Halloween Disco

I *tried* to get them to dress up but they wanted to go as they were... :-)

Foodie Fiftieth

There was a certain foodie theme to elements of my much-documented fiftieth, not least thanks to the "Fabulous Feast of Fish" course at the Nick Nairn Cook School from the collected Millars, plus of course the Spicery subscription from the Humphreys.

The Cook School course was a one-day course on location in deepest Stirlingshire. We learned how to shuck scallops and fillet sea bass, before going on to pan-fry our sea bass for lunch and make a monkfish stew thing for another-lunch-just-after-lunch. It was great fun, and I learned a whole load of cheffy stuff beyond cooking tips for fish. I really should put my new skills into practice sometime...

The Spicery thing is a novel idea where each month you get a curry recipe and all the fancy spices needed in the post. We started with a simple chicken Jalfrezi but moved swiftly onto a Sri Lankan Black Chicken Curry, which was easily one of the tastiest curries we've ever had. What made it better on this occasion was that the preparation turned into a real family event, with Louis chopping garlic and Holly preparing the dips. An excellent family afternoon to be repeated!

Messing About In Boats

On our last day in Anglesey, Holly and I pottered around on the boat pond. We rowed around the island a couple of times, and then stood up on the seats (there's probably a nautical name for them but I don't know it) and rocked the boat until we thought it might tip over.

It didn't.

For lunch, we went to local culinary hotspot The Marram Grass Café, and very nice it was too. We took a team photo or two in the adjoining caravan park, and headed our separate ways, a fitting conclusion to a lovely week.

Zipping Over Red Wharf Bay

Well what do you know? Another glorious blue sky autumnal day! Today's lunch venue was The Ship Inn in Red Wharf Bay on the north-ish bit of Anglesey, facing out to sea with the Isle of Man presumably somewhere out in the distance.

Today's birthday-related action activity was a high-speed zip line across a disused (and water-filled) slate quarry. There's a lot of these around this area, and I suppose zipping across them is as good a use of them as anything. It was good fun though, the views from the top were a little intimidating (if a little cloudy by this point) but in fact the whole thing was so safety-conscious and over-engineered that there was no real sense of peril. Which is probably just as well.

There is, perhaps inevitably, a video:

After all that excitement, for a celebratory dinner we all descended on Dylan's, the finest pizzeria in Menai Bridge (it says here). It was indeed very nice, Louis and I drew pictures of each other but I didn't take a picture of mine.

Bouncing Below Beaumaris

Beaumaris is (as might be expected from the name) a beautiful wee town by the sea (or more accurately the Menai Strait I suppose). We popped in for a nice cup of something in the - miraculously consistent and unseasonable - sunshine, then for a wander round the castle.

Later on, we drove to Blaenau Ffestiniog (cool name) for Bounce Below, a strange but oddly exhilarating series of suspended bouncy nets in a disused mine. It's more fun than it sounds, although Louis did take a while to warm up to the idea of being suspended metres above a rocky floor in a cavern several hundred metres underground. Odd, that.

To everyone's relief, you're not allowed to take pictures in the caverns themselves...

In The Welsh Mountains

A day in the high country with more fabulous October weather. Mick and I formed a splinter group and walked up Snowdon from Pen-y-Pass via the Miner's Track and a rather nice ridge to Y Lliwedd. It was a proper hike and felt properly remote - we even met a weird goaty creature - until we turned the final corner towards the summit and - behold! - a load of tourists in impractical clothing, carrying small dogs and waddling in and out of the massive café. It's a bit of a culture shock so pausing only briefly to see the train arrive from Llanberis, we high-tailed it to the Pyg Track for the descent and relative peace and quiet.

The rest of the family, meanwhile, took the Great Orme tramway out of Llandudno for more spectacular views of sea, sky and sunshine. We rounded off day with drinkies by a splendid sunset and a bonfire once darkness had fallen.

Newborough Beach

In the October Week, we had a trip to Anglesey with the Lodges to celebrate John's 70th birthday (with a little bit of my 50th thrown in for good measure). We stayed at Glan Morfa, a wee group of holiday cottages run by pals of Kate & Mick's. Also present was Matty the dog, in what would turn out to be the last time the kiddies ever saw him before he died.

Day one, and we headed to the local beach at Newborough. The weather was incredible for October, but in any weather this would be a spectacular spot. It's a big curved bay with a dune system covered with conifers, and views across what I guess is the mouth of the Menai Strait to Snowdonia. At one end of the beach there's a rocky wee peninsula called Ynys Llanddwyn, you can walk right out to the point. So we did.

Back at Glan Morfa, one of the attractions on the premises is a small lake with a rowing boat. John Lodge, throwing caution to the wind and working on the premise that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission, took us out for a wee circuit of the lake. A cracking start to the week.

If That's His Real Name...

We took the kiddies to Tony Macaroni. I can't remember why but Arthur's Seat and a game of Clash of Clans seem also to be involved.