Saturday, October 12

Today we walked! It was a glorious day for it—sunny, almost cloudless, cool, and perfect for hiking. Too glorious to stay inside. 

Teresa and I headed out to the coastal path, hiking at a good pace from near Little Haven toward St. Bride’s. The first part of the path led through woods that cling to the steep slopes down to the bay. 

The trees soon thinned out, and we had miles of splendid views of the bay, changing at every turn in the path.

The two boats in the bay are large fishing trawlers.

You can see the villages of Little Haven and 

Broad Haven in the distance.

Teresa took her little rescue dog, Chico, along—he trotted at her heels all day, happy to be wherever she is. We have all fallen in love with Chico.

We lunched on the path—egg salad sandwiches, apples, thermoses of tea, and of course chocolate. But the best part of the lunch? The views. And the company.

Meanwhile, Ruth and Carol and Gayle took a shorter hike of their own on the coastal path, just past Broad Haven. They picked berries along the way, bringing back enough for a berry cobbler or fruit compote. Yum!

Here’s the result of their berry-picking:

After hot baths, Teresa treated us to glasses of sparkling Prosecco. Dinner was an amazing chicken salad and some of Carol’s wonderful soup. Then we gathered in the main reception room around the fireplace.

Note the blankets.

It is quite chilly here, and they don’t turn the central heating on until November!

So the fireplace is greatly appreciated.

After-dinner drinks included two kinds of “moonshine,” made in Manchester—potent liqueurs made from hazelnut and passionflower. Teresa treated us to a reading of a poem she wrote in the past few days, celebrating our walks on the coast and also my upcoming birthday. We shared our favorite poems and simply enjoyed our last night all together (Teresa leaves in the morning). What a wonderful day…thank you again, God, for grace and kindness and joy. And this amazing world.