Day 147 Bosherston Lily Ponds

We were up early this morning to get over to Bosherston Lily Ponds by about 8.30.  These are beautiful lakes which were part of the old Stackpole estate and now managed by the National Trust.  There's plenty of wildlife there but that early in the morning there are very few people.  The only sounds were birdsong which, at this time of year filled the woods & was quite magnificent.  We were disappointed not to see the otters or kingfisher this time but enjoyed the swans and heron.  The photo was taken at one of the bridges looking at the reflection in the water.

Walking on Air!

Here's a photo of one of the other bridges and the heron.

After lunch we had a drive and explored Monks Haven, another very peaceful and quiet corner of Pembrokeshire which now houses a small church but once held a large religious community.


This evening the rest of the family will arrive at the caravan.  There will be seven of us here which is going to be quite crowded and chaotic so I will probably abandon this blog until Tuesday when everyone will have gone home!

Day 146

It was a rather non descript day today, very wet & windy so we didn't venture far.  Had an exceedingly leisurely start and spent the morning reading, watching tv & drinking tea! Did some shopping pm and then the weather improved a bit. Once the wind had dropped and the sun made an appearance we went for a stroll around Broadhaven.  I took a couple of nice photos for Our daily challenge, which was "5 minutes from home" - or where ever you happen to be.  As you see the caravan is slightly over 5 minutes walk from the beach. Both photos taken from the same spot outside the public toilets (not so pretty a picture!)

Light on the darkness

We called into the pub for a quick half/pint which is my photo of the day.

Day 145 Broadhaven

LB & I are now in our static caravan at Broadhaven, Pembs.  We came down this morning, via Dad's place where we stopped off to fit a grab handle on the wall by his front door.  He's pretty independent but I'd noticed he was a bit wobbly stepping down over the step.  The handle should make it a lot easier for him.  Anyway we arrived here by mid-day and after lunch I had a stroll along the beach with my camera.  It was very windy with thickening cloud and intermittent sunshine.  Most people on the beach were well wrapped up but one couple left their shoes and jackets on the beach and went into the surf in their shorts and T shirts.  The sea is far from warm at this time of year & in fact the only other people in the water were surfers in full wetsuits.  Well, they seemed to have fun frolicking in the waves and came out pink with cold!

Brrr!

Just before leaving the beach I spotted a couple of oystercatchers on the rocks.  These are very striking birds, usually heard before seen although these two were unusually quiet.  They were busy prizing mussels open and having quite a feast.  I got as close as I could but wasn't prepared to scramble over wet slippery rocks with my camera and I didn't have a big zoom with me. Got a couple of reasonable shots though.

Now having a quiet evening. On Friday the boys & partners are arriving so posting may be a bit erratic over the weekend.  It's going to be rather crowded here with seven in the van! May end up doing a lot of  catching up on Tuesday!


Oh dear photos not uploading.  Will try again later! - Sorted now I'm home!

Day 144 Forest Farm

LB was busy today, a guitar lesson, a practice on the golf range and then he took his Mum to look for a garden chair and to do some food shopping.  I went to Forest Farm again, this is the little nature reserve alongside the old Glamorganshire Canal that I've mentioned here before.  It changes with the seasons so repays frequent visits.  The smaller birds are much less visible at this time of year and those I did see had beaks stuffed with insects as they headed to their nests.  They weren't interested in my birdseed so I initially concentrated on the light falling on the plants and water.  In the quiet pools adjacent to the canal were plenty of flag irises  with lovely  interesting reflections in the water aroound them.

Later I came across a family of young ducklings who were interested in my food and had little fear of my camera 

and a buttercup meadow with these lovely butterflies which I think are common blues.

Back home and LB was ready for some exercise so we went off on the bikes along the new cycle path for an hour and a half.  It's been quite a full day!

Day 143 More Daisies

It was another blustery day. After the usual trip to Porthcawl & Bridgend to see the parents I stopped off at a roadside verge where there are a host of ox eye daisies.  There are masses of these alongside the roads at the moment so I'd been thinking of trying a slow shutter speed  shot of swaying daisies in the wind.  Of course once I was in position the wind stopped! Or perhaps I was a bit too sheltered.  Anyway I took a load of daisy photos most of which I didn't like when I got home!


  I was sorting through them late yesterday evening when I was interupted by younger son on the phone.  He & girlfriend Vikki were in Edinburgh Airport awaiting there flight home after Vikki had run in the marathon there on Sunday.  They were worried that the gale force winds there would cause problems with there flight.  Sure enough after a couple of hours delay the flight was cancelled.  There was no chance of getting on any later plane as once the wind died Scotland was due to be enveloped in another volcanic ash cloud causing closure of the airport all Tuesday.  The trains were also cancelled as the gales had brought trees down on the line and the remaining evening coaches were fully booked!  I ended up booking them a hotel room online and they caught a coach early Tuesday morning for a 13 hour drive home! It only takes an hour or two on the plane!    So by the time they were sorted I was too tired to post to this blog, hence I'm writing a day late.  Here are some daisies.

