Sugarloaf Mountain, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire

I had made a vow to go up the Sugarloaf Mountain on Tuesday 02/09/2014.

This is part of my vow to myself to lose weight and get out and about without having to spend a fortune. By exploring the area around me means that life is not all about work, work, work (even though I do enjoy it) coming home and sitting infront of a box of moving images.

It's about taking in what's around you and loving it.

So after making a box of sandwiches (with homemade bread and home grown rocket). I packed up and off I went. 

Parking the car at the top of Chapel Road in Rees Jeffery’s Car park, I ventured down to the National Trust’s landmark and started my walk from there. The walk isn’t too steep and is more of a gentle incline to the ridge of the mountain. 

There are five walks up the Sugarloaf, but this particular walk didn’t take me to the top. I wanted the cover all the walks on Sugarloaf before reaching the top. 

The views are amazing. You walk through the beautiful ancient woods where the tree are all twisted and knarled while reaching the nearest shaft of light. The sheep and cows keep you company, well they look at you and run off. Unless they are calling out for help. One little lamb got himself locked out on the other side of a walker’s gate. Once let through he was jumping for joy.

I was sure that I had misread the map that I had printed off the laptop, but I stuck to the path which swept me around to the right hand side of the mountain.

The path levelled out and I found myself walking through beautiful purple heather. The Skyline was amazing and I took advantage of this for photo opportunities. The top of the Sugarloaf Mountain posed very nicely for me and I got a ‘selfie’ of us both. 

I carried on following the path to the right and then it started to descend, back through woods and then opened up to the view of Abergavenny Town.

There was here, an abundance of Blackberries. 

Here was another opportunity to pick these lovely plump blackberries to make a pie. Of course a few were eaten and very lovely and sweet they were as well. 

So why not take yourself up a Mountain? If you’re feeling down, confused and just want to escape from it for a while.

Gore's Literacy Trail - Goytre Wharf, Monmouthshire, South Wales

Still enjoying my week off and investigating around the area of Abergavenny, South Wales where I live.
I took off to Goytre with the fur kids to explore the canal and after parking up, saw this new trail. I know it's for kids, but I still like to explore. Starting off with Gore's giant book, welcoming you in and helping you to find your way, look in the trees and there is Incy Wincy spider. A little further down the path and I can only describe them as wooden wig whams, it sorted of reminded me of the Blair Witch project and could be a bit spook and intriguing at the same time. There were plenty of wooden carvings in the wood including the witch in the log, the otter and also Gore's Enchanted chair where you can sit down and tell your stories to a keen audience. Then over the bridge and a stroll down the tow path to the side of the canal. Pass the crooked chair with an extract of the poem 'Leisure' by WH Davies:-

WHAT is this life if, full of care, 

We have no time to stand and stare?— 

No time to stand beneath the boughs, 

And stare as long as sheep and cows: 

 No time to see, when woods we pass, 

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: 

 No time to see, in broad daylight, 

Streams full of stars, like skies at night: 

 No time to turn at Beauty's glance, 

And watch her feet, how they can dance: 

 No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began? 

 A poor life this if, full of care, 

We have no time to stand and stare. 

 Follow the tow path towards and under the aqueduct and towards the lime kilns where you can read how they used to work in these tiny kilns. There is also a place to get refreshments from as well. This walk is then complete.

To begin at the beginning.

 It is spring, moonless in the small town, 

starless and bible-black, 

the cobble streets silent and the hunched, 

courters’-and-rabbits’ wood 

limping invisible down 

to the sloe black, slow, black, crow black, 

fishing boat bobbing sea.

 DYLAN THOMAS

Skirrid Fawr Mountain in Abergavenny, South Wales

Well as I wrote earlier on Bubblews, I was planning to walk up the Skirrid Mountain which is not to far from here I live. I am determined to get fit and thought this would be an excellent and free way to do it. I don't need a gym membership, I have the countryside right on my door step. So I invested in some decent waterproofs which cost me £50 but I will need them for my work if we have a bad winter. So plenty of wear out of that investment!
My Mom and Dad came down on Friday night for my Birthday, we had a lovely meal the night before and we were contemplating going into Cardiff, but that meant spending money and I am trying to be thrifty at the moment.
They are experienced walkers them selves and have down the Coast to Coast walk and most recently Ben Nevis.
So the challenge was on! Would my dodgy ankle keep it together for me to climb to the top of the Skirrid?
We parked the car at the bottom of the Mountain and started the steady incline up hill. So far so good. We then followed the path to the right and followed it until it reached a gentle walk. We passed some sheep grazing under a tree, One took a particular interest in us ( See YouTube Video).
We carried on a little while further and then the path got a little steeper when we walked through to the ferns. This was the last part of the walk.
Although I was a slow walker, I have pins in my ankle so I have to be careful how I put my feet on rocks etc in case I slip or fall over, it doesn't bend as normal.The walk took about 2 hours 30 mins. Most people would do it in 1hr 30 mins
I was so proud when I got to the top. I had persevered and felt on top of the world. Most people would think its a strange way to spend your birthday, but I actually felt I had achieved something.
The view from the top of the mountain is truly breath taking and the air is so clear that it invigorates you.
This morning I am a little achey and my ankle hurts, so i will be taking a long warm bath to help my muscles etc, then I will be planning a journey up to the Sugarloaf Mountain.


