Hello Everyone,

Where has the time gone this month?!! Apologies for not blogging from our self-catering cottages in Pembrokeshire but I have been so busy this month trying to get the garden into some sort of shape before the weather changes.

This morning is fabulous. Can’t believe it is the end of October and the clocks have gone back an hour.  I do hate the dark appearing around 5p.m. as it means the animals all have to be fed earlier and it makes for a shorter day. Still this morning the sun is shining, the sea is twinkling there is no wind and the leaves that are left on the trees, after the last 2 windy days, are a super colour and the berries and hips on the trees this year are so plentiful. My Holly trees and bushes are laden with bright red berries but I bet by Christmas the birds will have stripped them clean, just when I would have liked a few for the decorations!!. 

I have just mucked out the stables and looking down on to the sea, I have just seen 2 kayaks paddling along the bay. It is wonderfully calm on the water today, so I guess they will be able to go all along the coast. There are quite a growing number of them in Pembrokeshire now as the coastline is so spectacular and several places will hire them out (one being ‘ Walk on Water’  in Saundersfoot – 4 miles from Amroth) or guests can try out the Activity Centre at Morfa Bay near Pendine or Pembrokeshire Activity Centre near Pembroke Dock or go over to  West Wales Watersports in Dale or Newgale  if they want instructional hours, all fantastic areas to explore.

On Monday we went on a Trade day to Pemberton’s Chocolate factory, a few miles from here. It was so interesting and the hand-made chocolates they produce are absolutely delicious. When  you realise all the processes that the cocoa bean has to go through before the actual chocolate is produced, you realise why high class chocolates are so expensive, and I will definitely savour the truffles they produce with respect!!! It is certainly well worth a visit for our guests.

This week is 1/2 term and we are fully booked. There are lots of activities in the area this week. Colby Gardens has a Spooky Halloween trail in the woods and also a workshop making Halloween items from things that can be gathered. If this is like the workshop they did at the end of the summer, it will be excellent. There are also events at the Tudor Merchants House (National Trust) in Tenby, Carew Castle and Picton Castle and of course Folly Farm will have it’s traditional Find the Pumkin trails. So there is lots to do very close by for our visitors with children. However the weather is so mild and calm today, rock pooling or building castles on Amroth beach and going for a walk won’t cost a penny and will be fabulous today, so let’s hope the weather stays good for the week.

Our younger daughter and grandchildren are arriving on Tuesday and Mike, my husband, is taking the boys for a treat to Pembrokeshire Battlefield Live, a new Laser Combat attraction that is in it’s first year at Llanteg about 2 miles from here. I know the boys will love it and I hope to go with our grandaughter and little grandson to Manor House Wildlife Park, to see the Gibbon Monkey Steve who has been given a new home, having been kept in a concrete enclosure all his life. They have made him an island with trees to climb and improved his environment, but of course at present he is very nervous of the changes.

News from the Farm

All is well with the animals, I am pleased to report. The ponies still haven’t got their winter rugs on permenantly yet, although when it was very wet on one day last week, I did put them on. Their natural coats are now very thick so they are quite warm.

Wilson, our beautiful retriever, is still plodding on and the guests this week are delighted to see him again, as when they left last year, they wondered if he would still be with us. He seems quite happy, it’s just that he hasn’t got the energy to go further than the goats field now and prefers to watch life, the beach and Mike from the grass outside the house.

I am doing my best to dig over the veg. patch for the winter. We are still pulling delicious carrots and I have a little beetroot  and chard left. The tomatoes in the greenhouse were great this year and the last of the green ones I have made into chutney. Now the greenhouse is clear and ready to house all the fuschias, begonias and geraniums that I try to keep through the winter, so the next job will be to take all the pots apart, which is quite a big job as I think I have about  30 – 35 outside the self catering cottages and the barbeque area.

Well I must away. Lots to do as usual

Regards to you all

Ann (Amroth Cottages)