Footbridge

This wooden footbridge over the River Banwy (Afon Banwy) in Llanfair-Caereinion is pretty impressive

It leads to the town center, where there is a stone monument to the Welsh bard Taliesin, so I'll be back to explore this legend further. The Banwy was full, yet many reservoirs are still showing a deficit from the recent drought.

The Pond Log

Here's more on what we're doing in our efforts to restore our pond - we sourced some logs 'with character' from a friend's fallen tree (foreground), and

packed them into the back of the car with the trunk unlatched (a saga of its own in a car full of electronic beeping sounds and ultra-safety concerns that involved an automated, unnecessary use of the emergency brake at a most inappropriate time).

We strapped them onto our 'dolly'/sack cart, and then Dale wheeled them around the house to the pond area.

 He expertly placed them exactly where they 'spoke' to him. Since then, we've been harvesting moss fragments wherever it's not wanted, and we're slowly disguising the edges of the pond liner with it.

And, of course, our wildlife visitor's book for the pond has grown since then too

Photo: D Schultz

Poisonous Delights

These gorgeous blooms in my garden are commonly known as autumn crocuses or meadow saffron, though they aren't actually true crocuses, and are also not related to saffron plants. These little beauties belong to a whole different family than their common names suggest (Cochinas speciosum) and are toxic if ingested.

Interestingly (to me anyway), the ovary is below ground, so pollen tubes must grow downwards (almost 3 inches) to complete the fertilization process. Fascinating!

As you can see, they have certainly added a lot of color to the garden at this time of year.

Train Yard Sights

There was a lovely tea-room (café) selling delicious bacon and cheese pastries (as well as ... coffee) at the second station.

Was this guy sitting on a heap of coal? And did the man next to Dale start crying?

What a lovely vintage open goods wagon

Ooh, these nuts are lovely

Fire buckets