My Stick6in2023 finish and our little holiday

Another two months of this year gone already and so It's time to share my forth stitched piece for the Stick6in2023 SAL hosted by Martina and Manuela 

Number one was chosen for the months of July and August, for me this corresponded to The Reindeer by Cottage Garden Samplings.  

This chart was one of my purchases from last Autumns Nimble Thimble meet up so I'm super happy that it hasn't been waiting too long for me.

I used all the recommended DMC threads, the fabric is 32 count Belfast linen and I managed to find a suitable frame from The Range.

Isn't he beautiful?  I'm really happy with how he turned out, I've put him away for now but he won't have to wait too long to be on show.

The number 6 has been drawn for our next piece and I can't wait to get started next week!

last week I had a week away with Joanne and the children to Butlins at Minehead.  If you are from the UK you will know that Butlins holiday parks are mainly designed for children, (although they do hold themed and adult weekends at different times through the year).  

The weather was kind, it only rained one day and we even managed to have a day on the beach, which we all enjoyed so much despite both myself and Joanne saying we didn't like sand we had as much fun as the kids!

It's just lovely to see children's happy smiley faces doing simple things like digging in the sand and riding on the fairground rides, Jacob does love to go on the rides and laughs the whole time.

Jacob taking in the pantomime

Bonnie meets Bonnie Bear :-)

Joanne had booked some shows to see, so we had Pepper Pig, a pantomime, which was as good if not better than any I've seen, a magic show with Steven Mulhern and a Animal versus Dinosaurs show which was excellent.

I came back feeling more rested than I thought I would considering it was an activity filled week, Bonnie declared it the best week ever, so I think It's safe to say that she had a good time too!

~~~~~~~~~

That's all the fun stuff, now for an update on Molly.    Unfortunately she did end up going back to the vets last Sunday night, they put in a stitch to hold everything in place but she has only pooped once in the week and I could see she wanted to go yesterday but couldn't, so I booked her in for another visit this morning.  That's where she is now, they wanted to keep her overnight because she was still constipated and was a little dehydrated, they are going to take out the stitch and give her something to help her 'go' and give her some fluids, they will also do a blood test to make sure there is nothing else going on.  Potentially she will have to have another stitch if she prolapses again when she's 'been'.

  I've tried to call them to see how she is but they were doing a change over and will call me later.  I have everything crossed that she will be ok.  

-X-

Mountain walks and steam train rides

We're back home, rested and raring to go, well, sort of, lol  

It doesn't take long to get back to normal routine after a holiday does it.

We unpacked as soon as we got in, before we even put the kettle on, and I had some washing on the line in the afternoon, the rest of the washing was done and hung out on Sunday morning, and as Mark put it, stretched as far as the eye could see, lol

And so normal service was resumed.

We had a great week though and visited some lovely places, the scenery in Wales is just stunning and I think even though Mark would have liked to go somewhere warmer that involved getting on a plane, he enjoyed it and was able to have a proper rest from working.

We were quite lucky with the weather really, we did have one day when it rained more or less all day, but we just stayed in the flat that day and watched films, (something we don't really do) and I got a whole day's uninteruptedbyhousework, stitching done, which is unheard of!

We saw and did everything that we intended t, Snowdon is 1,085 metres (3559 feet) above sea level and is the highest point in the British Isles, it has been on my list of things to do for a while, I would love to try walking up Snowdon but Mark wouldn't be up for that so I booked us on the Snowdon Mountain train.

Actually when I booked this trip It didn't register how far it was from where we were staying, which turned out to be a 90 minute drive, Ops!  Still the drive there was through the most beautiful scenery and it was a lovely day, so that was ok.

I only found out about Talyllyn Railway through a google search and although neither me or Mark are steam train enthusiasts we thought it would be a nice trip out.  The trip takes you through some of the wonderful Welsh valleys and some beautiful scenery.  You can get off at a couple of the stops and we had intended to get off at Dolgoch and walk the falls, but then decided to just go to the end of the line and then do the return journey and have something to eat in the station cafe.

We decided to drive to Dolgoch Falls in the afternoon, it wasn't far and we would be able to spend more time than if we had got off at the train stop.
This is such a beautiful place, neither google images or my photos do this place justice, it was a lovely sunny day and the light through the trees was just amazing.
Surprisingly we only saw three other people while we were walking.

Looks like someones been having fun building a camp :-)

When I post about holidays or trips out I'm doing it for my own record to look back on more than anything else but even so, I hope you have enjoyed a little bit of the Welsh scenery too :-)

See you soon

-X-

Fantastic views and a bike ride - Cornwall Part Four

Feeding the piggies on Thursday morning.  I must admit I've taken quite a liking to these pigs :-)

As well as the normal animal feeding on Thursday morning the kids got to groom and walk the pony around the field too.

After second breakfast, (for Oliver anyway) we decided to walk into Padstow.  It's about 2 miles from the farm over the fields and down the lanes and out onto the Camel Trail 

 Below, Padstow in the distance, the tide was out on our walk down

And was in by the time we were walking back again

Oliver enjoyed going through the kissing gates and over the styles

Oliver the scarecrow!

We had a quick stop off in Padstow for lunch and found the welly dog! 

Then we hired some bikes to ride the Camel Trial. 

Oliver can't ride a bike on his own yet so Mark had him on a hook-up.

 

I haven't got a photo of me on my bike, but I was right behind them, lol

We rode from Padstow to Wadebridge, 5 3\4 miles and It was such good fun, I don't know who had the most fun, me or Oliver, lol but I can tell you that It was me who ached the most after!

That day we walked 4 miles to Padstow and back, and rode 11 and a half miles, from Padstow to Wadebridge and back, both me and Mark clocked well of 18,000 steps not counting the peddling!!

Boy did we know about it by the time we got back to the caravan, but it was worth it for the experience, the fantastic views and the smile on Oliver's face.

For me this was the best day of the holiday.

-X-