Far-reaching panoramic views across the hills near Hay-on-Wye

I hadn't planned on a posting quite so soon, but had to share the views from this evenings walk!  We have some stunning scenery around here and everything is so accessible - a half hour hike up the hillside from where we live to views like this - we are very spoilt!  The thick layer of white fluffy clouds on a base of much darker clouds was interesting - it looks like snow capped mountains!

Hay on Wye...glorious in Spring

This past week has seen warmer weather return to this beautiful part of the UK. The daffodils have finally cone out & the almond blossom all fully out now is looking a picture.

The birds are starting to build nests now although I'm sure both blackbirds & thrushes have secretly built theirs' already! It's been great to see a wider variety of birds feeding this year - Siskins being one noticeable addition (liking the Niger seed).

We made our first trip up Hay Bluff this week to mark our Wedding Anniversary...walking up in cloud...this cleared as we left the top...the views spectacular with Buzzards & Red Kites soaring above us...even the Skylarks could be heard above the noise of the wind!

















The full moon this week has been amazing...with such dark skies here you get an incredible view of all the stars too.

As for work in the garden... I have started clearing one of the main borders which is completely choked up with Ground Elder...not a fun job but it will look great once finished and re-planted. This is just an excuse for some plant buying ....watch this space ☺

This was taken at the top of the hill where we live - beautiful sunny morning looking out towards the Radnor Hills... hoping you have a good end of the week and that this lovely Spring weather will continue :-)

Spring has sprung near Hay-on-Wye

The contrast in the weather this last weekend compared with my previous post was remarkable... weather so much milder and bird song filled the garden once again. Our lovely Song Thrush with the most extraordinary range of notes & sounds certainly outsings (if there is such a word?) all the garden birds...there is certainly more than one pair in the vicinity which is wonderful.

I even managed to cut all our grass for the first time this year...spurred on by hearing our neighbour's tractor mower thought I'd make the most of the mild & dry spell.

I love this time of year where little green shoots start to appear...even more fun is seeing this garden properly at this time of year and noticing more where clumps of Snowdrops are appearing. Last year we had only just moved and I seem to spend the first month or two immersed in boxes & trying to unpack. This year hoping to give more attention to the garden.

We have quite a ragged looking boundary "hedge" on the upper part of the garden - a mix largely of Elder & Hazel which I also pruned back in hope of helping it to thicken it up a bit towards the bottom.

Hoping that we get some more fine weather this coming weekend so I can get outside to do more...watch this space ☺

Snowy Saturday ....

So great to be outside again after 7 days exhibiting at The Birmingham NEC with our business. I woke to the wonderful notes from our lovely Song Thrush. Plenty of birds on our bird table too on this cold day. It was snowing as I ate breakfast so headed up the lane from where we live onto the little nature reserve 300m up and despite only being a half hour walk up, it was real snow up at the top and views were minimal as the snow was coming down. Lots of sheep up there tucking into piles of hay and Redwings & Fieldfayres tucking into the remaining roships and Hawthorn berries.

Back at home now with the fire lit and off to make some soup... it's that kind of day :-)

RSPB Big Garden Squirrel-Watch!

Joined in with the 2017 RSPB Garden Bird Count yesterday ....filling the feeders and laying on extra special treats...word got around rather too quickly!!

Still time to do your own count today... register on at RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2017

During the hour that I did it my sightings here were:
1 Great Tit
4 Robins
2 Long-tailed Tit
7 Blue Tit
1 Woodpigeon
7 Goldfinch
1 Magpie
3 Chaffinch
2 Dunnock
14 House Sparrow
2 Blackbirds
1 Coal Tit
2 Song Thrushes

And last of all - 2 Squirrels!

Welcome to Wyewatch!

After 12 wonderful years of living in rural Brittany, we returned to the UK in February 2016 to a cottage in the Wye Valley near Hay on Wye.  My blog of twelve years www.jardinmiranda.com has moved to wyewatch.com .

  I hope to share something of our new life in rural Herefordshire on anything from the progress in our garden, to all things local including wildlife, birds, plants and much more.  There is much to discover in this area, so watch this space!