Thursday 4 September 2014

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



21 comments:

  1. Such beautiful colours in your photos - really amazing. Your mum's painting is very, very good. She's so talented. How nice to have that lovely Christmas carol sung to you even if it was the wrong time of year!

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  2. Intrigued as to which carol you were referring , I clicked on the link and have been reduced to a quivering wreck as memories of my five children's carol services came flooding back and totally overwhelmed me! My youngest and least confident child is about to leave for university and I'm fraught with anxiety, you'd think by now we'd have everything down to a fine art but life's just not like that, is it? Thank you so much for all your wonderful posts, you are so generous with your time, I really look forward to checking out your blog each day Blods x

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  3. What a beautiful part of the world you were staying in, Jacquie. Thank you for sharing your beautiful holiday with us. :)

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  4. What a beautiful part of the world! I can imagine the tales the dwellers of those cottages have, living so close to the sea. Love the stone type mushroom by that one cottage (I have plans of trying to make some of those myself before the summer ends.) As a family of 'rock hounds' we would have carted half of that beach home! lol Thanks for sharing.

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  5. love all the shades of the ocean and surrounding seaside....so lovely and cheering, even in the shadow of the clouds.....brings peace to my soul.

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  6. I have just found your blog recently and have loved following your holiday journey through Wales. It looks SO beautiful and I hope to go there one day, as I guess my great grandparents came from there to America. Would love to look up those family roots and know which part of Wales holds a piece of my history...and I'm sure if I ever visit it will hold a piece of my heart as well.

    I just LOVE all of your pictures and thank you so much for sharing your adventures. ;)

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  7. looks a lovely place and seems you had a great holiday, thanks for sharing. x

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  8. Thanks for sharing these pics and fresh memories, they're lovely! : )

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  9. What a wonderful place to visit and I love that last images of the house all lit up and your mother's lovely watercolour!

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  10. Beautiful photos. I've only been to Criccieth once, Dave and I visited on our first holiday together and we collected pebbles from that beach and made our pebble people (as seen in last October's scavenger hunt) http://roachling.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/photo-scavenger-hunt-october.html

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  11. What beautiful photos, they really are lovelier than ever. I used to holiday in that area when I was little, and I do remember loving it there. I shall definitely think about it if we are lucky enough to go away next year. I particularly love the mountains overlooking the sea. Stunning. CJ xx

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  12. Gorgeous scenery, fabulous photos. I want to go to Wales!

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  13. Wales ought to employ you on its tourist board - your photos really made me want to go back there. Love your Mum's watercolour. x

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  14. Beautiful pictures! Sounds like a pretty idyllic holiday!

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  15. Love your posts the carol made me cry its a new one for me I've only heard when my daughter and her primary school friends sung at the carol concert the school did now she is in senior school they don't do carol concerts also sh lives with my sister so theses things were more special,its a love new song that goes well with the more traditional, and how clever of your boy to rembered and link it to your night lovely memories for you all.

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  16. Hi,I absolutely adore your blog.Your photographs are wonderful and your mum is very talented.LOVE your crochet too.xx

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  17. I loved the Christmas Carol...!! I never heard it before because I live here in the USA. Thank you for sharing a lovely song that I would love to sing to and with my grandson at Christmas time...!!

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  18. Your photographs are lovely ♥

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  19. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs. Made me 'homesick' for our wonderful holidays in Wales in years gone by.
    Helen in France

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  20. Hi. ALL your pictures of Wales, beaches, cottages, countryside, etc. are beautiful!!
    Deb from Vancouver, Canada.

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