A Simple Life of Luxury

Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means

Category: Science & Nature

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Nature

Struggling Hedgehogs

We’ve seen a number of hedgehogs here recently. First I found one asleep in a big pile of leaves whilst gardening. I left it where it was and put off clearing up the area. The hedgehog has since left but I’ve yet to clear up. Unfortunately we also found a dead hedgehog in the hole...

Fossil Tree Stump 2

Nature / Wales

Beach Features

The beach here has changed considerably over the past year or so. The submerged forest only used to be exposed on very low tides and usually only in a few patches. However, since the construction of the sea defences in Borth this has changed. The forest is now exposed in huge swathes all along the...

2

Nature

Hedgehog Nest

I came across a hedgehog nest while preparing the garden for the robot lawn mower. I was trimming back the pampas grass and clearing out the dead, dried growth in the middle. As I did it I thought to myself ‘this would be a perfect place for a hedgehog to over-winter’. Sure enough, the next...

Trace Fossil in the Making 1

Science & Nature

Traces of the Geologist

I haven’t really considered myself a geologist for a while now. However, once a geologist always a geologist and we just can’t help ourselves ‘geologising’! Depositional Detectives One of the ways that this manifests itself is in the examination of depositional environments and wondering how they would appear in the geologic record if preserved in...

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Nature / Windsurfing

Dragons in the Garden

It’s been blowing a hoolie here for the last few days thanks to our local Katabatic wind known as Ivor. That doesn’t seem to have stopped the dragonflies though and there have been quite a few in the garden. I’ve only ever had my phone with me when I’ve been out there so I haven’t...

Bumble Bee 1

Nature

How Wales Can Help Save The Bees

According to the BBC, there are 180 species of bee in Wales, but they are in trouble. Seven species have already been wiped out, and there are five more on the brink of extinction. One of the species just barely clinging on is the large mason bee, which is only found in two sites in...

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Science & Nature / Technology / Weather

Example and Help Pages for the Weather Station

Do you want to see what a subscription to the Borth & Ynyslas Weather Station allows you to see? Maybe you are already a subscriber but don’t know what ‘feels like temperature’ means or why pressure is displayed in millibars and not hectopascals? Well, such questions have now been answered as I have started to...

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Beekeeping / Gardening / Nature

Flowers Everywhere

There are quite a few flowers in the garden at the moment. The bees are loving the chives still and there’s even a surprise rose. I don’t know why it’s always a surprise as it flowers every year but I also do nothing to it and kind of forget that it is there until it...

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Science & Nature / Weather

A few more Weather Station Updates

Just a quick post about a few more updates I’ve made to the Borth & Ynyslas Weather Station pages on this site. I’ve added a few extra bits of information here and there so will outline these below. Cloud Height First, I’ve added an estimation of the cloud height to the ‘Current Weather Conditions’ section...

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Science & Nature / Weather

Borth & Ynyslas Weather Station

The weather station in our back garden now has a 2nd online home right here on A Simple Life of Luxury. It is hoped that it that will make it more accessible to locals and visitors alike. I have been running a weather station that uploads live data every minute from Ynyslas to the web...