There be dragons!

But first, last week's outing to Aberglasney.

The house had many good old days when it was owned by numerous rich people but by the twentieth century it was becoming too costly to maintain and first parts of the grounds were sold off and then eventually the house and its gardens were left to rot.

But in the 1990s a trust was set up and thanks to a rich benefactor the house and gardens were bought and are now run as a charitable trust. The gardens were first to be restored. Work is still being done on them and on the house, very little of the interior of which has been restored as yet.

It's been proven that the cloister garden seen in the photo above existed in Tudor times.

Sunken garden

Upper walled garden (the lower walled garden is given over to fruits and vegetables)

The yew hedge/tunnel dating from the eighteenth century

Refreshment report
No oldies' outing is complete without tea and cake in this case, welshcakes. Sadly disappointing. they were served warm but had been heated in a microwave so were vaguely soggy and sorry for themselves. They were served with a pat of butter, which is unusual, but I used it to try and improve the experience. It didn't.

But a very lovely setting for the cafe overlooking the pond.

So that was last week. 

There be dragons

This week it was off west again but this time to Kidwelly castle. Now I didn't even know that Kidwelly had a castle but it turned out to be a large and well preserved structure with loads of windy steps, rooms, cellars and towers to explore.

What I had forgotten but Husband reminded me was that this was at one time the home of my ancestors. (I must do a blog post about my illustrious past.)

So it was only fitting that I should sit on the ancestral throne (or possibly a carnival prop).

'You're being very brave,' Husband commented as I made my way up the third storey of winding narrow staircase. I don't do heights well. Or bends. Or dark closed-in spaces.

'I'm getting old,' I said. 'I have to do these things. Even if it is on my hands and knees.'

And there were dragons!

The mum is called Dwynwen and her babies are Dylan and Cariad. Apparently following the arrival of their offspring mum and dad had a falling out so Dewi, the dad, has stayed behind in their old home. He's not the only one who's had his nose put out of joint. Cedric, the resident Kidwelly dragon, has had to be locked away in a dungeon while the babies are here and and as you wander around the castle you can hear him roaring that he doesn't like it one little bit.

Leaving Kidwelly in search of our second tea break of the day we visited Burry Port. There's not a lot there.

But I did have a most delicious scone with jam and clotted cream in the Harbour Tea Room.

Not that I'm obsessed you understand but when we passed some road signs on the way Husband remarked on the sign pointing to Pembrey air field and I picked out the one pointing to Pembrey tea-room.

Actually Husband shouldn't have been surprised to see Pembrey air field. The last time we passed through we discovered that Amelia Earhart had landed in Burry Port in 1928 becoming the first woman to fly the Atlantic (although that time not as pilot). They'd meant to land the plane in Ireland but had missed in dense fog. 

Other little things

On the road to Burry Port we passed two warning signs telling us to be careful 'Otters crossing.'

If you were going to open an Indian restaurant in Burry Port what would you call it?

The Curry Port.

I went to a ceilidh and no-one would dance with me

Friday
Old Folks' Day Out, this time to Aberglasney, the garden that time forgot. (Just googled that phrase and apparently there are numerous gardens that time forgot. Time must be very careless.) More about that later.

In the evening there was a fund-raising ceilidh at Grandchildren's school. I love ceilidhs! But Husband wasn't feeling well so I went on my own, thinking my grandchildren would dance with me. Really I should have known better. I did manage one dance where I grabbed a small girl and made her promenade with me - until her friend turned up and she escaped. Big sigh. 

Saturday
Up early for British Lions' final test match against the New Zealand All Blacks where at one game all  in the series there was everything to play for. Tense and dramatic it lived up to the hype and ended in a draw leaving Lions' supporters relieved in a slightly anti-climactic way.

Then it was off to Surrey to visit the other Grandchildren and meet the new GrandDog, Toby, who's a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, or Toller for short. Toby is delightful and very good except still a bit of a nipper!

Sunday
GrandSon1's 6th birthday party in an amazing soft play centre. Spent much of the party chasing GrandSon1 and another little boy - who I hoped was an invitee and not a complete stranger - around the different levels. They quickly learned that if they crossed the wobbly bridge I wouldn't follow. It took me slightly longer to realise that if I just stood my ground they would eventually make their way back to me when I could roar and make tickling hands and they would disappear again.

Disappointing and surely unbelievable to read my FitBit at the end and discover I'd only done 3,000 steps but as Husband and Elder Son pointed out, 'Crawling doesn't count as steps.'

I am so proud of all my children and their cooking/baking abilities. GrandSon1 had two birthday cakes: the gruffalo on his birthday and superman for his party, both made by Elder Son.

And on Saturday Elder Son barbecued delicious short ribs and leg of lamb, and we returned home to pizza made by Younger Son.