Bits and Bobs.

No sun at all today. We had a dry morning but by the afternoon the rain had set in getting heavier as the day progressed.

We were up in good time to head off to Mach to meet our friends in the library only to discover that it's not until next week. We must have been rushing last time and I forgot to write down the date of our next meet up, something I've always done up till now. It's usually every two weeks unless one of us has other commitments. At least I was able to take a large box of books and some coats to the charity shop and then came out with a brand new insulated bag in a purple pattern (of course) for £2. I've just seen the exact same one on eBay for £12.

 

Returning home I carried on with sorting out in the bedroom and managed to go through a whole chest of drawers. They're a lot tidier now and I've even got another bag of clothes to take to the charity shop. Afterwards I abandoned the bedroom and did some organising of the random photos on my PC. I download daily from my camera into dated files and keep a record in a diary but I also save photos I find on-line. These two seem quite appropriate when Spring cleaning.

And now for a few more photos from yesterday -

I hadn't found out much about the hillfort until I began researching the memorial stone that was sitting in the middle of the hillfort. It turns out Emyr Wyn Davies farmed Llety Evan Hen farm (with his son) in which the hillfort stands. (Emyr is buried in the church yard at Bont Goch) Then I found out that the hillfort is also known as Llety Evan/Ifan Hen (Old Evan's place) and also Hen Gaer (old fort). Using those names I found more photos of the iron age hillfort but nothing more about the standing stone or the large stones in the centre of the hillfort. Another interesting fact found when going through parish records were the 36 Elizabeth Davies many of whom lived in the neighbouring village. At first I thought this might be linked to the popularity of the Queen but some of the Elizabeths were from the 1800s. Just a popular name I guess.

Emyr Wyn Davies 1942 - 2022.

Llety Evan Hen is an organic farm and the meat is sold through Rattray's the butchers in Aber where we buy locally produced meat. Another neat link. All the sheep looked very well cared for with plenty of salt licks available and fodder beet from the neighbouring field for them to eat.

Pen Y Castell Hillfort.

After last night's deluge it was a pleasant surprise to find the day bright and sunny. But to let us know that it is still winter a bitterly cold easterly wind blew all day long.

It was a good day for going out for a walk in the hills. Today we headed to Pen Y Castell (castle top) hillfort. I have not been able to find out much about this hillfort and my search was made harder by the fact that there are a number of hillforts with the same name.

It was a short drive to Bont Goch where the thirteen of us plus a dog squeezed into three cars for an even shorter drive along a potholed track.

Today's walk was characterised by very muddy and slippery conditions due to all the recent wet weather and of course the wind was biting.

Dotted around were wind turbines making use of the windy conditions. These ones aren't too harsh on the eye but the latest ones that are due to be put up near Nant Y Moch  are three times the height and will have considerable detrimental impact on the natural environment.

Eventually we came in sight of the hillfort that was our destination. Although lower than the neighbouring ridges its isolated position with steep drops on the south and west sides in particular would have made it more defensible. From where we stood on the track it looked as though the eastern flank of the summit had been dug away to create a steeper approach.

We could see the inner ramparts with the opening for the main gate clearly visible.

Just out of sight in the above photo a small menhir stood in splendid isolation. I have been unable to find out much about the hillfort or the standing stone but somebody who seems to have an interest in such things suggests there is a significance to the position of the stone which faces the gateway (can be seen as a break in the rampart on the skyline above the walkers.) 

Standing within the ramparts we had clear views in all directions and could just make out the memorial on the site of Pen Dinas, the hillfort near Aber. So beacons could have been seen.

The plan had been to have our lunch break sitting in the hillfort but it was so cold with the icy wind that we decided to find a more sheltered spot to sit and enjoy our food. The photo above shows some of my fellow walkers departing through the main gate opening.

Standing in the gate opening the outer rampart on the left, ditch and inner rampart on the right could be seen clearly. Amazing to be looking at something constructed 3,000 years ago.

Walking through the surrounding fields we found a pile of rocks facing into the sun. There we sheltered from the wind to eat our lunch.

On our way back we had a good view of the hillfort looking up from the north western side. 

Windy.

It has been very windy today with just the occasional spit of rain though it looks like rain is about to set in any minute now. 

