Strange old summer we seem to be having. The wall to wall sun of April is but a distant memory and the routine seems to be days of quiet where nothing much happens weatherwise. More like early October than late July.
The start of the month found us revisiting old haunts around
Crickhowell - that most English of towns in Wales on the northern edge of the Brecon Beacons. And so quiet. Lunch amongst the ruins at
Llanthony with only 5 others in the pub!
We followed this with a trip over the Gospel Pass to the Bookshop Centre of the world -
Hay on Wye. Forty years ago, Hay felt like a fierce little border town. Now it's upmarket coffee, clothes and of course - books. We relieved them of a few - but why are English booksellers so grumpy? No smiling welcome or even interest. It surely can't be that miserable an existence. Reassuringly the friendliest face was to be found in the pottery. Fantastic food - rounded off with a return to
The Walnut Tree at Llandewi Skirrid, good weather and loads of calm and relaxation. All very seductive.
Slightly closer to home, our annual pilgrimage to
Southwold was met with rain and a very unappealing sea more in keeping with winter than July.
Again very few people about - but that was not surprising! The town stays much as it always was and still slightly puzzling, as the hinterland is hardly attractive. We will of course return!
Monday found us wandering round
Holt with friends. It's not that long since I visited and its only 20 miles away but it seemed like quite a few things had changed or were in the process of so doing. It seems odd to find shops closed for 'refurbishment' in the middle of the summer holidays, but then again maybe that is the time to do it. I just hope they're finished by when the sun returns!
