Has the sun disappeared, it certainly feels like it. Rain, drizzle, cold overcast days are never ending at the moment.

But life goes on, we are heading in the right direction of spring. The snowdrops are out, I have even seen some daffodils out on the canal bank so we’re getting there.

We went out for the morning the other week to Erddig national trust. We have been there before but not at this time of year when the gardens are totally different and less people. Always a bonus.

The naked trees and flower beds with just a glimpse of things to come made it interesting. I loved the lines of trees and the way the fruit trees have been trained to grow in a certain way against the wall. Easier to pick the fruits than off a tree. Below are some photos of the morning.

As we’re looking forward to the summer our thoughts turn to BBQ times and cold beers, sitting outside on the patio area and chilling in the sun.

We are trying to get our patio area sorted so I have some old chairs I am going to paint, I have already bought some Tiki statues, some pictures will hang on the wall, a potted plant here and there. My BBQ is just off this area with a table beside it to put all my cooked goods on. It’s all coming together ready for the grand opening. There is no set date just when it’s a bit warmer and dry.

I have been on a couple of good walks on the days when the rain was away, one was 7 miles, the other about 6 plus other walks in between the showers although one was wet after about a mile. But to be honest I don’t mind if it rains once I am out and about, it’s just no fun setting out in the rain. I would prefer it not to rain and the sun to be out but as in life we can’t have everything we want all the time.

We are both still looking for jobs but with no success yet. We have a stock of beans in the cupboard and some bread in the freezer ready for when the bank manager says no more money.

Nikki did start a job on a campsite just down the road but after three days left because she found out the company was in administration, some thing they conveniently forgot to tell her.

I continue to visit Bertie in his compound, but it upsets me seeing him there when he should be out on the road with someone enjoying him instead of stood there all cold. I will advertise him soon and hopefully someone nice will buy him and enjoy him.

The ironworks centre down the road have a Breakfast car meet every other month so I went off to the first one this year. The weather was not good so the turn out was poor but there was a couple of interesting cars there and as the weather improves so will the amount of cars going there.

I have applied for three jobs down there and actually spoke to one of the guys who hires the staff at the car meet but again no one has got back to me. It does annoy me when you go to the effort of trying to get a job, filling in endless forms etc and the employer can’t be bothered to just to email you back and say come and see me or sorry not this time.

Yesterday we actually sat out on the patio in the sun for an hour, Honest I am not lying. And the sky was blue. There had been a frost and on the small table I have a Guinness bar mat, it’s made of rubber and has dimples etc. The sort you see on any bar in town. When it rains it has water on it and because it had frozen I carefully removed the ice from the mat and like magic I had Iced Guinness. Simple things please simple minds.

The six nations rugby has started now so weekends are taken up drinking cool Guinness and shouting at the telly. England did well in their first game but not so good yesterday.

So that’s us up to date. Hopefully next time I post on here the sun will have been out more than once, the BBQ will have been fired up, we will have jobs and life will be great.