Time to catch up before September bows out!

Quite pleased to say goodbye to "summer" with all it's dreary drizzle - for the first time ever we had to take down our hanging baskets before the end of August because they were just rotting away. Here is a picture as a reminder that there was some colour in mid July, but even then the plants were suffering.





In August we said goodbye to Bella and sent her off to her new life in Bedfordshire with our granddaughters - she can be seen above with a new friend and seems to be settling well to a much busier lifestyle, we hope she will be a credit to Nantgwinau and to the Welsh Cob breed in general.


NB Nantgwinau Rebecca mentioned in an earlier post is no longer for sale.

We also have regular visits now from a family of Greater Spotted woodpeckers who have great enthusiasm for peanuts - and a squirrel one day tried to reach the feeder hanging outside the kitchen window

A very attractive young rabbit provided a diversion during the breakfast washing up the other morning, dashing about the yard with great interest in everything - Chief Washer Up had to stop work and get out the camera!

Update on the youngsters:

Cadog is now 4 weeks old, quietly confident and sure of himself - and now able to eat out of his mother's feed dish as well as grazing very competently.

Cadno at 2yrs old is doing nothing much except eat and grow, but isn't he handsome?!

Rachel now 3yrs old and taller than her mother is very beautiful and developing into an interesting character (this can be interpreted in different ways depending on her behaviour!).

Lastly Bella is home for a short break from schooling, she has proved to be quite a challenging pupil, but progress is being made and hopefully she will start some roadwork soon.

Another visit to see Bella this morning, making progress again after a bit of a hitch last week - she apparently thought it was more fun to whiz round the sand school by herself, rather than being ridden! Pictures show Cara on board and Yvonne in charge on the ground.

The journey to Newcastle Emlyn and beyond is a real switchback with some wicked bends built in, but with the bonus of some spectacular views at times. The countryside has been very lush of late, now we see fields turning dramatically from green to yellow as the silage and hay crops are stripped off and cleared away. Predominate wild flowers at the moment are foxgloves, buttercups, campion, stitchwort, and masses of the large white ox-eye daisy. Another attractive feature is small flocks of goldfinches darting out of the hedgerows as we drive past.

Today we went to see how Bella (Nantgwinau Croeso Haf) is getting on with her lessons at the Olympus Stud. She has been there 4 weeks now and after a hesitant start she seems to be enjoying the new experiences and pleasing her teachers.

Introducing Nantgwinau Cadog at 7 days old!

Daisy (Rhandir Ffarwel Haf) has had her foal at last! At 9.27pm 31 May a smart bay colt was delivered, mother & son doing well although as usual Daisy is very protective and keeping him away from everyone. The novelty wears off after about 24 hours and we are then allowed to introduce ourselves to the newcomer - and start thinking of names.

Have been having trouble uploading pictures again, however success at last - this is Nantgwinau Rebecca mention in a previous post as being for sale. She certainly seems to have grown into a lovely mare and we hope she will find a good home soon.

I have just seen an advertisement in NFU Countryside for an electric wheelbarrow! Extraordinary - complete with brakes, throttle, 24volt battery, a snip at £199! Probably very useful in some circumstances but not at the top of our wish list (yet!).

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the delightfully named Ladybird Nursery in Ciliau Aeron to stock up with plants - for 12 hanging baskets, 3 manger baskets, and one large wooden tub. A total of 69 plants representing several hours of delving in compost all in the cause of making Pantycelyn look attractive for the summer!

The swallows are very busy having decided to build in the barn next to the house, apparently not bothered by the noise of the quad bike coming and going during the day. The sweltering temperatures of last week made us think that summer had arrived - but of course with the Bank Holiday approaching we are back to cloudy skies and a chill east wind!

"There's a horse outside in the road!" That is how this morning started at about 6.45am when our neighbour knocked on the door - and sure enough there she was, a nice old fashioned bay cob mare, but where did she come from?! A scoop of horse nuts tempted her off the road and round the back of the house to the stables and she walked in quite calmly. Then the usual feeding of dogs/cats/horses had to be seen to, at the same time trying to decide who to contact first about our unexpected guest. Luckily two other neighbours appeared in response to our telephone call and one thought he recognised the mare, another call proved him right and "Bella" was soon reunited with her owner!

• The swallows returned to Pantycelyn on 27 April - exactly one week later than last year - so as usual we are under seige because they really want to nest in the garage but we prefer that they use the barn or field shelter, which they do in the end. Great fun to see the youngsters learning to fly later on.
• We are often asked why people come to stay at Pantycelyn, well the reasons are very varied. Today for example our guests have travelled from Merseyside to collect a caravan from Pencader; last week we had a gentleman who apparently travels the country teaching people how to drive fork-lift trucks safely; before that we had house hunters and someone doing an intensive Welsh course at Lampeter University. Soon there will be parents collecting students at the end of term and of course many relatives wanting to attend Graduation in July - we are fully booked for that event! Mostly our guests are looking for a peaceful break from routine, easy access to the coast and the hills and much less traffic on the roads!

Return of the Cock Pheasant! Cannot be sure of course but he certainly looked like the one that visited the bird table before Christmas (see photo gallery) -
very calmly strolling around before giving an indignant squawk on finding the table bare! He then departed in a dignified manner watched by our two bemused cats Holly & Ivy.

What a difference a few dry days can make, and a welcome change from the bitter east wind of last week. The mares have now been moved from their almost bald (& frequently muddy) winter quarters onto bright green grass!
The next events are: Bella goes to "school" to learn how to be a sensible riding prospect for our granddaughters, while her mother Daisy awaits (with many a heavy sigh) the arrival of her next son/daughter around 28 May.

Daffodils are on the wane but primroses still going strong and bluebells appearing; hawthorn and beech leaves bursting out and birds singing mightily - the countryside is definitely waking up!

Well, I had been looking forward to posting pictures of our mare Pendam Sally with her new foal - sadly we have heard that her colt was born dead this morning. Sally is on loan to the Taraco Stud near Canterbury and her foal was by the stunning young palomino stallion Danaway Desert Storm. For some reason the colt did not start breathing, although for a while he had a strong heartbeat - "just one of those things" as the vet said, nothing anyone could have done. We are all very sad at this outcome but thankful that Sally at least is in good health.

2008 - fresh start and a new look for the Blog! Also new are the photo galleries for Nantgwinau & Pantycelyn, please note that you may need to scroll down for the captions when you enlarge the pictures.

As usual British Summer Time brings very mixed weather as these pictures demonstrate: