On the loose

..... And of grey clouds there has been no shortage ! The 'Oaks are out before the Ash', which in Celtic mythology means we will 'only get a splash'; so we are all anticipating a very dry summer here in west Wales. But I'm not sure that this ancient lore works when nearly all the Ash trees are dead because of an epidemic of Ash dieback. ( https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/tree-pests-and-diseases/key-tree-pests-and-diseases/ash-dieback/ ) Sadly. we have several dead Ash trees down Rooseferry Road, which will need felling this summer. And while Ash makes great firewood it is sad to chop down trees that have been here for several hundred years, trees that I have walked past since my childhood. I recently counted the rings on a small oak that had come down over the winter - 120 years old. By that benchmark there are several oak trees in our woodland that are hundreds of years old. But it is undoubtedly time to sharpen the chain saw, before overha

This was written in October 2022 but never got posted. My last post was in mid August - and I've just updated that a little. Much has happened since then but not much worth writing about. I'm now back in my wonderful Wainui home but inevitably, feeling a little hiraeth for family and friends back in Wales. Every morning the Bellbirds wake me at six: they have a beautiful melodic song but they are pretty loud, especially when their number one food source is the orange tree, which is festooned with beautiful blossom, near my bedroom window. I spent a few days in North Wales in early September. Travelling with my faithful companions, 'Trusty Rusty" and "Sticky McSticky", I made my way steadily north, occasionally dropping down to second gear as the steeper hills approached. I called into the little church at Eglwys Fach, not for any religious reasons you understand,  but si mply because I had driven past it too many times before. RS Thomas (you'll find him m