THE SQUIRRELS AGAIN - SORRY! - July 2014

This is our shed . . .

It's a huge building, but not a lot of use. Why? 

Because ...

This is the floor ...

This is the ceiling ...

These are the windows ...

And the walls are Asbestos!

However, despite this, it is the only storage space we have for certain things. So, certain things are stored in it!

Some of these 'certain things' include bags of bird food. 

This food is 'essential' for the birds which give us hours of delight.

The following creature is not a bird, but clearly thinks it is. Here it is trying its best to dislodge the window bird feeder. It is also a thief! It gives us hours of grief!

Last month we took a week's holiday in France. Prior to our visit, I blocked off the broken windows in the shed to deter any unwanted squirrel visits, and we ('stupidly' some may say!) felt confident enough to leave an unopened box of 100 fatballs in the shed. When we returned, my fortress had fallen and a squirrel-sized hole had appeared in the side of the box!

A much depleted amount of fatballs greeted us.

They had left us with 25 of the original 100!!!

The fatballs now live in the conservatory.


They then started on the bag of peanuts. Peanut husks everywhere!

The peanuts now live in the conservatory.

There is one consolation. After the squirrels had taken the bud off a potentially beautiful poppy last month, I caged off the next budding poppy, and the results? ... 

YAY!!

Even better. . . Our cats, which towards the beginning of my blog were proving to be a huge nuisance, have found a new place to sleep ...

In the shed, on top of the birdfood!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way . . . How satisfying it is, to sit in endless sun, watching the Tour de France racing through France in relentless rain!!!



Next blog - A bit of this and a bit of that

GOING FOR A DIP - June 2014

All those of you who believe it always rains in Wales take note: During June we had only 2 days of rain!!

One of those days we were in a cloudy France, the other we were away visiting friends in a cold England!!

Last year we had some lovely weather but I couldn't take full advantage of it due to the surgery wound in my back which was taking a long time to heal. Swimming in the sea was not advised for fear of infection. Spending a period of very hot weather close to the sea, but not swimming in it seemed strange. I began to suspect that I was sadly becoming a too-old-to-swim-in-the-sea-leave-it-to-young-people sort of person. 

I am pleased to say that the recent hot spell has put me right, and temperatures of over 100°F/38°C have proved that I am still a keep-me-away-if-you-can-type-of-person.

So we have tootled down to the local beaches during the early evening, once our day's work is done. 

One is a popular beach where the waters are warm and clear, and other beach goers consist of quietly playing children with equally behaved parents.

The other is an isolated quiet bay a little further along the coast with slightly cooler water where other than a few dog walkers, we swum alone. Spending nearly an hour in the sea on each occasion proves how warm it has been.

In warm clear, blue sea with gentle waves lapping over the golden sand with not a cloud in the sky, swimming among fish, surrounded by mountains and trees it is not difficult to imagine we are on a continental beach, rather than Cardigan Bay!.


Next blog - The squirrels again - Sorry!

THE SUMMER SOLSTICE - June 2014

To celebrate the Summer Solstice we went to watch the sunset from the top of 'our' mountain - the middle of the three peaks pictured below . . .

It had been a beautiful day with clear blue skies. Sunset was at around 9.45pm so we set out walking from our house at 7.30pm. 

Our house is the one peeping out through the trees towards the 
centre/bottom of the picture, to the right of the telegraph pole.

Although I spent my childhood living in the country, I don't think I ever really appreciated it to its full. However, I have spent enough of my adult life in built up suburbia to now appreciate just how fantastic our countryside is. I feel much closer to the elements and seasons than I ever did before. I am starting to understand the weather systems which change on a daily, if not hourly basis. I am learning about the behaviour of the birds, sheep, cows and goats. I can watch the antics of a family of woodpeckers whenever I want. Every day I find new things to amaze me. Climbing the mountain is no different. The undergrowth is made up of so many different plants from tiny flowers and mosses to all sorts of shrubs. There are an abundance of  creatures living on the mountain and I feel the buzzards soaring above are guiding us on our way.

Some small unidentifiable birds were nesting in the undergrowth. 

They clearly have a better sense of direction & homing instinct than me. If I was that bird living here where one piece of heather looks the same as the next, there's no way I'd ever find my house again!

From the summit, we had clear views of Snowdon in the distance

And we celebrated the Solstice sunset with another couple who had walked up from the other side of the mountain.

We had forgotten that the sun sets in a different place in Summer than in Winter. Previous sunsets in Winter had been much more spectacular as the sun disappeared behind the land rather than over the sea.

Photo taken in Winter from the same spot

Then as the sun disappeared, it left a 360° view of the pinky-orange glow just above the horizon.

