Mick's 60th - March

Mick's 60th birthday is in August so I'm arranging little surprises for him throughout the year, hopefully one each month. Mick has no idea what's in store, I'm arranging it all myself.

South Wales is somewhere Mick's wanted to visit for a long time so I decided we'd have a short break there earlier this month. I chose The Mumbles as our base as it's at the start of the Gower Peninsula, an area Mick was especially keen on seeing. 

We arrived on the Wednesday after a long five and a half hour drive and as the clocks hadn't yet gone forward, we had limited time before the sun would set so we quickly checked into our hotel, dumped our bags and set off for Rhossili Bay, a three mile stretch of sandy shore. Can you see that little cottage overlooking the bay, it belongs to the National Trust and is available to rent. It's rather expensive, definitely out of our budget, but what a view it must have.

We didn't go down onto the beach, we walked on the coastal path along the cliffs. Sheep were grazing right up to the cliff edge and we saw semi-feral Welsh Mountain ponies here too.

It's less than a mile to the manned coast guard station. At low tide you're able to follow a path down onto the causeway which leads to the tidal island of Worms Head.

We didn't have enough time before nightfall to walk onto the island but the scenery was breathtaking. I'm so pleased we made the effort to go straight here after arriving.

The following day was cold, blustery and rainy. We saw the lifeboat in the water just off Mumbles pier, perhaps undertaking training exercises.

We decided to shelter from the weather a little while in the amusements on the pier, I don't really need an excuse to spend a pound or two in the arcades. From here we could see Mumbles Lighthouse which was built in 1794. We spent the rest of the day having a drive around the area as well as mooching a little in the shops in Mumbles, basically making the most of the day without getting wet through.

Thankfully, the Friday was sunnier and drier, though it was still very windy. We decided on another cliff top walk, this time from Southgate to Three Cliffs Bay.

It would have been nice to wander down onto the beach but unfortunately, once you've walked down you have to climb back up again and my hips are in no state for that at the moment so we admired the view from on high.

We arrived back in Mumbles and treated ourselves to delicious ice-creams from Joe's, a famous Welsh brand which was established over a hundred years ago in 1922.

The afternoon was taken up with a walk along the seafront in Mumbles. This view is looking over Swansea Bay. We stayed in a hotel in The Mumbles, had a meal in a chain restaurant on our first evening, ate in the hotel on the second evening and had a pub meal on our final evening.

We'd noticed there was a market just a stones throw away from our hotel on the Saturday so after popping to a bakery to pick up some Welsh cakes, we had a look around it before setting off home. It was actually a really nice farmers' and producers' market where you can buy fresh local produce and artisan goods. We picked up a couple of mementos to bring home with us, I got a gorgeous skein of yarn from Penrhallt Alpacas. It's an alpaca/silk /cashmere blend so very soft, and Mick got a bottle of dark rum to add to his ever growing rum collection.

We had a really lovely break and though we did enjoy South Wales and acknowledge that there's some stunning scenery, we preferred the north. It's a few years now since we visited North Wales so perhaps we'll have to visit again soon.

A Year Without Archie

I can't believe that it's now a year since Archie died. Even after all this time, we're still getting used to life without him.

Anyone who has ever loved a pet will know the heartbreak that comes with losing them, and though it's such an awful thing to live with, it's worth it for all you gained through loving them.

I still look for him as we unlock the door after a trip out, think I can hear him mooching about the house sniffing for food, imagine I glance him out the corner of my eye as I pass an open door, and turn my head to look at the back seat of the car on days out.

Archie was only a little dog but he left a huge hole in our lives and he'll be missed forever. My best boy.

Jigsaws

It's many years since I last had a go at a jigsaw, in fact I can't even remember when that was. I see many people who write blogs, and on Instagram, showing the puzzles they've completed and I always think that I must have a go at one myself but it's one of those things that I just never get round to.

Until, that is, my lovely friend Lisa bought me a jigsaw as one of my Twelve Days of Christmas 2025 gifts. It was only a small puzzle, 100 pieces, but I think this was just what I needed to get me going. We had a rainy afternoon one Sunday in January and with nothing much else to do, I unboxed it and completed it in an hour or two. I loved the process and was hooked. Isn't it a pretty design, I just love all those flowers.

It wasn't long until I started on a jigsaw which Mick bought for me for Christmas 2024. This one is a Charles Dickens design with the added fun of having seventy Dickens characters to find. It's only these past few years that I've started reading Dickens' novels, I've read five of his books so I don't know all of the characters but there was an information sheet included which told you a little about each character and showed a picture of them. It was a good addition, a bit of extra fun after the last piece was fitted. This jigsaw was quite a jump from the last one as it has 1000 pieces. I was rather addicted to it actually, I couldn't wait to sit down with it each day, so it didn't take me as long to finish it as I thought it would.

Then I started on a Wasgij, this was another Christmas gift from Mick which he gave me many Christmases ago, it was definitely time to have a go at it. A Wasgij is a different type of jigsaw in that you don't assemble the picture on the box, that's just there as a clue. The scene is usually something that the characters are looking at, so as it's a bit back to front, the word jigsaw has also been turned around, hence the name Wasgij. As there's no picture to go by, it's rather challenging. Before I got to the main puzzle though, there was a free 1000 piece puzzle included in the box, this time it did resemble the shown picture so it wasn't as difficult as a normal Wasgij but it was still a bit challenging for me.

And then came the actual Wasgij which I've just finished. Again, it's a 1000 piece puzzle and this time there was no picture to go by, just a hint, 'What the vicar can see!'. This one was the most difficult of all but I enjoyed the challenge.

I think I've discovered a new hobby, in fact I'm obsessed, I could sit all day if time allowed. I've decided that I'm not going to do any more jigsaws though over the summer months, keeping this as a winter hobby, it'll give me something to look forward to when the darker evenings roll round once again.