Sussex excursion

Today Deanna and I headed out into the Sussex countryside for a bit of a tour that involved very small backroads, the village of Alfriston.

 

New digs for Rhiannon

 Rhiannon moved out of the family compound and into a place of her own that she is sharing with four other girls.  It is such a cute place! 

West Beach

Today was really hot, so we went down to West Beach at the end of the day and met Tryfan and Eva down there too.  It took forever for us to get there, since the road was closed again on the scenic road.  But we got there in the end and the water was lovely.

Pearces come to town

Today we were very glad to see our long lost friends Mike and Deanna, and one of their sons Tyler.  It was a lovely warm Sunday and we went for a walk through the Cat Centre to end at the Red Lion.  Classic!

There is nothing like seeing old friends, that's for sure. I'm really excited that Deanna is going to stick around for a week or so while Mike and Tyler go to Spain.

Denise is here!

My long lost friend Denise cunningly carved out a few extra days at the end of her Scandinavian vacation this month to stop in with us and I have been so looking forward to her arrival these past few months!  It actually worked out so well because I was in London on the day she arrived, so I could just stop at Gatwick Airport on my way home to collect her, then we both continued on to HH and home. I was then able to take yesterday off to play hookie and we had a most lovely day!  Went to Middle Farm to sample ciders and then to Rathfinney Vineyard for a walk and some wine tasting before heading home to cook dinner.  The visit was over all too quickly but it was just such a treat to have Denise here.

Friends round Wednesday

This evening Tryfs had some friends around to hang out and stay the night, and they were pretty well behaved for the most part... until 3 am when Rhodri heard them laughing and shouting at the bottom of the garden and had to go out and tell them off.  But I thought it was funny, and I like having Tryfan's friends around even on a school night.

Here are Harrison, Max, Andy, Sam, Oscar, Loki and Tryfan

Solstice Visions

We got home late last night and then today in the afternoon we hosted Cat, Gary, Emma, Adam, Leigh and Stuart for a Solstice Vision Board event.  Tryfs and Rhodri joined in too, and even Maisie the Spanish escape artist doggie was here to keep Annie company.  The whole idea came out of a chat about conflicting ideas about future dreams as a couple, and the case where one person wants olde worlde type surroundings and the other dreams of an eco-efficient modern house.  How to reconcile? What is beneath the dreams? We had the idea of a 'safety in numbers' event and it was a success.

Another uni visit

This weekend we went to Sheffield to visit the university on a Saturday visit. 

We arrived on Friday afternoon and got to have a bit of a walk around town, and find a place for dinner, before retiring for the evening and having the proper visit today.

We went to a hibachi Japanese restaurant that was down a little back street in the city center, and it was really amazing food.  I forgot how fun it is to eat at a place like this.  After we got back to the car, found our hotel out in the suburbs, we actually walked down to this social club because they were showing the rugby.  We had a good time there. 

Then we drove home on Saturday night.  It was a really great visit and Tryfs seemed to like this place quite a bit.

Uni visits - Bath and Bristol

I took the train from Cornwall up to Bristol on Friday, while Tryfan and Rhodri drove from home to Bath for a visit on Friday morning, then I met them in Bristol so we could get ready for Tryfan's 2nd uni visit which was on Saturday.

We actually saw Oscar and Sophie on the Univ of Bristol campus, so that was super nice to see them for a few minutes in the sunshine!

On Saturday afternoon after the university visit, we walked around for awhile and then we went over to Gaz and Rachel's house to meet up with Huw and Fran and Gwil for dinner.  Again, it was a lovely afternoon and we had a really nice time with them, although somehow I didn't manage to take any photos :-(   This morning was Father's Day and we walked to a nice place for breakfast, then walked over to the beautiful park overlooking the river before driving back home.

Cornwall for a week

I went to Falmouth, Cornwall for a week at the UK Mining Conference. This year I stayed by myself in a flat that was close to my favorite "Gylly Beach". It was beautiful weather and I was able to both get work done on my own in the flat and also go for a few dips in the sea, and also attend the actual conference. 

One morning I met up with Jeremy and we had a lovely swim together before the day got going. 

So cute

 Look how cute these guys are! Tryfs and Eva after attending an event in Brighton with Eva's family

Geothermal breakfast and learn

Today was a big event that I had been involved in organizing, and it went really well.  It was a breakfast and learn event for some of the British members of Parliament (MPs).  We've been planning it for a long time and so it was good to finally get through it.

It was a huge relief when everyone left but a few of us, and we could sit for a few minutes and debrief before moving on with the day.

Here are Anne, Eren and Helen.

Visitors for the weekend

This weekend, Sioned, JJ and Gwydion came to visit and it was so fun to have them here with us!

We did some fun things and had lovely warm weather and it has been so great to have them here.

A day at the office

Today was a big work day for me because I had organized an event with some clients from Cornwall.  I wouldn't normally take a photo of the event like this, but it felt special so I did.

Here is: Jorge, Duncan, Ali, Diane, me, Martin, Ellie, Adam and Ryan. 

Elderflowers everywhere

Today was a public holiday, and it was the perfect day to make a batch of elderflower fizz. We skipped making the annual batch last year but it seemed like a good idea to do this this year, so Tryfs and I did that together.  Meanwhile, it is also the "Elderflower Fields" music festival over at Pippingford Estate which is just over the forest from us, and Tryfs and his buddies did their annual trick of finding creative ways of sneaking in and pretending to be part of the festival crew.  

Anyway, it was kind of funny to make the annual batch of fizz together while Tryfs was relaying stories about the festival.

A Maisie Adventure

Last night and today we did some dog sitting for Maisie-the-dog Barker.  She is a sassy Spanish street dog with a fabulous tail, but she cannot be let off the leash so I was real careful taking her out for a walk in the forest this morning.  And when we got back to the house, I made sure that the fence was closed before letting her off the leash.  But as soon as I unclipped her leash, she trotted over to the corner of the yard and calmly, quickly climbed over the fence and trotted off into the wide world.  Yikes!  I tried to call her back in a calm but enthusiastic way, but she just glanced over her shoulder at me and kept running away.  Fortunately I had my phone on me, so I called Tryfan and woke him up (it was around 10:30am), and he very quickly put on his bathrobe and fish slippers and ran down Stone Quarry Road to go the back way onto the adjacent property.  Imagine the scene of this teenager running through the village in this get up! He climbed over fences and through bushes and managed to catch the cheeky little Maisie dog.  Such a relief to get her back onto the leash and safe at home.

Eurovision 2025

Tonight we went over to Leigh and Stuart's house for a Eurovision party and dinner.  Everyone had to come dressed up as a country, so I went as Austria and Rhodri went as France.  It was a really fun evening.

Lectures from the Garden Expert

Our tree-like bush out in the front has been looking quite unwell, so Sally came round and instructed Rhodri on what limbs to trim 

More cousins

Rhiannon and Tryfs have been having a good time in Cardiff by the looks of it!

Wales for the weekend

Rhiannon and Tryfan made their way to Cardiff for the weekend so they could see Nain and Taid and their cousins.