Pookie, the Rabbit with Wings

 This is the buff-tailed bumblebee, or I should say, an ex-buff-tailed bumblebee. 

When I saw the delicate, translucent wings, I immediately thought of the 1946 children's story book by Ivy Wallace about Pookie, the rabbit with wings.

Pookie

Moss Finds a Way

Moss! What an incredible plant - it always finds a way to utilize the minimum of soils, even little particles that must have become stuck between the bricks in this wall. And yet, for some reason, people try to get rid of it! It's beautiful, hardy, helps the soil store carbon and also acts as a filter for pollutants in the air. What's not to love?

The moss we've transplanted to our pond's edges looks happy and vibrant.

Welsh as She is Spelled/Spelt

We've come across quite a few different spellings of words or names that we're already familiar with since moving to Wales. When they're explained to me and I read them out in Welsh, I realize that "hmm, that spelling works!" It's just not what I'm used to.

Gilhespy is a surname that we would write as Gillespie

Ifans is another family name, pronounced as Evans (Welsh f has a v sound)

Huw is another way of spelling the man's name Hugh

Sion can be a spelling of the boy's name Sean

Mail box in our town with King George VI cypher, dating it between 1936 and 1952

Welsh has between 8 and 13 dipthongs (vowel combinations) depending on the region, and they harvest them from 7 vowels - A, E, I, O, U, W, and Y - not 5, as in English. This obviously generates more variations.

So, our street name Coed Llan Lane, is actually said as Coyd (as in boy) Hlan Lane.

It's fun learning new things, but it's hard making them stick!

More 'Shrooms

 It's fall, so mushrooms are popping up everywhere.

It looks as if this mighty fungus has broken an old stump apart!

 

This miniscule one is easily overlooked, though it looks as if it's the perfect size for insects.

Harvest

Oi! The church bells of St. Myllin's rang out on Friday evening, not as part of the Sunday service, nor for Monday's practice, but for the crop harvest. The bells traditionally rang to give thanks for the bounty, and to ensure the preservation of the gathered crop.

So I thought I'd better get to work harvesting quinces from my garden, and make that quince paste (membrillo) and jelly I've been meaning to try. My quinces were small and hard, with lots of pips and minimal flesh. Still worth a try, I thought.

I plucked this heavy load in no time - the aroma is floral and fruity, so fresh!

I washed them all thoroughly - only 2 sowbugs, 2 snails, no worms or tunnels, and very little decay/degradation to avoid or cut away.

This is what they look like on the inside - no real flavor sampling was done though, as they're too hard, astringent and sour to be appreciated raw. It looks like a combination of a pear and an apple, and there are a lot of pips, which look a bit like popcorn kernels.

I decided not to peel them - that was just too much! The smell of them cooking is heavenly!

I drained off the juice, then added sugar for the jelly (left). The flesh went through the blender, and was then slow simmered with sugar to make a purée.

The jelly turned out well - it turns rosy pink during the cooking process. It's a tasty new flavor for our palette.

The membrillo paste had to be left overnight in the oven to dry out more. We sampled some with cheese and crackers - reviews were positive! 

Voilà! My first membrillo, or quince cheese ("a sweet and tart, thick jelly made of the pulp of the quince fruit. It is a common confection in several countries" - Quince cheese). 

The color of the paste is a little 'off' (not rosy pink) because I included the skins in my purée. 

This turned out to be a fun fall project. Though I really enjoyed trying something new and feeling successful at it, it was very messy and tedious. Everything was sticky afterwards - the purée bubbled up and exploded up into the hood filter and backsplash at one point when I chatted to a neighbor, and even the underside of my shoes made a tacky sound, so I had to mop the floor as well.

The purée is excellent stirred into yoghurt - ooh, man!

 

Black Jelly

This delicate swirling organism on our pond log is most likely a jelly fungus called witch's butter. (Exidia glandulosa). It produces fruiting bodies in autumn, and feels somewhat gelatinous and slimy to the touch. They occur on dead broadleaf trees and branches.

It was only by photographing the community of fungi growing on our dead log, that the black witch's butter came to my attention.

