Blogs from Welshpool, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 13

Dad, Alex and I set off for a walk near Church Stretton today, followed by a little light geocaching! Unfortunately Ineke had a sore throat so stayed at home. Our plans were thwarted straight away by the roads across the Long Mynd being closed due to snow and ice, neither of which was evident to our untrained eyes. So we made a new plan, and used Mum's membership card for the National Trust to park in the scenic Cardingmill valley and have a walk there. Don't tell anyone! It was lovely! We ate our picnic in the car, whilst watching blackbirds stuffing themselves with berries on a nearby Rowan tree. After that we wended our way home, with a glorious sight of the sun on the snow of the Berwyns, REAL snow!... read more

..That's the name of the river that meets the sea at Barmouth, but we walked further up it, not by the sea, and it was a glorious autumnal day. Needless to say, the walk entailed looking for 12 caches which had thoughtfully been placed only last week, and beady eyed Alex had spotted. Ineke was unable to join us today, but Lynda wanted to find some more caches so she came along.... read more

Today was the day of the walk to raise awareness of Lupus, a disease that works against your body's immune system. My friend Linda's daughter suffers from it, and has had a hard time getting it diagnosed and treated. Luckily she's found that by not eating some foods she's been able to alleviate many symptoms, but it remains a nasty disease and can flare up from nothing. Linda has been instrumental in setting up a local support group, and works hard to raise money for lupus uk. I was pleased to take part in the walk round Welshpool, and thanks to everyone who donated cash to sponsor me.... read more

We held our annual village show today, and what a good time we had. We all entered lots of competitions, then there were sporty things in the afternoon. Nothing taken too seriously as the kids were the judges, and if it doesn't have a dog in it you don't get a rosette! Brilliant.... read more

I'm feeling rather red faced and windblown after a lovely day beside the sea. Alex had a day off, so after a bit of a lie in we decided to head westwards and see what we could see. We ended up at Ynys las, across the estuary from Aberdovey, as you can park on the sand there. But as we drew up we realised how high the tide was, and there was only just room to get a car there; we parked less than 10 feet from the water, and hoped the tide was turning.......luckily it was. I had a paddle, and spent some time watching the gannets plummeting into the water after fish. Spectacular. After a sandwich and an ice cream, we set off on a path beside a creek out onto the salt marshes. ... read more