Conwy Honey Fair

Last Thursday was the annual Honey Fair in Conwy.The main street and square was closed off so local beekeepers could  set up stalls to sell their honey.  Other hive products, plants and food stalls were also set up. As the weather has not been kind to the insect world this summer I was a little worried that there would not be a lot of honey to buy. So I was really anxious to drive over to Conwy as early as possible to make sure I was able to buy in a good supply...... but owning a B&B does entail feeding your guests breakfast first!! As soon as the guests left the breakfast table I dashed off. I was actually suprised that there was so much honey for sale and such a variety.  In my haste I forgot my camera and it was a pity because the weather was lovely and there was such a nice selection of stalls. Last year I took my camera but it jammed after one photo! I don’t seem to be too lucky when it comes to recording this 700 year old event. Anyway I took a photo at home of all my buys. At least now I can offer my guest lovely local honey

A selection of honeys , local garlic and hand made face creams bought at Conwy Hoey fair

Windy Weather Brings Action to West Shore

Another lovely day. Although rather windy I was still able to go in swimming again but had to keep close to the rocky groyne in order to avoid the choppy sea. After, as I was sipping my  hot chocolate the 'Sporty Brigade' started to appear attracted by the wind and waves.

Getting everything laid out

Then pumping up the frame

 There is quite a lot of preparation before a kite surfer can set off. The kite frame is pumped up then the lines have to be unravelled and laid out on the sand

Kite ready......

Almost ready for take off but kite has to be turned over so it doesn't blow away while the lines are laid out along the sand

kite is launched and surfer has to get on his board

.......and then he's off

 It's amazing how fast the wind / kite surfer's grapevine works. By the end of the afternoon there were about 10 kite surfers and 4 or 5 wind surfers and still more were arriving, At least this is a quiet sport unlike the jet skiers! Ileft them to it as I had to rush back to get into 'land lady ' mode as I had guests arriving about 5pm

Another visitor to the garden

Suprisingly there were no Red Admirals in the garden today but we did have a different type of butterfly in the garden. A Tortoiseshell  butterfly, I think these are two different ones. The markings are slightly different.

Bees & Butterflies Finally Arrive at Lymehurst

Up until about 10 days ago the garden had been devoid of butterflies and bees. I'd heard on the radio that this was due to the changeable weather we've been having during this rather peculiar summer. The first insects had been killed off by a cold spell and then when the next lot ventured forth they were killed off by the incredibly heavy rain fall.Consequently flowers have not been pollinated so plants like tomatoes haven't flourished. Our pea crop was so poor that Rebecca & I actually divided up  equally what peas we could find! So it was a real treat each time we discovered a bulging pea pod.

 

 

 

 

 

 Well now our garden at Lymehurst is absolutely buzzing with bees. I have never seen so many at one time. The Red Admiral butterflies along with the Cabbage White have also arrived in great numbers. It's almost as though they are desperate to make up for lost time.When sitting in the garden I've had both bees and butterflies landing on me!

 

A mini break from the B & B

It seems to be quite a while since I've had no guests staying so it was really nice to have a bit of a lie in and of course not to cook breakfast.. I actually need a couple of days to catch up on all the ironing and other necessary jobs as well as the gardening.
 After spending all morning finally finishing all the back log of ironing I quickly prepared  a salad and then headed off to the beach on my bike, as the weather was so nice. High tide was at 1.30  so that fitted in perfectly.

No long trek down to the sea during which enthusiasm to swim can waver! Only a step or two from parking my bike and it's straight in.After two swims , lunch and a read of my book I felt like I'd been on holiday......just what I needed.

The garden flourishes in the "non" summer weather

Back garden at Lymehurst B&B

 Usually by this time of year the garden is well past it's best and looking rather sad but due to the regular rainfall this summer and intermittent sunny spells! certain plants have well and truly flourished. The lavenders and laveteria have been amazing.

The front garden at Lymehurst.

 

 

 We have also had lots of beautiful poppies.These Californian poppies look almost unreal as their colour is so vibrant. They self seed and add  a wonderful splash of colour

The purple poppies almost have an antiquey look about them.The brilliant thing is that they self seed and don't seem to mind  being moved around when in seedling form. I've had lots cropping up in the vegetable patch and have moved them to other parts of the garden. They have very strong stems so have survived all the strong winds without staking unlike the red poppies.

Poppies in Lymehurst B&B's garden

So during this summer there have been plus and minus points. I have not had to water the garden but have needed to cut the lawn more frequently. The plants have remained bushy and healthy looking for much longer. The veg patch hasn't been too successful but at least we have had some courgettes to eat.Slugs have eaten lots of my flower & Veg seedlings even though I tried to plant them out when reasonably large. I became so incensed that I was  driven to using slug pellets! Oh the joys of gardening.

3 Days of Summer

Enjoying the evening sun

Not done a Blog for quite a while as we have been busy even though the weather has not been brilliant. The practicalities of keeping the B & B in order and looking after guests obviously takes priority  so it was really nice to have some real summery weather just in time for the arrival of Rebecca who had travelled up from Brighton on her birthday. We took a picnic tea down to West Shore which was lovely as we were able to swim and then enjoy our tea  while lapping up the sun and enjoying the spectacular views across the sea to the mountains. I have to say that it would be very difficult to get a better view and to think we have it on our doorstep how fortunate are we?!

 Looking up the estuary towards Conwy Marina

 By the time I decided to take photos  most people had headed home so the beach was almost empty even though the sun was still shining. (Obviously need to clean my camera lens as there are some awful marks across the photos.......not very professional!!)

The view towards Anglesey

Looking towards Conwy Mountain