Not bad for the tail end of summer, sat having lunch in a beer garden with the sun beating down as we chill for a few minutes before, deep intake of breath (drive 90 miles to the butchers, collect dry cleaning, get hair cut, wash 2 cars and a motorbike, clean the windows, wash all the clothes and then make tea).

As you can see it was gloriously hot by the way Mrs Fogg has a winter coat and scarf on.

Tomorrow, a chance to lay in past 5.30am before we start the housework and ironing.

Who said life’s not full of excitement? Still only 3 months and 2 days to Christmas.

So The Folks are off exploring the US, whilst we all try to make the most of the tail end of the ahem “British Summa”. So in celebration of all things colonial we decided to toast some Marshmellows on an open fire while we plan the Route 66 avec Harley.

After a nice chilled out weekend, we decided the best way for Mr Fogg not to kill himself by falling out of the tree trying to cut branches off, is for Mrs Fogg to lasso the branches, pull them down and saw them off. Only problem, Mrs Fogg couldn’t lasso to save her life, still attempt 15 was funny to watch.

It’s a week short of 5 years to the day since we left the beautiful, peaceful village of Llangynog and the most wonderful house that was Tyddyn yr Helyg.

On our last night in Llangynog (6th September 2007) we had sleeping bags on the cottage floor and no food at all, so came to eat at the New Inn. Believe me not much has changed. After we ate we took the longest and slowest walk back to the cottage with heavy hearts, knowing that we had been at the most idyllic location possible.

Here we are 5 years later, a little older, a lot wiser and a lot more travelled, yet still we pine for that amazing view each morning (if you ignore the damp, the mice and the power cuts). Stopping a couple of nights in a local B&B and looking at properties in the area.

We ventured where few have dared and walked past our wonderful home for exactly one year, where we ate heartily, enjoyed the scenery, had BBQs, sat and watched the world go by, had Mr Spike in his element and enjoyed the life we all dream of some
day.

Who knows we may end up there again, crossed fingers.

I’ll have a harf

Lunch at the Kylemore Pass Hotel, before heading back to the folks with a lovelly cut of Sirloin, glazed chops and sausages, sounds distinctly like a BBQ to me.

Yum.

After a nice day out and a lovely meal we sat in the conservatory area watching the bad weather hammer the windows, playing scrabble and whooping Mrs Fogg, when into reception comes something worse than a loud American, yes you guessed it “Colonial Old Boy and his put upon wifey”. The happy couple had by all accounts driven hundreds of miles from a wedding, decided not to stop for food so they could get to the Dolphin B&B, unaware their restaurant is only selective days of the week and today ain’t selected.

Wherever they have come from they (or rather “he”) didn’t like “it was crap” and you just know his evening ain’t gonna get much better. Wifey continually apologising for her husbands bad manners and demeanour just wanted to get some biscuits or something to snack on and proceeded to eat more or less the entire pack of whatever they had, stopping to offer him the last one, well talk about moan, groan and whinge. Next was the fact they need to stop somewhere in Dublin on Thursday, without making any bookings in advance of travelling at a time when 50,000 Americans are about to descend on the town for an American football match. cue the helpful B&B owner, since not only did the happy couple not have any bookings, they had no idea where to stay or anyway to book anything either. As the helpful owner tried to find them accommodation and call ahead for them, all she got was “well I don’t want to stop there, there’s no parking”, “I don’t like that one it’s too close to the centre”, “that’s no good, the price is too high”. Personally I would have suggested he invest in a phone or learn how to use computers himself! Still the fun continued, as he whittered, moaned and groaned loudly with wifey asking him to quiet down. The straw and camel situation came when they found out there is no tea or coffee facilities in the room and the owner has gawn to bed. Dawp!

Lucky us, the happy couple are next door and currently investigating the patio door, by sliding it open and slamming it closed, over and over. Now this is what makes Britain great and the worrying thing is this guy is probably a “captain of industry”

Ah what more could you want for your Hobbit second breakfast, but mussels and chips. As you can see, she of the hairy toes is tucking in quite nicely in preparation for walking every crap, sorry craft shop in Clifden, before doing a full loop around Cleggen and Bally Kineelly (sounds too much like Billy Connelly to me).

We drove miles on some horrendous roads, but had fun, eventually stopping at Oliver’s in Cleggen for lobster. However on entering the pub cum restaurant it was like a scene from the ole wild west where the music stopped and everyone stopped talking. The place had more of a feel of the Wheel Tappers than the supposed fine dining listed on Trip Advisor, so we headed back to Clifden and the Mitchell’s restaurant where we started the day.

All told very nice, we even told the B&B owner about her mice problem to which she looked genuinely horrified, discount please,

Next stop, back to the folks for the last couple of nights before we go back see our Shangri-La of Llangynog.