It is mild today and there is a little breeze.

I have noticed that quite a few big birds have been coming to our garden.  Since we have been feeding the birds again this winter a sparrowhawk has been visiting the garden although we haven't seen it catch anything yet.  This morning I saw a few crows swoop through the garden.

Although this picture of the oaks was taken about a week ago, they haven't really changed since then.  As you can see lots of leaves have fallen since the last update.

These photos are of the Usk River.
They were taken on the Black Mountain,about 1 mile from the Usk rivers starting point. 
From this close up photo you can see how clear the water is and how stony the bottom is.Its ideal for playing in because of its shallowness, we do often play in it when the weather is warm.
The river is very clean and lovely, its been given a SSSI (special site of scientific interest) designation because of the wildlife that lives in and around it.

This picture is of the ford that crosses the river.My brothers have tried to cycle their bikes through it but they couldn't, they got wet feet!

This picture is of the Rushes at the side of the river, you tend to get rushes in wet places. 

Daddy says "you can make candles from these soft rushes" and he promises that he'll show me how one day.

To day there is a chill in the air, it is still, very damp and cloudy. 

This is a picture of the

Oaks

THE STORY OF THE LADY OF THE LAKE



A man went up toe in the  Llyn y Fan Fach, a lake in the mountains near here and saw a lady on a lake.  The man put his arm out to the lady, offering her bread and the lady said " Yuk, I can't eat your disgusting bread".  So the man went home that night and asked his Mum to make him some softer bread.  The next day the man went to see the lady and he said to her "I've brought you some softer bread", he offered it to her and she looked at it and said "Yuk, I'm not going to eat that, it's too doughy".  That night the man went back home and asked his Mum to bake some bread that was not soft and not hard.  So the next morning he took the bread his Mum had made and offered it to the lady again and the lady accepted the bread.  When she had eaten the bread he asked her to marry him.  She said "I shall marry you but if you strike me three times I shall leave you".   So the man accepted what she said and said he would not strike her three times.    She told her father that she was getting married and her father said she could marry the man.  He told her she could take as many cattle and sheep as she could count in one breath.  She straight away started counting the animals in fives.  She took them with her to start her new life in Myddfai, a village nearby.  She had three sons who grew up to be fine.  Sadly her husband did hit her three times, once at a wedding when she was crying and once at a funeral when she was laughing and once when she was shouting at her sons, he got angry at her because they hadn't done much wrong.  The last time he hit her she said to him "I warned you that I would leave if you hit me three times, so I must leave."  She took her cattle and sheep away, two of the cattle were pulling a plough and she took them with the plough attached across the mountain back to her father.  Her three sons visited her at the lake and she taught them all she knew about plants and how to heal people.  They became famous healers and were known as The Physicians of Myddfai.

Today it has been cloudy, quite windy and there have also been a few misty showers.  I went for a cycle ride with my brother over the mountain road, it was great fun going down the hill. I like this weather because it is all nice and cold in the morning. There have been some gorgeous sunsets.

I took this picture last week of these rose hips.  They are in abundance this year.  I have learnt these things from my books:

*  Rose hips contain 20 times more vitamin C than the same weight in oranges.  They also contain vitamin B and E.  

*  During World War II a national campaign urged volunteers to collect hundreds of tons of rose hips to be processed into syrup for the children.

*  You can use them to make jam, syrup and tea.

A tea to aid recovery after cold or fever. 

Boil 2 teaspoonful of rose-hips in 250 ml water for 10 minutes.

I made this tea, it tasted metallic.  When it was in the pan it went pinkish, I'm sure it must be good for you.

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 Caspar's Camera Trap:  Experiencing technical difficulties

      

29 September. 2013. 

It's windy and fresh today but the sun is still out.  There are no rainbows because it is not raining.

Last week we were driving home in the dark and a bat flew into our windscreen and got stuck under the bonnet.  The next day, in the morning, it was still there so we got it out and put it in a tub.  Sadly, it was dead, probably from the impact and it had a damaged wing.  It had a very cute face and it was very fluffy.  We looked it up on the Internet and discovered that it is a Long Eared Brown Bat.    
Facts about them.
1.They eat moths, beetles and flies on the wing.
2.They fly close to the ground which makes them vulnerable.
3.In the winter they hibernate, usually on their own, in caves, cellars and tunnels.
4.They live for an average of 4-5 years but have been known to reach an amazing 22 years old.


It is blackberry season.

Blackberries are also known as brambles.  If you mix them with raspberries they are called loganberries. You are not supposed to pick them after Michaelmas, which is today, because the Devil is supposed to have claimed them.  You can use the stems for making strong string.  Things you can make from blackberries: 
1. Jam
2. Blackberry and apple pie
3. Wine

Caspar's Camera Trap:  Experiencing technical difficulties

20 September 2013
I took these photos yesterday afternoon.  It was quite sunny with a warm breeze, it had rained in the morning, so everything was nice, clean, dry and fresh.  It almost still feels like summer.