Autumnal Light

 This is our magnificent locust tree, an outstanding feature-piece in our garden

Fall colors aren't dramatic in the same way as in Maine, but the changing light regime makes things look pretty nevertheless.

The enormous leaves of our empress/foxglove tree have started to fall

Get Out Your Parasols

 This is a delicate parasol mushroom called a pleated inkcap in varying states

Living Dead

 I'm excited to see how much life there is because of this dead tree - quite amazing. Death brings life!

A dying tree gives

Life to other living things -

Continuity.

Chaotic Quiz Night

Quick pizza dinner before Trivia

We joined up with some friends at The Old New Inn (maybe I should rename it The [M]old New Inn) last week for Quiz night. Boy, was it chaotic! For a start, the quizmaster had a thick Welsh accent, and there was no projection of the questions onto a screen to help us!

When we asked for a repeat of a question, he usually couldn't remember which question he'd got up to, so there was a lot of back- and forth-ing to bring him up to speed each time we queried something. Exasperating! At one point, not being able to pronounce the names of the rivers on his sheet, he read out the answer as well!

His scoring was the most incomprehensibly bizarre system I've ever encountered. For instance, in the sports category, one question required us to name the 11 British driving champions, for a total of 11 points, and all subsequent questions in that category scored one point.

There were many other categories too, some where there was an occasional 3-7 part answer (eg, name the 7 wonders of Wales) for that same number of points, and others where a single answer was required. Some categories scored 18 points, some 10!

Later, the music category required us to name a song and artist for each question, with half points awarded for each, for a total of 10 for that category. Why the inconsistency? Additionally, teams could play a JOKER card before any category began, usually picking the topic they were best at. Choosing a joker where there were 18 points to be had instead of 10 made for a very unfair advantage, especially when there was no heads-up as to how many points we were playing for.

Funny thing is, despite it being frustrating at times, we had a great time guessing with our friends (and this time we didn't come last).

Dusk in Autumn

Hedge Trimming

We'd thought the tall cypress trees growing alongside our property line were meant to grow tall since they're trees, but we've found out they need regular trimming and maintenance to stop them from thinning out down below and losing some of their screening properties. So, with our house having been empty and unmaintained for 2 years before we moved in, some radical trimming was needed. We've also had to wait till hedge-trimming season, September through February, when nesting birds won't be disturbed.

A hedge trimmer, though useful, wasn't enough. Dale had to use his chainsaw to get through the thick trunks. Here he is on the public footpath side of our cypress trees, cutting our screen into a hedge, which is still tall enough to block our property from view to passersby.

It's been my job to clear the cuttings from the footpath, and not get downed by a tree at the same time. A few tops fell down into our yard as well and needed to be attended to.

Looking behind us, you can see how it looks after trimming. The new, low 'hedge' is on the left of the photo below. 

Today we finished cutting the entire length of the hedge, though we still have some neatening up to do where stray pieces have been missed. I've been leaving small fronds scattered on the muddy footpath to help prevent slipping and skidding on the wet parts.

After this years' effort, we plan on maintaining it regularly so it doesn't get out of control again. Next time around the hedge trimmer alone should suffice.

Hunter

We were alarmed to see that a neighborhood cat has tuned in to there being a creature 'trapped' inside our feed station while its eating, and has been trying to get at it. Attracting a hedgehog and making it a 'sitting duck,' only to be ambushed on its exit is not part of our plan. Sometimes the outdoor camera doesn't even 'catch' or record a hedgehog coming or going, but the food still disappears. Now we're wondering if we're encouraging rats, maybe? 

Our camera has recorded hedgehogs coming in and out in the past, and we have seen their distinctive scat in the yard, so we know they are present, or have been, but it's strange that we haven't captured it on camera in more recent days, despite the food disappearing.

Cats have been seen trying to get inside to access the food, but they've been unsure about maneuvering their way through the interior maze, and always back off. So, it's a bit of a mystery as to what the cat is hunting, and what we are encouraging - is it something too small to be picked up by our camera? Could it be a shrew or a vole or an enormous snail?