day 142 Sunshine & Showers

Woke to a blustery day of sunshine & showers. While LB & Huw went off to the golf range I headed back up Eglwysilan Mountain thinking it would be nice to retake the misty view from last week in clear weather with the sun shining on the hillsides & little white clouds scudding across the blue sky. No way! By the time I got there the wind was howling and I could see the rain clouds heading towards me from the west!  I took this photo from inside the car while waiting for the rain to clear.  The blue version is the same photo with a different crop and  I played around with the processing

The rain eventually eased but I didn't see any sun and it was so windy I was being blown off my feet. I didn't attempt to get the tripod out of the boot! I did get a couple of shots down the valley but not quite as I'd envisaged it.  this was the best but I'll have to try again on a sunnier day!

Day 141 Aching!

I think I'm feeling the effect of Thursdays bike ride today. I've been reallu tired  and my right arm has been aching like mad too from yesterdays hedge cutting! I'm not getting any younger! Anyway took younger son to airport, did a bit of tidying up then went to bed for a long afternoon nap! Feel a lot better now and waiting for older son and daughter in law to arrive.  They're coming for a meal and staying overnight with us.  Haven't had time to spend on photos so here's another "emergency" photo, quite pretty though

Day 140 Wild Flowers

Spent the morning pruning the hedge in the front garden and the afternoon visiting Mum.  She's in a large ward with corridors in the shape of a figure eight that she likes to walk, round and round.  We have to hunt for her when we visit. Today she was at one of the locked doors trying the handle. She doesn't usually talk much but when I said " hello how are you" to her she replied quite clearly "Two", or it may have been "Too" and then mumbled a bit I didn't understand.  Strange! I wonder what she was thinking?


Anyway after dropping Dad back home I stopped off at a nearby pond thinking I might get some bird shots. Had no luck with the birds they were being very boring so I took some flower photos.  I played around with the colours of the cow parsley and got down low on all the shots just to make them a bit more interesting

Cow Parsley

 ....and some daisies

Day 139 Another Cycle Ride

We set off this morning on an exploratory bike ride along the Taff Trail. We live at the top of the left or eastern side of this valley and the trail runs along the western hillside.  We took the main road north to Glyntaff to where we knew we could pick up the trail and rode south on it. It runs quite high up the hilside above the districts/villages of Rhydyfelin, Nantgarw, Taffs Well & Tongwynlais, areas where LB and I worked for nearly 30 years but the trail was new to us!  Amazing that somewhere so close to home was previously unexplored.  It runs along an old railway line, through woodland, so on the whole we just had to cope with a gentle steady incline.  


The photo was taken just south of Nantgarw where a clearing gave this fantastic view looking north to Pontypridd with Nantgarw and the Treforest Trading Estate in the foreground.


Beyond Taffs Well the path climbed quite steeply so we got off and walked.  We met 2 mounted police who were on a search and rescue training exercise and stopped for a chat.  They were having an exceedingly pleasant day searching for an imaginary cyclist, far better than coping with the drunks & yobs they usually have to deal with. We parted company but bumped into them ( not literally) twice more before leaving the woods. We continued climbing and realised we'd taken a wrong turn somewhere when we reached the road much higher than we should have & had a long freewheel down into Tongwynlais.  The route home from there was on quiet roads or traffic free paths close to the road.  It was very pleasant but the final push uphill to home was a bit of a struggle - the problem with living on a hill above the valley floor! Reaching home we had a late lunch then went to bed for a sleep!  Our fitness is definitely improving and we were pleased with what we'd achieved

Day 138 - Out for a Cycle Ride

More rain today so we got a bit damp when out shopping this morning. We called in at Hobbycraft and bought a picture frame one of last weeks photos in the mist.  I made a right mess of cutting the mount this evening so I'll finish it tomorrow.


The rain stopped in the early afternoon which meant we could get our bikes out  for our first ride together since this dreaded cold struck.  As it was LB's first exercise in a couple of weeks we took it easy. Once again we followed the community path alongside the new bypas.  We took a slight detour to my cousin's house to drop something off and explored the road a little beyond the path.  I've now got a bike computer so could see we'd done 13 miles in a very leaisurely fashion. Tomorrow we're planning exploring a bit further afield.


Todays two photos are of LB near a rather strange signpost on the route.  The base of it is part of an old railway ventilation pipe from a nearby tunnel.  It was discovered by the road builders when digging out a cutting.  The kids at the local primary school have painted it.  Attached to the top is a signpost pointing out the long distance cycle paths that this section is part of.  As you can see if you look closely it stretches from Galway to Moscow.  Can't see us making the whole distance...ever!

Wait for me!!

Day 137 A Grey Day

A miserable wet day today so we decided against a bike ride or indeed, anything else exciting.  It's been one of those strange days when you get to the end of it and wonder how you filled it.  As it was so damp I took some photos of the rain drops ( again!)

