Llandudno Boxing Day Dip 2012

After so enjoying the atmosphere at last years Boxing Day Dip in a fit of festive madness I decided to accompany my daughter into the freezing sea in Llandudno's North Bay. We were joined by my sister and her son who was visiting from France. As per usual everything was a bit last minute so between preparing the boxing day meal for 12 people and making the house ready I had to rush around trying to create a fancy dress costume suitable for the sea!
Here are a few photos from the day, enjoy, we did.

The ubiquitous Panto camel

Team Podiller!

The pre Dip group photo

Still looking happy.......

The first ones in.......they cheated and went in on the count of 2!!

The mad dash

.....and even the camel went in. RNLI on standby.

Looking remarkably alive after the Dip

..........and we found Matthew

A video taken by my nephew's wife

If anybody would like to sponsor these brave, intrepid Dippers the money will go to St David's Hospice in Llandudno. www.stdavidshospice.org.uk

Christmas is coming to Lymehurst

Christmasy feel in the entrance hall in Lymehurst B&B

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   Well the weather isn't exactly Christmasy. The Great Orme that we see from the front of Lymehurst was shrouded in mist this morning. That cleared but it's still rather dull but the two guests that have arrived from Leicester have said that it's much better weather here than at home.Apparently they had a really good trip here so is everybody else keeping off the roads?
  Getting more Christmasy here. Have just baked my first batch of 36 mince pies so the guests had some straight from the oven. Now it's on to marzipaning and icing of the Christmas cakes followed by present wrapping. Need to dig out my favourite Christmas CD ( the best Christmas ....ever!) it is unfortunately suffering from being played so much!! It has to be well over 10 years old so might have to be replaced.

   

  So now another job off the list. Christmas cake iced........very simply. I have used roll on icing which  makes it a lot easier .Now for the present wrapping

  

  Mince pies looking festive infront of the Christmas tree

  

  Christmas cake

  

  Mince pies made with Great Granny's amazing pastry recipe

Reindeer like to be noticed...when serving at the Post Office!!

When i went to post yet another parcel at the Post Office I was served by a rather disgruntled reindeer!! As I didn't show any suprise at seeing a reindeer behind the counter but continued to ask how much the postage would be, he was very put out, until I explained that I'd become quite used to being served by somebody dressed in a full reindeer outfit and had actually taken a picture of his colleague last week to which he became even more indignant (in a panto way) as I wasn't taking a picture of him!! Ho ho ho. So good that Post Office staff do that little bit extra to raise a smile.

 

 Lovely sunshine here today at Rhos on Sea

  Rhos On Sea Prom

Alternative Christmas Shopping!!

Don't like the intensity of christmas shopping in a city then Llandudno could be the place to come and shop in a more relaxed way. This was one our Tripadvisor reviews.

Treat yourself to a stay at Lymehurst in winter and get some Christma

s shopping done without the hassle of the city. Llandudno has some large stores, Debenhams, BHS, Topshop, M&S etc as well as its smaller shops and a trip to Conway or other nearby places may just find you that slightly different gift in some of the craft shops. The Conway Christmas Market was on when I was there to add to the atmosphere. If the shopping gets too much you can escape to the shore or up the Orme and feel a million miles away from the bustle of Christmas or just retreat a few minutes walk away from the main shopping centre to the quieter area where Lymehurst is positioned and enjoy the peace and warm welcome. The bedrooms are beautifully furnished and the tasty breakfast sets you up for the day ahead. I have visited Lymehurst on a number of occasions now and can thoroughly recommend it.

Stayed November 2012, travelled solo

Special offer 2 people 2 nights £100.00
www.lymehurstbandb.co.uk

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  Lymehurst Bed & Breakfast Llandudno If you take a break from shopping you won't always see 4 hancuffed police women and lots of Father Christmases wandering around on the prom ( unless you've had a few too many!!)but you will have lovely views and plenty of fresh air to dilute the stress of shopping!!

Ty Gobaith Fun Run

December 16th

Today was the fun run for Ty Gobaith ( Hope House). It's always good to see people people who are willing to give their time and put in so much effort to raise money for a very worthy cause www.hopehouse.org.uk. As you'll see from the photos the range of runners and walkers covered a whole range of ages and abilities. This year the welsh TV was filming so we'll see if it makes it on to the screen!! 

Reindeer take over thelocal Post Office!

 December 12th

Another hard frost here in Llandudno. Took some cards and a parcel to post and was unexpectedly served by a reindeer........that doesnt happen every day!

First Frost of The Year

December 11th

Today we had our first Frost. It has been a beautiful sunny day but cold enough for the frost to remain in any sunless places. I just realised that it was 5 years ago yesterday that i moved to Lymehurst. Thinking back, from the initial panicing when I couldn't find plumbers or builders to come and do work for me and therefore being unable to open as a B&B, to the gradual building up of the business, it has been one huge learning curve,( or more like a learning vertcal!!!). Lots of ups and downs but on the whole very satisying when guests have had a happy time here and have written super reviews on Tripadvisor. There are now 94 reviews. Not bad for a little B&B that's tucked away in a quiet cul-de -sac in Llandudno

..

— in Llandudno, Wales.

