The Holiday is Over...

I’ve had a lovely break from all social media while away, apart from checking emails now and then, but how quickly it draws me in again once I’m home! If anyone is still guessing where we went to on holiday from the photo of the castle and beach, I’ll now satisfy your curiosity.

We stayed at a lovely little coastal place in North Wales called Criccieth. We’ve been a few times before over the past thirty years and it’s like stepping back in time. Everything is just the same, from the castle and beach to the quaint little teashop, and a favourite restaurant on the high street. It’s somehow reassuring to know our way around and find everything as it should be.

Favourite Tea Shop

We returned to the very friendly guest house we had last stayed at five years ago. Julie at Glyn y Coed couldn’t be more welcoming and the guest house sits on the main road to Porthmadog, in easy walking distance from our favourite restaurant and a short walk down to the sea front. Criccieth also has the best fish and chip shop we’ve come across – fortunately we had a lovely sunny evening to sit on a bench overlooking that wide shingle shore and sea. It also has one of the famous Cadwaladers ice cream shops – what more we could we want on a summer’s evening!

As always, we took a ride on the steam train from Porthmadog. We’ve been on the famous Ffestiniog Railway so many times that we opted for the new section of the Welsh Highland Line up to one of the prettiest villages, Beddgelert in Snowdonia. Another day, we visited the Welsh Language Centre in a beautifully renovated forgotten Victorian quarry village in the middle of the hills, and on another we walked through the hilly streets at Harlech.

Beddgelert

Our final few days were spent at Bangor and surrounding area where we stayed with Simon’s sister and her husband. On a windy day, we walked along the wide promenade at Llandudno, on another we climbed up and down the old town walls at Conwy, interspersed with coffee and Bara Brith. That’s where we saw the smallest house in Britain – a tiny one up and down. It’s hard to believe the last owner was a fisherman over 6 feet tall!

Smallest House in Britain

Unfortunately, I've returned with a bad cold which I’m still trying to shake – no doubt partly due to fluctuating weather conditions, and I have some final dental treatment to face on Monday. But the restful holiday was well worth the driving distance and I have so many photos it’ll take me ages to sort them all.

One lovely piece of writing news is that my children’s story, Princess Poppy and the Little Dragon, is now published in the great collection of read-aloud Princess and Dragon stories for children, Spread your Wings, from US publisher Knowonder. Although the official release day is Monday 1^st July, it’s now available on Kindle UK and US.

Comprising 31 stories (one for each day of the month) by authors from various parts of the world, there’s a delightful illustration at the beginning of each story and some questions at the end of each. It works well on kindle if being read aloud, but the print book will be even better, as there’s a space for children to draw their own picture after the questions. The print version is available from the publisher, through Ingrams, and Createspace.

Now to catch up on everyone’s blog posts! It’s lovely to see some new followers on here while I was away – hello and a warm welcome to Reading and Writing.

Rosemary