Herefordshire Week 191: Tuesday 22 – Monday 28 August 2023

Bonfire. Pub Lunch. Chutney. Packing for the Pyrenees. Mega Mow – and frogs.

Frog No 1 that escaped from the grass cuttings
Frog No 1 that escaped from the grass cuttings

I spent Tuesday at Winchester. A long day but all good in the end.


Wednesday was dedicated to bonfiring.

Bonfiring: A bit damp = A lot smoky
Bonfiring: A bit damp = A lot smoky

The pile of hedge cuttings and large pond clearings had got very wet, multiple times, so it was a slow and smoky bonfire.

In between I repositioned the hopefully fixed (no longer leaking) water butt, scooped out blanketweed from the small pond and poured in 250ml Tetra AlgoFin, raked the goner apples (and gorging digger bees) into the ditch and picked two big buckets of apples from the Laxton tree, which went on to occupy 4 trays in the apple rack and there are still plenty to go. I’m contemplating setting up “Abbey Dore Apples” PYO and chutney.

Digger bees demolishing a windfall apple
Digger bees demolishing a windfall apple

Finished off weeknotes in the run up to VWW in the evening. Bonfire still smouldering.


To the gym on Thursday morning and squeezed in a chat with S about apples – the shop has a community swap shelf and a box of apples would be welcome. Perfect!

Called in at the GPs on the way home about my travel vaccinations and ended up going back in for a midday appointment about the skin scar I’d spotted on my arm (always wary of skin cancer risk). Phil and I had planned to go for lunch at The Temple Bar Inn so we route marched from home to Ewyas Harold via Dicks Pitch to get to the surgery for 11.45, by the skin of my teeth. Also sorted out travel vaccination appointment ahead of this year’s Nepal trek and had a chat with the nurse on our walk back home re typhoid (need a booster), cholera (recommended) and Japanese encephalitis (“think about it”). Having chatted with Val, I’m going for all three.

We had time before lunch to register at the Community Library, to have a mooch around the bookshelves, and to have a chat with MJ from KG who was on volunteer duty there.

Lunch was lovely! Although we abandoned the eating outside option in light of wasps / bees.

Lunch at The Temple Bar Inn, Ewyas Harold
Lunch at The Temple Bar Inn, Ewyas Harold

Two pints of bitter shandy made for a lovely wobbly walk home over the Common and back via Dore Abbey. And a snooze on the conservatory corner sofa.


To the gym on Friday, and to drop off a box of apples at the Pontrilas Post Office & Community Shop. Bob got another big bagful later in the day. Back at base, Phil and I started to clear the scythed grass from the front lawn. Two and a half cleared rows = 4 big rubble bags. Here’s hoping RJ wants the rest!

Starting to clear the scythed grass
Starting to clear the scythed grass

We disturbed a grass snake in one of the rows, and found the remains in another (a scything casualty).

Lunch then Pensions & ISAs review followed by computer admin, including completing online checkin and printing boarding passes for the Pyrenees trip, postal voting, LED Fundraising Walk reminders, home insurance quotes, organising prepayment for my Japanese encephalitis vaccination.

Pizza and the last couple of episodes of The Chalet in the evening. Oh, and chopping windfalls into two large bags of crumble-ready apple to freeze.


Saturday was a day full of showers – some heavy, others not. A good day for indoor tasks: financial admin and emails first thing including organising Stansted rendezvous, polishing the dining room table with Jean’s magic Lemon Oil Polish (that’s done the job – so I did the old wooden fruit bowl and table lamp wooden block base too), and watering inside the greenhouse and picking a box of windfalls in between the showers filled up the morning.

Making a double batch of The Cottage Smallholder’s Apple Chutney kept me busy all afternoon.

Apple Chutney - The Cottage Smallholder, August 2023 edition
Apple Chutney – The Cottage Smallholder, August 2023 edition

Also caught up with Val, who’s fractured her knee cap….


Sunday was overcast but dry. A good day for gardening. I washed the second of the two buckets of Discovery apples Phil has picked yesterday then filled another bucket with windfalls from Laxton and Discovery apples trees by the old garden railway. In the orchard I picked some of the bad apples from the Golden Delicious and raked them into the hedge, then to on the Solarium to dig out the dead roots from the shrub patch.

And then it was time to get the mower out for a spin. First up, the lawn between the kitchen and the road and the orchard where I opted for the No 2 cut setting, in the hope that this’ll give me longer before I need to cut again. Ha! Then the section of the front lawn around the patio, down the slope and along the hollow, plus up under the apple trees where I’d cleared windfalls.

