Wednesday, 6 August 2025

A Cottage by the Sea

 


It's only two weeks into our summer break and already I'm noticing signs of the seasons beginning to shift. The garden flowers are fading, blackberries are ripening in the hedgerows, and the elderberries won't be far behind. I try to avert my gaze, but there's no denying we'll be marching into late summer very soon. It also seems to be passing a lot quicker, this summer, simply because I've planned so much for us to do. Since my working hours increased earlier in the year, I don't have as much available free time in an evening, or on the weekends, which is the reason I've tried to squeeze as much as I can into these six weeks. Whether or not this is a good idea remains to be seen.

Way back in early spring, I'd asked Lily where she might like to go on holiday this summer. She had a little think about it, and decided on Wales. Her reasoning was that she'd been to England, Scotland and Ireland, but had never been to Wales. Immediately (after quickly reminding her of the difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), I began searching online for somewhere that we could stay. And luckily, after establishing whether we wanted to be close to a lake or by the sea, I managed to find somewhere that looked perfect for us. And you can probably guess from the title of this post, that it was right by the shore. It was the most delightful little stone built cottage, with a lovely walled garden.

We had the best time there. The cottage was beautiful, and the owner, who lived right next door, was incredibly kind, and had the sweetest dog - always a bonus :)


On our first morning we visited South Stack Lighthouse. To reach the lighthouse we needed to climb down 400 steps, before crossing a small footbridge, which you can just about see in the above photograph. The view from the cliffs was incredible. It was so beautiful there, and although we were slightly disappointed to have missed the puffins - they leave in July - we did get to see some seals. 








Our next visit was to Newborough Forest and Gwddw Llanddwyn. It was the most gorgeous spot to spend the afternoon. Pine trees, sand dunes, and quiet little bays. I was in heaven.


Then, of course, we had to stop off here. I don't even attempt to pronounce it. 


The following morning we set off early to visit Aber Falls. Beautiful! We ate our picnic lunch right alongside...





...before spending the afternoon in Conwy. We enjoyed a walk on the town walls, as well as some ice cream :)





We spent our final day there at Porthdinllaen. It is owned by the National Trust, and to reach the village we needed to walk along the beach from Morfa Nefyn. The soft sand and pebble beaches are stunning, and of course, the further we walked, the quieter they became. I'd taken my binoculars, so we spent ages watching the seals from the headland. 



That same evening, after walking along the shore, I watched the sunset from the bench behind the cottage. Rather pleased that Lily chose to stay in a cottage by the sea.

Back soon. 
J. X

13 comments:

  1. That looks like the perfect holiday. Wales is definitely on our list to visit again, there's so much to see and do there. We had a weekend in North Wales and visited some of the places in your post, Mick fancies exploring further south next time but it's a much longer drive so we'd definitely have to go for longer than a weekend if we did that.

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    1. It was really lovely, Jo. We were only away for 4 nights, but it felt like longer - in a good way :) I would love to go back another time, as there is so much to explore. Xx

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  2. Sounds an idyllic place for a rest and relax your photos are again stunning

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  3. Absolutely beautiful-what a sweet mother/daughter getaway. Sigh - again, on my wish list. I think I was born in the wrong place and perhaps at the wrong time! I follow a lady who has a dairy farm in Wales - it looks like such a lovely spot, and I’ve tried to study the language as my family history shows a few relatives there - very difficult (at least for me!).

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  4. We lived in Wales for 50 years but moved to Cheshire in England for family reasons which have now changed.We soooooo regret moving here.Can we face moving again to go back?Never say never!!

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  5. Sounds like a lovely holiday and I think Lily chose the perfect spot to visit. :)

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  6. Wow! Your photos are absolutely stunning Jules! So many that are positively frame worthy. It sure sounds like it was a wonderful summer vacation spot. Wales is definitely on my bucket list as my heritage is traced back there and had great or great great grandparents (can't remember?) come from there. My Mom's maiden name is Flint. :) I'm feeling the same late summer vibes here as well. Garden beginning to fade a bit. The geese have been back on the bay in abundance and next month we will see them working on their "practice runs". Lots of signs of the season to come very soon.
    xoxo

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  7. It looks and sounds a lovely holiday, your photographs were very nice to see.
    Enjoy the rest of the summer holidays, the days do pass-by so quickly.

    All the best Jan

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  8. You chose a beautiful part of Wales to visit, and it sounds like you had a wonderful time, I love the Conwy area and looking forwards to going that way again for a few days very soon.

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  9. How wonderful your photos are. All sights familiar to me. So many beautiful places on Anglesey and along the coast of North Wales. Your cottage sounds wonderful just the right place to stay:)

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  10. It sounds idyllic. And the good weather was definitely a bonus

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  11. Gorgeous photos, Jules! It looks like the weather was kind, too. I spent my early childhoodsummers in Penbrokeshire but aftre the glorious summer of 1976 my Mum decided we'd never get a repeat of that idylic heat and sunshine and every summer holiday afterwards was spent in Devon! xxx

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  12. That sounds idyllic. We spent our honeymoon a little way inland from there, some 40 years ago!

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