Barmouth

We gatecrashed a family holiday in Wales. Mike's parents had booked 2 separate weeks at this house by the sea. Hopefully we are going for the whole 2nd week but we decided to go for the weekend with the first group. The weather was great and the water was warm for paddling and some went swimming. The town was a bit busy as it is school holiday time but hopefully when we go back it will be much quieter.

Mike with his brother Andy.


Alice has her first ice lolly with Grandma.

We stayed in one of these houses overlooking the beach. It was great to sit in the bay window in the early mornings when nobody was about and look out at a few people wandering alone or with dogs on the beach as the mists rose and the sun began to shine.

Walking Around Town

We have made the most of walking around town this summer. It's probably our last living in this house at "the castle end" of town and I will really miss the quaint cottages, the fairy garden round the corner from our house, our lovely mixture of neighbours, the garden produce for sale on a cart nearby, the sunsets that filter through the gaps in the castle at the end of our road and the geese honking overhead.
We will still be living in the town but more in suburbia near the primary school, the play centre, our church, a shop that stays open late - convenient and normal rather than quirky and delightful.

French Cousin Lizzy

Mike's cousin Lizzy came up to meet Martha this month. We call her "French Cousin Lizzy" because Mike has 2 cousins called Lizzy and Lissie from each side of his family and although this Lizzy is not French but English, she gets that name because until recently she lived in France, near enough to drive into Paris to pick up bread and coffee and see new films...how divine!
I have only met Lizzy a few times but we really got on and so we love to see her and we hope that Martha will have a special relationship with her Aunty Lizzy.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day

Having been aware of this book from Persephone Books for a long time (I gave it as a gift some time ago) I was delighted when it was released as a movie and watched it this morning courtesy of Lovefilm.
It was charming and the sets were fabulously opulent.

Rosneath Peninsula

Looking towards Rothesay

We had a nice trip out to the Rosneath Peninsula and a walk in the sun. It was windy and lovely. We watched the boat leaving for Gourock from the pier.

Ayrshire in the rain

We had a dull day and took a trip to Ayrshire.


We stopped at Hayes on the way for lunch and then walked at Portencross before going on to Largs in the rain and to Nardini's for coffee and ice cream...it's such a fab place there. On the way home we stopped to visit my cousin Dot and her family.

My Mum eyeing up my Dad's cake!

The beautiful 1930s decor can be glimpsed in the background.

Dinner in Paisley

We went to see Abi and Paul and the kids. Paul and the kids hadn't met Martha yet so it was great to see them. Abi cooked an amazing dinner as usual and we stayed late and talked about us being able to move back to Scotland but I don't think it will happen in reality.


Our friend Miriam came over with her kids too so we caught up with her and Abi's parents popped in for a quick visit so it was lovely to see them briefly.