Sunday 2 October 2022

A little jaunt out

 


Yesterday Keith and I drove to Llandeilo, for the little  monthly Antiques Fair there.  I just took a few photos of a friend's stall, which is always beautifully displayed, and no surprise that this Hydrangea wreath sold straight away.  


A bigger view - that orange scarf complements the Welsh blanket so perfectly.


Repurposing of part of a very care-worn hexagon quilt - the fabric was so fine from use and love to bits at the top!  Keith had a great time wheeling and dealing and chatting with friends.  We know pretty well all the traders here, and it was good to catch up on their news.

Tam arrived about ten minutes after we got back, and late afternoon we decided to try and find a local nature reserve near Newbridge-on-Wye.  Just as well Tam had her phone Sat-nav as we'd never have found it otherwise - there was no signage whatsoever! Even Google screwed up, putting in what could only have been footpaths as lanes off the dual carriageway!  Anyway, this was the scenery on the lane to the Reserve.



It was only a Natural Resources sign that alerted us to the turning.  As you can see, this is an ancient landscape.

I will need to visit next summer, now I know where to find it.


I've never seen a Marsh Cinquefoil before, so would love to find that next year.  It is of common status, but I've never seen one.  Apparently it is related to the Rose family!


Brown Aeshna dragonfly. There were quite a few around, and some other Damselflies which didn't settle long enough for a photo.


This is their perfect habitat - one of the ponds.


Boletus mushroom - looks like a Cep. I didn't knock it over to check underneath it but left it be.


A lovely level walkway which would take a wheelchair or a mobility scooter.  However, the approach to it we took was across a field!, although there was a shorter route which had the gridding plastic down but had become overgrown with grass.  I had been hoping it was like this from the car park so I could take Keith next year.

Some of these trees are over a century old but dwarfed from the wetness of the boggy terrain.



This marsh grass had a lovely golden and orange hue which complemented the autumnal colours of the trees.


Above and below - lovely mosses grew well in the bog margins.


It was a short walk, less than a mile round, but lovely to see such a different habitat.  We are planning another walk today, and I need to try and sort the garden out on the Bank too.  Masses of choked Monbretias need thinning out, and Muck Heap needs to go and feed Roses, Soft Fruit and the orchard.


Now that the House Martins have flown South, I am feeding the birds again.  In the back garden they are going through fat balls like there's no tomorrow!  Lots of Blue and Great Tits, whilst the feeder on the Bank is attracting Robins and Long Tailed Tits.  It does me good to see them and try and count the Tit population.


Enjoy your Sunday.

20 comments:

  1. Two good trips out!
    Yes, Google map has tried to send us up impossible tracks...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, imagine original track now beneath a gigantic edge-of-dual carriageway built up bank about 20 feet high with post and rail fence on the top, and planted with trees . . .

    ReplyDelete
  3. It would be almost ashamed to buy anything off that table. It all looks so perfectly arranged and autumnal. I agree that hydrangea wreath is beautiful. I would be hankering after that orange and green Welsh tapestry. A very pleasant walk. But I agree, Google does leave an awful lot to be desired, doesn't it? I constantly find people wandering up my drive. Directed by the vagaries of Google Maps. Or an errant SAT NAV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's got a great eye for display. The Quilt was the perfect colour for autumn too.

      Google needs to be treated with a pinch of salt sometimes! It says turn left on bends and then treats T-junctions as bends!

      Delete
    2. Amendment. For ashamed, read a shame.
      Sat Navs are impossible too. As someone I know discovered just playing with it to get her home. By the time she finished, she was sitting on the beach looking out to sea, being told to carry on for 600 yards and turn left . . . down Ramsey Sound!!!!!

      Delete
    3. Haha! Thank goodness she wasn't half asleep at the time! When we lived at Ynyswen, the Cow Highways that Next Door put down across his farm, on a dry summer, looked rather like lanes - but of course had electric fencing either side. That didn't stop a couple from London (on holiday) ending up half way across his farm when looking for New Quay (35 miles West) or better still, the bin men ending up in the depths of the woods, stuck in mud and had to wait hours to be towed out again!

