Five on Friday

It's Friday so I'm joining in with  Amy at Love Made my Home for this week's Five on Friday.   For some reason I can't add the usual graphics link to my blog as I get red words 'shouting' at me at the top of the HTML page I usually add it to so I've added my own link at the bottom of the page which you can visit to find other bloggers who are joining in this week.

Five small but lovely things that have made me smile this week 

1.  Bullfinch on the bird feeders - both Mr and Mrs Bullfinch have visited the feeders two or three times a day every day this week.  It is lovely to see them. I assume they are nesting nearby.

2.  Flowers - in the hanging basket. We planted them about five or six weeks ago and they have just started to flower.  We bought them from Aldi as they were cheap and cheerful and I had begun to think they weren't going to grow and flower but this week in the warmth they have blossomed.

3.  Spring flowers -  Cowslips and daisies remind me of my junior school days.  I went to a little village primary school, just thirty five pupils, three teachers, a secretary and a cook.  We used to have regular nature walks and keep a nature table and cowslips remind me of the meadows around the woods where we took our nature walks and where we played in our free time. The daisies remind me of play time on the school field when we used to make daisy chains which used to hang, wilting around our necks and wrists, during the afternoon lessons.

4.  Raindrops - after the heavy rain it was lovely to see the twinkling droplets on the Lady's Mantle or Alchemilla Mollis.

5.  Bluebells at Rode Hall  - I showed you these in  this post from last weekend.  They are still making me smile just looking at the photos.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. 

Link to this week's - Five on Friday

Glaslyn Wildlife

When we visit Wales we are very lucky to be able to stay at our neighbours' mobile home which is up in the woodlands on a holiday park in the village of Prenteg.  

 As you can see from the photo above the caravan is overlooking a small waterfall and stream, apologies for the quality of the photos taken through glass.

We see all kinds of birds when sitting in the window or out on the decking when the weather is warmer.  Grey wagtails by the stream and jays up in the trees.  We were often visited by a thrush, a blackbird and a robin hopping along the rail of the decking.  We've also seen squirrels and rabbits too.

Just down the road in the same village is Glaslyn Wildlife home to the Osprey Project.  When we first started to visit the wildlife project it was administered by the RSPB but their stewardship came to an end in 2013.  We had thought that the place had closed down completely as when we had visited the caravan over the last couple of years the site was all closed down and inaccessible but this year we spotted that the yellow AA signs were up again and we decided to go and take a look.

The car park is on one side of the Welsh Highland Railway just near the Pont Croesor halt and the hides and centre are on the other.  The Welsh mountains in the distance.  It is a lovely spot.

 

It was very cold on the afternoon we visited and weak sunshine rapidly gave way to sleet and hail.  The project is now a community company and run with the help of local volunteers as such it is dependent on donations but it is, at the moment, free to visit.  Its aim is to contine the work of protecting and recording the local Ospreys whilst also promoting and highlighting the other wildlife in the area of the Glaslyn Valley.

The first thing we noticed was the new visitor centre which was opened in July last year by wildlife presenter Iolo Williams.  Inside the centre is full of fascinating facts and information about the history and natural history of the area as well as information about the wildlife including the ospreys.  There are films and a live camera trained on the nest.  Ospreys have been returning here for quite a few years now.  I will put links at the botom of this post to both the website and blog where you can find a lot more information about the birds and watch them on the webcam.  I didn't take photos inside as there were a lot of visitors sitting watching the films and drinking coffee, there are refreshments available, and it seemed intrusive.

Above is view from the entrance of the visitor centre down to the hide overlooking the water and mountains beyond.  The nest you can see is a replica of what the actual osprey nest looks like.  The ospreys first settled to breed here in 2004. 

We took our turn looking through the specially provided telescopes which are trained onto the nest.  When we arrived the female known as Mrs G was on the nest waiting for her mate Aran to bring her some fish to eat. She was low down in the nest so couldn't be seen through the telescopes. There was sudden excitement in the air as a large bird flew over, cameras were trained upwards - mine too.  Was it Aran?  I think you can safely say that my photo is 'duck on a millpond!'

No it wasn't Aran but a visiting Red Kite who'd caused all the excitement.

We had to be content with watching the live camera feed and the films from previous days.

There is some wonderful  footage to watch on three or four screens.As we left it started to sleet again and then it turned into hail.  Time to go back to the warmth of the caravan.

