lovely. So that's where I decided to go. When I got there, I remembered I had been once before and hadn't been over keen to go back; the walk down to the beach was pretty treacherous even though there are steps all the way down. It was very muddy and I lost my balance a few times, but managed to right myself before doing any damage!

The views from the top are spectacular; it was a bright sunny day so I could see for miles across the bays. To the west the view to Tenby was clear, and to the east, I could see towards the Gower Peninsula. It was breathtaking.

When I eventually arrived at the bottom of the steps on to Monkston beach, it really was lovely. There were only one or two people around. If I hadn't parked the car at the top of Monkston, I would have walked across to Coppett Hall as the tide was low, and there would have been enough time to walk there, but not enough time to walk back again. It was obvious that I would have to make my way back up the steps. I wasn't enamoured with the idea of it, but as it turned out, it was easier walking back up than it had been walking down. I was quite proud of myself when I got back to the top.

Lawrenny Ancient Woodland Walk

My walk today began at Lawrenny Quay, passing through the boat yard and over the style past the caravan site, I was greeted by one of the most beautiful sights I have ever been privileged to see.

I had never been on this walk before and now I want to go again tomorrow! It was the most glorious afternoon, I felt so blessed among all those ancient oaks, I stopped lots of times, but not always to take a photo, but just to look in wonder at all that mother nature had to offer my senses. My eyes didn't know where to look, there was almost too much to take in, the shapes and forms of the trees, the sun glinting through the leaves, the abundance of fruits, the colours.... It truly was a vision that I'm so glad to have shared.

When I came to the end of the woodland and walked down on to the beach, I felt a little sad. The tide of the estuary is eroding the woodland, many of the trees have fallen, some hang over the edge, slowly having to surrender to their demise.

After the beach comes the hill back to the village of Lawrenny, where there is a lovely church, and then a mile or so of road back to the Quay.

Church of St Caradoc, Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire

It started to rain heavily about five minutes before I got to the car, but then another treat for me .... nature was being very kind to me today. A full rainbow spectacle, it was the brightest rainbow I have ever seen. It felt so near I could almost touch it. I was too much in awe to get my camera out again so I just stood and looked at it until it disappeared. A big smile on my face and a big thank you to dear Mother Nature.

Thank You .... Namaste For A Most Beautiful Day