A Week in Wales :: clouds and castles

Hello Lovelies,

we're up to Tuesday now....are you still with me :0)

After Mondays rain it was lovely to see my three mountains again on Tuesday morning..........

And have a leisurely sunlit breakfast in my favourite chair...............

I just loved this wooden bird on one of the deep, deep windowsills of this old stone cottage..............

And here's the stream that my boys loved to play in, sailing a boat and building dams...........

It was under a large Oak tree that was covered in acorns...............

Enthused by the sunny weather we happily headed off to another part of the Llyn peninsula ....hopeful for a day of beachy fun.

 Like Porth Or, Porth Dinllaen is owned by the national trust.....who use these interestingly shaped information boards.........

As you can see the cloud had rolled in, but there was still a glimmer of sunshine on this beautiful bay...........

I LOVE the colours in this image.......the colour of the sea especially.

There was plenty of activity down on the beach....including some impressive swimming...........

But the sky, while dramatic, was rather foreboding..........

We didn't think it wise to get the beach things out of the car and just went for a stroll, down the hill..........

and along the sand............

It was cool and breezy, and I wished the sun would shine on these charming white cottages..........

What a special place to live....so much character...........

Mum stayed at the top of the hill and sketched the view.............

See a wonderful sunny photo of this place HERE

Sadly on this occasion it was not very appealing to my boys. So we decided to travel to a more sheltered part of the the Llyn....back to Criccieth..........where a few hardy souls had already set up camp........

I love a sandy beach, but there was something rather appealing about the colours of these pebbles too.........

At the back of the beach they were all small and flat....the perfect shape for skimming......the boys loaded their pockets and ran off to the sea............

I LOVED the larger flat ones and was already thinking of things I could paint on such a smooth surface........

We had brought our little gas ring and eldest cooked Pork and Apple sausages ( a family favourite ) while youngest and I went off to buy some chips and mushy peas from the appropriately named Castle Fish and Chips which was nearby.

It was a delicious meal and everybody cheered up when they had full tummies.
The sky lightened and the boys headed into the water.............

I LOVE all the shades of lilac, blue and silvery grey in this photo too.

Soon the sun was breaking through the clouds.........

and beams of watery sunlight illuminated the sea...................

This young gull watched the boys antics...he seemed decidedly unimpressed.........

Then there were big patches of blue that made a wonderful backdrop to the red paintwork on the lifeboat station.............

Eldest and I went for a wander around the pretty town.............

Just look at the size of the stone blocks used to build this cute cottage...........

We picked up some cups of tea for the adults...........

And headed back to the beach with them.............

I took way too many pictures as the light was changing all the time.............

How I loved the sunlight on the sea and the silhouetted castle..........

this is one of two paintings Mum did on the beach that day...........

I think the colours are wonderful.

That evening there was not a cloud in the sky and I took this photo as the sun set..........

Then we laid crochet blankets on the grass.......turned out the house lights and  laid down to watch a million stars twinkling in the night sky. Youngest snuggled next to me and sung THIS Christmas carol in my ear.
It may have been the wrong time of year but it was the most perfect moment all holiday for me.
Jacquie x