After lunch, time to tackle the front lawn. Phil had been wheelbarrowing more of the scythed grass to the compost slope, which meant I could mow across ways rather than the usual “up and down”. The ant hills and rough grass made for an occasionally bumpy ride and the amount of grass made for lots and lots of trips to mower turn. The slope below the large pond and the Solarium were the last two areas. All on setting No 3.

A mega mow: the front lawn
A mega mow: the front lawn

Lots and lots of cut grass: two loads at the end of the orchard, three by the orchard compost heap, one at the side of the front lawn (full of scythed grass), eight down at mower turn (two rounds), four up on the solarium and one on the BBQ compost slope.

A mega mow: Mower Turn, second round of grass cuttings
A mega mow: Mower Turn, second round of grass cuttings

Clearing the Solarium grass cuttings I discovered not one but two medium size frogs that must have escaped the blades! (Unlike a few grass snakes…..)

Frog No 1 that escaped from the grass cuttings
Frog No 1 that escaped from the grass cuttings

The first I took down the small pond, the second I rehomed in the large pond. Plop!

And then it was time for a shower, tea and panettone, apple racking, washing and chopping and dinner.


Monday = prep: these weeknotes, Pyrenees packing. Dad and Jean come over for morning coffee, bringing jam doughnuts and danish pastries.

Pyrenees Packing: Snacks
Pyrenees Packing: Snacks

After lunch, chopped apples for crumble, scrubbed the chutney pan, prepped risotto dinner, scrubbed the chutney pan, picked and racked Orchard apples, scrubbed the chutney pan….

RJ called round at the same time as dad and Jean and Phil and he loaded the three rubble bags of scythed grass onto his van, and in the afternoon P headed next door to help with hay baling. I saw him pass by a few times over the course of the afternoon, lounging in the back of R’s pick up truck as they shuttled between hay meadow and barn.

Indoors, I joined the LED Trustees Teams meeting followed by the KMCA Zoom – Hello Ladies!!!


I don’t mention them that often, but as well as the noisy, bustling blue tits and great tits on the bird feeders, we have stacks of chaffinches foraging for dropped peanuts and bird seed on the ground. Lovely. And I’ve heard the screech of the tawny owl a few nights too. During the days, buzzards mew as they cruise high overhead.


TV: The Chalet, Klem / The Blood Pact (first couple of episodes only),  Heat, Sensationalists: The Bad Girls and Boys of British Art (part 1).

Podcasts: The Forum, You Must Remember This, History Extra.


Photos: Herefordshire week 191 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2023-08-27.

Herefordshire Week 190: Tuesday 15 – Monday 21 August 2023

Hornets. Poorly parent. Panda MOT and Pyrenees Prep.

GV Tractor Run and the Football World Cup.

Yes, we are watching
Yes, we are watching

Weeknotes first thing Tuesday then over to Bridge Sollars with A for my first visit to Timothy & Birch. Now I’ve been I can see why everyone raves about it. A lovely cafe and it would be very easy to spend a fortune on homewares in the shop. Gorgeous stuff.

Late lunch then had a go at spray polishing the dining table, focusing on the scrubbed clean patches. A lot of smell for minimal restoration.

Pilates in the evening.


To the gym on Wednesday then a catch up with Jean about an unwell dad. We ended up going to the GP in the afternoon.

In other news, I received an email asking if I’d be interested in appearing on BBC’s Escape To The Country, Herefordshire edition. It appears these blogposts do have an occasional reader 🙂 TV fame is not for me though.

Turned this year’s paltry broad bean crop into broad bean risotto for dinner.


Thursday was Panda MOT day, so I dropped it off in Ewyas and walked on to Pontrilas for the gym class, and back home after class taking the footpath along Dulas Brook from Pontrilas to Ewyas Harold, then back over the Common, with diversions up the access track to take a look at No 2 Sunny Bank and to call in at the Doctors to ask about travel vaccinations (mainly for Nepal).

Strava map: Walking home from the gym
History Extra, In Our Time,

The rest of the day was designated mowing day, on the ride on mower while the “hunting” Honda is getting the once over. The grass was still lush so I did a cut without a collect so it was soon done. My mowing route included the spaces between Phil’s lines of scythed meadow grass. I encountered a grass snake in the orchard:

Grass snake in the orchard
Grass snake in the orchard

And then it was time to walk back to EH to collect the car. MOT passed without a hitch. Tidy!

