In The Pink

Mr Dancin and I are on the first day of a weeks staycation and we have lots planned for the week ahead including trips to the mountains, the coast, two castles, the garden centre to buy a tree and several local walks. Day 1 has started really well but slightly unusually.  My little one has been sleeping for short naps in the day for a while now typically between 30-40 minutes however has this morning decided on a two hour plus snooze and I am slightly at a loss. I have showered, had breakfast, re-erected the greenhouse following the gales and repotted the disturbed plants, had a coffee, discussed the weeks weather relevant to our proposed destinations with my husband and am now missing my little girl and feeling redundant, something I am not used to at this time of day! But it is obviously needed so we will leave her to sleep on and I am making the most of the time by blogging! Happy weekend all, I look forward to sharing snaps of the week ahead in due course.

It has become clear to me over the last 9 weeks that I will now have little time for anything other than looking after my wonderful brand new baby daughter Scarlett, and in all honesty I wouldn't have it any other way; motherhood is an absolute joy. However I would be loathed to see my blog fall by the wayside and as such I will endeavour to keep it going and dare I say even get back to previous commitments such as Creative Tuesdays and Sky Watch Friday. At the very least I can still grab the odd snap while out walking with Scarlett, as I have done here on a recent trip to the aqueduct. So for now I leave you with these two shots, a lovely part of the canal and a rare moment when I had the aqueduct all to myself.

I went into town this afternoon to run a couple of errands and was surprised at how busy it was. As a tourist area it tends to be very quiet from around mid September onwards and many of the restaurants start closing early in the evening but today the sun seems to have brought people out and it was very busy with all car parks full again. The river levels have started to rise and it wont be long before the winter canoeists are braving the rapids through the town. For today however the river remains peaceful and the territory of ducks and gulls only. 

I mentioned a few days ago I had a longing to be by water and was able to make it to the river that very afternoon, unfortunately it has taken me until now to get my photos off my camera! Technology, great when working, not so much when failing! Anyway, I had a lovely walk, got down to the waters edge, saw the beginning of the autumn colours coming out and spent some time sitting there just listening to the river passing by, punctuated by the persistent barking of a spaniel who's lust for fetching sticks from the water could not be satiated.  It was perfect actually, all walks should be shared with a dog and unfortunately our pup cannot make the descent to the river at this point nowadays. She doesn't miss out though, there are plenty of walks she can do and she likes nothing more than sitting on a mountain side admiring the view which she gets to do daily.

Last weekend was our local balloon festival and we decided to climb up to Dinas Bran Castle to get the best views of the event. It was not quite what I expected but was a great afternoon and evening with a few additional surprises. We had a clear view of the balloons as they were inflated and began their ascent from the venue below. Most of these shots were taken with my telephoto lens but without the aid of my tripod and image quality has suffered somewhat as a result. We were then able to watch them pass over the town and up the vale. Most of the balloons appeared to be solo manned. As the balloons ascended they all headed south towards the Ceiriog Valley. Suddenly to the west we spotted these two balloons ascending simultaneously and away from the main event. Once they reached a certain height we were surprised to watch two nutters jump out of them and begin their hair-raising descent to the event field below. The evening culminat...

It's a cool, late summers days here today and I have just enjoyed another village walk. I have done this one once before with Mr Dancin. Today I did it in reverse so as to ensure I exited the woods at the right place at the midpoint of the walk. Once inside from the direction we walked it originally it is a bit of a maze of paths and the last time we walked it was in winter so no leaves on the trees.  This first picture is taken about a third of the way around the walk which starts off in the village but I didn't want to photograph the urban aspect. The trees on the right hand side are predominantly Sycamore coppice regenerative growth however the woodland boasts a wide variety of broadleaves. It is suffering from lapsed management and fly tipping in areas from residential areas on its periphery but is still a lovely environment. A stream runs along the left hand side of the path, affronted by a retaining wall with houses on the other side. The last time ...

I came across a new walk round the village last week that incorporates an area of open space I had not found yet and it is beautiful. There is a small hill to get up there which stretches the lungs and legs a little and the views are amazing.  I didnt take photos of the urban areas that start and complete the walk, although they are lovely and interesting. There are actually three paths that go through the park area, I took this one first by mistake and doubled back when it started to take me down towards the estate to the east as I was heading south and then west again to home. This is the view to the east further along, looking towards England and below is the view southwest up the Vale of Llangollen and to the mountains. This is the view of the middle path that I took across the park. And then again the view south west heading towards the woodland and the old railway line. A foot bridge crosses the old railway line which closed around t...

Yesterdays beach trip took us to Llandudno. We had planned to take a trip out onto Great Orme, the prominent limestone headland west of the town that boasts amazing views and interesting flora and fauna, however traffic slowed or journey considerably and we ran out of time. This being said we were in no way disappointed with our day out and discovered the most amazing seaside town hidden away on the north coast.  We have driven past this area many times and I had no idea of the scale of this town, or the extent of its many attractions. I have never been anywhere with so many hotels and B & B's, and it seems although long established as an area of civilisation, Llandudno was greatly developed to become the town we see today through the Victorian era. The town is beautifully maintained. A very traditional seaside resort that appears to have suffered little from a decline in interest and tourism unlike so many of the English seaside resorts of a similar size. ...