And the temperature dropped phenomenally. I was pleased we had bought plenty of spare clothing including hat & gloves. I wouldn't have been surprised to see snow!

We made a rapid descent and returned home just as it became dark.

Next blog - Going for a dip.

THE VERY TRUSTING WELSH FOLK - May 2014

Will has a new toy. . .  a John Deere lawnmower - not one of those sit-on-jobbies (as much as he would have liked one, our money wouldn't stretch that far), a petrol powered one. He bought it and a strimmer from a local shop. There was a problem with spare parts for the strimmer. The shop told Will that he needn't pay for anything until the issue with the spare parts was sorted.

That was months ago. Since then, the mower has mowed several small lawn areas, a path across the big field up to our picnic bench and the whole of the smaller field, many times. 

It has also developed a damaged wheel! The culprit - a small roll of barbed wire hiding in the long grass curled up waiting to pounce on any unsuspecting John Deere lawnmower!

And we still haven't paid for it.

We bought a LOAD of fencing and gates from another place. We (ie Will & Richard) have nearly finished building one fence and tried hanging one of the gates.  

We still have a number of gates to put in place and several more fences to build. Despite us telling the supplier that it will take us months to complete this work, they won't take payment for it until the work is done in case we wish to return any unused pieces or wish to buy more. 

So, we have 2 machines to pay for PLUS a whole load of wood, and the lovely local trusting Welsh folk are in no hurry for payment!

In addition to this, we decided that we needed some tools, machines and eldest son to help with the outside work. 

So we hired a digger ...

a rotavator . . .

and a hole borer for putting in gate posts.

The son came free, but the tools, machines, etc. were to be paid for. No payment was required beforehand and the bill eventually appeared some weeks later. Despite having used a good amount of diesel, the rotavator fan-belt breaking, and  the caterpillar track becoming dislodged, the only cost was for the hire - nothing for damages or for diesel.

We needed a post basher to help get posts solidly into the ground. So we borrowed one from a neighbour, who subsequently realised he needed it for his fencing, so rather than ask for it back, he borrowed one from the farmer. The farmer then discovered some damaged fencing bordering on to us and needed a post basher to repair it, so he borrowed the neighbour's basher from us!

It's not hard to cope with the pace and style of life here.

Next blog - The Summer Solstice

INTERRUPTION - May 2014

I am just interrupting my stories with a couple of photos showing you how wonderful the bluebells have been this month on the hillsides along 'our' lane . . .

Next blog ... The very trusting Welsh folk

GARDEN PESTS . . . AGAIN! - May 2014

Well, we have done well with the sheep recently - they haven't been into the garden for several weeks now - even months maybe. The goats have gone back up the mountain to spend summer there. So the plants and flowers are starting to thrive!

. . . Or so we thought . . .

Every morning I get up to find my newly potted plants scattered around having been pulled up by the roots.

The work of goats? . . . No! 

Sheep? . . .No! . . . 

Birds? . . . No! 

Slugs? . . . No!

It's the work of squirrels which can be found foraging endlessly around the garden looking for bulbs to eat. I guess they have been uprooting my plants in search of bulbs. 

  

 

 

So the only plants which are left alone by the sheep & goats - bulb plants, are now being attacked by squirrels. 

So I have started collecting old barbecue grids or any other suitable object as a deterrent. Doesn't do much for appearance though! 

 

 

I have rejected the idea of using squirrel traps, but then yesterday I made a really sad discovery - my prize poppy which had been growing unexpectedly well, and was due to bloom in the next week or two, had lost its head. Some time later I discovered the head a few metres away. Clearly the work of those pesky squirrels having mistaken it for a nut?

 

They even appear to have tried framing my Welsh rugby supporter gnome!! 

Each morning I find him face down as if he's had a night on the town following a Wales-England rugby match. The squirrels are clearly hoping that he is the prime suspect, having destroyed the plants during a drunken binge. 

 

They push him to the ground in an attempt to reach the window bird feeder which is supposed to be inaccessible to squirrels, 5ft high on a wide pane of glass. Pah - no deterrent - they manage it easily & leave their muddy footprints up the glass. 

We have filled an old CD rack with fat balls - for the birds but our uninvited visitors help themselves and run off with whole fat balls. 

Maybe squirrel traps aren't such a bad idea after all!  

But as disastrous as it all sounds, to put things into perspective, our neighbours lost 9 of their chickens to the fox last night. and earlier in the year it deprived the farmer of 21 of his lambs. Now there's an unwelcome visitor if ever there was one which we haven't had the privilege of meeting . . . YET!

P.S. Guess who was back in the garden this morning? . . .

Where's that fox when you need him?

Next blog ... The very trusting Welsh folk