Its great!

Summer is officially over (sadly)

Well it looks like Summer is officially over. We are still in August and all it has done today is rain. Although it is excellent for my veggies that I am growing in the garden.
It is sad though, I was looking forward to spending the time in the sun next week as I have holiday booked. I'm not going anywhere as my other half has to work, so I was going to be a tourist in my own town. It is a holiday destination anyway, so I was going to walk up the Skirrid Mountain and/or Sugarloaf Mountain and take photos. I might still do it, I just have to invest in some waterproofs. I already have hiking boots. So next week I will pop into town and see what Mountain Warehouse has. I did have a sneaky peek on their website but you never know what goodies I might miss in the store. Although it is worth checking out their site if you not lucky enough to have a store near you.



Save up to 7.35% Mountain Warehouse clothing and equipment is designed to protect you from the elements

Making Halloween Decorations

With Summer drawing to a close ,I have been making Halloween decorations to sell over the last few days.  It may seem early to start making them but I like to be prepared. I always find that as soon as my birthday at the end of August goes, then it's nearly Christmas!
But I love Halloween, so I thought I would make some fun hanging decorations to put up around the house. I didn't do it last year as I wasn't really upto it, but now things seem to be back on track so here we go
My sewing machine is now extremely busy!

 Handmade-Halloween-Bunting-Orange-and-Black-with-Pumpkins

Handmade Halloween Hanging Ghosts

My Garden

I love my garden. I haven't had a garden in years, the beer 'garden' was just a huge patio concreted over. I could never have anything nice in it as it would get 'lifted' and the scrap of land at the back of our flat was graveled and people would throw rubbish in to it so again, nothing nice could go in it.
So when we moved to or current abode, I was ecstatic.
I even rolled down the lawn like a big kid because I was so excited. I planted lots of bulbs last year, they all bloomed in Spring so we have had no Summer flowers. I have put some wild flower seeds down so hopefully next year they will grow.
I planted poppies, cornflowers, daisies etc. The flowers that are in the planter have come on in leaps and bounds as well.
Flowers are actually growing in my garden, I have also planted veg as well.
Fingers crossed they will grow as well. It all so exciting!

A Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafic Jam today in the Country

A funny thing happened on the way to work this morning.
I got stuck in a traffic jam.
Although the traffic were sheep and not cars!
Some rebel sheep had broken through a gap in the fence and were stuck in the road.
I did try and round them up to get them back into the field, but the gate was tied shut so I couldn't open it.
The next thing I knew I had one little sheep bouncing in the air at my side then running off down the road.
The thing is that my home is the next stop so I called home to let the other half know we may have fluffy visitors.
And indeed they did visit and happily started chewing on the grass. My partner, Wayne, sent me the photo below.
Trouble is my two dogs got very excited and wanted to come out to play.
Guinness had already tried to play 'Mum' with a hedgehog so we didn't think it was a good idea to encourage the sheep to stay any longer, so my other half 'shooed' them back up towards the field.
The sheep are now safely back in their field

A Lovely Weekend Off

Good Morning one an all
I had a lovely lie in, its still pretty early but I am used to getting up at 5am.
I have out the coffee on to brew and the other half has just popped out to the local farm shop to get some fresh eggs.
The dogs have bee feed, watered and walked and are now chilling out in the kitchen.
Carling did have a new bed but Guinness decided to chew it up. She is a right madam, so we gave him hers. He is so laid back and Guinness is always busy.
When she's walking she is looking around at everything, this normally results in her walking in something or falling over something. She is a funny one.
Anyway, I will be making and baking today as its going to be raining all day.
Saying that, the sun has just popped its head from behind a cloud.
Hope you all had a great weekend

A Day at St Fagans

I have always wanted to visit the Welsh living museum in Cardiff.
It's called St Fagans and they have about 30 acres of land to walk around and you can visit homes, shops and mills of the bygone era. It is totally free to get in and only a few quid to park which isn't a bad deal at all.

I love things like that and also visited the Castle gardens where I took some beautiful photos of the flowers and other plants that are there. I must of walked for miles which is rare for me. I can't walk very far due to a dodgy ankle but I do like to explore.
They have a little train which is pulled along by a tractor which is sweet and just perfect for slow walkers like me. On the day we went they had a classic car show on as well so there was plenty to see, I looked at the Morris Minors that were on show, I used have one years ago and I called him George, he was 1958 era.

Today is beautiful and sunny so it seemed a shame to stay stuck in the house, but as I type a grey cloud has just come over us and started to rain. Well it saves me the job of watering my plants and vegetables! Although the veg isn't ready for harvesting as yet so I will stop at the farm shop to pick some fresh veg up on my way home.

I'm now looking forward to my Sunday roast and I will also upload my photos to my photography website that I have as well. Very relaxing day, except for the ruddy hayfever. Oh well, can't have it all.