A Bracing Walk before the return of the rain

It was so nice yesterday to have a reprieve from the wet stormy weather. Once the necessary household tasks were finished I headed out for a walk. The forecast was for sunny weather until about 3pm and this time the forcasters were pretty accurate. I got home after a super bracing walk at 2.45 and then it poured down!

Late Knight Shopping in Conwy

  December 9th

On Friday in Conwy they had the opening of the late Knight shopping. Unfortunately I couldn't go as I was waiting for some guests to arrive. Last year it was pretty specatacular with the parade of knights carrying burning torches through the town and people dressed in medieval costumes wandering around adding to the great atmosphere.These photos are the ones I took last year

Still flowering in December

 December 8th

 

We've had rain,wind, hail stones cold snaps warmer spells and still some of the flowers are just about hanging in there. It's crazy to think that my cosmos that I plant infront of the Breakfast Room window, have in previous years been in full bloom throughout the summer but this year the first flowers appeared at the end of October!! It's probably the case that as they've had such a struggle to flower they're determined to stick it out to the bitter end. I wonder what will happen next summer. Surely we are due a proper summer 

                                  

  Lymehurst Bed & Breakfast Llandudno

With thousands of daffodil bulbs to plant in and around Llandudno I was asked to do my bit in attempting to make Llandudno the Daffodil Capital of North Wales. It was only towards the end of our 2 hour session that I, by accident hit on the correct way to use the tool I'd been given!! Going back tomorrow for another session. Let's hope there are some more volunteers as there are an awful lot of bulbs to plant !

Intrepid bulb planter

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Lymehurst Bed & Breakfast Llandudno

14 NovemberAlbum: Public

...and after all that there's still half a sack!! Oh the joys

The Christmas Parade in Llandudno

 

 

Llandudno Christmas Parade December1st

The annual Llandudno Christmas Parade took place on Saturday. The weather wasn't particularly Christmasy but at least it wasn't raining. 

Rag rug making at Trefriw Woollen MIll

Rag rug making at Trefriw Woollen MIll   November 30th (9 photos)

While sitting here I might as well do some advertising for events that are happening this weekend. At Tefriw Woollen Mills. This mill is still powered by water and produces amazing Welsh tapestry and tweeds. You can see more details on www.t-w-m.co.uk

This weekend they are holding a Textile Market. As well as being able to buy beautiful hand-made gifts you can see hand spinning, weaving etc. I went there yesterday as there was a demonstration of making rag rugs

November walk along the side of The Great Orme

 

November 30th

Terrible flooding just up the A55 at St Asaph earlier in the week. We were fortunate in that we only had heavy rain and it was windy enough to damage my newly mended gate!!! The last couple of days have been quite decent so after getting very frustrated at not being able to access my business E mail account I decided I needed therapy...... no not the bottle! a healthier option.... walking. So just sharing some of the pictures (You can see these on lymehurst facebook

Somebody performing at the local theatre Venue Cymru came to stay

 

 

November 25th

On Friday I had a guest booked in who was doing something at the theatre so out of curiosity i went on the Venue Cymru site to see what was on and discovered that there was a contemporary Dance Company performing so I thought perhaps the guest was a dancer. As it turned out she was a musician but I checked out the Rambert Dance Company on the web and was quite blown away by their work, so on Saturday I went to see the production. Certainly was very contemporary but the agility and complexity of moves was amazing www.venuecymru.co.uk/whats-on/Rambert-Dance-Company.html

http://www.venuecymru.co/

www.venuecymru.co

Llandudno Christmas Fayre

The Christmasy spirit is starting to descend on Llandudno. Coach trips coming on the Turkey and Tinsel Breaks are bringing visitors galore to the resort. Even the coaches are decorated. I do feel  sorry for all the staff in the hotels who have constant 'Christmas Celebrations' from Monday to Friday from now until the real Christmas.

Madoc street was closed off late last Wednesday so the Llandudno Christmas Fayre could be set up. The Fayre from 15th - 18th of November had  100 or so stalls selling crafts, toys, food & drinks etc.  Having only taken photos of sweet stalls when I visited  The Celtic Winter Fayre  in Colwyn Bay last weekend I was determined not to photograph any  this time,  just to prove I haven't got a one track mind! I appear to be unable to add photos  at the moment, so will just post this and see if they can be added later.
You can check out photos on lymehurst facebook  www.facebook.com/pages/Lymehurst-Bed-Breakfast-Llandudno/136406926390598

A Walk to The Vardre

The Vardre from the beach

Included this picture as I like the lighting

   

From the beach at West Shore you can see two unusual outcrops (probably not the correct geographical term!) that look as though they've burst out through the surrounding land to tower over Deganwy. Adam who is at home at the moment while sorting out what his next venture will be after finishing at university  suggested that as the weather was so good (feels like it could be the last day of summer!!) we should take advantage and head to the Vardre, as he hasn't done that walk yet. The walk entails following the coastal footpath to
 Deganwy, then heading up through the village to the base of the Vardre.......................
Oh  dear started this blog a while ago but I'll continue it because it does show some super views of the area

Sight seeing boat heading to the head of the estuary

View across to the marina in Conwy

View up river towards Conwy

Top of the Vadra Conwy bridge in the background

Looking in the other direction towards The Great Orme  and Llandudno

                                                                                                                                                                               
Definitely a walk worth doing. One I'll be recommending to my guests