Beautiful springtime view

We have had some moments of beautiful color and light recently. All the plants and trees are in bloom, and it is just so wonderful in southern England right now. Here is the view out to the South Downs from our bedroom window:

Indulgement

This week we indulged in purchasing some new dining chair cushions. We've had the same crappy cushions for many years now, and they are stained and flattened beyond repair. I say indulged because we ordered these from Ikea and had them delivered. We figured that the £9.00 delivery charge on these 8 cushions would actually save us in the long run because if we actually drove to Ikea, we would come home with more than just 8 seat cushions! Anyway, come visit us to try out the new cushions!

Today was also my brothers' birthday and we were thinking about them all day. 

More bluebells

Bluebell woods are just so magical. I can't get enough of them!

Bluebells and general goodness

We went for a Girls (and dog)-only walk today in the woods near the school and Emma showed us the most amazing patch of bluebells! Photos don't do it justice really but we'll try anyway.

There were some rope swings dotted throughout the woods and the girls did some good swinging!

Easter!

On Saturday morning, we had a little egg hunt and celebratory Easter brunch with our closest homies Emma, Sophie and Oscar. It was a mild but cloudy morning with lots of chocolate and plastic eggs hidden throughout the back garden. We actually didn't dye any eggs this year for the first time in history.

It was such a fun and lovely morning. Rhodri was out riding bikes with his homies, so the morning turned out to be perfect for him too.

Easter Sunday was sort of a mixed bag for us actually. The day started out very rainy and cold and we had been planning to go to church in Danehill with our neighbors Jane, Mark and Toby. So the kids found the baskets that the Easter Bunny had left for them*, then Jane and kids came over to have a coffee before going to church, and that's about the time that we decided to hold our own church service in what we dubbed "Chalfonts Church". (It is really fun having a house with its own name, and which we can morph it into whatever suits our need. Sometimes we decide to go to Chalfonts Cafe for dinner, to Chalfonts Salon for haircuts, Chalfonts Pub for refreshing beverages, and now we've added Chalfonts Church to the mix...) Mark and Toby weren't too impressed, though, as I made them sing along to a YouTube rendition of "Rock of Ages" as our church hymn and then all of us took turns reading passages from the Bible which told the story of Easter. Rhodri, meanwhile, was again out with his cycling homies for a Easter breakfast in a neighboring village so missed out on all the Chalfonts Church fun.

In the afternoon, the rain worsened and we all curled up to watch a movie on the couch for a while but then the sun came out so it didn't feel right to be inside watching a movie anymore. I forced the troops out for a walk in the sunshine and they were very grumpy about it, so the late afternoon involved quite a bit of stomping around and being sent to bedrooms. We had a lovely traditional dinner though which kind of made up for the bad spell in the late afternoon.

* ... We came clean about the Easter Bunny after some serious questions arose about security (how...?) and suspicious handwriting of names, as well as reused baskets from the previous year. This was kind of a blow to them both, but it had to happen at some point.

Seeking bluebells - Part 1

As the final weekend of the Easter holidays, our friends Rob and Macha along with their 3 kids Leonie, Flossie and Teddy came over so that we could go for a walk in search of bluebells.

Rob, Flossie, Rhiannon, Leonie, Macha carrying Teddy, and Rhodri. Tryfan was way ahead hitting things with sticks.

Bentley went for a little swim in what we call our local swimming pool

We did actually see quite a few bluebells though I didn't take photos at this time. We had a great walk meandering through the Ashdown Forest near the Vachery.

Laughing at Bentley who was spraying everyone with water.

Rhiannon especially loves carrying little kids on her back

Pretty much a perfect day

Today was a surprise because Rhodri and the kids had planned an outing and didn't tell me what (or where) it was going to involve. So fun to have a genuine surprise to look forward to! I took the day off of work and we set out in the morning for destinations unknown (to me). Fortunately, the day was clear, stunning, and slightly cool... perfect for north Wales in the springtime. Our destination turned out to be a lovely beach at Porthdinllaen on the Llyn peninsula

We arrived around 10am and walked through the golf course to get to the cliff. In the photo below, we parked on the far left side of the landscape and walked through all the green golfy area, the along the ridgeline up to the end. We took a staircase winding down to the water and then made our way along the shore until we got to the fabulous Ty Coch pub which was one of the buildings in the center of this photo. This is where we had a delicious lunch and played in the sand for a good long time.

