Closer still....

We are still waiting for definite confirmation of it, but it looks as though we will be moving on Wednesday 14th November! Hooray.

It seems to have taken forever to get to this point, and i was beginning to wonder if we ever would, but it seems as though we are over the worst of the process now. We've started packing gradually and have the removals company pencilled in for the 14th.

Ikea will be getting quite a lot of our business over the next few months, and we already have quite a shopping list......

Nearly there.....

Strewth, i know they say that moving house is one of the most stressful things that you can do, but does it REALLY have to be this stressful????

At long last, it seems that we are nearing the end of the saga (it feels as though i should soon be able to be a member of Saga to be honest!), and the date being mooted for the move is now in the middle of November. The original hope had been to be in for Sally's birthday, but it now looks as though it will be just in time for mine instead.

This is the 4th house purchase i have been involved with, and everytime i have vowed never to do it again, and everytime i have vowed never to use whichever solicitors we have used ever again. So far, i have only been able to keep to the second vow.

Why do they make it so hard? I know that they have to make it appear complicated so they can justify their charges, and i realise that theyt have to act in the best interest of their client, but why do they have to make such a meal of the whole thing?

For instance, last Thursday we received a letter from our solicitor asking for some answers to questions that our buyers' solicitor had asked. Fair enough, until you realise that the letter had been dictated on the Friday before, and only typed up on the Wednesday, thereby wasting almost a week. They have our telephone numbers and email addresses, so they could have had an answer to their questions within minutes or hours at worst rather than a whole week later. I was not impressed.

Anyway, we are getting there now, and we can actually start to think about packing at long last.....

....erm, so it looks like we're moving then!!

OK, so for those who didn't know, we have sold our house, have chosen a new one, and started the ball rolling for moving!!

The date that we are aiming for is 21st September, which is the day before Sally's birthday.....does this mean that i don't have to get her a present this year then? I have yet to find out for sure!

It all feels so much more official today - i have taken down my ham radio antenna, which means there is no changing our minds now as far as i'm concerned ;-)

We also tackled the garage at long last - 3 car loads of junk taken to the tip - we have been fairly ruthless, but stopped short of ditching all the camping gear just in case we can't afford "proper" holidays anymore.

I am aching like crazy now, but i will have to get used to it, as there is still a lot more to be sorted out and packed up in the next 6 weeks....if this doesn't help me to lose more weight then i don't know what will.

Late Father's Day present...

While we were on holiday, it had been my intention to do a small cross-stitch project for Sally's dad for Father's Day. Unfortunately, while i had taken the aida, threads, needles etc with me - i hadn't realised that the chart was ONLY in the magazine, and not in the folder with all the other bits, so in the end i couldn't do it! Grrrrrr.

When we got back home, i made a start and got the body of it done in a couple of evenings, only to not find time to back stitch it and finish it off until Friday/Saturday evenings.

As we were going to see Ron & Beryl on the Sunday just gone, it was important that i got it finished, and managed to just about.

I stitched the whole thing onto a sheet of felt for extra strength as the intention is that he uses it as a book mark.

So, here is the finished project.........

Thursday/Friday

Thursday 21st June - the longest day of the year. Really? I beg to differ this year! Yes, it chose to be a dull and wet day this year. Sally woke up with a headache, so we decided to have a lazy day. The weather made the decision very easy in reality.

Just after lunch time it brightened up a bit and Sally was feeling a bit better so we walked into Criccieth town for the first time. I knew that there was a shortcut from the information pack in the appartment, but like a fool, I had forgotten to make a proper note of the directions. This meant that the first route we tried was hopelessly wrong. I knew that there was a footpath after five bungalows, I just didn't know which road these five bungalows were in!!

Eventually we found it, and it did mean that the route into town was both quick and non-hilly, so it was worth the effort in the end.

The town itself was a bit of a let down though. We knew that there was not a lot there, but even so it was basically a waste of time. The walk was pleasant though, so that was good.

On the way back, we stopped at a cafe by the beach that we had driven passed every day. There we had a pot of tea and Welsh cakes. They were not the usual bought ones and were absolutely lovely. The tea was, unusually, loose tea and involved using a strainer when pouring. How very civilised, and how very tasty!

Afterwards we sat on a bench on the seafront, enjoying the air and talking about the holiday and our thoughts about going back to work.

It started to rain a little, so we carried on walking back to the flat. This involved walking up a steep hill which had almost killed us the first time we did it, but now we were finding it much easier and were able to carry on our conversation while doing it too. Either we are a bit fitter than when we first got here, or the hill has worn down somewhat!

