Holiday at Forge Cottage - June 2024 - Puffins, seals, orchids, water lilies and so much more

Having a relative to stay prompted me to have a break and spend time enjoying my favourite places in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, all of which include wildlife or gardens. In no particular order:

National Botanic Gardens - this has altered in the past few years with increased areas of interest, having only a few hours available, we decided to walk to the waterfalls, this walk included a large lake and meandering flowing streams and through woodland until we came to them, we sat and enjoyed the scenery and walked back to the main area via the meadows, again stopping by a large metal bull, to wonder at the incredible views of the countryside. Next was a visit to the glass domed building full of exotic flowers and trees before stopping for lunch. After this a visit to the apothecary and historical medical equipment and medications, followed by the Japanese garden and finally to the sales area. A alstroemeria - blushing bride and some dill are now in our new beds in the garden.

Skomer Puffin Cruise - Having enjoyed a previous five hour stay on Skomer we decided to join a one and a half hour boat ride looking for puffins, we were enthralled to see hundreds of them in the sea and flying near the boat, with their effective but funny leg movements which enhance their flying ability. The best time to see puffins there are May and June but lesser numbers can be seen in the summer months. 

Laugharne - Last year I read that Laugharne had 15 types of wild orchids. Trevor an orchid judge in the North West of England has previously stayed and if anyone can spark an enthusiasm in these flowers, he is just the person. In my spare time I garden in a rented field not too far from our home and the Cwtch at Forge Cottage, I always walk slowly there as I often see many different plants and insects, at this time of the year there are often orchids, a marsh orchid was spotted. I asked a local person where is best to find others and was given directions and to my delight there was a colony of orchids and further afield a different species too. I didn't find the one a guest, a few weeks before had found, but 4 down, 11 to go - roll on next year as wild orchids are only around for short periods of time in the spring.

Bosherston Lily Ponds - this spectacular man made ginormous lake was teeming with opened Lillies in the sunshine. We ambled to the beach and the magnificent views from the coastal path including church rock, which as its named looks like a church. This National Trust outdoor area is breath taking and whilst we were unlucky again not to see an otter we saw herons (not our favourite bird as they've eaten many of fish in our pond)

Narberth and Japanese cafe gem in Lampeter Velfry - Whilst Narberth is usually heaving with tourists when it rains and people don't want to go to the beach, going in the sun is most enjoyable. The independent shops draw you inside with special window displays, Queens hall had a craft exhibition full of objects made by very talented people - there's usually something on here, whether its talks, sales, music or exhibitions. Having eaten in many of the place in Narberth, Plum Vanilla and the Angel being our favourites we decided to go further afield and stop at whatever was the next place selling food on our way. A road detour resulted in us being in Lampeter Velfry the village with a vineyard and Lampeter house which regularly host outdoor operas and plays. The Tempest was being performed the night of our visit, but the cafe was what we were after. This turned out to be an incredibly clean Japanese tea room and cafe. There was only one choice of meal with three variations cooked in view of the tables. It was delicious I used chopsticks and my relative a knife and fork. After the food there was a great choice of teas, I opted for a mint tea made with fresh leaves in a clear pot. Definitely a place I'd visit again.

Fellingteg - this is my favourite national garden scheme open garden about ten miles from our home. It is run by a couple and its level of design and changes over the seasons and years is remarkable. It feels as if you are walking into different gardens with its many themed areas, sculptures and attention to detail. Majestic borders, woodland areas, orchids, gravel garden, vegetable garden, resulted in my aunt repeatedly saying amazing. We stopped for coffee and swapped chairs four times so we could see different angles of this superb place. A £6 entry fee all goes to charity making the visit even better.

Caldey and St Margarets Island Boat Trip - At 81 my aunt was in her element on this trip, as we were off to see seals and that is exactly what we saw, about 12 of them at close range whilst the boat slowed down near one cave, the journey to the cove was exhilarating and we were splashed with water but saw many birds, cormorants, gulls, guillemots and kittiwakes

My next relative is coming to stay in August for a couple of days, so watch out for our exploits further afield in St Davids and surrounding areas, but what a great week we had in June