Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
It looks as though everyone is jumping on the beekeeping bandwagon at the moment. A good thing for bees, a good thing for the environment and a good thing for beekeepers too. Even the Coop are trying to encourage people to get into beekeeping. Their ‘Plan Bee‘ has been offering training courses and has even...
Following on from the early spring garden flowers which were mainly yellow – Daffodils, Marsh Marigold, Celandine and of course dandelions, the garden turned a shade of blue in May with Bluebells, Forget-me-Nots and Periwinkles and now the garden seems to be moving into a purple mood with Irises, Geraniums, Lilacs and others.
I’ve just had a stroll around the garden. Everything is coming along nicely and there are quite a few new flowers out today as well, so I took some snaps of them with my little compact camera.
Amazon.co.uk Widgets Continuing my research and plans to start beekeeping, I attended a meeting of the Aberystwyth & District Beekeepers Association on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day for it, hot sunny and still. We met at a members house where she has a number of beehives – probably abut 15 , plus chickens, geese,...
I haven’t done much photography lately, other than recording things such as moths and progress in the garden. It was therefore nice to sell one of my photos of Lake Vyrnwy as a Canvas print last week. I hadn’t been trying to sell the photos, they had simply been posted on this weblog which then...
Things are coming on well in the garden. The spring flowers are still out but are fading. The Marsh Marigolds have almost finished, the Bluebells will soon follow them. The Forget-me-Nots are still in full bloom though and providing a lovely haze of blue around the garden.. Everything else seems to be doing well though...
My first triathlon in 20 years and preparations weren’t good. I’d been ill for a couple of weeks so hadn’t done much training and hadn’t managed to get out on my bike after fiddling with the position set up. We arrived in Gloucestershire on Friday evening and I had a quick drive around the cycle...
During our research into beehives and such like we came across a modern take on a beehive called the Beehaus. It is essentially a plastic version of the Dartington beehive and does have quite a few advantages over more traditional hives. From what I’ve read it was actually designed in conjunction with Robin Dartington, the...
The other day I was having a discussion with Morgan (who is 5) about the number of species of plants and animals that live in our garden. Ever since he has been going on to me to write a list of every plant and animal that I can think of that we’ve seen in the...
My research into starting up beekeeping continues. I’ve been reading lots of books, listening to beekeeping podcasts, lurking (and posting) on various beekeeping forums and have now contacted the local beekeeping association. My main worries have revolved around the location and whether or not our garden would be suitable for a hive or two. I’ve...
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
 |
 |
More live data from Ynyslas
Subscribe for full access.
Weather trends, weather extremes and historic data. See what you get here.
Camping / Surf Ski, Kayaking and Canoeing / Travel
Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago: Aspöja and the Central Islands
Thursday, August 20th, 2026
Camping / Surf Ski, Kayaking and Canoeing / Travel
Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago: Missjö to Aspöja
Wednesday, August 19th, 2026
Camping / Surf Ski, Kayaking and Canoeing / Travel
Sea Kayaking in the Sankt Anna Archipelago
Tuesday, August 18th, 2026
