This gallery contains 23 photos.
A year ago my July post “Extreme” ended thus: What can we expect in the future? More and worse of the same – extreme heat, sunshine, rain, winds – often all in the same year. Plus ça change, plus c’est … Continue reading
This gallery contains 75 photos.
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
This gallery contains 57 photos.
What halcyon days, the August 2019 bank holiday weekend. A record breaker for temperatures across the UK, and here too with heat and wall to wall sunshine. Yet what of the origin of “halcyon days”? You have to return to … 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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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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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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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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Since creating this blog and website I occasionally look back, with interest, at how things have changed over the years. In this, the first written post of the New Year, I thought I’d begin with reflections on some of the … Continue reading
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Every once in a while, a big concept strikes home, creating a damascene like moment. I reckon my heightened awareness of the importance of fungi in the ground beneath our feet, which is outlined below, will prove to be almost … Continue reading
This gallery contains 55 photos.
Naked ladies, Devil’s paintbrush, Brimstone, Mosquito hawks, Hordes of toads, Erupting craneflies, Dandelion diversity. The list of interesting observations here in the last 10 days has certainly kept my eyes wide open, and my shutter finger twitchy. But I’ll begin … Continue reading
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The fabulous summer of 2018 ended for us in late July. Our weather has fortunately reverted to type here, with grey days, dampness, drizzle and occasional deluges. Only 3 days with no rain as of August 27th. However, August is … Continue reading
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Ignoring, no, deleting the spam comment thoughtfully sidelined by WordPress on a “Practical Pregnancy Plan” as I logged in today, this is a post with a few unanswered “Why’s”? A simple question I always dreaded hearing from a client. Demanding … Continue reading
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Rarer than an England football team playing in a World Cup semi-final. Having to write a post preoccupied with the effects of an ongoing heatwave, sunshine most days, and the drought conditions which continue to affect us here. The garden … Continue reading
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How shall I remember May 2018? Certainly not the 30 mm deluge on May 2nd which now seems an age ago. The abiding memory will be, at last, of a lengthy dry spell, with much fantastic sunshine and warm days. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 24 photos.
This week, the evening after we’d decided we could relax and leave our last single lambs outside for the night, I had my usual pre-bathtime use of the watering can outside the back door. The lambs have done very well … Continue reading
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Waves have gripped me over the last fortnight. Made me stand and gaze. And wonder. Not those which batter our nearby coasts, crashing on rocky cliffs, or transporting drifting fleets of jelly fish, as seen recently near Cwmtydu.But those that … Continue reading
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What a week! Or perhaps 10 days. The personal, everyday, seasonal. Interwoven with unique moments of (inter)national and historic gravitas, prompts this very brief post’s personal jottings, before the memories fade. _____________ A Rural View Sheep shorn. Votes cast. Counting … Continue reading
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Well over 20 years ago, we needed to chat with Dad about a longstanding family issue, and since my birthday was approaching, arranged to meet him in the gardens of Sheldon Manor, outside Chippenham. At that time the garden was … Continue reading
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A fabulous week of warm sunny weather here, has straddled the passage from spring to summer, May to June. Quite different to the 43 mm of rain in 24 hours with which June 2015 began, or indeed the torrential rain … Continue reading
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Fiona often reminds me of the danger of using the word “never” when referring to natural events. No sooner had I written that I’d never seen bumblebees visit snowdrop flowers in our garden, than I spotted one determined to prove me … Continue reading
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Here’s a number sequence. 1.5,0,1.5,0,6.5,16,11,2,0,4,8,3,8,8,0,4,0.5,5,0,3,1 What does it signify? Well simply the daily rainfall totals in mm for July so far. Nothing too dramatic, and whilst there’s relief that watering is no longer needed for outside vegetable growth, which is … Continue reading
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Recurring themes. Seasonality of thoughts and observation run though a blog like this with inevitable, reassuring familiarity. But there are always novelties and new discoveries. Searching for a post I knew I’d written on ‘entomolgical explosions’, I discovered it was … Continue reading
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A rare plug on the blog for 3 special events. Firstly a brief mention that next Sunday, June 28th, at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW), the third annual Wales wildflower day will be hosted. By way of a … Continue reading
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