Strava Map: Back to Ewyas Harold to pick up the car
Strava Map: Back to Ewyas Harold to pick up the car

Admin in between included emails about fields and Team Mucho Gusto T-shirts.


Friday lunchtime I headed into Hereford to run some errands and then on to dad and Jean’s to provide some TLC.

Saturday was spent on Pyrenees admin: ordering euros, buying travel insurance, finalising and publishing my Pyrenees Prep blogpost, sorting out field documents and postal voting. Then back to Winchester for Indian Takeaway Treat with dad.

Sunny Sunday morning was perfect for the annual Golden Valley Tractor Run, even if it did clash with the Football World Cup Final, which we watched on and off too.

Golden Valley Tractor Run 2023 (video, 1 min 49 sec)
Golden Valley Tractor Run 2023 (video, 1 min 49 sec)

… until another visit to dad and Jean was required culminating in a trip to the out of hours medical centre by the station for stronger antibiotics for dad’s leg.


I spent Monday morning making three batches of Anglo Indian Apple Chutney with windfalls from the two trees down by the old garden railway. I was planning to use the microwave for all three but I think I may have broken it during batch 1. So the other two were done on the hob. I stuck more closely to the recipe than I sometimes do. 900g apples doesn’t make a lot of chutney it turns out (even rounded up to 1.1kg to allow for bruises, bugs and bites): 3kg apples made 3 x large jars, 5 x medium jars and 3 small jars.

Anglo Indian Apple Chutney 2023
Anglo Indian Apple Chutney 2023

I also had a go at fixing the leaky water butt.

Collected the cut grass in the afternoon.


We’ve heard the tawny owl again, the noisy night time sheep (maybe they are afraid of the dark!) and a trio of hornet visits / removals. They are big but – so far – benign.

In the greenhouse the beef tomatoes starting to ripen and I’ve a cucumber almost ready to pick.

Greenhouse: Bunch of beef tomatoes, starting to ripen


TV: Silo (season 1), The Beanie Bubble, The Power of Parker (ditched after 1 episode).

Podcasts: The Forum, History Extra, In Our Time.


Photos: Herefordshire week 190 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2023-08-20.

Into the Pyrenees: Prep

Not long now until Team Mucho Gusto head off Into the Pyrenees with Alfonso and Manu. Time for a prep blogpost!

Itinerary

  1. Hereford to London
  2. Fly London Stansted to Lourdes
  3. Meet Alfonso & Manu, drive to Espot (Catalonia), walk to Refugio Ernest Mallafrè (1950m)
  4. Carros de Foc trek day 1: Refugio Ernest Mallafrè – Refugio J.M. Blanc (2350m)
  5. Carros de Foc trek day 2: Refugio J.M Blanc – Refugio Colomina (2420m)
  6. Carros de Foc trek day 3: Refugio Colomina – Refugio Estany Llong (1925m)
  7. Carros de Foc trek day 4: Refugio Estany Llong – Refugio Amitges (2365m)
  8. Carros de Foc trek day 5: Refugio Amitges – Refugio Ernest Mallafré. Drive to Vielha (980m)
  9. Transit day: Drive to Belagua (Navarre, 1428m), sightseeing en route – Ainsa, Jaca and San Juan de la Peña Monastery
  10. La Ruta de las Golondrinas trek day 1: Refugio BelaguaRefugio de Linza (Aragon, 1340m)
  11. Golondrinas trek day 2: Refugio Linza – into France – Refuge de l’Abérouat (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 1442m)
  12. Golondrinas trek day 3: Refuge de l’Abérouat – Refuge Jeandel (1620m)
  13. Golondrinas trek day 4: Refugio Jeandel – back into Spain – Refugio Belagua (1428m)
  14. Drive to Lourdes. Fly Lourdes to London Stansted
  15. London
  16. London to Hereford

Given we’re in the Pyrenees, it’s no surprise that we will be crossing from France to Spain and back again a few times. To get a sense of where we’ll be here’s a map showing the huts we’re staying at on each route and the sightseeing locations for the transit day:

Google map: Into the Pyrenees with Alfonso & Manu
Google map: Into the Pyrenees with Alfonso & Manu

The Carros de Foc route is in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in the Central Pyrenees.

