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“How are you?” was the familiar greeting down the line. “I’m feeling glum. I’ve just read your email and poem”, was my unusual reply. This the response to our younger son, after a brief email he’d sent me which included … Continue reading
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It had to happen. 2 weeks of wonderful freezing cold, but largely dry weather ended and the last 10 days have seen mild temperatures, wind, and winter rains return. Along with the added disappointment of a cancelled family visit, due … Continue reading
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This time of the year, when a temperate Northern hemisphere garden inevitably has the least to offer visually with light and flower power at its seasonal nadir mid-November, it’s struck me just how many other of our seasonal markers have … Continue reading
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As Collins dictionary recently announced its new word of the year, “permacrisis”, defined as “an extended period of instability and insecurity”, it seems overdue for the Grumpy Hobbit to release another “Harmonies” video. Just after the first snowdrop has emerged … Continue reading
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It was with some trepidation that we looked forward to our last garden visitors of the year since Paul (and Angela) set up, own, and still run the excellent and useful Great British Gardens website. Worth checking out as a … Continue reading
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Oh, joy! Oh, well. Oh, dear. How to begin beneath a banner image suffused with golden light? It seems I’m not the only one entranced and fixated by October sunrises. We’re in the fleeting season of alchemy. Always a time … Continue reading
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The official 10-day mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II ended here, on September 19th, with a dry, still day with dense, quilted cloud cover, and hardly a breath of wind.We had already been gripped by the emotion of losing the … Continue reading
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New beginnings. Sadness, reflections, and yes, there must also be a sense of optimism and hope, beyond the mourning for our wonderful Queen, whose life and service to her nation is without parallel in global history. As our new Prime … Continue reading
What a Jubilee June! Far too much to write about, so I’ll rely heavily on photos to tell the story of a jam-packed June. It began in a subdued fashion with the weather turning cool, grey, and damp without enough … Continue reading
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Here is the next video in my series, prompted by the start of the war in Ukraine – my personal response to try to capture a sense of harmony rather than discord, through sounds, images and music, focused on the … Continue reading
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This year we waited ages to hear our first Cuckoo. I’d nearly given up and then in late May we heard one occasionally, but always very distant. Was this the beginning of the end for them locally? Then on a … Continue reading
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It started with a kiss. Actually, I can’t remember whether it did, in the early morning in question, but it was certainly in the bedroom that at some point I’d registered a buzz. Since we always leave our Velux roof-light … Continue reading
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Just a few introductory words about this latest “Harmonies No. 3”, compilation video. All footage was filmed here at Gelli Uchaf in the first 3 weeks of April 2022, yet another wonderful April in a run of 3. Images and … Continue reading
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There are no words. Or are there? Like many, I guess, I’m struggling with writing anything of relevance or insight, with the background of the horrors of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Rebecca Stott wrote and spoke a wonderful piece … Continue reading
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The garden is full of white at the moment, a veritable sea of snowdrops, but today it’s two other, stronger, early spring colours I’d like to open with. Yellow. And Blue. And the briefest mention of another one, red, that … Continue reading
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Our thanks to a regular blog reader for alerting us to the fact that 10 days ago the Sunday Telegraph ran an excellent article by Val Bourne, a self-confessed galanthophile, on snowdrops, with some excellent practical tips on how to … Continue reading
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I shall forever remember the recent wolf moon. I’ve certainly seen one before, though without knowing that the full moon in January was given this, and several other monikers centuries ago, at least in the U.S.A., by native American tribes. … Continue reading
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No fanfare greets your late return, No chattered dipped inflections, No yearned for sunny silhouettes. No, November’s solitary influx Seeps, a secret spreading stain. A million marvel migrants fled. The chilling landscape, flushed you Fast, by night. Alone. And tracked … Continue reading
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We’re past the worst. As I began to tap this out on the morning of December 22nd, I can say this with confidence. The days are now extending, the nights reducing, at least for the next 6 months or so. … Continue reading
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Three questions to begin. Do you like the header image, which is completely untweaked? It’s exactly as it came out of the camera’s flash card. Secondly do you prefer it this way up? And finally, and really the most interesting, … Continue reading
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At last, November 2nd, a dense grey scene greeted me as I drew the upstairs bedroom curtains. But not without hope, as it had the faintest hint of colour seeping through, due East. As always, the next job in my … Continue reading
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Let’s get the plurality of falls out of the way. I’m stretching the meaning to include what we still seem to call autumn, on this side of the pond, though fall is an appropriate term on a day like today … Continue reading
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The landscape and weather here have been languishing. Stuck, metaphorically, in a deep rut between the end of the summer season and autumn’s winds and rains, with the anticipation of fall and decay. Fat berries, the spawn of many successful … Continue reading
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My last post was rushed out before a frantic but delightful weekend, when our son’s family and 6 grandchildren descended, overlapping with a pre-planned NGS pop-up weekend. This was promoted as part of a BBC Radio 2 event, “The Big … Continue reading
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Extreme. A single word, reflecting a manic month, when, with little respite from time spent outside, the charm of putting together a blog post has dissipated in much the same way as water has been sucked from this, now dessicating, … Continue reading
