Loose Ends

The container ship is at Southampton with our goods and has passed through Customs! Delivery is scheduled for Wednesday of this week ...

Still image taken from Southampton boxcam

In the meanwhile, I've been washing and saving containers for storing current supplies - best excuse for finishing tubs of ice cream that I know!

Our South African driver's licences conversion application was denied - we must take the theory test and practical like every new 18 y.o. driver. Eek. It was worth a try, though.

 

This is the scenario we have to contend with often - the cars ahead of us, on the left, are parked in front of their houses on the street. The oncoming cars have right of way in this situation obviously, and when it's clear we can proceed, using their lane.

It's so much easier to walk to places in town! We got our library cards issued last week, and now we have a book on the history of Llanfyllin to peruse.

On our way there, we passed these interesting buildings and plaques

 

Rainbow Valley

Optical archway

Interplay of rain and light

Spectrum of color

This is the second time in 4 weeks we've seen a rainbow across our valley. I guess with this much mix of rain and sun, it might be a fairly common occurrence. After the rain, the newly opened flowers glistened

Greenhouse Gone

I'm so glad that our two greenhouses have found a good home - our immediate view is so much more picturesque and less congested without them. They were so unsightly in their placement.

 

A very nice couple with a 4 acre property spent 4 days dismantling both greenhouses and hauling the pieces away. We've got to know them over this time, and have really enjoyed their company. They've given us tips and pointers about services in town, libraries, shopping and local activities.

We're going to make this our extended outside BBQ/entertaining area. Though we love the gorgeous array of flowers growing over the supports of the chicken-wire and wood pergola, we aren't fans of the bits that aren't covered with plants. We hope to order a louvre-opening pergola like the one we had in Maine. I'm going to work really hard at keeping as many of these beautiful flower displays intact and will somehow weave them into a solution. I really don't want to dig them up and destroy them.

Granted, it looks ugly without them too, especially this area, which has a retaining wall made of wall radiators! Some work is needed, but we see a lot of potential here. Dale has major design plans in mind.

View from my utility room, before and after

Poison Garden

We attended the Summer Fayre at Bryngwen Hall last weekend, where they have a token area set aside for rewilding, which is shown in this photo

There were many stalls selling nick-nacks and food, but the garden tour was the highlight of the visit. It included a poison garden featuring 115 plants - mandrake, monkshood, poppy, hemlock and many others. We heard about mad honey from bees feeding on rhododendrons in Nepal that has some intoxicating properties. 

The head gardener shared fascinating stories of some of the older iconic trees on the 60 acre estate, many of which were sourced from exotic corners of the world - Bhutan, Chile, Sikkim and Northern India. This was back in the day when rich people took home many treasures and exotica from other parts of the world to have for themselves, no matter the cost.

This dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) was thought extinct for many years until a specimen was found in western China in 1944, so it became a source for its seeds. This is a fast growing ornamental tree that has become popular as a garden feature since its rediscovery.

I was very pleased to make the acquaintance of the majestic Welsh oak, or sessile oak (Quercus petraea), an unofficial emblem of Wales. It has a commanding presence in the garden

This stand of irises was striking in the sun

The well-groomed grounds are peaceful and seemingly endless

Since this outing, I've come down with my first Welsh chest cold - I'm inexperienced with being unwell  since I haven't had to deal with a virus since the COVID lockdown (that's 6 years!). I hate feeling miserable and tired all the time, and the crackle in my ears is driving me nuts!