Carros de Foc map on https://www.carrosdefoc.com
Carros de Foc map on https://www.carrosdefoc.com

We’re doing the Golondrina Clásica version of La Ruta de las Golondrinas, in the Western Pyrenees. La Ruta crosses from Spain to France and back again in the footsteps of las Golondrinas. You’ll need to visit the website to see their map.

Weather forecasts

From Yr.no

Lourdes

Espot

Vielha (976m)

and I’ll be checking the weather forecasts on the refugi / refuge websites.

Packing

I’ll be making use of last year’s Picos kit list and my post-trek blogpost covering “What I took and didn’t need / use” and “What I wish I’d taken”, taking into account the fact that this year’s trip is two separate treks with a day to reset the rucksack in between. This should mean the backpack is a little lighter. Although I am considering taking a jar of chutney….

We’ve all also booked hold baggage for the Ryanair flights. Another lesson learned from last year.

Money & Travel Insurance

I’ve consulted MoneySavingExpert’s Travel Money Max and ordered my Euros. One of the big differences having moved to Herefordshire is that I can no longer pop into Thomas Exchange Global.

Travel Insurance needs to cover this autumn’s trek in Nepal, so it’s back to Trailfinders as their standard insurance includes “Trekking/Rambling/Hiking (recognised routes under 7,000 metres only)”, whereas most other policies have a much lower altitude limit. Annual, worldwide travel insurance for me has come in at just over £200.

Herefordshire Week 189: Tuesday 08 – Monday 14 August 2023

A surprisingly busy week! A day trip with dad, walking from Ludlow to Leominster with Jo. First apple chutney of 2023. Visitors from Australia.

Do you know what this means?
Do you know what this means?

Tuesday was a very, very wet day. So not ideal for a day trip with dad, run by Rural Concierge (aka Liz from GVWC!): a morning / lunch in Brecon followed by a tour of Abercamlais House, which I recognised from the drive to/from Pembs.

Brecon’s small. After a desultory coffee in Coffee #1 (at least it was in the dry and had seats) we moved on to Theatr Brycheiniog down by the canal basin which provided a much better cafe with plenty of tables and chairs, and staff, and a very tasty sandwich for lunch in a lovely location. Refuelled we spent an hour or so looking around Y Gaer, Brecon’s Museum, Art Gallery & Library, where there was an exhibition of paintings from Capel y ffin and Llanthony.

Then on west to Abercamlais House for a guided tour of the gardens and the house, plus tea and cake in a large barn.


Aerobics and stretch at GV Gym kick started Wednesday, then some gardening. My plan to get the bonfiring done was foiled by yesterday’s rain having soaked the large pile of hedge cuttings and the remaining branches from the path clearing, so I had no joy with the fire starting.

Lots of bonfiring to do
Lots of bonfiring to do

So it was on to plan B: pruning the pear tree’s water shoots. It looks much better and hopefully will encourage the tree to grow out rather than up.

In the afternoon I washed the front gates in preparation for painting them…. making the most of some dry days.

VWW in the evening, sitting in the sunny conservatory.


Another trip to the gym on Thursday morning, then back to paint the gates with a steady stream of podcasts for company – mainly The History of English from Episode 157: Highlands, Lowlands and Netherlands to Episode 161: Y U and I Have a Problem via Episode 158: Planting Seeds, Episode 159: Elizabethan Voices and Episode 160: Approximant-ly English. I find Kevin Stroud’s history of the English language fascinating, combining history, linguistics and literature. It’s one of my favourite podcasts.

Late afternoon we drove to dad and Jean’s for takeaway Chinese, and some Samsung tablet migration support. We ate outside in the back garden. Not done much al fresco dining this summer….


Third and final morning trip of the week to the gym on Friday then back to give the gates a second coat of paint. They’re now looking good, even if I say so myself.

I repainted the gates
I repainted the gates
I repainted the gates
I repainted the gates

As well as podcasts, I had audio accompaniment from the swallows lined up on the overhead power lines, chattering away.

Chattering swallows
Chattering swallows

Painting done I converted some of the windfalls into two large apple crumbles and three tubs of stewed apple, and took a crumble and the tubs down the lane to TJL’s that evening. We sat outside enjoying wine, chips and dip for a couple of hours.


Up early on Saturday to drive to Hereford to pick up Jo and then on to Leominster to catch the train to Ludlow. We were recce-ing Jo’s Ludlow to Leominster route for August’s GVWC walk.