The Costs of Moving

I've been sick again - after not experiencing illness for so long since COVID, I have NO patience for being unwell. It's one of the unforeseen, hidden costs of moving though, of being exposed to slightly different strains of viruses and environments. I know it's temporary and pretty short-lived in the grand scheme of things, but oh, such a nuisance!

Was it the very mouldy (one of my allergies) and damp place where we attended a film night at the back of a pub last Friday? Or was it the person coughing behind me throughout the movie? I smelled the mildew almost as soon as we walked into the room, and I found myself trying not to breathe during the film - it was horrible. Either way, I woke the next morning with my throat on fire. 

This is the product sold to combat mould - just another form of bleach dressed up differently 

I've suffered with this for 10 days now, and it hasn't progressed beyond a painful throat and chesty cough. I think that if it had been a cold virus, symptoms would have changed through its course - I didn't have a sneezy, runny nose at all, no fever, and no headaches. I sent a note to the pub owner about my allergies, and he said the 'damp' was being addressed, and had been caused by a leak from the rooms above. But ugh! It's been making me feel weary and rotten, and I've avoided contact with others in case I was contagious.

I scheduled a home delivery of my weekly groceries, which arrived around 10PM, so some late night chores had to be dealt with, unfortunately.

I've spent a lot of time reading, doing small chores, and staying warm.

Beautiful crocheted blanket courtesy of our Chelmsford, MA. neighbour.

 This lovely gift has also helped me feel better😁- good medicine. I think I'm on the mend at last since my throat has gone from being on fire to feeling raw. 

Little Catch-ups

It's October, and it was 14°C (57°F) in our conservatory today. Brrr, a little chilly to start the day.

Although it's October, we haven't been woken by gunshots! That's a nice change. This time of year is waterfowl hunting season in Maine. Here in the U.K. there are still traditional estate hunts and sporting lodges, a bit like private hunting reserves. Deer aren't actually fenced in, but are strategically coerced into browsing on sporting estates through their manipulative land management practices, such as supplemental winter feeding.

Hunting wild mammals with hounds was outlawed in 2004. The compromise has been to allow trail hunting where an artificial scent, rather than a live one, is followed. Lots of controversy there.

As far as our habitat goes, we had some electrical work done last week, as we make preparations for the installation of heat pumps, scheduled for the end of this month (fingers crossed it isn't typical U.K.-delayed. C'mon, prove us wrong!).

We heard an emptying-of-water-sound in the ceiling just before the crew arrived (yes, it had rained all night), so have had to investigate further. A roof leak, obviously, so that needs a repair team. In the meanwhile, we've placed an empty tote bin in the rafters to catch the offending water.

Very pleasing has been the installation of infra-red heaters in our bathroom this week. Bliss! Now climbing out of the shower cubicle won't be such a shock. And Dale can program when it's on and off, and what temperature is appropriate, with Wi-Fi smart home automation. That's extra fun for him to dabble with.

Poop Hole

No, I didn't mean to write peep hole. I meant poop hole! This post is about a badger's latrine that Dale found along the public footpath near our house. They dig a hole to poop in, a dung pit, which they don't cover up afterward as a cat might. 

If you look closer you will see how meticulous the nocturnal badger is about toilet habits, keeping its living area clean and sanitary by having a separate designated toilet area. Brilliant.

Forest Garden

Llanfyllin has a forest garden on the floodplain of the River Cain that was started in 2014. It's a food producing garden of perennials that incorporates all levels of plants: trees, shrubs, wildflowers and herbs in an attempt to emulate a bountiful natural woodland. In other words, it's a multilayered foraging garden (forest-gardens)

The fruit and herb produce from this garden are freely available to all residents to harvest. 

We have a wide variety of heritage apple trees grafted by Tom the Apple Man in Welshpool, as well as raspberries, sloe berries (blackthorn or Prunus spinosa), quinces, pears, herbs, and medlars, which are new to me. 

Medlars (Mespilus germanica) look a bit like a cross between a rose hip and and an apple, and apparently need to undergo a process of 'rotting' before becoming edible. They are a rare and ancient fruit, popular in medieval times, and mentioned in some Shakespeare plays.

We came home with quite the bounty!

Now for some baking to warm up the house ...

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