Robin Habituation

We're getting used to having our robin come very close to us as we work or sit in the garden. It's a mutualistic relationship, is what I'd call it - we both benefit. Her nest of 5 eggs has only one surviving chick to feed - maybe that makes life easier for her?

Here she is, flying directly towards me

She's been gathering all manner of things to take back to her chick

Here she is, right next to me, so that I could only see her from above. So trusting.

The robins and blackbirds arrive right away when Dale whistles to alert them to free handouts. Dale sat and waited with his camera ready this time -isn't she gorgeous?

Photo: D. Schultz

Tackling the Patio

In anticipation of a larger family gathering here (4 out of 6 Broderick siblings) at the beginning of July, we began to tackle our plan to transform our patio into a more spacious outdoor dining area. We seem to have mostly finished unpacking, except for a number of model train totes, and our new pergola with louvred roof had arrived, so we couldn't wait to get started. 

It meant uprooting roses, clematis and ivy from the uprights, and pulling the wire fencing off the structure. It was pretty tiring and draining working in the heat, so we took a break with the idea of continuing during the cooler evening hours. When Dale came to tell me it was time to return to work, he found me sitting at my desk, hand on the mouse, fast asleep in my office chair.

Dale was able to reach the trellis without a ladder so it made the deconstruction all his job, while I hauled plants away and crushed the disintegrating roof covering into a bin.

We're pleased with how much more open the area looks, but some pavers need to be moved to fill the gaps after plantings were removed. We're pleased to have made some steps towards making the yard our own, but we have a long way to go yet. 

Flying Beauty

A beautiful small tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae) graced our doorstep last week. They lay their eggs on nettle plants, which abound around here. Interestingly, the nettles belong to the genus Urtica, which features in the species name of this butterfly.

Though this butterfly is widespread in Europe and the U.K. its numbers seem to decline during drought conditions that affect the caterpillar's host plant. Global warming has been noted to be impacting populations in western Europe.

Packaging

We brought one full tube of toothpaste (8oz) with us from the U.S. (it fitted into our container!) and have since bought the largest size one (2.5oz) we can find here in Welshpool, Wales. Here they are alongside each other. Producing things that are so much smaller means a lot more plastic and packaging, but many homes in the U.K. have limited storage space, so packages are often produced in smaller sizes.

So much for the slogan "Recycle More." There isn't even a bottle deposit system here - it feels like the Middle Ages of recycling and sustainability sometimes. I don't know why, but I was expecting more. Maybe that's because this country was once part of the EU?

I find the excessive amount of 'film' produced here to be unacceptable - it is NOT recyclable and goes into the trash. Many vegetables and fruits are pre-packaged in a recyclable plastic tray, but sealed with a non-recyclable cover film (also done in the U.S.). Ditto for individual yogurts, cream and crème fraîche - the plastic 'cups' are recyclable, but not the cover film. Grr.

Why must a 2 pack of biscuits be sold as package, each with their own wrapping, as well as a cover film that is also not recyclable? Excessive, unnecessary waste - I could buy 2 and get a discount if that's what the offer is, but no one needs it to be wrapped that way to get the deal. I see I have a mission here ... 

Talking about packaging, this is how our mattress travelled (yes, we used cellophane - nonrecyclable if it has tape stuck to it - in this instance. I hang my head in shame!)

Gym mats get to experience their first Welsh air

Under the mats, the mattress was wrapped in a large cotton quilt cover

And then a compressible mattress bag

Watch the 30 second rise here:

https://youtu.be/rv9rss56igk

The Workhouse

 

On a windowsill

Interplay of in and out,

Sunlight and shadow

Seeing Faces

Pareidolia - I woke to see this 'face' lying on my windowsill - do you also see it?

I think I see a face in this gnarled tree root too - a disguised Komodo dragon

Photo credit: Smithsonian's National Zoo

Choice Scenery

We took our family for a car ride to get some A/C relief on an incredibly hot day! 

Last time we came through here these hayed fields were as green as the rest of the landscape

I LOVE the variegated, draping, green textures across the Tanat Valley so much. The elevation offered a nice respite from scorching temperatures.

Vegetation shows the path of a stream so nicely. A pity it wasn't enough to form a cooling off pool. 

I never get tired of this view (reminds me of the Drakensberg foothills in South Africa)

The 3 trolls encounter a mountain giant

Photo: D.Schultz

Lake Vrynwy's impressive dam wall

Lake Vrynwy has a sculpture park and arboretum to stroll through - so tranquil.

View whilst crossing the dam wall

Photo: MLB

The adventurers

Photo: D. Schultz

Evening Walk

We're excited to have had family visiting for a few days, so we've been a tad preoccupied. We last saw both my sister and b-i-l in 2011, though we did see Maryann on her own more recently (2016!).

The best parts were simply catching up, sampling beers, and dining together outside when the air was cool enough. Here is one of those instances:

Photo: D. Schultz

Here are a few pics of scenery from our evening walk after a sweltering day.

