Long Way Home . . .

There are times when living on the opposite side of the country to family can be a bit wearing - today's journey 'home' to Wales coincided with major roadworks on the M6 - on top of a half hour hold-up on the A14.  Some of it was predictable mind you . . .

Baking Hot

The latter part of July has been baking in more ways than one.  

From glorious sunshine at the top of Consti . . .

to firing up the pizza oven . . .

. . .  to a bonfire - disposing of the the last batch of garden debris.

Still hot enough to allows us to bake potatoes in the ashes the following day!

Sourdough Focaccia

So, time to try something new in the continuing adventure that is sourdough - this time, focaccia.  

Very splodgy dough, but it actually turned out really well - will be making this one again!

Birthday Visit #2

End of a week off - lots of gardening, hedge cutting, etc. done. - and then it was off to visit family for this year's birthday weekend . . .

Celebrated with a barbecue in the back garden - and one very interested little dog, when she wasn't hanging out in the shade under the foliage:

Great to be able to meet up with everyone again - and that the sun shone for us - good food too!

Jab No. 2

Back to Thomas Parry Library for my second Covid jab this afternoon.  Took the opportunity for a wander round the old campus - some areas are looking a little neglected - and there is now a small forest where my old halls (long gone) were located!

The interior of the Library also feels both strangely familiar and very different - here I'm sitting in an area where I used to browse through library publications, while waiting out my 15 minutes post-jab . . .

Anyway, job done - fully vaccinated - here's hoping it all leads to some sort of  return to normality before too much longer!

Into the Woods

A sunny Saturday saw us out and about taking in the views from Strata Florida (although the iconic arch now comes with a temporary monument to the Wales football team ahead of the slightly misnamed Euro 2020 championship!).

On our way home we stopped to take a wander round a small community woodland at Coed y Bont - although it isn't that old, it's already attracting a lot of wildlife, and the trees and grasses looked really lovely in the afternoon sunlight.  

It apparently also has dark sky status - so might be a place to return to on a clear night in the winter for a spot of stargazing.

Finally called at Black Covert near Trawsgoed - didn't have time then for a full walk, but found our way to the river and back through the woods.  Another spot to return to.

All of which made for a really peaceful afternoon in the woods, and a taster for future days out.

This and That

And we're into June already - the swallows and swifts are back with us, although I think this (as a nest) needs a bit more work!* 

 

We're still feeding the birds off and on, but it turns out the mice are also somehow finding their way up onto the bird feeders - although it must have been something of an acrobatic feat!

The sun has been shining, and we had a beautiful late afternoon walk around Cwm Rheidol.  

The nice weather means that locally the farmers have already been cutting the grass for silage - here it is drying in the late evening sunshine . . .

*After some high winds a week or so later it was duly abandoned.