We often say at home, we have everything in Wales but the weather, if we had the weather we wouldn’t need to go anywhere else.

Well the last two weekends, we have had lovely weather so my husband and I have made the most of it and gone out to explore what is literally on our doorstep.

We are very lucky to live where we do, 20 miles from the coast, at the foot of the Cambrian mountains, a slightly longer trip for a good shopping centre but in a 2 hour drive you could be in Cardiff, Swansea or Shrewsbury, although there are some lovely independent local shops for clothing. Neither of us drive for more than 30 minutes to get to work and we have family close by too.

Having said all this, how true is it that we don’t value what we have, we don’t appreciate what is right in front of us, simply because we see it everyday?

Over the course of 5 days we visited Cenarth Falls, Snowdonia National Park, found two new wild swimming spots, went to the beach, a street food festival, trotting races and dined out in style. All with lovely weather, so much so it has felt like we were on holiday 😁.

First stop was Cenarth, went for a drive to see the falls and went to The Three Horseshoes for a pub lunch. Lovely meal, warm welcome, so warm we stayed there to watch Wales beat England in the rugby.

Next day we decided to head North for Barmouth. Lovely sunny day although a strong wind in the coast. The sea was surprisingly warm and the view from a paddle in the sea to look inland at Snowdonia national park was just incredible. A blue flag beach, plenty of independent cafes and eateries and donkeys on the beach ❤️.

From Barmouth we drove to Porthmadog for chips and an ice-cream, then headed back to Talyllyn. I had planned to have a swim here, but my word the lake was colder than the sea so I opted for coffee and cake instead….I will return, most likely armed with a wetsuit!

In my mind, when I started to do some swimming again, I thought that other people seeing me in a Swimming costume would motivate me to be a little slimmer….but no, not motivated me at all 🙈.

The following weekend is the August bank holiday, and can you believe it the weather was superb from Friday afternoon all through the weekend? I think God (or whoever you believe in) reckons that the UK have had enough of the politics and decided to, for once, give us good weather!!

We decided to stay local, out for a meal in Friday night to The Hungry Ram at Penuwch, lovely, no fuss food. Good ingredients, good service and a stunning view from the balcony.

Saturday, Llanddewi-Brefi hosted their local trotting races for the first time in 10 years and it was a great success. I’m not into betting, nor do I pretend to understand the races but it was a great local event, good weather, food done by The Teifi Toasties company and a few ciders had by all. Events like this are vital to local communities, and it looks good for future years.

Sunday we went to #FEAST in Aberaeron, a street food festival that is held regularly. What a choice of food, locally sourced, local businesses, meat, veg, fish, ice lolly and crepes…and more!

By Monday it is safe to say we were a little tired, but continued to be tourists at home and headed up the mountain road for a swim in the Abergwesyn National Park, the river Irfon. I couldn’t believe how many people were up there, it was great fun and the water was so refreshing. What a perfect way to end a long weekend in Wales.

As it was my husbands birthday, we finished Monday with some birthday cheesecake….yummy!

You here people say there is nothing to do in the countryside, how wrong can you be???

It is back to school week now, so I hope all teachers and pupils have had a chance to enjoy the summer break. I hope that you all think about what you can do with what is available on your own doorstep.

Thank you stopping by to read ❤️