Another local walk

 

This was a short walk but one we'd not done before because it meant walking through two farmyards, and didn't want to do this during Lockdown (though others had).  This little stream is at the edge of our land (we have a strip of woodland bordering the paddock).

Happy lambs guzzling!

The white is our house through the trees.  That huge tall pine is ours.  Hope it never falls over!!

Wild Violets flowering on a sunny bank.  We passed lots of them on our walk.

After we had passed through the first farmyard, and had a natter with the neighbours, this white farm was where we were headed.

One of the routes we could have chosen (there are 3 on this particular walk) goes around the mynydd.  Saving that one for a couple of weeks' time.

Looking across the woodland, now showing signs of leaves being unfurled.  Oak and Ash are neck and neck this year.

More Violets - there was a long strip of them here.

Down what seemed to be a sheep path rather than the bridleway it was marked on the map, and into a dingle with another stream to cross.

We reached the double hedges and the grassy lane looked more like an ancient hollow-way.  Not one to walk in the summer as it was a mass of young Nettles, but the banks were covered in Ground Ivy and buzzing with bees.

Another view of the mynydd.

Through the farmyard and up along the farm drive to the lane.

Masses of lovely Daffodils were still in bloom.

Greater Stitchwort.

The first Bluebells.

We got back to find Keith planing a piece of old oak he had dug out from his useful bit of wood in one of the stable stalls.  He and Tam have marked out the template for the new arm and it will be used for this.

We made the most of the late afternoon sunshine and began to lay out the poles for the polytunnel.  Unfortunately we had lost the instructions in our move - I knew exactly where it was when we were packing, but then sold the chest of drawers it was in to the newcomers and it has disappeared from view since then.  Fortunately Tam worked out how it went together from looking up a picture on her phone . . .

Yesterday we carried it up to its final position in the paddock and put the cover on it, so now there are young Tomato plants up there and Tam has sown lots more vegetable seeds.  I did some heavy duty gardening with a Mattock, and dug and fertilised the soil there with a sack of farm yard manure.  Then I got my three pots of Rhubarb in.  I will see if I can beg some well rotted horse manure from the lady with the bay horse in the field opposite.  The other soft fruit will go in up there too.

Today I have been busy baking cakes, two to take to a friend of ours as a thanks for looking after some of our boxes of stock.  One Lemon Drizzle and one Carrot Cake with walnuts and preserved ginger strips.

Just call me Busy . . .

Today's photos are from a long walk I took yesterday.  My Fitbit steps for the week were down and because we had been to auction twice in Gloucestershire that meant a long time sitting in the car especially as we got held up in a 2 mile traffic queue to join the M5 on Tuesday, arriving at the auction with just 3 minutes to view it!  We just bought one thing at the auction (prices are higher there) and left bids on others which would be sold after we left - it was a slow day bidding-wise and went on till 7 p.m.  Having properly viewed the furniture - the stuff we were interested in was in the schoolhouse building - we bid on line the following day and drove down again on Thursday to pick it up.  This time we took the motorway route as we weren't driving down in rushour traffic, and got there in 1 hr 55 mins, compared with FOUR hours on the Tuesday!

Now all we need is for people to start buying things at our Units, but trade in both places has been extremely slow.  I just hope that the Fleamarket next weekend is better than it has been - last time it was a complete waste of time as we took just £65 - and it costs £55 just to stand for the day!

I managed to get some more Chutney made on Monday, Indian Chutney, an old favourite of mine which really does improve with keeping and what's more, uses up some of the apple mountain.  It came in handy yesterday, as one of the chaps from the Shoot next door, came over with a bag of venison for us, so we rewarded him with three big jars of chutney and a gigantic box of apples . . .

Now I am fitter, I put myself to the test with this walk which is unrelentingly uphill for the first half hour, then a slightly flatter bit and then climbing again.  As you can see, the weather was wonderful although the views were all a bit milky.

On the bank below a hedge, this Primrose decided to let itself be encouraged by the sunshine and put out a tentative flower.

Wishy-washy fields beyond the hedgerow.

Looking across to a neighbour's farm at "top o'bank".

Looking back across the Towy Valley here.

Now there's a challenge - clambering up that hill would certainly test my fitness!

The higher fields suffer with bracken, and given half a chance would soon revert to scrubby woodland.  They have never forgotten being reclaimed from the wildwood.

That steep hill again with a barely discernible Black Mountain scarp behind it to the right.

I carried on climbing, and shedding layers!  I was down to a t-shirt by this time and fed up with carrying a jumper and a jacket.

Looking across the Cothi Valley to fields bisected by sheep tracks.

This farm trackway was tempting . . .

On the way home.  Single track lanes are the order of the day round here, and passing places few and far between.  The overhanging trees framed this view perfectly, and it is about to become a new header photo.

Downhill all the way back (the reward for effort).  On the right is a wilding apple tree with small red-striped apples.  I brought two back with me to plant along our hedgerow.  This walk was about 11,000 steps and all in all I did over 17,000 yesterday and walked 9 1/2 miles.

I shall be away from my computer Monday - Friday next week as I am down in Southampton with my best friend Trisha.