Animal Hospital

Fly our very gentle sheepdog seemed to be getting lazier and lazier and then she got a cough!! At first we thought it was just an allergy after all Haydn had a hay fever type cough why not Fly. However she got worse and there was no putting it off. A visit to vets was called for. Pneumonia!!! Tablets were administered. After 3 days there was no real improvement so this time she was admitted over night to the hospital and X-rays taken. The poor girl had an abscess in her lungs. After a day she could come home on more medication and strict instructions for complete rest. She has now recovered but her life is so different she loves the indoors and following Huw around. If he moves so does she however she is still banned from carpeted areas otherwise I think she would have progressed up stairs to sleep next to Huw.

Evolution

Our duck collection is growing by the day. We have Boris and Beryl who look after the main drive. Then The Captain and Agatha supposed to be 2 runners but have since discovered they are crosses. We do not mind they are just fun to watch. We thought they needed company so introduced the Adam and Eve 2 young runners. It was chaos the Captain spent the whole day chasing Eve much to the consternation of Agatha. It was a bit like the keystone cops they would go round and round in circles, until the Captain had his way. Then disaster Eve sprained her leg so had to remove her and Adam to the safety and relative peace of the vegetable garden. A friendly expert came and checked her over and prescribed rest and a name change!! Adam and Steve will stay in the veg. garden until fully recovered from their trauma. Keep watching this space as we are expecting other arrivals in the near future.

Bilberry Feast

Early July and bilberries are in full swing. Sat on a plump cushion of moss, birds singing, water splashing down the waterfall. Perfecting the art of picking without dropping or squashing.

My blotchy fingers and purple lips – testimony to rigorous quality control. Summer days like this live forever.

If you are able to find them in gourmet stores fresh bilberries reach £20 per pound! But if you come on holiday at this time of year the mountainside is covered with them. More than enough for the goats, the birds and the rest of us.

Huw

4^th July 2010

Campbell’s Cottage – home to the most northerly Double Line

People holiday here for many reasons: trains, beaches, walking, relaxing, etc. but Darren came for the moths. It looked a bit like a sacrificial altar on the cottage lawn with candle shaped UV lamps on a white-topped table in front of a white backcloth.

A cable was run up to the platform, one up the garden, and another past the vegetable patch into the nature reserve. Connected to these were moth traps that glowed brightly through the night and must have been clear to see across the valley.

We didn’t see much of Darren, his body clock was more in tune with the moths.

By the end of the week he’d recorded 180 different species and provided us with a long list together with some photos. Notable finds were Weavers Wave and Ashworths Rustic which are found nowhere else in Britain, only in parts of Snowdonia.

But it was the Double Line which stole the show because the one found in the cottage garden is the first ever recorded in north Wales and the most northerly recording in the whole of Britain. A sure sign that things are warming up at Campbell’s Cottage.

Thanks Darren from all of us including the warden of the nature reserve and the Meirionnydd moth recorder.

Huw

6^th July 2010