On the loose

  Monmouth and beyond After a reasonable night's sleep, I was awoken at about 4.45am the following morning by a very inconsiderate blackbird. A really vibrant dawn chorus soon developed as I stretched my stiff limbs and began to break camp. Suddenly a dog appeared from a hidden side path and was rapidly followed by a young man who,  considering the climb up from the town below,  looked far too sprightly for that time of day. We were both a little surprised to see each other and after a brief conversation I continued to load the rucksack, eat some porridge and set off  again, following him  along Offa's path . I soon discovered a strange building which was marked on the map as a "Naval Temple". I had ascended 'The Kymin", which at around 800 feet was the highest hill in the immediate vicinity. The early morning views down to Monmouth below and onwards to the Welsh Hills were hazy in the morning mist. And the sound traffic was unmissable as the town...

The sun has been shining recently, as it should in June but the jet stream is still very confused and a strong northerly breeze means it is  bitterly cold most of the time. As nothing in the garden seems to be growing, I decided it was ideal walking weather and grabbing Sticky McSticky, I jumped into Trusty Rusty, and set off for a few days, planning to join a few more dots along Offa's Dyke. A few day's before had seen one violent thunderstorm, with an inch of rain in one afternoon, but generally the weather has been cold but sunny; my vegetable garden was planted, the trees were bursting forth and the little birds was on the wing. It can't last, I'm sure a plague of frogs is just over the horizon, and speaking of which, the PM chose that moment to announce a General Election. And apparently the finances of the country have now reached such a sorry state, that we could not afford to furnish him with an umbrella! He got soaked in the torrential downpour and Rishi got mo...

..... 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...

I have arrived back in Wales with the usual difficulties of the transition from the wonders of Wainui to a cold, wet Welsh climate, which have seemed particularly troublesome this time. The flight itself was uneventful, via Vancouver this time which, in theory at least, makes for a short second flight. As we waited on the runway, with take off pending any second, the Captain informed us that there was a medical emergency and that we had to return to our gate. Paramedics were on board in seconds and after a suitable assessment, a person, hopefully still alive, was removed from the plane. We were thus over an hour late taking off but with some considerable assistance from the jet stream, which was dutifully delivering arctic air to the UK, we still made good time to Heathrow.  I had a bus booked to Cardiff at 3.30pm so it was a case of baggage bingo as I waited next to the conveyor for my bag to arrive; it was 3.15pm and tension was mounting! But I got lucky and sprinted(Ok, walked b...

Some enthusiastic types will tell you, no doubt quivering with excitement as they burble out the latest message about their breakfast, that, where social media is involved, it is important to keep it regular. Post once or twice a week they will tell you. Always be current and relevant to the mood of the day. That sounds a bit too regular for my liking, a bit like eating verbal All Bran! So I beg to differ! There is little point in my posting here unless I have something of interest to say. The major risk of an intermittent posting history is, I suppose, that the audience gets bored and wanders off to the delights of X/Twitter, which is itself it appears, in danger of becoming somewhat intermittent. I'll accept that risk: I am not in search of a large and committed fanbase. I am writing this mostly so that I can hopefully read it in my rocking chair in a few year's time, when I can't remember what I did yesterday andI have lost all handwritten diaries!  If both of my other r...

  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=636688317474065 I have been invited to attend this interesting local literary festival. Looking forward to reading a little of my novel there. Remember the novel?  Don't be afraid to post a review on Amazon ...... https://www.amazon.com/Bell-That-Never-Rang/product-reviews/0473615150/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews ........and its available on Kindle too! The festival itself as a fantastic experience. I particularly enjoyed the the writing experience organised by Pipand Emma of Poetry Pause. Check out their wonderful podcast     - a recent  edition, which reviewed the entire year other phenomenal output, included a  review of our foot steps along  journey on the writing trail: https://poetrypause.libsyn.com/poetry-of-wales-festive-dedications-and-review-of-the-year I did ashort reading to set the trail up but then became engrosed in Emma's challenges to absorb and channel the emo...