We studied weather apps, we mapped out places to go, and weighed up pros and cons of each place, and settled on Barmouth!! To the beach it is…

So alarm clock set, we are off on a road trip. Packed enough stuff for breakfast, dinner and hope to eat tea out, you have to eat fish and chips at the beach!!

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I had #Wytchwood beer, a new beach shelter and a lovely book to keep me occupied while Mr Moon went paddle boarding.

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We managed to get fish and chips for us both, and sneak back to the beach to watch the sun go down and leave us with a dramatic colourful sky. It felt so glorious to bask, and relax in the sunshine, to watch people, dogs and children all enjoy the simplest pleasures in life. Shattered we find a place to sleep, and I fell asleep so quickly. More adventures for another day to come.

Last Sunny Day

To celebrate Lammas, or Lughnasdh. This is a pagan sabbat, the first harvest of three. We decided to get out and feel the sun, cleanse our energies with the sea, and touch some earth, ie sand.

We decided on a beach day, to soak up the last day of sunshine, as rain and thunder is forecast for the next week now.

The drive was glorious, seeing all the fields of cut hay, and super tall corn ready for Autumn. Makes me excited for Mabon the autumn equinox and of course Samhain Halloween to everyone else.

We had sandwiches to keep us going along the way, Crisps and Beer once we had arrived. Lovely to have ice cold beer on a hot beach.

New location for us Aberdfyi, the beach was nicely quiet, and perfect to spend the day at.

We swam in the super warm and totally clear waters, it was actually really nice on my sore back. It was nice to get back into water again. The local teens were jumping off the harbour, having so much fun!! Loved watching.

Really small seaside town, only one chippie!! And the queue was so long, so we ended our day with pot noodles as the sun went down.

What an epic day, I never expected to be able to squeeze in one more beachy day, so I am very grateful for it.

Bloods next day, so I’m sure we will be exhausted but oh so worth it.

First Beach Visit 2020

As the whole lockdown from March has prevented unnecessary travel, and Wales hadn’t opened it’s borders to the English, we’ve not visited any beaches this year until now.

At long last there is enough relaxation in restrictions so we can pop to the nearest beach, which is Barmouth.

After parking the car (car park had plenty of spaces) we were pleased to find the public loos open. We decided the beach wasn’t really an option, as it was windy, a bit chilly.

We opted to explore, and found new things to discover instead. We’ve done some small walks before, but we had an eye on a bench to find, knowing it would give stunning views.

And what views we were blessed with.

The day was glorious, hot while walking, as you soon get a sweat on!! The blue skies and dramatic coastline was heavenly.

Really saw a different side to Barmouth this year, it was peaceful and visually amazing, the mountains and the sea, they are spoilt here.

Obviously we got the obligatory fish and chips, the queue was tiny. And even an ice cream (you can’t visit a beach without buying them) ate them too fast for photos though!

Enjoyed the beach as a walk rather than sunbathing on, wished the paddle board had got out, but the wind was too iffy.

Plenty of peace to be found, the gentle lapping waves, and sun setting, it’s as good as being aboard.

Was sad to see Old Man Barmouth all on his face though 😭

Game of Crones by Jay Raven #BlogBookTour

It’s been a while since I last did one, life and family have been super busy so I simply had no opportunity to join in.

However I recently went on holiday, which meant I had a perfect time to read and collect myself. This time I stepped out of my comfort zone, and opted for a genre I don’t traditionally read at all.

So I chose this as the title shouted out at me, and seeing as it’s the witches Manon Sabbat as I write this, it’s perfect that it’s about Witches, and Wild women.

Forget Happily Ever After – the most delicious fairy tales end in darkness and despair!

Welcome to a world of cruelty, hexes and treachery, where malicious magic rules and you are but a single necromancer’s spell away from eternal terror.

From malevolent medieval magicians to Wild West witches, this spellbinding volume by a master of the macabre is packed with frightening fables guaranteed to send a supernatural chill down your spine.

Amongst the haunting historical horror stories, you’ll meet:

• A half-crazed girl locked up in a high security mental hospital by those accusing her of causing a devastating earthquake.

• An impoverished French noblewoman who’ll stop at nothing to marry her daughter to a wealthy prince – even if it means dabbling with a dangerous love potion.

• The hated public executioner Pandora whose fabled box has already killed 55 men – without leaving a trace of violence on their bodies.

• Wily witch Merta who uses all her wits and trickery to turn the tables on the corrupt Mayor who wants her burnt alive at the stake.

• A faery mage without conscience or pity with the perfect plan to make Mankind turn on itself – and all it takes is one innocent baby.

• A drought-stricken frontier town that seeks magical help from the local Indian tribe to make it rain, but learns it comes at a terrible cost.

