A Walk At Ynyslas.

I woke early to a fine morning after not a very good night's sleep. The tops of my thighs were so sore which I can only put down to riding a broader horse and maybe having my stirrups at a different length. It was the level of pain that I was aware of while asleep and though I kept telling myself to get up to rub on some Voltarol and take a painkiller I didn't quite get round to it until  Peter brought me a cup of tea. His suggestion was also to move to disperse the lactic acid and I did feel a lot better after I'd done 20 deep squats. PS Just been looking at past posts and see that I rode Cody on a 4 hour ride and commented how comfortable his trot was. 

It was such a nice day that we went for a walk at Ynyslas. 

From the car park we 

walked along the boardwalk through the sand dunes,

and out onto the beach. There were a fair number of people out exercising children, dogs and even a couple of ponies but of course I've carefully edited them out of my photos.

Well camouflaged amongst the stones was a small group of sanderlings. 

This time we headed northwards up the beach

and then walked around the end of the sand dunes along the estuary and back to the car park.

There are very few shells on the beach in Borth but here alongside the river there was a veritable carpet of shells. I did keep my eyes open for any unexploded ordnance though perhaps kicking at any suspicious objects wasn't the best idea. They were just stones with bits of metal stuck to them but it's best to be on the safe side. 

When we got home I sprayed all the window frames in the garage with woodworm killer after first brushing off all the cobwebs and hopefully any spiders. Then I went round and asked our neighbour if it was okay to step through her garden to spray the outside of the frames. I must have looked a sight with my old clothes and a proper facemask which I couldn't remove as my gloved hands were soaked in the nasty chemicals. She told me that they will be cutting back a bush that is covering the second window in about a month and I'm welcome to come and paint the windows after that. The windows are in an even worse state than I thought and I may replace some of the wood in my usual have-a-go fashion before painting the frames.

Rali Ceredigion.

I woke to the sound of rain this morning which fortunately had stopped by the time (6.30) I was ready to sit outside.

Watching a dunnock that had come down for the seeds I'd put out made me realise how different is the behaviour of each species that comes here for breakfast. The dunnock is so very wary. Even when it makes it down on to the paving stones it stays perfectly still for quite a while making sure there is no danger before darting forward to snatch a seed. The slightest movement such as the wind blowing the tall grasses and it scuttles away to either hide behind a planter or back up into the raised beds.

The sparrows on the other hand spend a moment checking things out from the safety of the hedge and then down they come like a group of chattering urchins sorting through the seeds for the ones they like the best. 

And then there are the woodpigeons. They only come one at a time but I have seen two of them on the roof and boy are they confident. If I come down the steps all they do is hide around the corner until I walk past. And then every seed is hoovered up even if I'm sitting on the wall of the raised beds with my coffee.

At the stables this morning I found that I was going to be riding Cody while L had Betsi. Cody is a much bigger horse, I would say several sizes larger than Betsi and while he goes well and is used for more advanced dressage lessons. I found him quite stompy today. Mainly I think because he is more powerful it was harder on my back to relax into his movement. Betsi on the other hand feels lighter and has more of a floaty action. Not that it isn't good for me to ride different horses but given a choice I'd pick Betsi.

 

While at the stables I found out that the main road between Morrison's and town (up to the police station) was closed due to Rali Ceredigion this weekend. (Rally racing on public roads). I'd seen that some of the side roads were going to be closed but hadn't realised the full extent of the closures. 

As I don't get that much from Morrison's I decided to go straight into town from the industrial estate using the Llanbadarn road and get all my shopping at Lidl.

Although there didn't seem to be many people in town perhaps because the school holidays are over or else people were keeping away but the traffic was very heavy with long queues at roundabouts and traffic lights. It took me 5 minutes just to turn out of the Matalan carpark. 

One of my town stops was M&S to collect a sports top/vest ? (I never know what to call these things) but unfortunately it was too big and I returned it straight away. They'd only had the larger size and I took a chance as its a loose fit top but nope, it was way too big.

Report on my cooking venture - Peter was only too happy to eat something I'd cooked and said it was delicious but for my part it didn't seem any different to eating an omelette, albeit a very nice one with leeks, mushrooms cheese etc along with (s)mashed potatoes. I think that mixing in an egg, butter and seasoning into the potatoes would have made a difference. One good thing is that I made plenty, enough for tonight and as Peter is out tomorrow night (an RNLI function that I chose not to go to) my supper tomorrow as well.

Windy.

We had good drying weather today, warm and windy sometimes sunny too. I got several loads of washing  out on the line for the first time in days. The bedding is already ironed and back on the bed while the towels are finishing off in the utility room.

Working in the garage I spotted another urgent job. Woodworm in the old window frames. I know these windows are high up but you would have thought someone might have noticed the (considerable) damage before now. Especially the builders who replaced the whole roof! Imagine if the woodworm got into the roof timbers. As it is parts of the wooden frames are completely eaten away. I used what woodworm killer we had on the most obviously affected wood and will buy more, and some wood filler tomorrow.