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Midsummer’s past. The nights are drawing in. Although the inevitability gnaws away at my consciousness on a dank foggy morning, this year it’s different. Our discussed expectation, as we toiled with the hay last year in the upper meadow, was … Continue reading
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Sometimes it’s worth revisiting thoughts. “But all the gardens Of spring and summer were blooming in the tall tales Beyond the border and under the lark full cloud. There could I marvel My birthday Away but the weather turned around.” … Continue reading
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A late date change, suggested by our lovely amenable hosts, meant our planned short dash to Pembrokeshire for a 4 night recharge, was still possible, having been just the wrong side of the deadline for self-catering accommodation to re-open in … Continue reading
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What a pair of words to place together. Crudely linked by their common first letter, yet full of rich and varied cultural depth, and filled with distant, ancient meaning. Much of it unknown to this blogger, before I was inspired … Continue reading
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It’s been a long month here since I last sat and typed a post. A lot has happened and I have to confess that my usual get up and go has been worn down a little, and as often is … Continue reading
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For many decades, I’ve been convinced that our diets have a huge impact on our health and state of well being, but a few recent observations and discoveries had me trying to track down who was the first to coin … Continue reading
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I guess we’ve all played kick the can at some point, a great multi generational game though possibly needing modification in these days of social distancing – actual physical contact probably not being a good idea. But I’m now programming … Continue reading
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I’m beginning with a quick update on the current situation regarding possible garden visits to Gelli Uchaf for the rest of 2020. National Gardens Scheme (NGS) gardens in Wales are still currently unable to open to the general public, though … Continue reading
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Fiona told me a friend had recently shared a Facebook post along the lines of : “You don’t realise how anti-social you are until a pandemic comes along…. and then you discover that your life has hardly changed”. There’s certainly … Continue reading
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With apologies to The Eagles, “Life in the slow stream, Surely gonna ease your soul” seems a suitable line to begin a post typically full of the observations that always happen down here when the weather is wonderful. And DRY! … Continue reading
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Early on Mothering Sunday morning, March 22nd 2020, in glorious sunshine, on the day after this sort of headline hit the news media – Coronavirus: ‘Unprecedented’ crowds in Wales despite warnings and the day before the nation heard in a … Continue reading
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Lurgy struck, our planned visitors had cancelled, which meant Christmas Day dawned bright, quiet, and relaxed after the previous evening’s calm was spoiled by ominous loud tapping from an kitchen internal wall. Checking the under-stair cupboard showed signs of recent … Continue reading
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Fortunately, a noisy wiper blade made me think twice about heading out for an evening talk last week, with the forecast heavy rain. Just as well, since with no warning hints from any of our weather forecasts, as I nipped … Continue reading
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A fortnight ago, we headed down to the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) for their annual Wales Fungus day event. In spite of a poor forecast, as always there were several interesting talks and events laid on, including their … Continue reading
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As autumn proper has arrived, and October is a mere gale and thunderstorm away, it’s a wonderful time of the year to enjoy the delights of Dahlias.Very late to the Dahlia party, I’ve realised that they provide a wonderful autumnal … Continue reading
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September Today I yearn serenity. And on this first morn, Shorn of politics and prorogation, September smiles. Struggling through horizoned clouds, A window opens; golden light floods Distant Pumsaint’s rich veined coum. The hidden … Continue reading
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Autumn has arrived here early, in the last 48 hours. Rain. Gales. Home fires. Even if the air is still warm. After what must rank as one of the best summers we can recall here, life can calm down a … Continue reading
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In a blatant bit of promotional activity, I’m asking any readers of this post to support “The Hut” in a public vote to find the Cuprinol Shed of The Year 2019. Having decided to enter “The Hut” into this annual … Continue reading
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With most of the hay we need for the next winter already safely harvested, we headed off, relieved, for what passes as a significant break for us in early July, spending 6 nights away travelling up to Northumberland and back. … Continue reading
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Just in time for a bit of planned guerilla planting, or more accurately sowing, our eldest son and fiancée arrived at the end of the first week in June. Following the wettest day in 3 months, a quick trawl beneath … Continue reading
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As always here, no news isn’t good, or bad, just a reflection of the weather – almost no rain, and too much to do. I should start with a quick reference to Hannah, which we hope will be the last, … Continue reading
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Was it the full moon? Or the sudden warming in temperatures last week? Or impending Easter – which won’t fall this late in April again until 2030? Or the threat of predators? At that stage unseen.We’ll never know, but after … Continue reading
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Warning – this is a long catch up-post.And for anyone quick off the mark, we’re holding a “pop up” Garden open day for charity for the National Garden Scheme, this Easter Saturday at 2.30 pm – but you MUST contact … Continue reading
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Seizing the moment on a currently rare March morning, forecast to be dry and sunny after much rain, cloud and wind during the first fortnight of this highly variable month, Fiona had plotted a circular route centred around the coastal … Continue reading
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At last, I’ve made it to the Gower. An invitation that popped into our inbox for a day’s course on managing land to help our native invertebrates caught my eye. Particularly since one of the tutors was the naturalist Steven … Continue reading
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