Green Shield Bugs

I picked a colander full of broad beans, took them to the kitchen and discovered I’d also picked up a couple of copulating hitchhikers - green shield bugs. Not to be confused with the stamps.

They mate back to back as they’re not flexible enough for both to face forward. Or maybe they can't stand the sight of each other?

Throughout their journey to the kitchen and back to the beans they remained attached; the larger one, the female, walking forwards up my arm and the male having to walk backwards.

Surf’s almost up

As at 8th July 2015

North Wales’s newest activity attraction is almost ready; 6 foot waves on demand at Surf Snowdonia. 

Perfect for those learning how to surf or get in some practice when natural waves are not available. I don’t know exactly how it will work but there is some sort of gadget that rushes up a track in the middle of the giant pond, a bit like a snow plough. If all goes to plan they will be opening on 1^st August. 

It’s built on the old aluminium works at Dolgarrog. Brown field into blue sky.

Snowdonia dreamin! Beach, baby beach …..

Llech Ronw - the Slate of Gronw

As part of a cultural tour of North Wales we needed to track down a memorable site or scene from the Mabinogion. This is a 12^th to 13^th century compilation of stories written up from the oral tradition and not to be confused with Mabinogi, a multiplayer online role-playing game based on Irish mythology as opposed to Welsh prose!

The site we chose was Llech Ronw, the Slate of Gronw.

Gronw had run off with Blod and tried to kill her husband Lleu with a spear. Lleu was badly wounded but managed to metamorphose into an eagle and fly off. The story ends with a scene in which Lleu is about to hurl a spear at Gronw who pleads to be given a stone for protection; he blames the woman:

‘Lord, since I did what I did to you through the maliciousness of a woman, I beg of you for God’s sake let me put the stone I see there on the bank between me and the blow.’

Lleu grants the request but his spear goes straight through several inches of slate to kill his wife’s lover.

Both these scenes took place on the Cynfal river and the stone, rediscovered some years ago, has been set on concrete beside the Afon Bryn Saeth, a tributary of the Cynfal. Bryn Saeth, translating to ‘Hill of the Arrow’, is the name of the farmstead where it stands. It’s a 5 to 10 minute walk up from the main road at Bontnewydd to grid ref SH714407.

Baklava

Hot weather and all this news coverage about Greece prompted me to have a go at making Baklava. 

Fiddly sheets of filo brushed with melted butter, embedded layers of crushed nuts and topped with a sticky honey syrup; it tasted great, looked ok and there’s lots left!

It brought back happy memories of Drachmas and Retsina! Mamma Mia.

Orchids and squirrel

At the moment we’ve got lots of sheep and lambs around the house eating whatever they can find. I was pleasantly surprised to see they’d left the orchids alone; the patch in the boggy area beneath the railway has about 50 spikes at the moment.

Today I poured my early morning tea and looked through the kitchen window. No birds on the feeder but a squirrel inside it! Clever little devil has worked out how to take off the top.

Balmoral back from the brink

Six years ago we sailed on MV Balmoral, circumnavigating Anglesey in idyllic weather. Alas, good weather is not guaranteed and its absence, coupled with other misfortunes, resulted in the Balmoral being withdrawn from service in 2012.

But she’s back from the brink, thanks to generous donations and a huge volunteer effort.

On Thursday 2^nd July the 66 year old ship docked at Llandudno Pier for the first time since 2006. I enjoyed being one of the passengers on a mini cruise to Colwyn Bay before she sailed back to Liverpool and this is what she looked like: 

If you’d like to sail on MV Balmoral you should look at the sailings on her website www.whitefunnel.co.uk

Three new (to us) wild goats

The peace and quiet of recent early mornings has been broken by the horn of a works train going up the line. Today we were woken by the plaintive bleats of three goats.

I took Molly out for her morning toilet and they were up by the railway; the female and the kid eating tree leaves, the male eating thistle tops and foxgloves. This is a new and very young family unit, the parents probably in their third year, with striking black and white markings. The male has a completely black face apart from a blob of white on his nose. The female and the kid with stripes as if wearing masks to a masked ball. Have they come down from above the line?

As we watched from by the veg patch the works train arrived causing a mini stampede as they ran down the bank to escape down the drive; but Molly and me were in the way. This is what they looked like: