Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Nature's Arch

We've seen a lot of rainbows from our house (yes, it's because we have a lot of rain showers followed by sunshine).

The latest arch of light had intense, deep color, was a perfect bow, and was doubled, too!


As you can see, our locust tree's fall cloak is beginning to show


Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Rosy Evening

We walked down to the pub last week for their fortnightly movie event, and were lucky enough to see this glorious sight on our way there - we thought it was going to make us late because we kept stopping for more photos!


We are so lucky to be in such a gorgeous spot


On our walk home, we had fantastic views of the Big Dipper, too - how lovely it is to be on foot!





Monday, September 28, 2026

Litter Picking

I've become involved in our local litter picking group, and now have my own equipment from the umbrella group BRACE (Building Resilience And Community Engagement) so I can collect litter any time, with the right supplies.


I'm really happy to report that I'm not finding much trash! It takes many hours to fill a bag, which is unusual. I shouldn't complain, because it takes me out to all parts of town, giving me new perspectives on familiar places, and the opportunity to explore new areas.


This is the stream known as Afon Abel not far from our home. It's fenced off and its banks and flow have been modified over time.

All the litter collected this week was displayed at the Public Institute last Sunday, sign courtesy of moi.


Sunday, September 27, 2026

Autumn

We're experiencing familiar northern hemisphere cooling as autumn approaches, with temps dropping to 47° F overnight and warming to between 57° and 65° F during the day. Robins still bathe regularly in our mini 'lake'.


It's crisp and beautiful outdoors in the daylight hours. I especially love the smell of quinces ripening in the sunshine.

Quinces in June
Quinces in September

Quince paste and quince jelly is now on my 'to-do' list ... We don't have a functional heating system in the house yet - our heat pumps are scheduled for installation in the last weeks in October, but I'm expecting it will be later than that. We have a small woodstove, which we might be forced to use before then.