A Week in Wales

The cottage in Wales was something i was really looking forward too, but not after a very long flight from Los Angeles then a 4 hour drive to get here,i had been awake 34 hours by the time i crawled into a nice bed in the Welsh countryside.

We had a choice of two properties, The Derry which had a river view and a conservatory and The Coach House which we had initially booked, the Derry was smaller and was adapted for wheelchair access so it felt a little strange so we opted for our original choice, a former barn, this conversion was upside down being built on a hill the three bedrooms were in the basement with the lounge, kitchen and dining room on the first floor but both accessible by doors due to the fact they were built on a slope. Megan was very confused when she saw us going downstairs to bed and thought we were leaving her upstairs on her own,she soon got used to the layout and even worked out which cupboard her treats and food were stored and started scratching on the door like she does at home.

The Kitchen, lounge and dining room were all open plan with a pine staircase in the middle leading down to the bedrooms.

The Tv was small for the size of the room but not all visitors make it their first priority but when you have a dog who is almost 12 with spinal arthritis we can not go out walking all day as she gets uncomfortable, we took a stroll today on a small beach called Trearth today, it had stopped raining and the wind was blowing from the south making in warm and pleasant. After a drive back to the cottage on thin and winding roads we arrived back at the cottage where we will be in for the night, having fry-up with last nights sunday roast left overs.

Master Bedroom

New Quay, (two words and not Cornwall) is slightly north of Cardigan in the west coast  it was a lovely day, sunshine and fish and chips out of the paper, the only way to eat them!!

The Stairs down to the bedrooms

Ged and Megan on Tenby Beach, she loves the water.

Lyn and Linda arrive tomorrow from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, they are staying one night then heading back on Wednesday, i am hoping they understand that Megan cannot be walked out all day and happy to take a ride with us somewhere with a short stroll, maybe Tenby, not sure.
We were at the Vets today in Cardigan to get Megan more Rimadyl painkillers as we needed more and knew they would be cheaper than in the south where they rip us off with their ridiculous prices, at least 50% cheaper here, just wish i could get them here all the time but vet practices will only issue 3-4 prescriptions before they need to see the dog for an examination so its impossible to have the ordered and delivered over the telephone or internet.
Last time we rented a cottage it was for 5 nights this is for 7 nights and maybe too long, £539.00 for the week, a pay meter for the electric and have to settle up at the end of the week for the heating or oil we have used.
I am having withdrawal symptoms with the internet as there is limited if any access here, i can get on slightly from the garden but the walls are so thick it cuts out any signal from the outside, so my facebook account is being ignored as is any other site i frequented.
Really peed off that i left 200 cigarettes and a bottle of Vodka, not for me i might add, on the aircraft after the Los Angeles, they were for my neighbour, £35.00 wasted!
It is now 2300 on Monday night i am watching a programme on BBC4 all about Newcastle, i have learnt a lot, i knew all about Grays monument in Gray Street but i had no idea it was Earl Gray the tea man, it has all made me feel very homesick, i miss the North East so much, i still question will i want to go back to these memories when mum and dad are with me no more, will i want to see our family home with a strange car parked on the drive, will i want to walk the lovely walks i did with Megan when she is here no more, will i smile with these lovely memories or will i cry. My inner self would take me as far away as possible for my memories, i have hundreds in my mind i don't really need visual memories. I would move overseas, as i have said before i have no friends, no confidents and no one that i would have to say goodbye too, i am a lost soul in a huge world, i am spinning and don't know which direction to take, which road to drive down, which country to live in. They are now showing the bridges of the Tyne now, Mum and dad were in the first 100 people to walk over that when it opened with dads three sisters, they all have medals as proof, yet another memory i have and one that would be in the forefront of my mind should i walk over that bridge in teh future.
We have all made mistakes in our lives, relationshop faux pas,incredibly stupid job choices and looking back we could have done so much more, and now many of those opportunities are out of our grasp either due to age or medical problems. I have been really bad this week and had a few sweets and biscuits, Diabetes could kill me and i still take chances but most of the time i am very good and try to stick to a rigid healthy diet and seriously reduce my salt and sugar intake.
I have a poem someone gave me to read when you lose a pet, i just read it and was going to type it onto here but i ended up crying so much i could not face typing it out and having to see it again, very very very sad, a day i dread, i am looking at Megan now, she is all comfy, warm, safe and loved, she is snoring and is so content even though we are in a strange environment for her, as long as we are here she is happy, she keeps waking up and checking we are still here and have not left her then once she has made that check she flops back down into a deep deep sleep.
She has been having panting problems, for instance we left home at 2pm Saturday she panted all the way here and did not stop until 930pm that night, once she falls asleep it stops, i am convinced she is a little stressed with the journey and the strange house we are living in for one week that she becomes anxious, it is not a heat pant, definately a stress one! I once saw a vets documentary on tv and there was a dog rushed in with panting and breathing problems and it was in fact the owner that was causing it with her negative vibes and personal stresses which the dog had picked up on, after one hour away from her the dog was as calm as a cucumber!!
I will say goodnight to day Two in the cottage, off to bed soon.
Day five started early with Linda and Lyn up at stupid o clock ready for a day out, i was panicking as they are avid walkers and i knew Megan would not be able to walk the distances they could, i was pleased when we visited a small fishing village on the west Wales coast called New Quay, seperate words unlike the Newquay in Cornwall. It was very quaint, a small stone pier led out to a mountain on small boats and fishing vessels, one side of the pier was choppy waves while the wind protected side glistened like a small garden pond in the sunlight.
I have thoughts of mum and dad on their cruise starting on 26th September from Newcastle, it has a great itinerary but i am sure they will have some rough days at sea, They leave Newcastle, then Portland Dorset, St Peters Port in Guernsey, Milford Haven Wales ( close to us now) Dublin Ireland, Tobermory Scotland, Invergordon Scotland and back to Newcastle, it is the "Around the Uk" cruise, they are in cabin 9004, superior suite on The Boudicca Fred Olsen Cruise lines, they are Norwegian based but have four ships all beginning with the letter "B" Balmoral, Black Watch, Braemar and Boudicca, all very English, money on board is uk £ and drinks all very reasonably priced, the shore excursions can be very expensive so i put £200 on the cabin expenses, this is on top of the extra £800 i paid to get them a good cabin ( unknown to them).
Tomorrow will bring a drive to Tenby in the south and a leisurely stroll before heading back to the cottage, Friday a nice walk on Cardigan Bay beach and we leave Saturday to drive home. We are both off until 26th September, and our dog walker/sitter is on holiday that very same time we both go to work so looking at alternatives, Mum and dad on cruise so have to rule them out, now it's Ged's sisters to the rescue. I only wish i had better internet access here then i could check flight, train and coach prices as it would cost me £80 to pay dog walker for four full days of looking after Megsy Moo Pots!!