welsh hills again

Sometimes with the best will in the world there is simply no time to be out in the garden.  Today began with a rush off to Welsh class in a misty, wet morning.  After three and a half hours of doing some stuff in Welsh which I didn't even know I had forgotten, never mind didn't remember, it was straight to meet Ian for a speedy lunch on our way to younger daughter's for an afternoon with her and her children.  By the time we got home all energy was spent and the day was over. So today's part of the 100 day project is about an achievement which has been a very long time in the making and which is only very tangentially mine.  Some years ago (three?  four? I am not sure) Ian and I were wandering around the garden and arrived in the bottom third of our field/garden.  This area is meant to be enclosed and is the only area in the garden which is not turned to look at our stupendous view.  It is meant to be a place to walk into, a place of greater enclosur...

Today for the first time I am joining in with Amy's Five things on Friday .   I have been reading Amy's Five Things for a while now and from time to time coming across other people doing the same so, while I don't expect to make it a regular thing (I can't guarantee to be able to blog on a Friday for one thing!), I thought it would be fun to look at what is on my camera and make it into a Five Things, if I can. So here we are.  This is astrantia, astrantia major I think.  It grows here almost like a weed, self seeding all over the place and making huge plants which muscle other things out of the way.  But there is no denying that it is very beautiful, with an odd mixture of delicacy and toughness.  This plant is making it difficult to get to the front step but as we only ever use the kitchen door, like most old farmhouses, it doesn't really matter. Here is another thing we have a lot of: eggs.  The hens are laying well now and Ian has made a n...

Built a wall, whipped home and whipped out again down to Devon. This is the wall high up below Tryfan with National Trust warden Dewi on top of it, placing the coping stones.  On the last morning I worked with another ranger lower down in the valley.  Iolo was a silent man until you started to talk to him about dry stone walls!  I know enough now to have a go at repairing ours, if only I could find it behind the nettles and buttercups, hogweed and bind weed.  Might have to be an autumn project when all the weed dies down! I have been trying to sum up my experience of the dry stone walling holiday which is hard as it was a week of extremes.  On the one hand, I loved it.  The company was good, the walling was fascinating, being bumped out of my comfort zone and into the sort of communal experience I haven't had for years was interesting and probably good for me.  On the other hand, I discovered I was considerably less fit than I was a few years ag...