There are links below to find out more and to watch the live feed from the site.

Links to Bywyd Glaslyn   blog
and  website

Morris and Bells

My next post was going to be about the Glaslyn Osprey Project which is close to where we recently stayed in Wales but I'm holding that back for next time as I wanted to share with you some photos from yesterday's outing.

We drove up through the city towards Kidsgrove and Scholar Green to visit the lovely Rode Hall.  I've taken you there quite a few times before over the years but usually for the snowdrops in March or in the summer.

It was warm in the sunshine as we queued to find a parking space but it was all very well organised and we were soon wandering across the grass to the bustling Farmers' Market, where there was wonderful food, arts and crafts and plants and flowers for sale.

We watched the Morris Dancers entertain the crowds.  These are the local Black Dog Molly.
  

We paused in quiet and leafy corners with wonderful vistas.

Saw lots of interesting plants and flowers

 Found some willow friends - Heron and Fish

 Deer

Hares

But the real purpose of our visit was to see these

 beautiful bluebells

 a sea of blue

 glowing in the sunshine

 Under the trees in the old wood

and making your heart sing.

I'll be back later in the week with the Ospreys.

Five on Friday

It's Friday so I'm joining in with  Amy at Love Made my Home for this week's Five on Friday.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post to find others who are joining in too.

Firstly thank you for all your comments on my last Five on Friday post which I managed to quickly put on line whilst we were away in Wales.  I have finally caught up with reading and leaving comments on as many other 'Friday' posts as I can and I apologise if I have missed you as I know I haven't got around to everyone who joined in.

On our way back home from Tremadog - we were staying nearby - we stopped off at Erddig, a National Trust Property, for a break and walk around.  It had been a few years since we visited this property but I do remember being fascinated by it. 

This is the place where you visit 'below stairs' first and it is here that the family of the house chose to honour the hard work of their servants by placing their photographs and painted portraits on the walls.  It was very dark inside so I didn't take many photos and I took none of the actual portraits but there is much information on all the servants and what a superb resource all the gathered information is and how wonderful it must be if one of your ancestors worked there.  You could find out so much about them.  Here is a - link - to some of the portraits.

I also find this set up fascinating as I'm always drawn to the kitchens, laundries and working areas below stairs much more than the more grand apartments above stairs.

As the light was so dismal I found myself drawn to the windows and the things in and around them so below are five photos of things I spotted near windows.

1.  Plants and Flowers - Pelargoniums inside one of the glass houses, taken from the outside through glass.  Such a rich colour.

2.  Food Preparation.  I liked the textures in all the different objects in the window area.

3.  Pots and Pans.  I loved the big white jug, the tin bowls and the washing up mops in the stoneware jug.

4.   Cloches - not sure if they were for the garden or for protecting food but I thought they looked lovely in the light from the window.

5.  Decorative - one photo from the family rooms.  I liked the tassel and the view of the formal garden.

Above five more eye catching things I spotted as we wandered around.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

A Brief Flowering

For the first time I'm joining in with Barbara at Coastal Ripples for her Paint Monthly  link up.

On a recent short break in Wales we visited one of our favourite places Llanbedrog which is on the Llyn Peninsular near Pwllheli.  We never tire of visiting this place and walking along the beach past the brightly coloured beach huts and I know I've taken you there in many posts over the last few years.  

Another highlight of any visit to Llanbedrog is to visit the wonderful Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw and we've seen some wonderful exhibitions there over the years. 

 It is a beautiful place which also has an open air theatre over looking the sea and gently inclining walks up to the cliff tops and coastal walks from the grounds of the art gallery.

This year we were lucky to see three of the gallery's Spring exhibitions and I enjoyed all three but one, 'A Brief Flowering,' stood out for me and there is a rather interesting story about the artist, John Cyrlas Williams, to go with it.

Of course I couldn't take photographs so I've put in some links to other sites where you can see some of Williams's paintings most of which were on display at the gallery.

 John Cyrlas Williams was described by his patron Winifred Coombe-Tennant as 'the real thing' and he was thought of as being amongst the most talented of the Welsh painters of his generation but until recently he and his work were almost forgotten.

