Update

Rosa mundi

Keith's spoken to the Dr, and is to carry on with the medication he has and he may need to see him again on Wednesday.  Keith's not so chipper today, so we will just keep an eye on things.

I have had to come in from doing "a bit of weeding" that soon involved a shovel - you know, you see a pretty plant, and then it becomes an absolute Triffid.  This one can grow through walls as it has thrown out woody stems through the tiniest gap in the cement grout on a garden wall.  It is the one thing I may have to zap with weedkiller as it has spread by growing under the membrane and popping up yards away.  I can't remember its name.

A short walk by the river and update on dearly beloved

Well, I had a very restless night, worrying about Keith.  I was awake to see each hour in I think and just dozing in between.  I'm glad to say that the anti-biotics seem to have kicked in and he is feeling a bit better today, and is eating better too and not in so much pain/problems with his eyes.  Let's hope that he continues to improve.  Anyway, I was awake and up at 5 a.m. and went downstairs to make bread and potter, before coming back to bed a couple of hours later.

Here are some photos from a short walk we did on Friday.

Common Cow Wheat.

This was first light, just about, anyway, it was barely 5 a.m.  A solitary Swallow up on the wire.  They are up and about as early as me!!

Binoculars by the sink . . .

I picked some flowers from the garden yesterday - their perfume in the hall is wonderful.

I have been birdwatching today - newly-fledged Swallows have been swooping up and round the yard, and the tiniest of just-fledged ball-of-fluff Blue Tits has been in the Damson tree.  Then I spotted a Flycatcher at the bottom of the yard - they are with us every summer but I hadn't seen one until today.  I was stood by the sink with my trusty binoculars, checking him as he (or she) returned to the same branch above the Elder tree.  

I needed the distraction of birdwatching, as I have a very poorly husband, suffering from headaches and eye pressure/watery eyes and a slight temperature.  Could be a sinus infection, or in the worst case, Meningitis.  He saw the GP yesterday - a lengthy appointment - and was told to go to A&E if he developed a very stiff neck and or/aversion to bright lights.  However, there is still a lot of pressure behind his eyes and he has a bad headache. Obviously as we are shielding we wouldn't go to A&E lightly, but if he is worse tomorrow, we may have to go anyway.  Worrying times - I am sure that ordinarily he would have been sent there from the Dr's surgery yesterday . . . 

Swift magic

This afternoon we went to see my friend N, and had our usual weekly socially-distanced chat, and then drove on up the valley, parked up and had a short out-of-the-wind walk down to the river.  The old hanging bridge went years ago and now there is a stalwart affair that you can cross the river on or - as we did - just stand on and look up and downstream.  To our amazement, there were a couple of dozen SWIFTS and nearly as many House Martins were hawking for insects up and down the river, swooping under the bridge, looping the loop, and hurtling back again.  Taking photos was nigh on impossible.  By the time you had one in your view-finder, it was gone again!  

 

You can just make out two Swifts bottom left and a little higher and further in.

Looking upstream towards Brechfa.

The view downstream.  The birds were flying a stretch of perhaps a hundred yards and turning before this tree leaning out over the water.

Some views taken along the lane where we walked.  Now it's getting late and I am going downstairs to watch The Last Kingdom.  I shall be sad when we get to the end of the new series.

Finally, the first Rosebay Willowherb of summer, noticed on the way home.  (We drove a circular route).

Some fresh plants in the garden

What a shame yesterday's photos didn't show on my blog (bit of a wasted post!). We will have to drive that route again with my trusty camera as the views were so beautiful.  So, quickly, a short replacement.

This was my "buy me a surprise" plant from the Garden Centre.  Tam chose a nice one and I like the foliage too.  It is a Rhodanthemum, one of the Aster family.  Likes it dry so I may have to overwinter it in the polytunnel.

Tam got a selection of plants to go in the pots by the door - a little Aster and a black Petunia and a white Petunia I didn't take a photo of.

Names escape me as there were no labels (plus I've been awake 3 hours in the night again so brain in neutral) but the Campanula on the right was there already . . .

