Was in Boots earlier, in a northern English town, and these guys were in there: all white, 30-40s. Judging by the (cropped out) logos on their hi-vis, they work on a nearby construction site.

They were discussing skincare at the Clinique display. One guy swore by their 'for Men' products but admitted they were pricey. They got into a long discussion in the main skincare aisle, over the pros & cons of various products. No bants, no shit talking, just wholesome advice.

Hurrah for supportive men!

Took down the last of our tomato plants in pots*: 5kg of red ones for the freezer (mostly San Marzano for future sauce), another ~2.5kg that need to ripen a bit more, 1.5kg of green for chutney, and about 1kg of cherry ones for eating fresh.

Our total haul this summer has been at least 25kg, which isn't bad considering we got to a rather late start on the San Marz.

* I've left some volunteers growing in the ground. Might get another kg off them before the first frost.

#gardening #GrowYourOwn

(More me-specific context. I already know English (native) and French (to B2 level) and have dabbled in a few others (most notable Spanish at school, but that was 30 years ago). I'm primarily interested in this as an academic exercise to stop my aging brain from turning to mush. My hope would be to eventually read novels etc in that language, rather than use it for travelling or the like. I'm totally up for a non-Latin script.)

Hey #LanguageLearning Mastodon, or anyone with an interest in languages.

I'd like to learn a new language - but I'm only really interested in learning how to read & write in that language (at least to start with, for a long time). I've realised that struggling with speaking & listening has turned me off languages in the past, so thought why not focus on what I love about them instead.

Any thoughts on what's a fun/interesting written language to learn? And any non-Duo apps/sites to learn on?

"Antiquarian crafts and hobbies" aka the Mastodon trending hashtag list.

Loved walking amongst the spruce (?) in this bit of the Forest of Ae - it made me feel really small 😄

#FootpathFriday

#SilentSunday

I've spent the evening buying yarn for yet another crochet blanket and a big stack of second hand books. Hibernation time is approaching, isn't it?

Hey #stationery lovers,

who are making nice lined A5-ish notebooks these days? Or where should I look for a range?

I generally like Moleskines - the paper quality, the spacing of the ruled lines, and the sturdy-but-not-too-hard covers - but I fancy a change.

Washed a load of tea towels & kitchen cloths today, and it perfectly fitted on the ceiling airer - no excess space, nothing left over. Some days, it's the little things, right?

Took our veg steamer pans up to the top of a hill. The standing stone is modern (this century) but it felt like a fitting place all the same.

Was lovely to see how many people were also out, enjoying the evening.

#eclipse

Did a silly thing.

Everyone, meet Moowena.

To preemptively answer your questions:

1) The place where @siaronj works was having a clear-out and needed to get rid of it.
2) We hired a big van and did a 6 hour round-trip to north Wales.
3) We have no idea 🤣
4) We have absolutely no idea 🤣 🤣 🤣

#SilentSunday

Made some very cute friends on today's walk.

We've been saying hello from afar since they were fresh little things, but today, they were keen to say hi. Rosey stood back for ages, not very interested, then when the sheep seemed keen to meet her, came forward for some sniffing.

The gate and its shadows got in the way for photos but not for tickling.

#sheep #Defaidodon

(Cont again) we
- swam at Cei Bach, went back to Aber for lunch again, paddled (human)/swam (dog) at the waterfall at Furnace, bought a weird vintage medical teaching aid, then stayed in the hills above Dolgellau.
- and finally, did the Torrent Walk near Dolgellau, then swam & picniced for a few hours at Llangower beach on Bala/Llyn Tegid before heading home.

Didn't do as much as usual - lots of campsite lounging in the shade of the van - but still had a great trip. Can't wait to go back.

(Cont) we
- walked at St David's Head from Whitesands, ate bugs for lunch, then walked around St Davids and out to St Nons Chapel & Caerfai beach, before overnighting on the other side of St Brides Bay.
- walked at Lawrenny, then swam at Broad Haven South beach, next to our campsite.
- swam again at that beach before heading north again to west of Fishguard for a walk to Abermawr & Aberbach, then back along the coast to stay at New Quay.

For my own future memory and anyone else interested, we:
- walked at Nercwys Forest & Bala/Llyn Tegid on the journey down, then stayed at a fab coastal site above Tywyn.
- walked at Dyfi Furnace, lunch at Aberystwyth (Little Devils cafe, yum!), swam at Tan-y-Bwlch, then stayed a short walk from Aberaeron.
- walked at the Welsh Wildlife Centre and picniced riverside in Cilgerran, swam at the Blue Lagoon, and stayed at a fun site in Trefin.

The only coastal walks we managed were two at St Davids. While everywhere else was 28°C, it was only 22 there - and as we reached St David's Head, a mist came in too -- it was almost chilly! It was stunning though and gave us a taste of what we have to look forward to on the cliffs when we repeat the trip in cooler weather.

Had a fab trip to mid & south #Wales last week. The original plan had been to start at Tywyn and work our way around the coast to Cardiff - but then we saw a forecast of 32°C in the city for when we were scheduled to be there... nope!

We also had to scrap our plans for doing 2 or 3 shortish coastal/cliff top walks every day but that actually turned out nicely - we ended up doing lots of woodland walks and seeing different places that we'd planned. And we swam a lot, which was a lot of fun.

#SilentSunday