Strava Map: Ludlow to Leominster
Strava Map: Ludlow to Leominster

Distance: 16.70 miles
Elevation Gain: 803 ft
Walking Time: 6h 10 mins
Elapsed Time 7h 40 mins

I’ve not been to Ludlow before, and our initial mile or so around the town inspired me to go back again soon.

Nice walking with Jo, and we encountered two emus en route….

Ludlow to Leominster: Emus en route!
Ludlow to Leominster: Emus en route!

…. plus quite a lot of nettles, which weren’t so welcome for my shorts-sporting legs. The route took us through some less-than-appealing farms towards the start and the less attractive outskirts of Leominster, including a saw mill, at the end. And that was on the Herefordshire Trail.

Lots of blackberries and the odd damson / plum were scrumped en route but our plan to celebrate with tea and cake at Newton Court was foiled by a private event. Oh well.

Home for pizza and the finale of Halt and Catch Fire.


After coffee and Waitrose pains au raisin, and polishing off the current LRB (which means I am completely caught up), I spent a couple of hours on Sunday doing computer-based admin including my LPAs. Outside, Phil scythed:

Phil scything
Phil scything

And in the afternoon, I set to work on the first batch of apple chutney of 2023:

First batch of apple chutney of 2023
First batch of apple chutney of 2023

Using regular favourite Frugal Feeding’s Spicy Apple Chutney recipe, I made a double batch with Garden Railway windfalls and malt (rather than red) vinegar. That produced three large jalapeño jars, three small jalapeño jars plus a medium mayo jar. Not a lot given the two pans started off full.

We had a close encounter with a trio of hornets coming into the porch later that evening. I think they may have been attracted by the simmering chutney smell. One kamikazi’ed in one of the wall lights, the other two I corralled under pots overnight and released into Monday morning’s rain.


Monday was hectic. First task was packing my eBay sales, including my old iMac which was quite large and awkward shape when boxed and took almost an hour. Then it was off to the Post Office at Pontrilas then into Hereford where I encountered a rainy day traffic jam at Belmont roundabout. A domino of delays – queues at the Post Office, the traffic jam and supervisor authorisations at Aldi meant I was late picking up F&G from Hereford train station.

Lovely to see them both, and we nattered all the way home, with me driving them into Wales for a mile or two to tick off another country on their 2023 tour. We also stopped off at Powells to pick up a pasty (Tuesday is pork pie and scotch egg delivery day) and Dore Abbey. Back at base we made the most of a lull in the rain to potter around the garden before a late lunch. L, M & Aunty C arrived mid afternoon. Tea and biscuits and chat in the conservatory before waving them off (with a bag of apples) around 5pm.

Opted out of aerobics and caught up on email etc before dinner. My Pyrenees trip isn’t far off. Time to start piling up kit on the bed and working out how much cash to take…


The apple trees have started dropping their eating apples in earnest, particularly on breezy days. I’m collecting a bucket from the old garden railway pair most days, dodging the delirious bees and wasps as I do so. I’ve just looked up what they are: Laxton (by the big pond) and Discovery (nearer the small pond).

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are still mainly green, with just one of the beef toms gaining an orange blush. I stripped the lower leaves as recommended by Monty Don.

Lots of tomatoes!
Lots of tomatoes!

More baby cucumbers and courgettes have materialised.

Courgette flower
Courgette flower

I’ve picked the broad beans. Now I just need to find a tasty recipe….

In bird news: one bonked baby blue tit (very fluffy) by the kitchen window (the body disappeared overnight….), tawny owl night time screeches (competing with the baa-ing sheep), and young buzzards mewing.

Sheep in Kiln Field, cows in Thistly Field.


TV: Halt and Catch Fire (finished season 4, and that’s all there is), Tetris (really enjoyed it), Silo (started season 1).

Podcasts: The Forum, The History of England, History Extra, In Our Time, The History of English.


Photos: Herefordshire week 189 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2023-08-13.

Herefordshire Week 188: Tuesday 01 – Monday 07 August 2023

Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete, gardening and some new trekking boots – adieu Salomon.

Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete
Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete

Tuesday was a day in the garden – checked on the toms, strawbs, peppers and cuc my greenhouse, potted up a couple of the house plants, redid the bean canes to make use of the circular cane clip gadget I bought at the RHS Malvern Show last year, my original set up having come adrift at the seams.

Greenhouse beef tomatoes
Greenhouse beef tomatoes

A tour of the drive and the house perimeter with a bottle of weed killer. Then out with the secateurs and then the loppers … initially just trimming sprouting growth from the bottom of the crab apple and wild plums then tackling the green bush …. which took a while.