• The doubt-ridden King, plagued by nightmares of his death, who consults an enchantress to learn the most of hidden of secrets: just when the Grim Reaper will claim him.

• A Mid Western widow who is convinced her homesteading husband is still alive, held hostage by a sorceress.

If you’re thrilled by exciting dark fantasy tales, with cunning twists, edge-of -the seat tension and unexpected shivers, you’ll love Game of Crones. Pick it up today. If you dare…

Jay Raven Author Bio

Dark fantasy author Jay Raven blames a misspent childhood watching Hammer Horror films for his lifelong obsession with history, woodland, horse-drawn carriages and visiting castles – preferably during the hours of daylight! All of which might explain why he now lives in a creepy old house perched atop a steep hill on the edge of a 500 acre forest teeming with bats.

A writer for 23 years, Birmingham-based Jay was a journalist before leaving behind the clamour of headlines and deadlines to chase his dream of capturing monsters and releasing them into the world of fiction. During that time his work has been widely published in horror and fantasy anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic.

As well as reinventing traditional Gothic horror for a modern audience, he writes alterative history urban fantasies – usually with supernatural themes. He loves to cross genres and bring unexpected elements – if not elementals – to the party.

He has two regrets in life – that he hasn’t had a chance to visit Transylvania yet, and that his house isn’t haunted. But long suffering wife Liz has threatened to do something about the latter…

My Review

I was tad confused at first as I hadn’t realised it was a collection of short stories, so it led to some frustration as some stories were ended of cliff hangers and I yearned for more, to discover what happened next.

But after that initial disappointment I soon got over it, as each one was a perfect length for the beachy visits we did, nothing was too complex so that it fried your brain while you’re meant to be relaxing, I found them easier to read on holiday than a classic novel.

A new author to me and I found the style easy to digest and understand, I would be hunting out this author for more gothic tales and bumps in the night.

Some of the characters had me howling with their cunning Wiley ways, I wish I knew some of them!! Crones are the wise ones, it pays to listen carefully to them.

Bad back and hippie woes!

This week I launched my Tragically hip tees on https://www.bonfire.com/to-all-those-tragically-hip/ and you too can own one, raise awareness for all us hippies, click Here

It has 10 days until campagin ends and then they ship out 15th August. So that was my Monday, feeling marginally better back wise, ice really being my friend for pain relief.

Tuesday I managed to go down to one crutch, feeling a lot less broken and I’ve started to actually move a bit more, I’m scared of it becoming too stiff.

Wednesday I did some gentle stretches, I found ones for back pain, I did the minimum as it was all about movement, not actually exercise.

Simple and gentle was all I was after, and now I’m finally back onto my walking stick, huge improvement since Sunday. Last of the nice days tomorrow so we decided on an impromptu beach visit. I obviously felt better in my head.

Thursday we popped to Barmouth, a journey I don’t usually mind, though this time it certainly was harder and more painful indeed. But sun was glorious, water was heavenly and to swim was a good giggle. Only time my back didn’t hurt was in the sea!! My head wanted to do loads, but in truth just a quick swim and stroll to the ice cream shop did me in. Had to keep sitting down, not that the seats are comfy.

I practically slept all the way home, the day really took it out of me, way more than I imagined too. But I’m glad we did it, a sunny day at the beach is always worth it.

Phew then Friday it was my birthday, a lunar eclipse, blood moon and mercury in retrograde. I was bodily broken, still feeling the effects from the beach visit. But we’ve had a gentle day, with my parents, then a movie #spidermanhomecoming as I’m a Spidey fan. And pink gin, what could be better??

Sadly too cloudy for us, Thor God of thunder came to visit so we had no view of this spectacular celestial event, once in a century event. Gutted.

Weekend away with family

Day 9, 10, 11, 12 post #intra-articular steroid hip injection, and day 2,3,4,5 for post steroid hand injection. Both have been tested greatly in our weekend adventures.

Sunny Barmouth has been glorious this holiday!! We loved swimming in the sea, I got to have my nephew’s swimming with me, and such giggles we had all round.

The cottage was amazing, it was 300yrs old,the history and tales it could tell. All higgledy piggledy and full of character.

Walked along beaches, which is still hugely problematic hip and mobility wise. Hip is 80% better than before the steroid, so it’s not fully pain free. Hand however is absolutely fabulous. Aches yes at the end of the day, but I expected that. Beach walks take A LOT out of me, and pain levels soon rise quickly.

So now we are home, it’s time to rest for a while, to settle the hip down and see how long it stays angry for. But I’m definitely impressed with the hand pain which had totally crippled me up until that steroid injection. I wonder how long it will last for?