Ceredigion Moth Group

Ceredigion Moth Group

I attended the formative meeting of the Ceredigion Moth Group last night.

Unfortunately there hasn’t been an active moth group in the county for quite some time and there hasn’t really been any structured recording of the species that we get. All other counties in England and Wales seem to have active moth groups and more importantly a ‘County Recorder’ who collates, verifies and shares the data with nationwide schemes. As in many things, Ceredigion (or Cardiganshire as Vice County no. 46 is known) shows up as a white area on any moth count maps due to the paucity of data from the region.

Hopefully, with the creation of a new Ceredigion Moth Group and the appointment of a County Recorder that is set to change.

As usual with such meetings where a committee of people each with different agendas is involved, the discussions did become a little convoluted and in many instances it seemed as though we were making things more difficult than they needed to be. But we all got on well, we all agreed to the need for a Ceredigion Moth Group and we were all fairly enthusiastic and willing to work on making it a success.

It is my opinion that we should start off small and keep things as simple as possible, especially while people are finding their feet. There was certainly a great deal of knowledge and expertise in the room, and a few enthusiastic beginners such as myself, which I think is a good combination from the start.

All in all the meeting went well and we have another meeting -  that will also involve some actual moth trapping - planned for March 27th. In the meantime I’m going to set up a mailing  list so that we can all communicate with each other and we’re going to organise a structured and consistent format for recording our own moth records which should make the County Recorders job eaiser. No doubt as a website designer my list of tasks will include the buidling of a website for the group at some point.

There was finally a little break in the weather yesterday afternoon so we decided to go to the fair. (See here for Aberystwyth Fair opening times). We hadn’t made any definite plans so didn’t tell Morgan until we collected him from school and hadn’t made plans to meet anyone there either. However, as usual it turned into a social affair for Morgan.

Not long after getting there we were soon in a little group with me, Anna and Morgan, Jackie, Cameron, Eva, Mike, Rachael, Cameron, Jamie, Taniel and Taniel’s Mum, Kirsten and Bethany. The fair was pretty much the same as it always is and Morgan certainly had fun. It isn’t cheap of course, but it is only there once a year and its all pretty exciting for a 4-year old.

Autumn Leaves

We had a break in the ‘Wild West Wales Weather‘ yesterday so though it would be a good idea to get out there and make the most of it.

I went for a quick mountain bike ride around the Summit Trail at Nant yr Arian. I’m still struggling a little on the hills but it was a nice ride with surprisingly few other people on the trails.

In the afternoon Morgan and I met up with a group of Morgans’ friends and their families at Furnace and we walked up the hill to a viewpoint overlooking the Dyfi Estuary. It turned out to be a gorgeous autumn afternoon with no wind and blue skies. The views out over the still waters of the estuary were well worth the walk up the hill and the ‘bracken bashing’ that the climb entailed.

Dyfi Skyscape

We do live in a lovely part of the world and it takes very little to get out there and enjoy it. OK, the weather isn’t always this nice but when it is the effort is well worth it.

The Machynlleth Festival of Light Lantern procession and Fireworks display was good last night.

Pumpkins

As it fell on Halloween this year, we left the pumpkins out on the deck to ward off the evil spirits before driving into Machynlleth.

We hadn’t planned to meet anyone there but knew that a few people were going and as usual we bumped into a whole load of people we know. As seems to be the case these days most of them are actually Morgan’s friends and of course their parents. It’s almost as if Morgan has more of a social life than we do and the children just take their parents along for the ride. We met up with Cameron, Eva, Jackie and Peter, Taniel,  his baby sister and Mum and Dad, Cameron Jamie, Mike and Rachel, Kerry-Anne, Sahara, Lotti, Emma and Armand and then also Dave, Sarah, Teresa and a few other people from Borth. It is becoming quite a social affair each year!

Eagle

The lanterns were good, although we stood in the wrong place really. We had expected them to come up the road from the Clock Tower and then down through the park as they did last year. This meant that we were able to stand towards the clock tower end of Maengwyn and once the last lantern had passed, cut through the car park towards the field and see them coming back down through the park again. As it was, they went in the opposite direction this year. It didn’t matter though as we could still cut through and had plenty of chance to see them once we were in the field for the Festival of light.

Light Fest

The fireworks were good too. The children all enjoyed them (except ‘big’ Cameron that is) and the adults had a good time. It seems to be getting bigger each year as far as attendance is concerned and the take-aways and pubs in Machynlleth seemed to be doing a roaring trade as we left. Entry to the Festival of Light was £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children.

I did of course take some photos. It is fairly difficult to take photos hand-holding a camera in the dark but I simply put it on manual setting, made up a completely arbitrary exposure setting using a shutter speed and aperture that I wanted and it seemed to work. The camera was asking for much longer exposures and was continually telling me that everything wold be under-exposed but I ignored it and seemed to get it right. Some of the images suffer from motion-blur and camera shake but I think that actually adds to them in a way and captures the movement and life of the event. Hope you like them.