That done I loaded up the car with unusable wood for the dump and some other stuff. I don't put the bags of garden waste in until the morning as I don't fancy insects loose in the car.

My final job (apart from the ironing) was to tidy up the hedges in the front garden. The end hedge was looking a bit bushy and there were a number of stragglers sticking out of the side hedge. Half the work when hedge cutting is carrying everything to the end of the garden; extension cables, stepladder, electric trimmer, secateurs, brush and pan and bags. But at least I don't have to cut the whole thing by hand.

I popped down to the shop earlier to get some mushrooms and a leek for tonight's supper. It's something I've cobbled together based of a recipe I saw on-line. A quiche with a smashed potato base instead of pastry (I'm not a fan of pastry). On top of the potatoes I've put braised onions, mushrooms and sliced leek and some fresh tomatoes and grated cheese and poured beaten egg over the top. Garlic and oregano for taste as well.

I've stuck it in the oven at the same temperature as I cook everything else and when it looks done we'll eat. Fingers crossed.

Coming back from the shop I looked down at the lavender and as well as the usual white butterflies there was a small blue. That's one I rarely see anywhere. Of course it had gone by the time I got my camera but I did hear and then see a common field grasshopper on the lavender.

I had a couple of encounters on my journey too and from choir last night. Driving along a narrow country lane I saw a bird sitting in the middle of the road. At first I thought it was a woodpigeon as they often sit on the road right until you get up to them and then fly off but then realised it was a small bird of prey, a sparrow hawk. Was it injured? I drove a little closer and it flapped up and then landed back on the road about 6ft away. I drove closer and it stayed where it was so I stopped, leaving my hazard lights on and was about to get out of the car to throw something over the bird to catch it when it flew up the road again then flew upwards and eventually made it over the hedge. Perhaps it was a fledgling confused by the high hedges on either side of the road. If I had caught it I would have driven to choir and hoped that M who is a vet nurse who be there (she was).

My next encounters were on the same lane on the return journey. By that time it was dark and I was just noting the numbers of flying insects in the air when I spotted something furry trotting along the road ahead. Too small for a fox, maybe it was a cub? But as I neared it turned out to just be a cat. The hedges go straight up from the side of the road with hardly any verges so it took a moment before it got safely out of the way. That had been a little ginger car and moments later I came across a black and white cat which soon jumped into the hedge.

Mostly Wet.

After a wet start to the day it got marginally drier with light showers every now and again.

Yesterday Pete had got a message saying that the local pharmacy would be doing 'flu jabs. This was opportune as although we had been sent appointments for our jabs on the mass vaccination day in the Hall we will be away on that day. Pete rang the pharmacy straight away and and arranged for us to go in today.

But when I walked down (Pete decided the threat of rain was enough to postpone) I was informed they wouldn't be doing 'flu jabs until October. Still, I got to have a walk on the beach and surprise, surprise not a drop of rain fell.

Back home I baked another Bara Brith and then carried on with the garage sort out including washing some hanging baskets which I will take to the Climate Shop on Friday. It's far too windy here for hanging baskets and they're just one more thing to water. 

It wasn't until late in the afternoon that the postman brought the black screws I needed to finish the door of the recycling store. And at last it is done. I quite like seeing that it is made with reclaimed wood including posts made from a gatepost that was in the garden. Looking at the photo the black paint behind the lettering on the middle bar makes it look as if there is a big hole in the door but there isn't. I used a gate latch so that the dustmen only have to give the door a push for it to catch and stay shut. Two of the pallets I used came with heavy duty polythene on one side which I left in place to keep the rain out.

This is the ornament I hung yesterday. The words read 'You, me and the sea.' quite appropriate for this house.

Off soon to choir.

Zoo Day.

It stayed dry all day though it did look like it might rain later on which was my excuse for driving rather than cycling to the zoo.

Now that we've had some a lot of rain I pulled up a good amount of mint from my garden (where it has finished flowering) and replanted it at the zoo along the bottom of the main fence. 

I had to remove a few brambles and once I'd planted the mint I continued pulling brambles and nettles from a nearby overgrown corner. Luckily the pigs eat both of those nasty weeds. I watched Truffle happily chomping on brambles and wondered how on earth they didn't hurt his mouth.

 

My next job was to go over all the paths in the grass maze. A good thing I did as I found lots of newly germinated grass busy growing in the paths which are a mix of woodchip, sand, stones and earth. While I was busy digging over the paths I glanced up and saw a young girl, maybe 7 years old, having a rootle around in my bucket of tools and belongings that I had left by a bench with my fleece. As she picked up something shiny I realised she had my car keys in her hand. I called out to her (politely) and told her those were my things at which she put the keys back. It would have been a disaster to lose those.

