Photo Finalist

Hi Friends,

Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday.

I’ve been chosen as a finalist for Little Something’s photo competition for my photo of a lizard . Please take a moment to head over to her website and vote for the photo you think is best.

{Me! Pick me!}

Aber Bucket List #9: achieved

Firstly, {and this won’t mean anything to people who don’t watch British TV or don’t care about nature} Spring Watch is coming to Ynys-Hir.

Yeeeaaah! That’s our patch! So excited!
I’m totally going to end up stalking the presenters around Aberystwyth like a FREAK!

Anyway …the real reason for this post is our Aberystwyth Bucket List.

Strata Florida Abbey was originally founded in 1164 and was a pretty influential place for hundreds of years. Nowa days it’s just a ruin but I’ve wanted to go and visit for a while now and last week we managed to make it out there.

It’s such a beautiful spot and if you ever get the chance to visit, go! It was so quiet and there were birds everywhere. We got great views of Redstarts as there must have been about 8 individuals flitting about.

There is also a grave-yard there which I was pretty excited about visiting. Dafydd ap Gwilym is buried there BUT I was more interested in…

The leg grave. Duh duh duuuuhhhh…
{Can you tell how thrilled Josh was at me making him pose? haha}

Apparently some guy had to had his leg amputated in the 1800s and so he had it buried here with a stone, inscription and picture of his leg. Amused me greatly.

We then headed up into the mountains to walk to the Teifi Pools.
On the way we met this little guy.

I haven’t had such good views of a stoat before so this was very exciting.

It was SUCH a beautiful day and we had a lovely time walking up the valley to the pools. Definitely worth being on the bucket list.
One down…nine to go;

Josh and Rachel’s Aberystwyth Bucket List

1. Watch the sun rise from Pendinas {the hill above the town}
2. See the submerged forest in Borth
3. Visit Soar y Mynydd
4. Buy a love spoon
5. Walk from Llanfair Clydogau to Tregaron
6. Have a bonfire and BBQ on the beach
7. Have a meal at the Harbour Master
8. Go dancing with all the gang
9. Visit Strata Florida
10. See Aberystwyth from the sea

I’ll leave you with this sheep. Notice anything weird?!

Animals

This week I’m entering the ‘Little Somethings’ photo challenge again.

Except this time the title was ‘animals’.

How on earth am I meant to choose between the many wonderful wildlife moments I have had the pleasure of capturing? Killer Whales, Puffins or Bonxies in Shetland or Dolphins in Pembokeshire or butterflies in flower meadows…so much to choose from!

In the end I chose this photo because it was one of the first I ever took with my SLR. We saw this lizard on a fence post and so I ever-so-carefully scrambled up the bank, extended my arm and stood on one leg to get within shooting distance and clicked. A split second after the shutter went off this little guy darted off into the undergrowth so I couldn’t quite believe I’d got a decent in-focus shot.

Ohh…how I love taking photos!

Fill in the captions

I like to call this “how do children do this straight after eating a huge roast dinner?”

or maybe…”Yep – would have been sick by now”

“The girls take on the boys”

“The Anglican-in-training despairs at Rebecca’s charasmatic on-pitch display”

“Losing is hard work…”

“Photoshoots with the girls are much more fun”

“I love my family”

Posted in conjunction with “Family” over at Foto Friday

Springtime in Devon

The light was so amazing in Devon I couldn’t resist slipping out into the garden for an early morning photo shoot. Everything smelt heavenly… I can’t wait to have a garden of my own one day.

Sweet

I have so many things to blog about but life is so hectic this week!…So this is just a quick update to say that I will be back soon and I have LOTS of photos to share!

This past weekend we travelled to Devon to surprise my brother for his 40^th birthday.

It was a weekend of family, fun, sunshine, good food, giggles and sweet, sweet cuddles from my nieces and nephews. A much needed breath of fresh-air amidst all the busyness.

 

Today I am taking part in Little Somethings  ‘Sweet’ photo challenge.

Looking Up

Today I’m taking part in ‘Foto Friday’ for the first time!
This week’s theme was Looking Up and I think this photo is perfect for it:

Today Josh went for a walk in the woods {while I was stuck in office – I’m not bitter at all!!} and he said that the trees were alive with Pied Fly-Catchers and Redstarts.
I’m so happy it’s spring and that the countryside is buzzing with frantic wild activity!

So not only is this photo literally ‘looking up’ it’s a sign to me that things are also looking up metaphorically. I’ve finally got a spark of energy back and I’m beginning to have a desire to be out, doing things – feeling the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.

Why not go and check out how the other Foto Friday participants got on.

Springing into the rest of the year

I love those moments in the year when you can just tell that the season has changed. Spring has been just around the corner for a few weeks now, but last Thursday as we climbed Plymlimon we could just sense the change: spring has finally sprung.

I love the area around Plymlimon and Nant-y-Moch. It feels so wild and isolated. We would occasionally just stop and listen and hear nothing except the wind moving through the grass and the geese on the lake below us.

As we climbed higher (without coats for the first time this year!) we heard a sky lark singing high above the moorland. Surely that must be a contender for one of the best sounds in the world?! Perfect.

Gradually the track levelled out and we reached a series of pools where we could hear a chorus of frogs calling to one another.

It all just makes me so excited! I love winter for many reasons, but there is just something about Spring that promises potential for the rest of the year.
It has spurred us into action for planning our summer break and this week we’ve organised and booked quite a bit.

So far we’ll be visiting the Lake District before spending a few days hostelling in Glencoe.
Then we’ll be travelling to Knoydart. I’m so excited about this leg of our journey! Knoydart has been called the last wilderness in Scotland because there are no roads to it. To reach it you must hike 18 miles over the mountains or by a 7 mile sea crossing. Eeek!
We’ll then be spending a week on Skye before meandering our way back down South spending time in Devon, Wiltshire, the Cotswolds, London and the Lake District again.

My problem is that I’m an administrator through and through. I love to achieve things and tick them off my list. It’s not just office things – I find that I do it in normal life too. Even as I’m doing something, my mind is often on the next thing to be achieved.
However, I don’t want to be like that with our last few months in Aber and with the time we’re taking off from work. I want to try and enjoy each day as it comes and make the most of it because I know it’s going to pass really quickly. I’m not very good at sitting back and letting things happen, but I’m working on it!