We briefly stopped off at the castle for a look around the visitor centre, but decided not to go into the castle itself, partly because the weather was turning a bit more threatening, and mostly because after looking at the photos of the castle remains it appears that the best view is the one you get from outside of the castle!

Not long after we got back in, it started to rain a bit more, so we had timed it just about right. Sally did some more crocheting and I read.

We had decided to go to the same fish + chip shop as last week for our last night, and had the same cod, chips, mushy peas, bread and a pot of tea. It was just as good as last week, and once again, I really enjoyed the mushy peas. Normally I can't stand them, but these were great.

We just about made it back to the flat before the heavens opened, and it threw it down for the rest of the evening. It actually became even rougher into the early hours, the wind got up and the sea became really rough, the tide was in more than we had seen before, and we wondered if the waves ever made it up onto the road where we were parked.

I couldn't get to sleep to begin with, but eventually drifted off and was only woken by the alarm on my phone going off at 7am. We had already taken some things out to the car on Thursday, so it didn't take too long to finish getting packed. The car seems fuller now than it did on the way here!

The rain started in earnest again as we left Criccieth. The low clouds meant that all the views were hidden, and it seems like a good thing that we are on our way home.

The rain continued pouring and the clouds remained low hiding the mountains all the way through Wales almost to the border. We are now in England (I am typing this from the passenger seat as Sally drives) and all the road signs are so much smaller - they only need to be in one language! The signs painted on the road only say "slow" and not "araf slow". It has stopped raining though, which almost makes up for the fact we are going home and the holiday is over.

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Wednesday 20th June

Another sunny day, another list of places to visit! Sally wanted to go to a woollen mill near Betws-y-Coed, so i perused the map, and came up with a list of six places to go, knowing that some, if not all, would not take long to visit.

First off we had to headed to Beddgelert, which is always nice, but this time we didn't get to stop there, as our first port of call was Sygun Copper Mine which is just the other side of Beddgelert. This is, as its name suggests, an old copper mine that has been turned into a visitor centre. There is a small cafe and gift shop (oddly selling nothing made of copper!), and then you can go for walks around the old works, or indeed go down into the mountain to the mine itself.

We only spent a short time in the shop and looking around the area. The views are stunning, as we have become used to, and if we had not got other plans, we would have gone into the mine - something to save for our next visit to the area.

Next stop was Swallow Falls, which are just before you get to Betws. The village they are in has been very clever, and made it so that you have to pay to get to see them - i gather that they use the income from this to fund the upkeep of the village. Not a bad idea, and although there is part of you that feels a bit cheated by having to pay to see a natural feature, it is only £1.50 each, and if it keeps the place nice and tidy, it is well worth it.

The falls are in two parts (called the "upper" and "lower" falls.....wonder how long it took them to come up with those names?) I"m sure that if we had been here a couple of weeks ago when the area had the flooding problems, that the falls would have been even more impressive. As it was they were still pretty good though, and i'm glad that we made the time to go to see them.

Following this, we headed to the woollen mill at Trefriw, which turns out to still be a working mill turning out its own products, rugs, bedspreads and such like. The gift shop also sells lots of other similar products from around the world, as well as other usual touristy type gifts.

Their own products are rather expensive, but when you see the work that goes into them, and factor in the British labour costs, rather than the Far Eastern ones, it all makes sense. If we all just look at the price of things and go for the cheapest it can only ruin the UK's manufacturing prowess even more. We have already pretty much knackered it up as it is!

Heading back through Betws and out the other side we made our way along the A5, and then onto the A543 heading towards Denbigh. If you ever have the chance, this is another of those must drive roads. It was more like one of the roads across Dartmoor, or up in North Yorkshire, up and down, windy twisty, but wide and EMPTY. Views to impress, and bends to bring a smile to your face. You can see the road disappearing into the distance, and in our whole time on the road i think we only saw two other cars.

Turning right onto the B4501 we headed into wooded area, and towards the Brenig Reservoir. There is a Visitor Centre there, where we stopped for a pot of tea and a slice of really nice home made cake. Unfortunately, while we were there in the cafe, which was fairly busy, one man came in who was very loud, and slightly obnoxious.

His first words to the lady behind the counter were "Answer me yes or no, can i have a cheese and ham toastie?" Having been told that he could, he ordered one and sat down and immediately started a conversation with the people on the next table. "where are you from?" , "Suffolk" came the reply. "Oh, that's where Harwich is isn't it?", "Yes" was their reply.