There are surprisingly pretty patterns in the water droplets on the chive leaf

Day 136

Nothing out of the ordinary to report today. LB's cold is finally showing signs of improving and he's showing signs of life again! I did the usual Porthcawl/Bridgend run to visit the parents that was about it.  for a photo I turned to Our Daily Challenge which was negative space.  I don't think this photo is the best use of negative space but it's ok.

I'm also reposting two of the Eglwysilan Mountain shots as someone suggested going for a longer crop.  I think they look loads better than the originals, particularly the second one. Opinions please!

Day 135 Bikes x 2

Our planned walk with friends today was aborted as LB has definitely got my cold.  He was up half the night coughing and was not fit for anything this morning.  We therefore settled down in front of the tv to watch todays MotoGP from Le Mans.  All 3 races were really exciting. Hope they're like that when we go to Silverstone next month to see it live.  This afternoon LB had a snooze so I got my new cycle out and went for a ride along our new community foot/cycle path for an hour or so. I took the G12 camera and as it was quite grey and overcast took some close up photos of wild flowers in the verge. Here are my favourites.

Day 134 - Where did it go?

Haven't done much at all today but still ended up laate at night trying to think of a photo to take.  Managed to get one, it's a bit abstract but pretty colours I think

Day 133 Up Early

With weather forecast had promised a sunny start then clouding over later so I went to bed thinking the morning would be the best time for photos.  Now we're getting a bit of sun I'd like to practice my landscape photography.  LB woke me at about 6.30 saying it was nice and sunny but with a strange cloud over the Garth Mountain.  We had a quick cuppa then set off in the car.  Once down in the vally we could see there was some hill mist in places but also on the valley floor. We headed up to Eglwysilan Common which is on the mountain on the east side of the Taff Valley.  

My second choice photo

and two taken lower down on the hillside 

Day 132 Rest Bay

It was back to the old routine of visiting Dad then taking him in to see Mum.  The morning had been very grey and damp but it brightened up in the afternoon so after dropping him off I went down to Rest Bay. It was quite blowy and there was a lone kite surfer zooming back and for in the wave.  I took quite a few photos of him then headed back to the warmth of the car. It had been decidedly chilly by the beach!  Frustratingly, having sorted my photos, when I went to post them here Blogger was not working.  The blog was read only!  So much for getting in back into the routine of posting my photos on the day I take them!  

 

Day 131 On the Computer

Yes I spent all day sat at the computer, compiling a photobook of the wedding for Huw & Mel.  It's all finished now and I'm quite pleased with it.  Only question now is whether to get them to proof read it or just get it printed up as a surprise? So at 5.00pm I went for a stroll on Llantrisant common. We've had a lovely sunny day but unfortunately as I went out it got quite hazy and clouds started to build up.  I took this photo looking towards the sun but shaded by the tree, & underexposed it a bit to get a silhouette

Day 130 Down in the Woods

It's surprisingly nice not having things to do or look forward to! We have five weeks with nothing planned before our next 5 day trip in the touring van to the British MotoGP at Silverstone.  Luxury!  Although it won't be long before we think of wandering off a bit, perhaps down to Broadhaven.  Anyway poor LB was not up for going anywhere today. He had his weekly guitar lesson then went back to bed. The weather was lovely & sunny so I packed my camera and set off to the woods. I'm still coughing a fair bit & didn't want to be too energetic so drove to the carpark of Fforest Fawr not far from here.  I had hoped to find bluebells but there were only a few sad scattered specimens, no doubt overcome by the smell of the wild garlic!  There was beautiful dappled sunlight which I tried to capture.  Photos taken I stopped off at the supermarket for our fist big shop since coming home a week ago! What a treat - beautiful fresh English asparagus and strawberries have hit the shelves!   Although you can get Peruvian asparagus throughout the year we like to wait for the English version which is smaller, tastier, less woody &  only available in May. I cheated tonight as we had a jar of hollandaise sauce with it but we've another bunch for tomorrow when I'll make the hollandaise fresh with lots of lemon and butter ...we'll just have to double up on the statins!

Light in the Dark Wood

Fforest Fawr

Wild Garlic

Day 129 Uncaged Monkeys

At last a quiet day!  Unfortunately LB has come down with my cold & isn't feeling too good. Never mind it was nice to have a quiet day at home, catching up with blogging, post & a bit of housework. MiL seems a bit brighter too, having re-entered the world at Saturday's party! I didn't even think of taking a photo all day. In the evening we went to a show in cardiff entitled the "Uncaged Monkeys"  It was described as a night of science and wonder.  There was no wonder and not enough science though on the whole enjoyable.  Prof Brian Cox was the star of the show.  As a professor of physics and astronomy  & a brilliant communicator he was funny and informative and just as at ease as he appears on tv. The rest of the cast just tried too hard to be entertaining and made me dizzy as they leapt, hyperactively,  back and fore across the stage! Anyway todays photo is of the sea - not the real stuff but a portion of a stained glass window in the theatre.

Wedding Photos

These are small photos as they were originally shrunk and saved in a suitable size to email but will give you an impression of the wedding day.