the cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.

This quote pretty much sums up the holiday.

Some parts were amazing - like going to my favourite beach and spending time with Mum,

whilst others were difficult, like being constantly surrounded by 4 teenage boys

and others were downright hard, like when I got splattered with sand on the beach

(It went in my tea and everything; I burst into tears).

Llangrannog beach at low tide.

 On the Tuesday we visited a beach I've never been to, 

with an amazing Whelsh name - Llangrannog. 

It was so long, and so hot, and so busy. We almost had to sit in the shade(!).

It was down a really, really steep hill 

and we had to get this clapped out minibus down to the seafront.

Adorable houses along the seafront.

Our second beach day was Wednesday.

Pure spur of the moment.

It had been raining all day but suddenly stopped around four.

So we decided to go to Mwnt beach, which is the beach of my childhood.

We've been visiting this same area of Wales for around 9 years now,

so this beach has so many memories
(The most vivid was when we found a dead seagull in the sand!!)

Gorgeous Mwnt Beach from the cliff top.

 The beach is at the bottom of a huge cliff face. 

And this time there was no shuttle service! 

Just a huge number of stone steps, and I tell you,

after going up them for the sixth time I was starting to feel the burn!

We stayed at the beach through the whole of the late afternoon.
As it started to get a bit chillier around 7 o'clock

I went and joined Mum and Nigel who were sat on the cliff.

You see they had the camping stove, so I could have a cup of tea! 

As the evening drew to a close, we witness the most beautiful of sunsets.

And we got to watch the bottlenosed dolphins that this area are reknowed for.

I couldn;t get a photo as they were too fast for the shutter on my camera,

but they were diving beautifully, completely coming out of the water!

What was pretty special was that for the whole hour they were around,

almost everyone on the beach stopped what they were doing and watched.

The whole beach sharing in one magical moment of nature!

All in all we did have a lovely time and I'm glad I went!

But I'm also glad to be back in my bed with phone reception!

Do you and your family camp?
If so, what do you think?
And if not, why not??

lazy sunday reading

This was my evening yesterday;

reading Harry Potter by the late afternoon sun.

Even though it was past 7 o'clock, the heat of the sun

was still so warm on my bare skin.

I'm trying to finish reading the last book before my next viewing

of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

I'm going to see it for the fourth time with Emily on Thursday.

So far I'm still in the first film, but I'm slowly getting there.

The first time I read the book I got through it in one day,

but now that I have other things to do around the house

I don't have the leisure of doing nothing but read!

Reading in the Garden is such a lovely experience;

with all the flowers opening up the whole garden

smells just divine.

My favourite has to be sweet peas;

they make me think of my childhood as my Grandma

would always send me home from her house with a huge

bunch for my bedroom.

What are you spending your summer evenings doing?

not so little any more

Not so very long ago, Ollie's little brother had his 18th birthday

which was so incredibly odd,

seen as he was 11 when Ollie and I first started going out.

I've seen him grow up in front of me

just like I did with my own brothers!

He hasn't always been my biggest fan,

as he resented me 'taking his big brother away from him'.

But we've made up now and we had a great BBQ in celebration of his birthday!

We had homemade kebab sticks with marinated chicken, and peppers,

and mushrooms, and courgette, and onions.

And they all looked so colourful on the BBQ.

We also had amazing burgers and sausages from the local butchers!

And an amazing cold feat too of salad, and pasta and new potatoes.

Yum yum yum.

Once all the food had been cooked, we turned the BBQ into it's second function:

A self contained fire!

It's actually a firepit that doubles as a BBQ, so the boys fetched the wood

and Ollie's Mum poked and prodded it into place

to create this perfect fire!

Which was very welcome seen as it was starting to get a bit chilly!

And we sat and ate and talked and drank the rest of the night away!

i think summer is here..?

So we had glorious sun yesterday and today looked very promising,

with the weather managing to hold out until 11 o'clock.

In fact it only started to rain once I'd hung a huge load of washing out!

Seriously, summer one second, overcast as soon as the last peg was secured.

Not impressed I tell you!

But even so, I soldiered on,

determined to wear my cute t-shirt and denim shorts combo.

And I snuck outside in between the rain to enjoy the streaming sunshine.

Today the daises have pushed through the lawn to face the world,

and the 'domesticated' potted daises were out in full swing as well.

I can't wait for summer to get into gear.

I'm hoping it's going to be fabulous!

the sun is finally shining

After a long period of rain in delightful little England

the sun has finally decided to show its sunny head.

We had some family members visiting today

that we haven't seen in a long, long time.

So it was lovely to be able to sit out in the garden

and have a chat and a catch up.

When the sun shines it makes all the colours

in the garden pop so much more.

I love the vibrant colours of summer that appear

after the pale pastels of the spring.

With the family over it was another chance

to celebrate my Mother's new engagement to her partner Nigel.

So out came the Champagne and the flutes

and a toast to the happy couple!

And with the sun and the colourful colours

I was able to wear my brand new maxi dress

that is covered in colourful flowers,

so I fit straight in with the garden!

Plus I got to pair it with Nigel's cowboy hat,

I think I looked the business!