Well that was a big walk yesterday! If we add a bit of unrecorded ‘playing on beaches’, we walked about 9 miles, a lot of which were of Pembrokeshire National Trust “up and down” coastline. For someone with no knees, wearing sandals (no socks), it was a biggie!
We’re both feeling it a little today (sore hips) so decided to ‘take the day off’ and just potter locally. Toby was also supportive of this decision as he’s fed up of long drives.
After getting up slowly and showering lazily, I made us brunch – grilled sausages and bacon made up into butties with brown sauce. The fresh fruit juice helped cut through the grease but also made it feel healthier.
Today’s weather at the start of the day seemed also to be supportive of a potter, insomuch as it was very overcast & muggy. The rain was forecast to ease towards the back end of the day, but by 1pm it was lashing down. Not a lot of incentive to leave the conservatory!
By 2pm rain stopped play! Toby wouldn’t even play with fluffy pig or squeaky pig, it was that bad! It had gotten worse, with visibility dropping significantly.
Only one thing to do! Fall asleep in the chair for an hour and snore. I copied Toby and did the same.
So when I woke, I had an idea and I knew Jane would like the surprise! I hassled and hustled Jane & Toby into the van and we set off 10 minutes down the road!
The look on Jane’s face, as I turned left into The Old Farmhouse Brewery & Taproom near St. David’s suggested that my idea was misguided. Jane & Toby decided to stay in the van, and wait for the rain to move through. It was certainly getting a bit brighter.
I went in and was welcomed by Mark, the owner, building restorer, farmer and Brewer. What a really nice fella! We talked through his journey & I chipped in with what little I know about commercial brewing.
After a lengthy chat, a tour of the brewery setup and an open invite up to Manchester, I bought the taster pack of 6 beers but unfortunately the Sugarkelp-infused Lager was out of stock. “The Shed” in Porthgain had taken all his stock.
We bid our farewell & headed the 5 minutes in to the smallest City, St David’s. We parked up, stalled a bit so we could get the 2h parking ticket, and gave Toby his tea.
Once done we wandered in to Town where Jane ticked off a habitual visit to “Window On Wales” gift shop, and then down and then around the Cathedral.
Don’t take offence St. David’s but as much as the outside of the Cathedral, its setting and the ruins around are impressive, a quick glance inside was somewhat underwhelming. Not sure what I expected but my comment in a virtual guest book would be “needs more stained glass & pimping up inside”.
We began wandering back up to the “City Centre” and to our meal booking for this evening. Table for two plus dog at ‘Grain’, a courtyard restaurant serving pizza and craft beer from the BlueStone Brewery.
The service, food and beer were fabulous! After a starter of Manchego cheese, honey and pickles, I had the Ultracomida (Italian tomatoes, mozzarella, fior di latte mozzarella, serrano ham, chorizo, piquillo peppers, portobello mushrooms, manchego) and Jane went for the very controversial Hawaii (Italian tomatoes, mozzarella, serrano ham, fresh pineapple, oregano).
A pizza box was required, and I suspect I’ll be having ham & pineapple for my breakfast tomorrow.
As we left, Toby flounced in to one of the outside booths to get a drink of water. We apologised to the family for the intrusion and headed around the back of the booth to leave. Just as the young girl put her hand down between the tarp cover and the bench to stoke Toby, he stopped and had a wee. Thankfully he didn’t warm her hand.
We then headed up towards the Tourist Info Cente only for us all to get another dose of PTSD from the “St David’s 2022 Incident” (see link for horrifying details – NSFW).
We thought we may get recognised. We headed back to the van, our nerve had gone.
We decided that as the sun had now come out, we would head down to Porthgain and find out more about whether The Shed was dog-friendly and if so, was there any availability for our last night on Friday.
Jane waited with Toby outside and I went in to enquire. My delight as they confirmed that the covered area outside is dog friendly and during the day even the ground floor area is as well was a bonus! Then another bonus – they had a table for us on Friday at 6pm! I think the lady that took the booking said that other than name, email, telephone all I needed to secure the booking was to purchase their fridge stock of the Kelp-infused Lager from The Old Farmhouse Brewery & Taproom. What a coincidence! The only beer I’d been unable to buy at the Brewery. I agreed and cleared out their stock from the thankfully small fridge.
I went outside and told Jane the good news! I also mentioned it was dog friendly and we had a table for 2 plus dog on Friday at 6pm!
We headed home & as I write this up, Toby is asleep, Jane is crocheting & I’m supping ale, writing a blog and taking & editing photos for said blog!
Oh, the weather is now lovely this evening!
Catch you tomorrow folks!