As I was making my way back through the zoo I suddenly realised that one of the Welsh mountain goats was standing on the grass outside of his enclosure. The zoo staff noticed at the same time and between us we ushered him quietly back. A new fence is currently being built along one side of his enclosure and despite some extra temporary fencing and the wide span of his impressive horns he had climbed through the fence for a little wander.

Once back home I did some diy before settling down for a rest. I'd finally found a suitable hook for a sea themed ornament which I stuck on the kitchen wall with builder's adhesive and then went on to use the same adhesive to fill a long gap by the side of the big garage door. That's another couple of small jobs done.

Then I still had time to do some piano practice. I haven't played the piano for ages which was making me feel really guilty and yes I did make quite a few mistakes even though I play the same pieces every time. That's what happens when I don't practise every day.

Farewell To Summer.

Whilst it has remained warm the strong winds and wild seas made it feel as if autumn has arrived. It did get sunnier and warmer in the afternoon and I may even take a break out on the terrace in a bit.

My goal today was to finish off the recycling store. An achievable goal I thought as there was only the door to do. There were many trips back and forth from the recycling store by the porch to the garage where all the tools are and eventually the door was cut to size. This did involve not one but two adjustments (ie hand sawing) to the width partly due to there being metal staples buried in the wood right on my cut line and partly because seeing the door get smaller and smaller was making me nervous. That done and all the newly cut edges treated with wood preservative all that was left to do was to fit the hinges and latch. Unfortunately neither of those came with screws and despite there being sets and jars of screws in the garage we didn't have the ones I needed to do a neat job. Pete has ordered a set of the ones I need which should arrive in a few days so completion will have to wait until then. 

With some time on my hands I went into the garden to do some cutting back. Much as I hate to lose the silvery foliage of the curry plants I've cut them right back to their greener foliage. If the autumn stays warm I should get some silver leaves back quite soon. I also planned to start cutting back the lavender so that we can walk along the path without getting soaked by the wet stems brushing our legs. But there were a few small bumblebees desperately visiting the few remaining flowers. No way could I deprive them of this last food source so that job has been postponed for the time being.

Today I noticed that a blue fescue has finally sprung back into life. It has been looking dead for over a year ever since a cat peed on it but I wanted to give it a chance and how right I was.

Rhaeadr Bwa Drain

Today has been wet. not all the time but when it did rain it was intense heading towards deluge levels this evening (and still raining at 9.00).

This afternoon's walk was along Cwm Rheidol and then up to Rhaeadr Bwa Drain [rye-a-dir boo-a drine].

 

There were only four of us on the walk today. I guess that was due to the wet weather and the fact that it is a Bank Holiday weekend and people are either away, at one of many festivals or spending time with their families.

Before setting off on our walk we made a diversion to see the falls. Since I avoid having random people in my photos I had to position myself carefully to hide the family group having a picnic on a rock right in the middle of the river. Just behind us were another family having a picnic on the shore with dogs and children playing in the water.

E and S had other plans. Not to cool their feet or even have a paddle but to stand in the water and let the minnows nibble on their feet. Like those fancy fish pedicures you see on the internet. I would have joined them but my leggings wouldn't roll up high enough.

Instead I busied myself watching the wildlife. There in the middle of the river was a yellow wagtail. Although pied wagtails are common and often seen in car parks, the yellow wagtail is a summer visitor from Africa and the numbers are so low it is on the red list. Not only that but the distribution map from the RSPB site doesn't show it in Wales at all. Update, not a yellow wagtail but a grey or water wagtail. I hadn't realised there was a third species. Excitement over.

The next thing to catch my eye was this female golden ringed dragonfly. I know it was a female because it kept stopping to dip its abdomen below the water's surface to lay eggs.

And then I started seeing splashes as trout jumped out of the water to catch flying insects. Not the best photo but I couldn't spend longer waiting for the perfect shot. S, who lives nearby and is an eco-activist was especially pleased as there haven't been any trout in the river for years. There were certainly plenty today.

As we watched to see the trout jumping S spotted a small bird and using the camera we were able to see it was a dipper. I had always wanted to see one of these birds that hunts underwater for small creatures amongst the stones.

Moving away from the river we climbed the side of the valley into the temperate rain forest that covers the slopes when they aren't manicured into useless conifer plantations.

At first the path was quite easy to walk along but then we diverted into much more overgrown areas where the whole path was on a tilt and the downhill side of the path was often crumbling away. It took a lot of concentration to walk along the path and when I got home my my legs certainly felt the strain.

Eventually we reached our goal, a bridge which gave us a good view of the Bwa Drain waterfall.

While much reduced after the recent dry spell it was still impressive seeing the water flowing down from the top of the hill. We had seen the very first trickles of the waterfall from above on our recent walk to the hillfort of Bwa Drain and it was interesting to see it from a different perspective.

We then had to retrace our steps back through the woods and got caught in a downpour just before reaching S's field and then her house. A welcome cup of tea and cake were had indoors this time, usually we sit outside and watch for the smoke of the steam train on its way to Devil's bridge.