Bird Watching

Took a trip out to Ynys-hir on Sunday, joined the RSPB, and had a nice (slightly muddy) walk in the wind and sun, round by the coast, through open meadows and along woodland paths.

Saw lots of canada geese (with chicks), a heron or two, and some mallards - put a pheasant to flight on our wanderings - and had a redstart pointed out to us by some slightly more dedicated birdwatchers!


While we didn't get any pictures of the birds at Ynys-hir,  back at home 'garage-cam' has had a busy couple of months or so . . .

 

We've seen flaring wings, formation flying, and of course the mid-air 'hangers' - only a couple where I'm not sure of the species - the swallows are already stepping up the action, so expect more dramatic swooping pictures in due course . . .

Garden Update

Haven't said much about the garden recently - so time for an update on progress:

14 / 15 April - started on veg plots - dug over the small plot, and planted out the broad beans we'd been given -  then the potatoes (some in pots).

23 April - dug over the large veg plot - planted more potatoes and the red onion sets.

12 / 13 May - prepped greenhouses - put weed control fabric down in the larger one and planted it up with main crop tomatoes (cherry varieties have gone into the smaller greenhouse).

Also planted up one of the raised beds with rather flimsy looking asparagus seedlings (pictured - not sure whether these will survive).


Courgettes and butternut squash have gone into the large veg plot.





That leaves us with aubergines and a few more tomato plants (for outside planting) which are still being brought on in the large greenhouse - and implementation of this year's new and improved 'pea' strategy (more to follow on this).

Dyfi Enduro

This weekend saw Martin take part in his first mountain bike endurance challenge - the Dyfi Enduro - 55km (34 miles)-ish of the "Dyfi forests best hidden trails" starting / finishing in Machynlleth.



Must admit I found the whole thing a little worrying:

(a) It's a looong way, and he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to do much in the way of training;

(b) The day before he was muttering about a dodgy knee;

(c) The FAQs offered this encouraging statement:
What if I fall off? - There will be at least one ambulance in the forest while the event is in progress, and one mobile medic on a quad bike, there will also be first aid staff at the event HQ. Local Hospitals are Machynlleth and Aberystwyth. If you see an injured rider, once you have stolen his food & tubes,  please inform the next event marshal you see.

It seems I was fussing unnecessarily however, as he made it back - 5 hours 13 minutes and 29 seconds later - in one piece, if a little muddy.

Although,the leaders (super-fit nutters pros) were coming in after only 2 hours 30 minutes!


His first reaction was 'not doing that again' - tales of hair-raising descents with deep ruts and huge puddles - plus the fact that one of the four people he'd set off with had taken a nasty tumble (dislocating a shoulder, breaking a finger, and cracking some ribs).

In retrospect of course he's now thinking about the next event, the 'room for improvement' on his 352nd place out of the 508 people who finished his route (the first 250 or so were sent round a slightly longer and even more arduous course) and the free flapjack (best ever apparently)!

North Wales Wanderings

Had a few days off at the end of April and managed a couple of days out revisiting National Trust properties up in North Wales.

Started with Erddig, where the 'family' had particular regard for their servants, recording their lives in portraits and verse - adds a really interesting dimension to the house.




Lovely gardens - some fantastic pink tulip beds while we were there - plus the geometric lines of 'pleached' ornamental trees, leading away from the house.

Also encountered this baby squirrel in a corner of the garden - desperately trying to hide from us under a garden bench!

Later in the week it was on to Penrhyn Castle - a little more modern than it looks (the current building dates from the early C19th despite its distinctly Norman appearance).

The interiors boast some really rather extravagant stonework (the family did own a lot of quarries), and the whole setting boasts some lovely views out to the North Wales coast:

Sunny Spring Sunday

A Sunny Sunday afternoon, prompted us to head out to our local National Trust property Llanerchaeron to check out the Spring gardens.  A newly opened bridge also led us over the river to some woodland walks - with lots of bluebells:






Spring was in further evidence in the farmyard:




There is something just sooo cute about piglets . . .

They'd also given over an area of the walled garden to a (very muddy) pig pen housing some more grown-up specimens, who were having a whale of a time snouting their way through the mud.



The ducklings on the lake were giving the piglets a run for their money in the cuteness stakes mind you . . .

Hall and Fen

An Easter of visiting family and days out - starting with a walk round the wetlands at Wicken Fen:

The nature reserve at Wicken includes woodlands and hedgerows (full of blossom) as well as the eponymous fen . . . 

Did spot some Muntjac Deer on our wanderings, but they didn't stay still long enough to get a good picture - in contrast the Highland cattle (part of the grazing management plan) posed beautifully . . .


Historic properties were not neglected - revisited Oxburgh Hall, including squeezing myself into the priest's hole (and squeezing myself back out again pretty darn quick - didn't like it in there!) - then called in to a smaller property, Benthall Hall in Shropshire, on the way home.

Winter to Summer (and back again?)

Frosty and wet:

Bring on the sunshine:

Unfortunately the hot weather didn't last and it's just made the rather colder April a little harder to come to terms with - beginning to wish we hadn't switched the rayburn off - and now some weather forecasters are predicting the coldest May for a 100 years!