Art-i-tecture

We come across so many lovely buildings 

Library of Things

Our town's "Building Resilience And Community Engagement" (BRACE) group (some of whom are 'pious,' remember?) has a 'Library of Things' available for townsfolk to rent out for a minimal charge. It's a drive to encourage people to borrow and not buy new things for that once-off use. They have a catalogue of just over 200 items that have been donated. They have board games, sewing machines, carpet steamers, tools, camping equipment etc.

Sounds like a good scheme to me. Maybe giving the carpets a steam clean or power washing the house will get done one day! They also have 3 sewing machines for rent, which should come in handy.

The same group participates in a Repair Cafe once each month. This is where volunteers with knowledge in fixing electronics, furniture, small appliances, clothing, jewelery, etc lend their skills to fix people's broken things that have been brought in. Not everything can be fixed, and an attempt is made not to undermine local businesses that might offer that service such as bicycle repairs. Refreshments are provided for the community as the repairs are carried out. We hope to go along to the one in July and see how we can help/participate.

I think this poor couch that we inadvertently found ourselves paying for (see Couch story) in January

and which now looks like this: 

could be a candidate for the Repair Cafe ...

Dale has quite a reputation for breaking chairs, and this one was no exception. I was in the kitchen when I heard a bowl hit the tiled floor in the conservatory where Dale had been sitting reading. The only thing broken was the chair - both Dale and the bowl were still intact. Oh well! It was such a dirty yellow that I'd intended covering it to make it more acceptable but now ... is it even worth it? If it's this easy to break, will it stand up to being used on a regular basis? It hurts to give away when we reluctantly paid $70 for it only a few months ago.

Why Llanfyllin?

When we're introduced to new people in town, we keep getting asked things like, "What made you choose Llanfyllin?" "Out of all the places in the world you could focus on after being in the U.S., why Llanfyllin?" Or, "did you know this is kind of a  ... umm ... a hippie type community?" " A bit ... alternative ... quirky .."

"Then we'll fit right in," is our response, but yes ... we have encountered a few 'woo-woo' beliefs and ideas during our introduction to the B.R.A.C.E. (Building Resilience And Community Engagement) contingent. Our heart attack-recovering neighbor (he's doing well), who stopped in for a social visit, said, "Ah, yes, these people can be a bit ... pious." I thought he had a lovely accepting way of expressing his sentiment.

I think they should have said OLD hippies! Is this how they end up?

It's really hard to explain how it came to be LLanfyllin. We didn't focus on a particular town for any reason and ask 'what are the schools like?' 'Do they have a library?' Or, 'ooh, that town looks pretty, I want to live there.' Rather, we searched for houses with our particular specifications and 'dealbreakers' (shared driveways, pasture, nature reserve, 4WD needed, urban, public right-of-way through the property, contingent deals (called a chain here), and no parking spaces were all a big NO-NO). It really eliminated a lot of homes and brought the search results right down. We adapted some requirements once we saw what the 'lay of the land' was, for example, having a place to park the car on our own property was critical, as opposed to specifying a garage. Older homes had very poor insulation and some had low doorways, so no. Having open fields to look out at on the edge of town, which seemed nice to us, could become a development in later years. so no good. Or illegal fly grazing be a hassle on an open pasture on our land. There are some strangely ancient laws and acceptances of passed-through-the-ages practices that might be questionable today.

Almost every house we liked the feel of was in Wales, just by chance. So we had to follow our desires. We had 3 to choose from in Llanfyllin, and we're super happy with the one we chose. It was a house and surrounds we had our focus on, and being near a town was another consideration. We got it all!

This is the beer garden at the back of our local pub, The Old New Inn.

Settling In

I'm reluctantly not spending time in my garden lately, nor are we exploring our environs much since we have so much arranging, re-arranging and then re- re-arranging to do. No sooner do we get things fitting in perfectly, than another 4 bowls or set of coffee mugs gets unpacked from within the depths of an efficiently packed armchair or display cabinet. Then it's back to square one.

It's just hard assessing where to put stuff when things come out in dribs and drabs. Today I found this long-awaited item, which I have missed since we packed it away. It's the small, useful and meaningful things that one misses.

We are being patient, and busy. It's been pretty warm, so assembling things in the 'greenhouse' (aka our Conservatory) has been very challenging. We opened up doors and windows to get some airflow through (we hadn't found our battery fan at that stage) and we ended up with swarms of flies in the house which almost sent me to a mental institution. I couldn't deal with them and was obsessively swatting with dishtowels (no fly swatter), and the battery operated zappers that materialized needed batteries. There's a veritable fly cemetery in my kitchen. Yes, it's gross ... but it feeds little robins, and gives the parents a break!

I'm glad to have found some summer clothes that were used as packaging to protect ornaments and memorabilia. Dale has found some of his passenger coaches had dis-assembled themselves on the long journey! This little luxury item turned up at last - again, a small simple thing: my wooden toaster tongs. How did we manage without it?

Strawberries here are amazing! Small and sweet, not enormous and tasteless

Dale concluded that there'd be no point in properly arranging and transforming the garage until he'd laid out the rubber floor covering first, since everything else stands on that. What an effort he put in, but it does look (and feel) fantastic. And we can get the car back inside again.

Photo: D. Schultz