A few days in Powys

The kids and I have had a lovely few days in mid Wales.  We stayed in a holiday cottage with Laura, Moss and Fable, a few minutes away from where they now live.

All the kids were so excited about the house!  They ran in and checked out the bedrooms before Laura and I got through the front door.  Fred and Betsy ended up in the biggest bedroom, complete with TV and four poster bed!

The house was up in the hills behind Newtown, on the edge of farm fields.  The views were beautiful, and the neighbours were a gorgeous herd of young bullocks and their mothers.

It was a great house for hide and seek, with lots of bedrooms and wardrobes and nooks to hide in.  Fred and Moss were delighted to spend lots of time together.  There was a huge solid fuel burner and we had a fire every evening.  We played lots of games of Guess Who. The kids all loved the tank of tropical fish in the kitchen.

Tuesday was spent travelling and settling into the swing of being together.  On Wednesday we planned to drive to the south coast.  On the way it rained and rained, so we stopped at Machynlleth and went to a delicious cafe and talked over our options.  Fred wasn't feeling that well, so we decided to ditch the coast, and go to the nearby Centre for Alternative Technology instead.

It was still raining, but the kids enjoyed it anyway!

In the funicular railway carriage, powered by water and gravity.

The view from the top of the railway.

Looking down the track from the top.

One of the trees had some clay faces and creatures, like the ones the kids made last week .

A decorated web.

Looking at tomatoes in a greenhouse.

Saying 'tomatoes' rather than 'cheese'!

Beautiful grapevines.

In the mole hill.  Kinda scary!

Electric motorbike.

House made from straw bales.

Playground fun.

Have they spotted the zombie?

A decomposing bird (probably not a deliberate part of the CAT, but interesting nonetheless).

Running to power light.

Pouring!

Powering a 20 watt light bulb.

I have no idea what this is!

Thankfully the next day was dry.  We went to Montgomery Castle.  It's high up on a hill (a *very* steep climb with a 4 year old on your shoulders).  It was built in the 13th century by Henry III, and demolished by order of Parliament after the English Civil War.

The kids loved climbing the walls, sliding down the steep moat, and climbing back up again. The views were beautiful.

We spent the afternoon making paper aeroplanes and origami animals and watching films. Lovely.  It was such a good few days.