"Did you know that you can't take a car with you from Harwich to Norway anymore?" was his next comment. "No. Really?" came their beleaguered reply. "No, not for a few years now. You can still get cruises from there though can't you. Ipswich. That's in Suffolk isn't it?" he babbled on. Strangely, this other couple made their excuses and left.

We sat there shaking our heads in disbelief. Then people wonder why the English are so disliked!! Thankfully now that everyone was ignoring him he returned to reading his birdwatching magazine.

Leaving the reservoir, we headed back towards Betws, but turned off before there to find Penmachno Woollen Mill. Either it was very well hidden, or it no longer exists. There were no signs for it, and where it is shown on our map, there was nothing that looked like it was a woollen mill, so that was quickly ticked off the list, and we headed on toward Blaunau Ffestiniog.

We were heading for Llechwedd Slate Caverns, which is a working slate mine. Again, there is a gift shop, cafe and visitors centre. You can also go down the deep mine if you wish, something we will also have to keep for another visit.

So, five out of six places visited in one day - not bad considering it was almost lunch time when we started out! Tuna pasta bake for dinner - we are trying to finish up the things we have started, so that we have as little as possible to take home.

Tomorrow is our last full day here. Time has flown, but it also seems as though we have been here for ages. I am kind of looking forward to getting home, but will also miss the sound of the waves and the view from the window......

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Tuesday 19th June

Another bright, sunny morning! Yeehaa!! Summer is here at last (maybe). Yesterday i managed to get a sunburnt head. Every year i manage this, and every year i vow not to make the same mistake again, but i always manage to. Thankfully, it's not as bad as in previous years, and my scalp isn't quite glowing like a beacon, but let it be a lesson to me. (again)

Today, we went a bit South, and took the coast road from Porthmadog to Harlech. We knew that there is a castle there, but didn't really know anything else about it. It turns out to be a much smaller place than we had thought, but it is a very pretty little town/village, with a few shops, mostly antique ones and tea-rooms, and then the castle hidden down a side street.

We hadn't planned to visit it, and hadn't put enough parking time on the car, but i did take a few photos for you.

And the view across to the mountains inland.....



Some of the roads in Harlech are seriously steep - the photos don't really show it, check out the road sign in the second one!

We moved on from Harlech to Barmouth, which turned out to be larger than we had expected, and also had the first really sandy beach that we have seen all holiday.

We were a bit naughty and had a cream tea, and then had a walk around the town. It was a mixture of gift shops selling the obvious holiday tat, antique shops and cafes. There was even an amusement arcade, which i managed to keep Sally out of! We did nip into the Co-Op for a bit of a top up for the larder, and then, having put these in the car, had a brief sit on the beach.



While we were sitting on the beach, a "mature" lady managed to get stuck on a low wall. She and her husband had walked off the sand, and had assumed that the wall surrounding it was the same height on both sides. Unfortunately it wasn't - they had to step only a few inches off the sand onto it, and then discovered that it was about a two foot drop down to the pavement.

The husband managed to get down and carried on walking, leaving his poor wife stranded, not quite knowing how to get down. I went to her rescue, like a knight in shining armour (well, like a fat balding bloke in t-shirt and jeans actually), and helped her to get down and sort herself out.  I was less than impressed with her hubby for leaving her....typical bloke....giving the rest of us a bad name!

Anyway, our parking time was now up, so we made our way back along the coast road, but this time decided to try the "Toll" bridge across to Porthmadog. We had ignored it on the way there, as it only saves about five miles, and had expected it be quite pricey. (There were no signs on the approaches to to with prices)

Imagine our surprise when, as you get a few yards from it, the board lists the cost to cars as 50p (yes, fifty pence). We were more than happy with that. It is a single track bridge, and you have to wait to cross if something is coming the other way. Imagine our surprise again that there was no one to collect the toll at our end of the bridge (or indeed anything to put the money into) - not to worry, it must be at the other end we thought....but no.....nothing at that end either! So, it is clearly the cheapest Toll bridge in the world.....or we can expect a letter demanding payment throught the post at a later date......

By the time we arrived back in Criccieth, the sun had gone home, no doubt tired of all its shining, there were more clouds in the sky, and even the odd spot of rain. Another day done and dusted, another successful day of our holiday.....let's just hope that the England team finishes the day off well in the football tonight. Mustn't worry though, after all Rooney is back tonight, and we all know what a "hero"he is........(cough, cough), and anyway, it's only a game.....! ;-)