I just found out that ferns
are one of the oldest plants in the world.  I think this is a Male Fern, there is another sort of fern called Polypody, but it doesn't look like one of them.  This one is about a foot tall, they can grow to 3 or 4 feet tall.  This is a small one because it was growing on a south facing bank, they prefer the shade.
Ferns reproduce by growing spores on the backs of their leaves.
My book tells me that they used to be used for treating tapeworms, but do not try this yourself because they are poisonous and will give nasty side effects.

I found this ivy while I was walking with my brother.  It can be found growing up things from big grand houses to walls and trees.  When they are older the three pronged leaves blend into one single lobe.
It has many medicinal uses. The Collins book of Herbs and Healing Plants says it can be used to treat coughs, wooping cough and bronchitis, fever and worms.  It says it can also be used homeopathically for over-active thyroid, gallbladder complaints and bronchitis and as a poultice for rheumatism and sciatica.  This is very remarkable because I thought it was very poisonous and know one ever used it.

I always notice this horse which lives in our village and I decided to share a picture of him with you because he is so beautiful.  He is called Ianto and he is 40 years old.  Which is quite amazing because I think he looks quite young.







Caspar's Camera Trap:  Experiencing technical difficulties

Friday 28 June .

We have an oak tree in our garden, it is one of our favourite trees because we have attached a swing to it.  Today me and my brothers placed a white sheet on the ground underneath the tree, Leo and Caspar shook it as hard as they could to see what would fall out.  I was quite excited because quite a few things fell out, then I realised that most of it was leaves and bits of tree, only 3 were creatures.  This is what we found; an unidentified tiny spider, an unidentified tiny fly and a Striped Oak Bug.  We have learnt that the Oak Bug eats other bug nymphs and aphids.  When it is a nymph in the springtime it feeds on baby catkins.  The adult bug only lives from May to July. 

         

We are very lucky to have Curlews nesting in the field opposite our house.  Their haunting call is one of the happy signs of spring that we  look forward to.  They arrive in May  to build a nest in the long grass and when they have hatched and raised their chicks they go back to the coast, at the end of July.  When Mum found this photograph, I was really surprised by it's long beak. We think it has a long beak because it eats shellfish, worms and shrimps which it might have to push it's beak underground for and it's legs are long for wading, therefore it might need such a long beak to reach the ground. 

Caspar's Camera Trap: This week we caught a fox (which we think looks quite young) and a squirrel which looked like it was searching for food.
 These are the first animals I have caught on the camera :) 
 As this seems to be a good spot I have left it there for another week.

 

24 June Monday. Sorry my update is so late, everything has been greening up over the last few weeks.  Look at the oaks for instance.


There are a lot of Buttercups around this year, my brother Leo took this picture in the field next to our house.  They are poisonous so don't eat them.  However if you hold one under your chin in the daytime and it makes your chin go yellow you probably like butter, or so they say.
My Mum told me a story about her tortoise called Henry, he loved Buttercups so much that if you held one in front of him he would run towards it and eat it very quickly. He lived for many, many years eating Buttercups, so they can't be poisonous to tortoises.

Caspar's Camera Trap Update
I found a new spot for the camera last Friday, pointing along a well trodden path (well trodden by animals not people!).

30 May - I (Maddy) went outside, on this very sunny morning, after the mist had cleared to take some pictures of wild flowers.  In the hedgerow opposite our house there are big swathes of Cow Parsley.  Cow Parsley is a white flower, it is edible but tastes disgusting, I know because I just tried it.

I found these Bluebells on the same bank.  I have learnt that they are also called Wild Hyacinths. People think it illegal to pick them but I just learnt that it is only illegal to dig them up.  I love bluebells.

 Alongside the Cow Parsley and Bluebells is Greater Stitchwort.  I knew that it must be used as medicine because it has 'wort' on the end.  I discovered that it was used for people with a stitch (you could still use it for this).  It is very edible and looks lovely in a salad.  I just tried some (I think it tastes horrible).

24 May - I (Maddy) noticed how late the Oaks are this year - hopefully they will change soon as the weather is getting warmer.  Although my big brother thought there was a frost last night
These Oaks are at the bottom
of the garden

Caspar's Weekly Camera Trap update:
Nothing caught this week.  I noticed it was pointing at a tree,  I have  now moved it so that it is pointing down the river towards some rocks.  (Hoping to catch the Dipper we saw there)

17 May 2013 - Me (Maddy), my 3 brothers, my Mum and Dusty dog went down to the Sawdde (small mountain river) for a walk. We were just about to open the gate into a field when we saw a hare coming from the field, it stopped to look at us and then ran away when it spotted our dog.  My eyes were drawn to it's ears because they were very big.  When it ran it leaped, it was a grey, brown colour.  The fact that it's ears are so big must mean it could hear us from a long way away (as we are so noisy), which makes me wonder why it was running toward us.


Facts I have learnt:
Hares bread all year, but mostly in March
They are our fastest UK land mammal (unless we have big cats!)

A male is called  Jack and a female is called a Jill

Caspar's Weekly Camera Trap update:

Strapped camera to tree today pointing towards beach on edge of river.