September Sunshine

September is here and for the first time in many years I am not returning to work after a summer break.  I now feel that my retirement has started for real even though I haven't done any real work since July.  Everyone else has gone back to school/ work now and, after a few days of missing the excitement of the new term, I am now pleased that I haven't gone back to work having heard how difficult it is to teach with all the new regulations in place. 

It's also been the first time I've ever been able to take a holiday in term time.  Kate and I had a mini-break - very mini as in one night -  in Conwy in North Wales last week before she returned to Sheffield this week ahead of the start of term.  It's not Palma where we planned to be but was very pleasant and only an hour away in the car.  We left the dog and Paul behind this time - I have another September holiday with them planned later in the month.

Conwy is dominated by an impressive castle which was unfortunately closed last Thursday when we were there.  We explored the town, walking along the estuary to Conwy Marina and stopping at a pub overlooking the Great Orme. The town itself has plenty of the kind of shops which I like and Kate doesn't, selling clothes from Sea Salt and White Stuff.  It has changed a lot from when we visited to explore the castle when Kate was little.  It seems to have gone upmarket - a bit like the Padstow of North Wales. There is even an independent bookshop.  I resisted the clothes but did buy a book (Nick Laird Modern Gods. More on my recent reading soon).  In the evening we sat on the quayside drinking overpriced G&Ts from plastic glasses in a pub called The Liverpool Arms which Paul recalls visiting as a teenager with his mates.  It was apparently the only pub in Conwy they hadn't been asked to leave.  Possibly why it's called The Liverpool Arms.  The sun was going down on the estuary and for a few minutes reflected off the windows of the buildings opposite making them look as if they were on fire.  Kate took this photograph.

We stayed at a B&B which was conveniently situated on the High Street.  After a not so great night's sleep( I snore, she objects, I try not to and remain awake as a result), we spent the next morning at Bodnant Gardens which I'd visited with Paul back in February.  It was good then and even better in full bloom, though I still haven't seen their Laburnum Arch as, of course, we couldn't visit in May. Then Kate drove home as I was too sleepy to be trusted behind the wheel and she's now a more confident driver than I am.  

That's it for now.  Have good intentions about blogging more frequently now I have time.