About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Sunday May 29th 2016 - Part 1 - Early morning and the Hidden Gardens

I woke early that morning to more blue sky and sunshine, weather which was far too good to miss and which was just right for a dog walk along the beach. When I got down there the sun was burning off the remains of an early sea mist, the tide was on its way out, and with no beach warden on duty until much later on I was able to walk across the main part of the beach to the water's edge. The retreating sea had left a large area of water-filled ripples in the sand and the sun's rays reflecting on the water made a shimmering silver path all the way across the beach and the surface of the sea right to the horizon - it was worth attempting a couple of photos even though I would be shooting directly into the sun without a filter, but I decided to try it anyway and the results came out better than I expected.

My first port of call after breakfast was the car boot sale at the show ground over towards the far side of the island. In good weather this sale is seriously big but in spite of the huge number of stalls I didn't see anything which particularly interested me so for once my money stayed firmly in my pocket.

 From the show ground I drove back down the A5 and round to Menai Bridge town and Plas Cadnant Hidden Gardens. I first went there a couple of years ago and though the flowers and plants were beautiful the weather wasn't; it was a very dull and grey day so my photos didn't look as good as they could have done, but now with the current blue sky and sunshine I should get some much better shots. And I make no apologies for the number I've put on here - these are just some of the seventy eight I took in total and it was really hard to choose which ones to include.

Now I must confess I don't 'do' gardening, I have no interest in it at all and other than the obvious ones I haven't a clue about plant and flower names but I do enjoy looking round established gardens such as this one, especially when such a riot of colour gives me lots of good photos.

 It was while I was wandering round that I was approached by a couple with a small child, they asked if I knew anything about snakes as they'd found one lying in the middle of the path just round the corner. When I went to have a look I realised it wasn't a snake but a slow worm - it was partially curled up and appeared to be asleep. Not wanting to leave it there but not really wanting to touch it I found a stick and hooked it up off the ground, and in doing so realised that it was a very dead slow worm. It didn't look like it had been there long though so maybe the hot sun had got the better of it - it was laid to rest in the nearby shrubbery then with a few more photos taken I headed up to the nearby cafe for coffee and cake. This was followed by a dog walk round the large grassy car parking area, then satisfied that I'd seen and photographed everything I wanted to I drove away from Plas Cadnant and headed for my next port of call.

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8 comments:

  1. Eileen H2 June 2016 at 07:32

    I've often seen the Anglesey showground on Bargain Hunt but have never been there and would love to go someday. Saying that though I don't often go to the local car boot sale anymore as I need to de-clutter myself and not buy other peoples belongings, was going to say rubbish but you know what I mean :)

    I love your early morning beach photos. I don't blame you for flouting the dog restrictions so early in the day! Beautiful photos from the gardens too, looks a fabulous place to visit. Lovely blue sky in your photos, really pleased you enjoyed the visit apart from laying to rest the poor slow worm.

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    1. Tigermouse3 June 2016 at 12:31

      The way onto the dog friendly part of the beach is a bit of a pain and the beach warden will 'have words' with anyone he catches straying off the designated route. He's only on duty between 9am and 6pm so at any other time it's easy enough just to walk straight off the promenade onto the beach.

      The Hidden Gardens are a visual delight and well worth a visit if you're ever over that way. I don't really know why the slow worm died, they are supposed to like warmth and will bask in the sunshine, but maybe it was just too hot for it that day :(

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  2. Anabel Marsh2 June 2016 at 08:44

    Stunning photos! What lovely gardens. You sound exactly like me, I don't like gardening at all but enjoy looking at the results of other people's handiwork. We've been to a few gorgeous gardens over this spell of lovely weather which are queueing up to get on the blog eventually.
    The Glasgow Gallivanter

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    1. Tigermouse3 June 2016 at 15:35

      My idea of gardening is having things which can be just planted and left with little or no care and attention - having a total aversion to worms and slugs doesn't help matters either. I do enjoy looking round established gardens though, that's one reason why I took out a National Trust membership.

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  3. Su-sieee! Mac2 June 2016 at 09:04

    First I've heard about a slow worm. Will need to go find a photo. . .Found a photo. It reminds me of an eel. Poor guy withered by the sun. That was some garden. I especially like your photos of the pyramid trees. And your beach photos--awesome!

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    1. Tigermouse3 June 2016 at 15:45

      Many people mistake slow worms for snakes but they are actually a form of limbless lizard and are completely harmless. The only snakes we have in this country are harmless grass snakes and adders (aka vipers) which are poisonous, but they will only strike if under threat or in danger.

      The beach photos did come out rather well, I'm quite pleased with them :)

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  4. nashvillecats22 June 2016 at 11:59

    Spectacular pictures Tigermouse, enjoy your travels.
    Yvonne.

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    1. Tigermouse3 June 2016 at 15:48

      Thanks Yvonne. I've only been home from Anglesey for three days and I'm going back again this weekend for ten days this time - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be as good as it was last weekend :)

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