In the morning I washed the Rohan flag and hung it only the line. Not quite Meduseld but almost (with a bit of imagination).

Later we had a decent rainbow (with a hint of a double) dipping down into the sea. What intrigues me about the photo is the white streak rising up from Snowdonia. Possibly just a mark on the camera lens though I don't see it on any other of the photos. It is roughly where military planes do the  Mach Loop so maybe it was where one was pulling up steeply.

And of course the spring cleaning continues. I've moved on to the bedroom and how long it will take depends on the amount of turfing out I do. There are a couple of wooden chests and a drawer that could do with sorting out but I may give up half-way through. Today I've been wiping, waxing and hoovering behind cupboards. I also got round to hanging up the last few small pictures. (Let's ignore the half dozen extra holes that weren't quite positioned right thankfully hidden behind the pictures.)

For a while now the unopened snowdrops have been hanging like miniature lights above the red sedum but at last some are beginning to open.

Full Speed Ahead.

Considering the Met Office forecast said there would be a 90-95% chance of rain today the weather has been very kind to me today.

It was cold but dry as I sat outside waiting for dawn and then it rained while I was eating breakfast indoors. More light rain as I drove to the stables but the only time I was caught by the rain was just before I left town for home.

I had my lovely Tex again for the lesson. It took me a while to locate him as he wasn't in the stalls with the other horses needed for the day. I eventually found him in the pony barn, built last year, where the ponies are tied up around the walls.

There were six of us in the lesson and for once we did lots of cantering, or tried to. Our instructions were to canter half circles across the school whenever there was a safe space to do so. It took a few attempts on my part with Tex trotting faster and faster with me laughing my head off instead of cantering but eventually we got there. That was on the left rein but when we all changed direction it was much harder to get the horses into canter. (I suspect horses are stiffer on that side because they are always led from the left.) In the end I put both reins in one hand, which stopped me from pulling on the bit and used the other to give Tex a smack on his rump with my whip. Quite cowboy style as I cantered round one handed. After doing that twice Tex cantered nicely whenever I asked him. 

 

I didn't have any need to go to the industrial estate so skipped my usual browse of Hahav but went straight to Morrison's then town and finally Lidl.

At home I put away the towels that had been airing, threw the washing in the machine and emptied and wiped the small cupboard in the inner hall. I'm chickening out of emptying the large cupboard but will have another look to see if any more of the contents can go.

After that I cut up and stewed a large bag of apples as we have finally come to the end of the stewed apples made from neighbours' windfalls. And then I got to rest.

The coastguard guys were out training on the cliff again today. I bet they were glad it wasn't raining all the time.

Wet.

It has rained all day with the occasional spell of lighter rain.

Although I've just walked down to the shop for some milk by the sound of the rain drumming on the roof of my study I will need to drive to disco aerobics tonight. 

Choir last night was good. Reluctant as I am to go out in the evening once I'm there I enjoy the singing and the people are really nice too.

I had some fun when we began learning a new song. For once the bass section had a catchy tune and rhythm (though for the life of me I can't recall it now). The sopranos had just one note and the altos and tenors each had two notes for the whole song. When the suggestion was made for an extra person or two to join the bass section of three I jumped at the chance. A whole tune instead of two notes? Two of the guys were singing low bass and one an octave higher so I joined in with the higher version. The very last line of the song was a bit too high for me so I'll try and drop down an octave for that one next time we sing it.    

Today my spring cleaning efforts moved to the bathroom. Peter keeps it clean (I do the second toilet aka the blue loo) so I thought all I had to do was turf out the cupboards and give them a wipe down then do the mirrors. I couldn't detect any mustiness in the spare towels but they are being aired anyway. 

What I wasn't expecting was having to scrub the lino. Not Peter's fault as he can't get down on his knees and just mops the floor. But textured non-slip lino collects dirt in the little dips and really needs scrubbing. Safety is more important than ease of cleaning so I shall be scrubbing the floor every now and again.

I did my cleaning around our three hour Welsh class, a bit before, some in the break and the rest after. In class we're doing a lot of chatting (in Welsh) in break-out rooms so I guess we are making progress.

Back To Town.

This morning the fierce easterly wind howled and whistled around the rooftops as it sent the clouds scudding across the grey sky. The day has been wet with the occasional bright spell and a few rainbows.

