We went to Rhayader this time via Gloucester, Ledbury, Hereford: how to avoid a £5.60 toll but we saw some lovely countryside - the road from Ledbury to Hereford was lined with apple orchards and hop vines and smelled divine! This is our free exit. I do love the design of this bridge.
We left the Cambrians and dropped down for a night to Brecon on the edge of the Beacons.
Early April 2006 Claerwen Dam, Elan Valley: the snows had melted filling the reservoirs of the dams which overflowed: the noise of the falling water with a drop of 56 metres/183 feet was deafening: there's Mike having a closer look and then not being able to hear anything else the rest of the day! We then drove across the top (ugh!) and ate the home made carrot cake we bought in Rhayader to recover whilst we watched a silly sheep on the edge of the reservoir and hoped it didn't fall in because no-one was going to rescue it! Oh fond memories!!
And in Sep 2011 we find what the dam structure is like because the levels are so low that the water barely comes halfway up the other side of the dam - that maroon blob is Mike! Housemartins and swallows were diving through the arches chasing insects. (We both opted out of crossing the top this time!)
Harrison aged 9 months tries Grandad's hat for size ...
On a very warm June day we took a picnic to Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire, a National Trust property and home to The National Collection of OldFashioned Roses. This border was just inside the start of the walled gardens.
A natural spring rises out of the ground at "The Font" in the Abbey Grounds and the crystal clear water travels down a gravel bed through a shaded woodland area, eventually joining the River Test. And that water was so beautifully cold - first fingers, then hands and then a toe or two were dipped in!
A happy Mummy with Sophie aged 11 weeks: now doing an owl impersonation by looking around at EVERYTHING only to find her neck does not go right round!
Farmer Richard, his buxom wife Grandad, his little girl Ellie and his little son Nina all put on their best clothes for a family day at Honeybrook Farm near Wimborne www.honeybrook.org!
Ellie aged 3 1/2yrs hunts for eggs, rabbits and chickens with Daddy - they're everywhere!
Sophie Louise aged 1 week meets her cousins Ellie aged almost 3 1/2 years and Harrison aged 5 1/2 months.
On the left Amaryllis 2007: same bulb 2011 - it's taken that long to flower again!
(The decor hasn't changed much)!
