Author: Alan Cole

Beehive Plans 1

Beehive Plans

Our plans for keeping bees are progressing well. Regular readers of this blog will know that we’ve been attending meetings of the Aberystwyth Beekeepers Association. Despite our concerns that the windy, slightly barren nature of the local surroundings may not be ideal for bees, we’ve been encouraged by members of the association and are going...

Big Butterfly Count 0

Big Butterfly Count

The Big Butterfly Count starts today. It’s a nationwide survey aimed at helping to assess the health of our environment. in much the same way as the Big Garden Bird Watch organised by the RSPB, Butterfly Conservation in conjunction with M&S have orgainsed the Big Butterfly Count to run between July 24th and August 1st...

Courgette Cake 6

Courgette Cake

Our vegetables have been growing well in the garden. So much so that despite giving as many away as possible we still have a glut of courgettes. There are only so many courgettes a man can eat. That is until Anna turns them into courgette cake of course. From whence there was a healthy, organically...

Bees in the Garden 3

Bees in the Garden

We may be getting some bees sooner than expected. Our plans were to get all the equipment ready over the winter and start beekeeping in Spring 2011, but I had an e-mail from someone in the Aberystwyth Beekeeping Association the other day saying: “Alan I am interested in taking one hive to the heather to...

Garmin Sensor Readouts 0

Garmin Speed / Cadence Sensor Review

I bought myself a new gadget the other day, a Garmin Speed / Cadence Sensor for my Forerunner 305. I didn’t really NEED one but new toys are always a good motivator. When out on my bike in the real world the GPS on the Forerunner obviously tracks my speed and distance and works flawlessly....

A Productive Day 0

A Productive Day

What a productive day we’ve had today. I was up at 4am to investigate the contents of the moth trap. I then did a little bit of work and then after coffee and a quick catch up with Anna and Morgan it was time to start tackling the garden. It wasn’t that bad out there...

Creatures of the Night 0

Creatures of the Night

Thought I’d put the moth trap out again last night as it looked set to be dry and we all had the day off today so would have plenty of time to go through it. I sat with it for a little while at dusk, but then got up again at 4am before it was...

My Fastest ClimachX 0

My Fastest ClimachX

I managed to beat my Personal Best around the ClimachX Trail last night. It was supposed to be an Ystwyth-MTB night ride at 6.30pm. As usual I was there early, but by 6:45pm nobody else had arrived so I let Anna know I was going to go around on my own and headed off for...

Free Earplugs to prevent Surfer’s Ear 1

Free Earplugs to prevent Surfer’s Ear

I finally had an appointment with the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Consultant surgeon at the hospital yesterday. He confirmed that I did indeed have Surfer’s Ear but thankfully didn’t want to send me off for surgery to have it fixed. He refer me to get fitted for some earplugs though to help prevent it...

Chinese Character 3

Last Nights Moths

Just before bed time the rain eased, so seeing as I was due to be looking after Morgan all day I thought I’d put the moth trap out so that we could go through them this morning. It wasn’t a huge catch, but there was enough to keep us busy and a few new ones...