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!