Here is wee Squeaker being a Cat Adornment by the Zepherin Drouhin rose . . . 

Ghengis being a sofa adornment, along with his Stripey Sidekick, Theo . . .

Finally Alfie, exhausted from hunting baby rabbits . . .

I am feeling groggy from lack of sleep again, but there is Domestic Economy to be done and pollen to be avoided, so I will have to keep inside today.  Last steroid today, so hopefully I will be on the mend again now.

Over the hills and far away

Sorry the photos are so enormous, but it is beyond my brain tonight to resize them all.

We had to Go Out today - to town.  To take bottles for recycling, to put fuel in the car and some in a can for the petrol strimmer (gloves worn), to pick up fruit and veg from Abergwili and to get Compost.  In fact, we even braved the Garden Centre.  Well, I didn't, I stayed in the car and learned a few more words in French on my phone app.  As we were potting on the Tomatoes, fresh Compost was essential - we had run out of all the recycled stuff from pots here, and anyway, it needed to have a bit of oomph in it and the recycled stuff had all its nutrients already used really.  I asked Tam to get me some plants to go in the tubs at front of house and she got half a dozen various and a surprise perennial (photos tomorrow).  It was very civilized, people let in only very slowly and well apart and she used hand sanitiser afterwards.  

  

We were fed up with the usual lanes home and decided to explore and drove up past the back of Merlin's Hill and then headed East (ish!) and just stopped and took some photos on my phone (hence quality not brilliant).  No words really necessary, but enjoy the views as we did.  Took us ages to get home, and at one point we were heading due north up and down precipitous narrow lanes with hairpin bends, and came through a tiny hamlet called Pant-Teg which consisted of a lovely old chapel, adjoining Manse, a graveyard and another cottage.  We'd never heard of it before today yet it is perhaps 5 miles from home as the crow flies.

Misty hills which lead on to Black Mountain.

The back of Merlin's Hill.

You can just make out the long ridge above the Amman valley, terminating in Black Mountain on the left.  "Our" mountain we look at from all the hills around.

The lane ahead . . .

Nearly back on the Brechfa road not from from Nantgaredig.

Above and below:  Ox-eye daisies in the "lawn" at Monachdy.

Finally, little Trinity Church, built by the Bath family for their private worship originally, and with awonderful Arts & Crafts interior we can't see at the moment (it used to be open every Thursday and I was going to do a post on it. That will have to be post-Covid . . .)

We really enjoyed exploring, although this route was NOT a viable drop-off and walk home route.  It would have taken us all day!!

Another job done and dusted

My office was the scene of the action yesterday.  Every single one of these books came off and was stacked up in the hallway, a shelf at a time, and the two top shelves manhandled down (they are NOT lightweight!) so I could repaint the wall behind, which had been a darker cream.  I mainly had to do it as bits of the side wall were also the darker cream (where books had been against them last time I splashed the paint about).  Anyway, all done now and I had my upper body workout yesterday.

Here is Theo, perched between fruit bowl and breadmaker in the kitchen.  He has been a little hooligan recently, always where he shouldn't be, but we love him really.

Things are quiet here at the moment.  The Welsh Govt. have announced that the 5 mile limit on journeys in Wales may last all summer.  They have conceded that us poor folk living rurally may find this a challenge (especially if they live 15 or 20 miles from the nearest town/shops) but you are not allowed to go out for a drive/go to the beach/go to a beauty spot and I have to say, the prospect of this continuing all summer is not a cheerful one.  Being in the vulnerable group, I am already confined to barracks - which is OK, as we have such beautiful countryside around us to explore on foot, but Cabin Fever is starting to set in!  Still, until infection/death rates start to really fall well below the R number, nothing will change.

Right, a day of Domestic Economy, window cleaning (insides only due to pollen) and Sorting Out The Junk Room beckon.  I know how to have fun!

Theo in camouflage mode . . .

Finally - I kept forgetting to post this photo.  Last week I used Tracy's Nana's wartime recipe for Crispys - which are Flapjacks.  My husband ate the lot!  recipe on her BLOG.