Holidays

Holiday Bliss

Spring is beautiful! Right now I’m off to go and lie in a field, look at the sky and do nothing…perfect!

Josh’s birthday fun – day one (Tuesday)

 

Wow, how busy can I get without my head exploding and making an unsightly mark on the church office ceiling? Things have been manic in both personal and work life and so I haven’t had time to even think about posting until now.

A whole week has passed since our yurt experience began and it already feels like a lifetime ago. All the beautiful spring whether has disappeared as well, to be replaced by the predictable Welsh rain…booo…hiss.

 

ANYWAY, I shall endeavour to remember what happened a week ago with the help of some photos!

 

Snap out of it!

It’s getting to that time of year again when I go a bit mad. The sun is shining, the buds are bursting, the birds are singing and the air smells all earthy and fresh. In short – I want to be frolicking in the countryside, not stuck in my stuffy cave office with no natural light. As a result of my incarceration I tend to go a bit loopy, get very frustrated and have lots of pent up energy, which also tends to make me very un-productive at everything!

 

You may have noticed that lately I haven’t really written any recipes or ‘ethical living’ posts. Well that would be because I am failing spectacularly in the ‘simple living’ stakes at the moment, and so haven’t really had anything to write about.

I guess a lot of my failure stems from laziness. It seems like things have been really tough all round lately and I’m expending so much energy just getting through my days that I just can’t seem to summon the will to cook nice food and to organise myself enough to visit local shops etc.

The stupid thing is, I know I would feel better if I spent time cooking healthy food and if I went out running and made my house harmonious and clean, but I just can’t seem to motivate myself to do it.

 

I’m hoping that now Spring is finally arriving it will give me that well needed push to get back on track.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get out in the countryside in the next few weeks, top up on my vitamin D and shake off these winter blues!

Spring Watch

 

At the risk of sounding like a loser I must say that one of the programmes I really miss not being able to watch this year is BBC’s Springwatch. It’s such a cheery programme and it’s hard not to get caught up in all the little dramas of nature, and how all the little families are getting along. I feel like we could have given the makers of Springwatch a run for their money yesterday though, we saw a veritable feast of wildlife at the RSPB reserve at Ynys Hir, as these photos will show.

 

 

 

We saw lots of swallows which were nesting and feeding young in a couple of the hides. I tried to get an ‘inflight’ picture but they fly so fast I got frustrated and gave up!

 

Large Red Damsels

Common Blue

You might need to enlarge this photo to see it, but there is a hare right in the middle of the photo. Great views.

 

This Phesant really didn’t like us being near it’s chicks. We made a speedy getaway, but not before getting some photos.

 

 

This cute little Blue Tit had only just fledged from a nest box right by the path, so we were able to witness its maiden flight.

 

I also nearly had a robin come and perch on my head while sitting still watching birds on a feeder. Unfortunately I didn’t realise what was going on and flinched, which scared it away.

 

The best find though was just after we were watching a Willow Warbler calling aggressively at us and going down to the ground. It took us a couple of minutes to realise it had a nest down there. We peeked inside the tiny domed shaped nest nestled in the undergrowth only to see two eggs, and the most minute cute little blob of a bird you have ever seen. It must have hatched only recently and was smaller than a ten pence piece. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a photo without disturbing them all too much.

 

All in all, an amazing day. We didn’t realise we’d been there for eight hours until we got back into the car!

 

Choo Choo!

  

We had our fourth annual trip on the Vale of Rheidol Railway (or the choo choo train as we more affectionately call it) on Wednesday. The weather, in a break from tradition, was stunning and we had a great time. It was nice to have a girly day for once.

 

  

The trip on the narrow gauge railway takes about an hour through stunning countryside. The Rheidol Valley is one of my favourite places in the world. It’s so beautiful, especially on a fine spring day. It can get quite touristy but if you climb up the sides of the valley there are forgotten glades and woodlands filled with ancient trees.

Anyway, back to Wednesday. We went on a different walk this year, and managed to miss all three paths we were aiming for and ended up climbing over a scree pile and scrambling down through woodland and loads of scrub and bilberry. It was very amusing, especially as Beth had chosen very practical footwear. 

 

 

We must have stumbled through a caterpillar city as well as we have lots of them all over us when we finally made it back onto a path. Josh was unable to identify them from the photo. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Perfect Day

I had the best bank holiday ever!

 

We slept until 11 to recover from our early morning the day before and then walked until the evening…perfect.

We went to Artists Valley near Eglwys Fach and had fun exploring a deserted farmhouse. We also saw a Whinchat and a Cuckoo which was pretty cool.

 

Our mission for the day was to go somewhere where we could escape from the crowds that descend on Aber from Birmingham and the surrounding area and wouldn’t have to see anyone. I would recommend Artist’s Valley for that, especially if you go off the beaten track.

We then headed to Ynys Hir which is only a short drive away. We didn’t see anything interesting but it was a lovely walk round. Then back in Aberystwyth with aching limbs, just to top a perfect day we saw some dolphins swimming in the bay.

    

  (Yes, that’s one – that little black dot!)

 

 

 

 

If you go down to the woods today…

 

 

…You’ll see lots of things that will make the parents-in-law jealous!

We had a great day out yesterday at Ynys-Hir. It was very different from the last time we visited as spring has definitely sprung. The colours are vibrant, the smells earthy and rich and the air is alive with bird song.

 

 

 

We saw a really good number of species including Redstart, Wood warbler, Sedge warbler, Chiff Chaff, Grasshopper warbler, Lapwing and Marsh Harrier. We also had an entertaining face-off with a goose that really did not want us walking near its nest. 

 

 

 

Now we just have to decide whether we are going to go back for their dawn chorus walk on Sunday. I really want to go but I’m a bit dubious about the 4.30am start. Having said that I’ve just remembered it’s bank holiday so I can have a lie in the next day…hurrah!