This morning they were pouring cement to create new foundations where the falling down house had been demolished. On the left of the photo, behind the sea wall is a pile of grey rocks, mostly granite, that had been the original foundations of the house. No doubt the houses on either side were built in the same manner which is why they are slowing leaning back away from the sea.

Today I had to go into town for a dental check-up. Five minutes and 'That will be £75.' Grrr. No NHS dentists for anyone in Ceredigion unless you happened to be lucky enough to be on a dentist's list before they stopped taking new patients.

Walking back from the dentist I saw that  the Climate Shop has a new and larger premises. They want to encourage buying second-hand to conserve the world's resources and the money they make goes to planting trees. Inside everything is priced in 'trees', 5 trees = £1.

The whole place is laid out really well. Everything is in sections and there were side rooms with clothing, soft furnishings, books, pictures and diy stuff. Somebody has excellent organisational skills and a good design eye. 

They even had a café area where you could get hot drinks, cakes and snacks. It would be a nice place to have a cuppa if you were spending a day in town. 

The main room was filled with tables covered in all sorts of bric a brac if you like that kind of thing.

What caught my eye was somebody's collection of empty coffee jars on made to measure shelves. They contained all sorts of diy 'bits'. Everything from wheels and curtain rings to nails and screws. The sign above read 'Please help yourself and make a donation at the till or bring us all the bits from your kitchen drawer.' Don't we all have a kitchen drawer or equivalent where all the bits and bobs are kept?

Back home I carried on with the spring cleaning by washing everything that had been displayed on top of the bookcase and on the side shelves. Also washed was the collection of random objects I keep on the small windowsill. 

This rainbow seemed to have one end coming down in the sea right in front of the house with the other end coming down in the village. I went out in the road to get a better photo but couldn't quite both ends in frame even though I was half-way up my neighbour's drive.

I'll be out again this evening driving to Tal Y Bont for choir practice. Too much driving this week.

Green (and red)

Squint hard or enlarge the photo and you should see a hint of green and red light coming through the gap under the clouds.

Yesterday evening I was casually browsing FB when I saw that people were reporting seeing the northern lights. One person in North Devon and another in North Wales posted photos of skies coloured bright green and red. That had been posted in the last 15 minutes so of course I rushed out to be met with almost total cloud cover. Out to sea there was a lighter area under the cloudbank and in the hope that it wasn't just a low lying cloud I took some photos. And yes my camera picked up a hint of colour so now I can say I have seen the northern lights. Maybe one day I'll get a better view.

This morning I could tell that bad weather was on the way. Sure enough we soon had light showers which gradually settled into what is now heavy rain.

 

Since this was the only day I would be free to go to the zoo I went anyway. When I got there I found one of the other volunteers wondering how the wolf dogs had dark green shading along their sides. We looked around the enclosure but the fence posts and the structures are all made of plain wood. The green algae that grows in damp conditions was a much lighter shade of green so that couldn't have been the cause. 

Then the reason came to light. There has been some refurbishment going on in the other part of their large enclosure and Dean, the owner had painted one wall dark green. He thought the paint was dry when he let the wolf-dogs back into that section but Cosmo, followed by Zeus gave the painted wall a good sniff followed by the pair of them rubbing their sides along the painted wall. The wolf part of their nature means that they are far too timid to be touched let alone brushed so they will have to stay green until the rain washes then clean again.

In the two hours I was there before rain stopped play I tidied up the gravel patch by the wolf-dogs. It was mostly picking up leaves and cones but there were enough weed seedlings coming through (all gone now) to make it worth having spent time there. It gave me a chance to see which of the plants I put in there are thriving and where I can top up the planting with things I've been growing at home. I'll wait until nearer Spring to do that.

At home I emptied the large bookcase, cleaned the shelves, dusted the books and put them all back. Looking at the piles of books on the floor I though they were a good visual illustration of the way I feel life is if I'm not organised. I would have to pick my way through things, spend ages looking for a particular item and live in chaos. As I get older I much prefer to know what I'm doing and know where everything is. (Don't mention the mess in the garage.)

It was raining heavily in the evening so I drove to the hall for Pilates. It was a tough session with plenty of work for our glutes to help prevent hip pain.