Butterflies on the buddleia
Butterflies on the buddleia

Late lunch then finishing off the green shrub and wheelbarrowing the debris to the quarry …. the bonfire piled high with R’s hedge cuttings – he’d come while we were away and the garden is looking so much better – slopes strimmed and hedges trimmed.

Our wedding plum tree is laden with fruit this year.

Cancelled the BW bookings – S has Lyme’s Disease infection so we’re postponing. Zoom with JS to sort out an August visit then off to Pilates.

Hooting owl at bedtime. Long and loud, close by.


Back to the GV gym on Wednesday for a double whammy of Aerobics and Stretch. Home to buy train tickets for Sept (Ouch! Prices have gone UP!).

Lunch then into Hereford for a spot of shopping, primarily a new pair of trekking boots from Trekitt. After an excellent fitting and consultation I came away with a pair of La Sportiva Womens TX5 GTX Carbon.


I was technically up and about for Thursday’s sunrise….

Sunrise
Sunrise

… but only by chance and briefly. Then back to bed.

Once I did get up it was off to my first Legs, Bums & Tums session at the gym. Back to do some gardening before the anticipated rain: dug up the bulbs from the planter and planted out more leeks in their place, picked up some windfalls down by the big pond, planted out some of the bulbs by the small pond and in the willow tree stump hump, cleared some of the blanket weed out of the small pond and released a fair few water boatmen and baby newts back into the water.

Lunch then admin on the computer including preparing my Lasting Powers of Attorney. No sign of the rain, typical. So after a pot of tea and a hot cross bun sat outside on the patio (not done that for Such A Long Time), I potted up some of the patio plants including LK’s Salvia.


A flock of goldfinches descended on the front lawn on Friday morning. Adults and juveniles feasting on the uncut meadow.

Young goldfinches feasting on the front lawn
Young goldfinches feasting on the front lawn

To the gym, then back to mow.

We had tea and a hot cross bun sat on Nana Helen’s bench watching the birds on the feeders. Lovely. The juvenile blackbird is very demanding!

Pizza for dinner.


Rain on Saturday. A good morning for indoor jobs, including impromptu cleaning of the dining table in the conservatory to remove glitter glue and nail polish. Google results suggested vinegar amongst other things, and that plus some hard scrubbing did the job. I’m endlessly amazed by what white vinegar can do.

As the morning’s rain eased I did a few more jobs outside, including clearing the straggly grass around the edge of the small pond I disturbed this froggy fella!

Big frog in the small pond
Big frog in the small pond

Early lunch then down to Dore Abbey to help set up for tomorrow’s village fete. Phil and I helped out with ferrying and sorting out the bric a brac and clothes for the Bazaar.

Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete: The Bazaar
Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete: The Bazaar

Sunday was a proper sunny day, with the occasional short sharp shower. Thank heavens.

I collected windfalls from the old garden railway apple trees and cut back / unearthered some of the wild plum runners up on the Solarium. And snipped back some briar runners too.

I was back down at the Abbey for 1pm on Sunday to help ready the cream teas etc and we had a very busy afternoon! So much so I missed the Bell Tower Tours, didn’t get to guess the weight of the sheep or splat the rat. Next time….

I did get to see lots of people though.

Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete
Abbey Dore Traditional Village Fete: Cream Teas await their warmed scones…

Back home for beer and crisps sat out on the front lawn in the sunshine.


To Abergavenny on Monday for the dentist, then back with time to walk the Cockyard Circuit backwards and including a chat with A&A en route.

After a late lunch, a snooze in the conservatory then wrapped up Elizabeth Day’s The Party.

Ummed and aaahhed about cancelling Aerobics. But in the end I went…. although I was almost late due to an encounter with a flock of recently shorn lambs being herded through the middle of Abbey Dore ….

Shorn lambs on the move (video, 18 sec)
Shorn lambs on the move (video, 18 sec)

In other news relating to animals beginning with S we’ve not seen any sq*****ls since we got back from Essex. Hmmm.


In sheep news, R’s sheep are back in Kiln Field and The Dorelands hosted a World Record sheep shearing attempt on Friday which saw Steve Rowberry shear 702 strong wool lambs in 8 hours, just missing the current world record of 754.


TV: Halt and Catch Fire (finished season 3, started season 4),

Podcasts: The Forum, The History of England, History Extra.


Photos: Herefordshire week 188 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2023-08-06.