Local Shepherd

 Area man takes on shepherding

to investigate excessive bleating from the hill above

on a blistering hot day in sunny Wales

It seems they were merely feeling the heat, bleating their complaints, and congregating in a shaded glade.

Admire the Admiral

Velvety and lush -

Wings like silk; colors quite drab:

Impressive details.

This gorgeous creature was happy to sit with me for quite some time - I think its bulbous-tipped antennae are fascinating and beautiful. Its open wings are very colorful.

Heather and the Heath

 This gorgeous heath landscape is full of drama,

 and fine detail. The holes in this evergreen heather have been drilled by bees seeking a shortcut to the nectar.

View from the heathlands down into the valley where the town of Llanymawddwy nestles

The Tip

Our local Transfer station (recycling depot) is about 20 minutes away, in Welshpool, in the same town as we do our grocery shopping. We were very impressed with the level of granularity they go to in sorting recyclables as they are dropped off.

There are separate dumpsters and bins for carpets, lumber, metal, e-cigarettes, batteries, hard plastics, household plastics, small appliances, light bulbs cardboard, printer cartridges, furnishings and mattresses, etc, etc.

We had an assortment of things to get rid of, and of course had a lot of questions. When I asked what invasives were NOT permitted in the garden waste, the answer was 'diapers, plastics, etc'! I expected to be given a list of plants, such as Japanese knotweed, but I was told that people are too lazy or uninformed to be able to go to that level of detail. However, the facility sorts through the green waste Noxious weeds are removed and burned by the workers. The rest of the garden material is

 "taken to a composting facility in Carmarthenshire. Here it is shredded prior to undergoing 'open windrow' composting. This process involves mixing the shredded material and storing it in large open air bays. The material is turned periodically to aerate it and allow full breakdown throughout the load, and the process can take several months (typically around 16 weeks) to produce the final compost output." Powys Garden Waste

There is a 'Choose to Reuse' section in the facility. All items must be in proper working order and not in need of repair. Items are sold at low prices, they aren't free.

Severn River Picnic

The river Severn (Afon Severn) runs through Newtown, just 45 minutes from home, and is quite a hub by Wales standards. No wait, that should read Newtown is situated along the Severn, since the river was here first.

We stopped and picnicked at Dolerw Park (Supposedly pronounced similar to 'dol-arrow' with rolling r sounds. X marks the spot) on one of our scenic drives. It's a well maintained green space 

There's a network of paths and picnic benches to facilitate enjoyment of this tranquil space

So many fish paddling and swarming in the amber shallows

A footbridge across the river gives access to both sides of the river

So peaceful, and shady as well!

We had so much food left over from our previous day of feasting, that it took just 5 minutes to put together a picnic lunch.

Beef Cubes

I have an interesting shopping experience to relate. I often forget how deep the 'across-the-pond' differences are, despite the common language. I went into the store last week to buy more of this product for a curry I was preparing - diced beef for stews and curries.

I couldn't find any on the fresh meat shelf where I expected to find it, so sought out the nearest Tesco associate to ask for assistance. I asked if he had any more cubed beef. He directed me to stocks and gravies in aisle 3 where the Oxo cubes were. 

"Nope, I said those are stock cubes, I'm looking for fresh beef cut up into pieces. Maybe you have another word for it?"

"I'm not sure we carry that ..."

"Oh yes you do, I bought some here last week. I just need more of the same," I said, going through my description again of what the product was. (I didn't think to use stewing beef as a synonym).

He turned to his Tesco App and entered 'beef cubed' into his search and showed me. The 6 things that came up were all beef stock cubes. I was flabbergasted, and went back to the fresh meat section where I found only beef strips - they would do. In reporting my findings to Dale, the word 'diced' suddenly came to me - I'd asked for cubed beef, not diced beef, but I thought the description I'd given was pretty obvious. In the associate's defense though, I must add that he was probably 18 or 19 and didn't know one could buy specifically cut meats for stews, so my description was of no help.

To top it all, there really was none available in the store anyway, so the definition and misdirection was moot. The beef strips fitted the bill of course.

Celebrating the Fourth

We have been busy spending more time with family this past week, culminating in a day of 4 of 6 Brodericks together for the first time in about 35 years. Wild! Family photo overload alert!

My youngest sister and her husband have been travelling through Europe and the U.K. on motorcycles since Oct last year, and my eldest brother flew in from Florida to be part of the rare reunion opportunity this presented. 

It grew from 2 sibs from last week to 3,

Photo: ML Broderick

and then 4 on July Fourth, a day for celebrating on this side of the pond

Photo: D.Schultz

We were 7 in all with the 'Partners-Support Group' joining in the festivities

Photo: D. Schultz

There was much reminiscing, teasing and laughing in between all the eating, drinking and photographing. So many family pics were taken that not much sightseeing was done, and many jaws were aching. It was the best 4th ever!

Our celebratory cake, soaked with brandied berry juice, and served with berries, whipped cream AND ice cream!

One more for the road

Photo: D.Schultz

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” 

 - Epicurus 

Road Works

 

A road works bonus:

A chance to pause and enjoy

Stone barn and farmyard

Citizen Science 4 Us

Dale and I took part in the Severn Rivers Trust volunteer workshop last week, where we were shown how to ID and sort indicator faunal species in the River Cain. During this session, we realized we had been saying the river's name incorrectly - Cain is pronounced 'Kine' in Welsh. (We asked about our town name too, and learned that we'd been saying it wrong. One of the knowledgeable volunteers has written many historical picture books about our town and was able to help us get it right. We'd been putting the emphasis in the wrong place too: Llanfyllin is pronounced more like LanVahlin.).

We were each given a tray in which to float the samples collected (all of which had been preserved in alcohol), a pair of tweezers, a microscope and a key to follow. We checked each invertebrate under the microscope and sorted it into the correct category to be counted.

There was also a presentation about more esoteric features to look for in identifying species.

The samples are only taken twice each year, so the commitment from the volunteers isn't a big burden.

Ooh, I had so much fun learning new things and meeting friendly, curious and knowledgeable people. Though the task became tedious after a few hours, we definitely look forward to returning for the fall counting session.

Catching Up

A lot of rearranging and cleaning has been going on in the background (as well as some baking!) alongside sleeping at my computer, doing regular chores like laundry and shopping, and transforming our patio.

I was disappointed to find that my baking sheets and pizza pan we brought across in our container are too big to be used in my oven! Is that an excuse for me not to have to make Dale's favorite Brazilian flan? (Flan, I said flan, Brazilian FLAN..). It needs to be cooked in a bain-marie, which is a bit of a nuisance to manage, but heck, the microwave we bought is convection also, and is larger than my oven, so I'm not yet off the hook because it will probably fit in there. Or time to scale our portions down from American sizing?

Whilst doing some cleaning, I came across this lovely find in our coat closet. This cellar spider (daddy-long-legs) is raising the next generation of pest controllers, so I'll leave her be.

Dale managed to get our 80 year old neighbour to do some mowing for us! Scheming Dale was 'showing him how light, easy and efficient the battery mower can be'. I think he was taken advantage of! This same gentleman (retired lawyer) said he likes Dale because he's a non-conformist, and not a conventional rule-follower. The British seem to like to 'keep to themselves' he says, and he prefers our willingness to be open and get to know all neighbors.

Photo: D. Schultz

In the meanwhile, our Maine paradise sits and waits to be lived in. Our good friends have been mowing our lawn for us all this time - what a gift! We've now reduced the price down to 749K, which seems to be more on par with what other neighborhood homes have to offer, and we have had a few more viewings. Fingers crossed it will be loved again soon ... 

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.