The Annual Borth and Ynyslas fireworks party went well last night. Despite the terrible weather forecast, loads of people turned up to Dave and Sarah’s, most with plates of food and a firework. We also took a pumpkin and were supposed to take some toilet roll but forgot!

The bonfire was soon lit and although there were a few showers the torrential rain held off and plenty of people stood around the fire chatting, eating and drinking, The kids ran riot as usual, we threw some of our old furniture onto the fire (which saved a trip to the tip) and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, catching op with people they hadn’t seen for a while.

Out came the sparklers, off went the fireworks and down went the food. All in all a nice evening as usual, and not too far to go home either!

The clocks have gone back, the evenings are darker and it feels as though Winter is properly on its way. A depressing time for many, but I really like it.

It isn’t very cold at the moment but there’s nothing nicer than snuggling up indoors in front of the fire whilst it’s cold and miserable outside. There are also lots of parties and celebrations to look forward to. There always seems to be lots of things happening at this time of year and Christmas isn’t far off too.

This weekend we have the annual Ynyslas Bonfire party to attend at Dave and Sarah’s house. Its a nice community get together with a bonfire, fireworks and of course lots of delicious food to devour. Then Saturday evening is the annual lantern procession and light display in Machynlleth. We went last year and had a good time, so shall be there again this year. Morgan wants to make a lantern too, so we might have to actually join in with the parade this time. Apparently if you have a lantern you get free admission to the light show after the parade which will be a bonus.

If that doesn’t take your fancy then you could brave a night in the woods with eerie sights and sounds and ghostly goings on at Nant yr Arian. Then head back to the visitor centre and indulge in some supernatural snacks.

There is also a firework display in Aberystwyth on Bonfire Night itself.

Don’t let the short days and dark nights get you down, get out there and enjpy them.

I came across a weblog written by another local resident the other day. I can’t remember how it came to my attention, probably through a ‘Google Alert’ in my inbox, but it was well written with lots of local interest so I had a look through it and then to my surprise found a photo of myself on it.

I don’t get too many photos of me windsurfing so it was good to see it, and good to see that my windsurfing had obviously impressed someone, although I doubt that I was doing 40 mph! Check it out, the weblog entry is ‘Like a Bat out of Hell‘.

Its good to see someone else from Borth with a lively blog too. I would have said ‘it’s a small world’ after seeing myself mentioned on his blog, but I guess anyone who has ever been to Borth already knows that!

Coryline Australis

I’m on a mission to turn the main road through Ynyslas into an avenue of palm trees!

OK, it’ll probably never happen but I think it would look nice. One of the things I like about the Isle of Man is the number of palm trees there. More accurately they are actually Cordyline Australis which have a number of common names including Manx Palm or Cabbage Palm and they are everywhere on the Isle of Man, giving it a somewhat tropical look!

As you arrive on the island by plane, the area around the airport is full of pretty impressive specimens and if you arrive by boat it isn’t long before you see some.

They grow well here in West Wales too and withstand the sandy soil, winds and sea spray that all too commonly destroy most plants. There are already quite a few in Ynyslas but I think it would look nice if there were more. We have one that is growing well in our back garden but I’m now on a mission to get more of them growing, especially along the road. I’ve planted one in the front garden right by the fence and a couple more will join that soon. Lets just hope they stand up to the winds as gardening in a windy area is always difficult.

I’m even giving a few away as presents to people (usually to say thanks for feeding the cat whilst we’ve been away), hopefully they’ll plant them in their gardens too and before you know it, Ynyslas will take on a tropical look!

So, if you live in Ynyslas, plant one in your front garden, they aren’t expensive to buy, they grow well, are easy to look after and will brighten up your life!

Believe it or not, Morgan is 4 already!! He’s into Power Rangers at the moment so his 4th birthday party was a Power Rangers Training Camp! Several of his friends turned up along of course with their parents, and his Auntie Trudi and cousin Kia and Shaun came up from Bristol as well.

We had planned lots of ‘Power Ranger Training’ games but as it turned out they were mainly happy just running around and being raucous! They did play a few games and they all looked pleased with the personalised T-shirts I had made for them. In fact, I think they’ve all been wearing them at nursery all week!

As usual though I didn’t have much time to take any photos, so here’s one of the party and one of the birthday boy a few days earlier.

Crocodile Face Painting

Time for cake!

We had a good party here on Saturday.. Nothing too mad as it was an early start for drinks and mince pies but it went well and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

In fact it felt like two parties at once really, one at around 5-6 foot for the adults and one at around 3 foot for the children. Things did get a little hectic with around 30 people in our little house but we enjoyed it, so thanks to everyone who came: Me, Anna, Morgan, Helen, Rhiannon, Alan, Caroline, Bernd, Joan, Jan, Tony, Simon, Sarah, Josh, Jackie, Peter, Cameron, Eva, Mike, Rachel, Cameron, Jamie, Jackie, Aidan, Grady, Erin, Kirsten, Kirsten’s Mum, Bethany, Janet, Dave, Sarah, Richard and Louise (Hope I didn’t forget anyone?).

And thanks for all the presents you brought with you too, including the toilet roll!!