Too cold!

I'm not going out there!

Cold!

So I stayed indoors.  I found this amazing image of all the rivers in Wales! 

All the rivers in Wales.

I managed to work on some engines, getting them ready for the DCC layout. 

Chip going in.

These have been done.

 

A lovely weekend.

Bella and her partner Holly came for a quiet weekend. The sun shone on us and we enjoyed the peace and serenity that comes with no children.  We walked up round Dafydd's farm and were able to introduce them to him. 

Blue skies

Holly and Bella

Walking back as the sun set.

Today was a train day apart from some time dealing with 210 trees courtesy of the Woodland Trust. They are for planting in the wasteland and in other selected locations. They came complete with canes and rabbit guards. 

Trees and guards.

 

What a morning.

Look at that colour. Autumn!

A morning gardening. Clearing the beds of all the dead and dying.

Flower bed clearing.

Last one.

Then this afternoon I discovered the delights of inserting DCC chips in engines and making them work by computer control. 

First one.

 

Hedging.

The weather has been good enough today to cut the leylandii. 

Hedging

And even the lupins haven't given up flowering yet!

Lupins braving the cold.

 

Keep the Home fires burning.

Filling up the log shed.

There is still a lot of autumn colour about. 

Strawberries

Shrub

All the rain has filled all the ponds.

Lower pond full.

One of today's jobs was the bramble-watch. I walk around with garden shears and cut down all the brambles. 

Brambles

 

Non-stop rain!

After a fine weekend, when we had visitors...

Immie and Jack testing the ice on the pond.

it has rained all day. So, apart from a little decorating ( painting not Christmas), I have been in the workshop sorting out the wiring on the layout. 

Wiring.

A lovely photo of the grandchildren, Bella and Holly's and Abbi's, popped up on Facebook.

Lots of grandchildren.

 

An indoor day.

Today was spent in front of the computer working on Quaker things. So no pretty pictures.  There was the odd moment to work on our next trip - to Australia in February and March. We have visitors this weekend - Helen, Immie and Jack.   

Rain stops gardening.

but it doesn't stop play.  Heavy rain meant that not a lot got done in the garden but I did work inside  

Rain, but no tornado.

Still colours around Most of the leaves have gone now but there are still colourful bits. 

Grass is getting green again When the grass finally got cut it was quite yellow but it is slowly greening up.

Hush..... In one of the flowerbeds I discovered that a hedgehog had made itself a nest of foliage. I will have to work round it now.  

Latest work on the layout.

 

Where was I?

Oh, yes. We had just returned from Scotland, in late October   The grass was very overgrown so the first task was to try to get it back in shape. Not easy as the weather turned wet. But after a lot of strimming and raking and then mowing it is finally looking more like normal. 

Pumpkin

Autumn colours

Autumn colours

We went up to Warwick for a weekend and called in on Bella and Holly. We didn't get to see all six boys together but saw them three at a time. Bella sent us this photo of them all line up in their Halloween costumes  

Line up!  

During the bad weather I was able to finish the gas works for the Llandovery Station layout.

Gas works

In place on the station layout    

 The water rail has returned to the pond - this rare water fowl (apparently only 100 pairs in Wales) has been coming to the pond for several winters now. It was joined for a few days by a snipe - we have seen this in the far corner of the field a few years ago, but this time it made it to the pond. It is incredible well camouflaged- can you spot it?

Snipe

Autumn jobs

Onion harvest

 Progress on my layout.

Layout

         

It's been a long time ....

After a very long absence I am back and will try to get back into the habit of posting again.  We went off North with the caravan halfway through September. We spent a week in Cumbria with Arthur and also with James and Grace who came over from Australia for a week. Helen and Steve and Immie and Jack also came up for a weekend so it was quite a gathering. Here are a few photos. If you want to see the whole year of photos you can download an album but it is very large and will take a while to download - only do it on wifi! Www.cghr.co.uk/downloads/2016.pdf  

 

 

 

 

Then we headed north to a site at Bunree near Fort William. 

Bunree

 

Ben Nevis

 

Glen Coe

Amazing blue skies

Scenery

After a week or so we headed further north to Morvich which is near the bridge to Skye 

 

Morvich

Near Morvich

Brochs

Walk near Morvich

Just plain gorgeous

 

Eilean Donan castle

Old man of Storr in the distance

After another  ten days we headed down to Blair Drummond, halfway back to Cumbria. On a walk from the site we spotted an otter feeding in the river. 

Otter

Yeuch

The story will continue tomorrow.