Porthdinllaen, with the beach pub we dined at

Another view, further along. 

 Bentley was allowed to be off the leash and he was SO happy to swim in the water and chase rocks. There were other dogs frolicking around as well, and he was happy to play with them. We actually ran into a very old school friend of Rhodri's (Bethan) while we were pottering along the shore - what a surprise!

We walked along the beach back to the car and drove around the coast to meet Rhodri's parents at a special place on the headland called Nant Gwrtheyrn, which is a Welsh Language Learning Center an a very isolated cliffy beach.

Rhodri, Trefor and Bentley at the shore's edge

This was pretty much a perfect day in my opinion and I was so, so happy to be enjoying the fresh Welsh air and sun at the beach with my family.

Out for a long walk

Rhodri, Bentley and I went for a walk today up in Snowdonia. It was a long but great day.

Approximate route of our tour

The route we took from Rowen to Llyn Eigiau, a total of ~12 miles

The first half of the day was in cloud and very cold!

There was an orienteering race going on at the same time that we were in the area, and quite a few of the runners were a bit lost. We even found ourselves doing a "scenic tour" around one of the peaks. We emerged from cloud at one point and found that we were looking due north out to Anglesey when we thought that we had been heading south! Oops!

We had a cozy lunch inside the emergency shelter to shield from the wind and drizzle

 Soon we had some clearish skies and nice views.

 

 Trefor picked us up at Llyn Eigiau and we drove round to get the other car in Rowen. The roads are so narrow!

This car had to back down the hill so that we could get past

 In the evening, we were treated to a delicious dinner with Nain, Taid and special guest Auntie Jane!

It was really nice to catch up with Auntie Jane for a few hours this evening and enjoy a fantastic meal with the family.

Wales for Spring Break

Rhodri and the kids went up to north Wales the morning after I got back from Crete and then I joined them a few days later by taking the train up from London after work on Friday. On Saturday morning we joined our friends Bleddyn, Geri, Ceiro and Meilir at the beach in Conwy.

Bentley ready for some beach action

Playing soccer in the sand

We went back to the house for some lunch and general playing, and cousins Leusa, Rhyddid and Brython came over to play as well.

Rhyddid, Rhiannon and Leusa

Taid Trefor was kept busy shoo-ing the kids out of the vegetable patch and we got to have a nice visit with Llinos in the late afternoon. Good times!

Bathtime fun

Even though these kids are growing fast, they still know how to have fun at bathtime! Here they are as Hades  (Rhiannon) and Zeus (Tryfan).

 

Pitsidia adventure

Several months ago I booked a long weekend away in Crete (April 4-8) to visit my long lost friend Hanne. Finally the weekend arrived and now our fun has come and gone. Cat came with me and we had a wonderful time. It is one of the many benefits of living in this part of the world that one can hop on a relatively cheap flight and go somewhere in Europe to experience a vastly different culture within just a few hours!

Central Crete showing location of Pitsidia (red square)

Hanne and Werner moved to Pitsidia (3 km inland from Matala) about 4 years ago and I've been threatening to visit them ever since. They are truly nestled into this village and seem to know just about everyone we pass on the street, working in the shops, restaurants and even hotels - mainly local Cretans but a few expats mixed in as well. I found it so fun and inspiring to be on the periphery of the good-natured banter that these two people share with everyone that crosses their paths. 

Hanne and me

Hanne has a big personality to match her exotic looks and I love her incredibly happy smile. They are great animal lovers (they used to look after Bentley in Norway when we went away for vacation) and have a lovely stone house right in the middle of the village surrounded by goats, chickens, sheep, dogs and plenty of cats. We fit a lot into our handful of days there and it was so wonderful. The weather was warm but not hot (~20-23 C/ 70-75 F) and we had one morning of rain, which was much appreciated by the locals.

A late afternoon lunch on the back patio

Having an afternoon coffee in Matala

Midday refreshments in Kalimaki

Riding horses in Kalimaki

At the "Mystical Viewpoint" with amazing color and light across the land and sea

Cat, Hanne, Werner and me at Villa Ariadne

It was hard and sad to leave, but we vowed to come back and bring our families and more friends next time. Cat and I are just really grateful that our families were able to help make this happen - it is not so easy to have an adventure like this!