      Delete
  4. Quite a place to go that and easy enough to find on the OS maps as it's marked on them. Might go along with my wife and the dog as I remember passing the place on the way to the Elan Valley

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tam was in charge so looked it up on her phone, and the directions. She was in charge! Indeed, I can see it on my Elan Valley/Builth Wells map, but she had Mr Google telling us where to go . . . It was very pleasant and I will definitely go back in spring and summer.

      Delete
  5. That must be a lovely bog! I've worked in quite a few, and have come to appreciate their biodiversity and beauty. One of my favorites over here is a small remnant glacial bog in northern Indiana that most people nearby don't even know about. A well kept secret! I'd love to wander around yours! I hope you find a cinquefoil in spring. The path looks nicely maintained for that section. I hope the access to it gets cleared so Keith can join you sometime. You could ask whoever is responsible for the preserve to fix that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was well presented, I have to say. A perfect level walk for my asthmatic lungs. I would love to visit it on a misty day as it would be very atmospheric with those trees appearing and fading into the mist. I feel all the work has been done there, and finished a few years back so it isn't a work in progress.

      Delete
  6. I always love your antiques posts and saw some lovely treasures, including a nice blue spongeware bowl.

    The marsh or bog preserve looks so interesting. Many things to find, to see and photograph or sketch. A very lush environment. It looked so quiet and peaceful too.

    love

    lizzy

    ps gorgeous hydrangea wreath!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lizzy. I can see there is a market demand for such wreaths! Wish I had the hydrangeas to fill it :) Glad you liked seeing what was on offer at my friend's stand. Many of the other stands were small silver pieces, jewellery, snuff boxes, collectable china, militaria, vintage items and some more random stands, like the one we bought a twisted bronze window stay from.

      It was so peaceful at the bog reserve. Indeed, it would be lovely to sit down and draw some of those crooked old malnourished trees.

      Delete
  7. What an interesting place. I'd hope the local authority will tis up the approach to the boardwalk before next summer, so it will be possible to get Keith's wheelchair there. Do you think that's likely?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt there will be anymore work done there - the mesh they put down on the shorter approach to the boardwalk is a bit lumpy from the grass growing through,but seems to be the final work there- but we will try it.

      Delete
  8. I got a message from my daughter yesterday...they had gone to Wales hoping to find a nice Welsh blanket that they both loved and to visit Conwy castle.

    Your bog looks so very interesting. Century old trees that look like saplings! That was my mindboggle of the post.

    What a difference this mobility scooter (if memory serves me...) has made to both of you. I'm glad to see you out and about.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did they get a Welsh blanket? The tapestry ones are quite a price now. We visited Conwy castle many years ago when our daughters were taking part in the Urdd Eistedfodd up there. I can remember Tamzin making me climb EVERY tower and my legs were like jelly at the end!

      We collect the mobility scooter this week - the walk we did was just Tam and I this time.

      Delete
    2. I have not heard whether they got their blanket or not. They pick the things for their home with extraordinary care. As I understand, it was a tapestry blanket they were after.

      Delete
    3. I hope that they found what they wanted - and didn't find it in Drew Pritchard's shop, where prices are eye-watering!

      Delete
  9. What a gorgeous wreath. I am not surprised it sold quickly.

    I love nature walks like your bog tour. So interesting.

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think she could have sold it 10 times over! I wish I had access to a nice Hydrangea bush, to make my own. The wee one I have in a pot here has yet to flower, but it did come as a twig really! A rather expensive twig too . . .

      I had hoped to do more nature walks this summer, but couldn't find an update on the limestone sites in the Brecon Beacons. I went to a lovely one near Crickhowell and will go back next Spring, a little earlier, in the hope of finding the rare plants there.

      Delete