 John Cyrlas Williams was born in the USA, the son of a Welsh miner who had joined a Welsh mining community there.  The family moved back to Wales just before WWI and set up home in Porthcawl.  He studied at the Newlyn School under Stanhope Forbes and then the Colarossi Atelier in Paris as well as working at Port Aven in Brittany and Martigues in the south of France.  He was at the height of his powers in the 1920s but only a few years later his painting career was over deeply affected by his depressive nature and alcoholism.  He spent the rest of his life as a civil service clerk and died aged 63 in 1965.

In 2009 a collection of about a hundred of his paintings were found in the attic of the old family home and if they hadn't been spotted by a curious auctioneer they would have ended up on a bonfire when the house was cleared.  A friend of the curator of the exhibition alerted him to the sale of the paintings which have been brought together for this wonderful exhibition.

The paintings in this exhibition which I found most fascinating were two works which depicted the art classes and studios at the Newlyn School.

Here are some links to more about the artist.

Plas Glyn y Weddw page

BBC Wales page

 Welsh Country Magazine

Five on Friday

It's Friday so I'm joining in with  Amy at Love Made my Home for this week's Five on Friday.  Click on the link at the bottom of this post to find others who are joining in too.

We've been in Wales for the last few days and the weather has thrown everything it can at us.  We've had sunshine, showers, hail, heavy rain, high winds and snow.  In fact something that typifies every season so here are my five 'seasonal' photos for this week.

1.  Winter weather - snow on the mountains.

2.  Autumnal weather - cold blustery winds on the coast

 

3.  Spring weather - bluebells on the grass verges and road sides.

4.  Summer - the sun shines on the beach huts making us think of warmer weather to come.

As there are only four season here is an extra photo

  

5.  Heron on a Spar Shop - now you don't see that every day!

Photos taken at  Aberdaron, Criccieth and Llanbedrog and on the Llyn Peninsular in Wales.

I'll catch up with everyone's Five on Friday posts as and when I can over the next few days as I have limited internet access at the moment.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. 

 

At Longnor

We recently went up to the village of Longnor, which is a typical Peakland village situated to the furthest northern corner of the Staffordshire Moorlands before its border with Derbyshire,  to meet some friends for lunch. 

First we had a coffee in the Longnor Craft Centre which is housed in the old Market Hall which is in the Market Place.

The Market Hall

Then we ventured up the little lane at the back of the market place.

The cottage above is called Lambton Cottage which may give you some idea as to where you have seen it before.  It was used as the inn in Lambton where Elizabeth Bennet and her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner stayed when they toured Derbyshire in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Further up the little lane, and below some details picked out along the lane.

Date stone over Lambton Cottage

Sign on a building that is now an artist's studio and gallery.

Heart's tongue fern and wall rue growing  on a wall in the lane.

At the back of the cottages on the lane is the church.

There are some very old and interesting grave stones in the churchyard. Especially the one below.

In memory of William Billinge born in a cornfield at Fawfieldhead in this Parish in the year 1679. At the age of 23 years he enlisted into his Majesty's Service under Sir George Rooke and was at the taking of the Fortress of Gibralta in 1704. He afterwards served under the Duke of Marlborough at the ever Memorable Battle of Ramillies, fought on the 23 May 1706 where he was wounded by a musket shot in the thigh. He afterwards returned to his native country and with manly courage defended his Sovereign's rights at the Rebellion in 1715 and 1745. He died with a space of 150 yards of where he was born and was interred here the 30 January 1791 aged 112 years.
Billited by death, I quartered here remain when the last trumpet sounds I'll rise and march again.
 

Above is the tombstone for three of the daughters of Thomas and Hannah Wood who all died when they were 21 years old.   Mary in 1833, Ann in 1834 and Hannah in 1836.  How very sad, one wonders why such a thing should happen.  It somehow reminded me of the Brontes.

We had lunch at a pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.  It was very busy and the people serving the food told us they were in the process of changing ownership.  I hope whoever takes over doesn't change the inside as it was fascinating and I wish I'd taken some photos but didn't like to as there were so many visitors in there and it seemed intrusive.  There were wonderful old photos on the walls and a collection of old clocks plus the table we sat at and those either side of us were glass topped with display cases underneath containing the most wonderful array of objects.  Things like cigarette cards, old bus timetables, fountain pens, spectacles, badges and medals and so many other interesting objects.

I loved this sign outside The Cobbles coffee shop in the village, we didn't go in this one and I didn't take photographs as it was being painted on the outside.  Spruced up for the coming season, I expect.