Desire Avenue

There were actually quite a few kids having a great time cooling off in the pool but given how sensitive an issue of photographing kids in public is these days, I waited until the pool was almost free........which wasn't for very long.

Its like another world there....a truly beautiful place,although naturally i can't divorce the place from my love of 'the prisoner'.

Beautiful pics, Rob. That one of the mountain railway reminds me of the west of Scotland. I've only been to Wales a couple of times, to the west, but I felt very comfortable there because it reminded me so much of home.

Portmeiron is so picture-perfect it's kind of sinister. Maybe that's the intent? It's sort of the village equivalent of a Stepford Wife.

blue wrote:Portmeiron is so picture-perfect it's kind of sinister. Maybe that's the intent? It's sort of the village equivalent of a Stepford Wife.

Its got that 'other worldly' feel hasn't it? Not sure if its the mix of colours or mix of buildings or just the the whole general mix of buildings,woodland and the estuary.
Its a wonderful place to explore although hopefully on a future visit the tide will actually be in. Last Saturday was my fourth visit and the fourth time that its been low tide.

blue wrote:I've started throwing all the nuts, seeds and dried fruit from work into the garden, rather than on the field - I was curious to see if the birds would come in even though my cats are often out there, and indeed they have, along with a mother and baby squirrel! My youngest cat chased the squirrels off at first, but they just waited till she got bored and then came back to feast on pecans, almonds and brazils.

That is so cute! Since I don't have a cat anymore the birds are often in my garden. I feed them with bread and fruit. From my mother-in-law I just got a book that helpes me recognize the birds.

blue wrote:Starlings are known for being quite aggressive birds, aren't they? I'm amazed to see how they react to the cats - they fly in mobhanded, range themselves along the garden fence and simply screech like devils at the cats, trying to intimidate them. The noise is deafening. The cats are bewildered.

Well I like that attitude! And most cats can handle it

blue wrote:How are you all? Not much chat recently it seems.

Nope, it is a bit silent here since the meeting in April. My boyfriend and I are considering to sell our house and buy an apartment. We have an old house right now. It has a really nice atmosphere but requires a lot of work to maintain.

And I'm really considering to leave my job as a manager to do something less paid but more rewarding. If only I knew what I would really like to do.

sound world wrote: but otherwise it was one of those nights that I've had far too often when gigging. Maybe I'm getting too old for this game...

I would have guessed that is the joy of a musician. Being able to play no matter what circumstances. How did the public react?

blue wrote:The mama squirrel made me laugh that first day I saw her - she obviously hasn't had pecans before, because she picked one up, had a little exploratory nibble, looked very surprised and then ran off excitedly with it up the ash tree, where she proceeded to consume it with a look that said 'This is my secret. You're not having any, baby.'

This is so cute! Can you take some pictures of that squirrel? I would love to see it.

RobB wrote:Had a brilliant weekend in north Wales.......weather was perfect and i must have taken sixty piccies at Portmeirion on Saturday but its ok, i'll only bore you all with four.

Keep them coming Rob, those pics look wonderful. I really should go on holiday in Wales, I've seen many beautiful landscapes and buildings in holidaypictures of friends of mine. But this year I'll be off to Norway again, after the surprise visit to Italy.

pgss wrote: My boyfriend and I are considering to sell our house and buy an apartment. We have an old house right now. It has a really nice atmosphere but requires a lot of work to maintain.

And I'm really considering to leave my job as a manager to do something less paid but more rewarding. If only I knew what I would really like to do.

Sounds like you're ready to make some big changes, Paul. The job thing could be a big upheaval, but a positive one if you end up doing something you actually enjoy and find rewarding.

pgss wrote:This is so cute! Can you take some pictures of that squirrel? I would love to see it.

I don't have a camera Paul, I wish I did because the baby is so cute.

Well I have an interesting morning tomorrow - going with my daughter to her 20-week scan, she's expecting her first baby in October. Yikes. I'm going to be a grandma.

We should find out whether it's a boy or a girl, if it stays still long enough. At the last scan the nurse had to send her for a walk round the block because the baby was so active they couldn't take any measurements. The pictures are hilarious - four in a row, taken within seconds of each other, and in each one the baby is in a completely different position.

pgss wrote:

sound world wrote: but otherwise it was one of those nights that I've had far too often when gigging. Maybe I'm getting too old for this game...

I would have guessed that is the joy of a musician. Being able to play no matter what circumstances. How did the public react?

Well, I tell you what, Paul, it would occasionally be nice to be on the level where we had roadies to sort out all that tech stuff and we could just get on with playing the music. It's not very conducive to doing a good gig, being stressed for two hours beforehand and not even knowing whether your equipment is going to work, or whether you're going to play at all, not get paid and thus have a really expensive night in the bar.
The public knew nothing about what we'd gone through, and they enjoyed themselves hugely, thankfully. It was a massive space and they'd all come to dance by the look of it, so even with about 400 people they had plenty of room to fling themselves around. But we knew we weren't at our best...

Hope your various changes work out. It's the most stressful thing you can do, move house and change job at the same time. Are you sure the charm of the old house is worth giving up?

Fantastic news for Granny Bluesy!!! [akiss] [love]

sound world wrote: Granny Bluesy!!!

That sounds so wrong. I'm going to have to think of something else, I can't deal with granny or nana, it doesn't feel like me.

Well, it's a boy. As my daughter so delicately put it, 'I can see a little cock and balls!!' She's been convinced from the word go it was a boy, she's been dreaming about him for a few years apparently. He was very active again during the scan, which I must say was fascinating to watch. Amazing pictures of the heart, you could see the different sections of it and everything. He was face-on at one point and it was quite eerie to 'meet' him for the first time. I think he's going to be a very pretty little boy.

Still can't really get my head around it, but it seems a bit more real after today.

blue wrote:

sound world wrote: Granny Bluesy!!!

That sounds so wrong. I'm going to have to think of something else.

Well, over to RobB-I think he came up with BluesyMcWinterBoots, didn't he? Yes, 'Granny' has so many connotations. You realise that you have to go and get some knitting needles and white wool now, don't you Beth? How about BluesyMcBabyBootees?

Meanwhile I spent an hour and a half with the Clinical brigade yesterday. It should have been a routine ten minute Doctor's appointment, but first off there was the inevitable half-hour wait, and then in trying to print me out two prescriptions, the Doc did something to the software in his computer, and nada ensued. Our Health Centre has got a new computer server or system or something and there is chaos. He had to call for assistance resulting in several people all advising him to click on this and that, while I sat there like a lemon as it all went on around me. It was quite insightful into the machinations of the Health Service, actually. So, after several ages and a lot of fruitless clicking, my prescriptions finally spat out. The software looked fiendishly complicated, (and I have to say that the Windows interface looked nightmarishly charmless, which can't help).
Anyway, I now have a little row of pills to take every day. The latest ones are 1) anti-inflammatory (I have something up with the tendons in my left foot) and 2) ANTI-anti-inflammatory (to stop my stomach seizing up under the strain of No. 1) as well as the usual blood pressure and cholesterol ones I have to take.
Beware of ageing! it only seems like yesterday that I was 25 and fancy-free! [b)]

blue wrote: I'm going to have to think of something else, I can't deal with granny or nana, it doesn't feel like me.

Nan or nanny sounds quite endearing. Certainly more so than gran or granny anyway.

Congratulations to your daughter on her pregnancy, especially for choosing (huh? ) to have a son ..........that'll save her about eighty thousand quid in the future when he gets married.