Back In Black

Well just a little sooty maybe . . .

Way back when, we had a feathered visitor to the wood burning stove, subsequently dealt with by stuffing the top of the chimney pot with chicken wire.  Then in March, we had something a bit more professional fitted as part of the chimney pot replacement.

Fast forward to today, and we noticed this little one fluttering about inside the stove.  It appears the mesh round the chimney pot isn't quite as effective as we'd hoped, and blue tits at least can still squeeze their way in . . .

Bird evacuation procedures were duly instigated (basically closing the door and all the curtains and opening the french windows wide to make the escape route obvious).  

However, on opening the stove door to freedom, our slightly sooty feathered friend, wasn't that quick on the uptake . . .

. . . he managed to spend a good few minutes exploring the curtain poles, light fittings, etc. before finally exiting the building.  But at least he didn't leave us any 'gifts' along the way . . .

Will have to keep a closer eye on the stove over the winter now - and maybe just get that cowl checked again to make sure there aren't any issues.

Hello Summer :)

After a somewhat dismal July and August, September has arrived with the sun, and some actual summery weather . . . 

Rali Ceredigion was back in town, there was a tall ship out in the bay, and the beaches have been packed (just as the lifeguard service shuts down!).

Even at sunset people have still been out and about enjoying the water and the almost Mediterranean evening heat . . .

We even fired up our new wood pellet pizza oven one evening - we bought this back at the start of the summer, but have only got to use it a couple of times so far.

It does make a very nice sourdough pizza - and Martin roasted off some of his chilli harvest while we were about it - hopefully there will be more opportunities to experiment over the next couple of months.

Aside from the lovely weather, we've both been suffering with heavy colds (not Covid - we did test!), so haven't felt quite as inclined to enjoy the sunshine as much as we would have otherwise.  Fingers crossed, for a sunny Autumn!

Po-tay-toes

Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... lovely big golden chips . . .

(Samwise Gamgee)

Think we might be doing all that as it's been a good potato harvest this year - at any rate we won't go hungry!

In addition to the main crop, we also found some stray pink fir apples from last year, and planted those up too.

They have also done quite well, although they do produce some rather  strange looking specimens!

Filling the Freezer

This month, I has mostly been filling the freezer!

Tomato sauce, vegetable lasagne, savoury vegetable crumble, sourdough flatbreads, etc., etc.  Will be running out of space soon, and we haven't started on the marrows yet!

And . . . Back to Normality

With our Welsh courses finally finished, it's 'back to normal' life - whatever that is!

I spent a couple of days or so across country with family, helping out with this and that, and returning with a boot full of wood from a tree my parents had cut down in the back garden.  Couldn't take it all in one trip, but will be back for more - should provide some firewood for next year!

 

While I was away Martin took advantage of some nice-ish weather to get out and about, including a fishing trip with his Dad, and a walk up to the University's Penglais solar farm - where the panels are now up and running.  

For the most part though the weather has been a tad unsettled, and with it being mid-school holidays we've no plans to go anywhere or do anything much other than keeping up with the garden, etc. - so it will probably be a quiet month.  

Lots of time to practice our Welsh!

Harvest Time

Early August and we're beginning to harvest stuff from the garden - including the annual crop of 'only took my eye off them for a moment' marrows.

But we also have tomatoes from the greenhouse and sluggery, potatoes from the garden, and the apples won't be long now either.

Time to get cooking . . .

Ar y Campws

This month we have mostly been  . . . Dysgu Cymraeg!

Earlier this year we both signed up for the intensive Welsh summer course at Aberystwyth University - Martin at the Canolradd (Intermediate) level and me at Sylfaen (Foundation) - and for the last three weeks we've been on campus every day, Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm.

It's been a bit strange being back at the university (after all these years), and surprisingly tiring spending all day in a classroom (although we do get lots of breaks).

On the whole though we've both enjoyed the experience - we've met new people, improved our Welsh, and enthused ourselves to carry on when the courses finish (still a week to go!).

We've also had some encounters with the local wildlife - notably this bold fellow, who nearly gave me a heart attack when he jumped out of the bin I was putting my biscuit wrapper in!

At least the University is trying to discourage the seagulls - spotted this hawk being 'flown' around campus one day, and it certainly got them excited, although there was no evidence that they'd actually de-camped the next day.

Anyway, that hopefully explains the lack of activity on the blogging front this month - back to normality from the end of next week.