A break from Blogging

 

After much deliberation I've decided to take a beak from posting.  Over the last few months my posts have been few and far between, and I have just spent a month in hospital sorting out a blocked bowel which ended in an operation.  As a result I've lost weight, strength and cant walk far so at the moment my chances of getting out and taking pictures are zero.

I will leave my comments on as I enjoy reading them, and I will continue to visit your blogs.

So all the best for the time being.

........ it's on its way

Firstly Storm Eunice is scheduled to hit South Wales on Friday morning and warnings have been issued, trains cancelled and schools closing. I cant remember a red warning before this, but gusts of 70 to 80 mph are forecast.  So its batten down the hatches. The saying was that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb so with the change in seasons being 2 to 3 weeks earlier thats about right. 

 Secondly other signs of Spring are here

Can frogs read a calendar...well these ones certainly have  a good idea, as the first frogspawn appeared on Valentines Day.

Taffs Well Park

A couple of firsts for me today.

The first was a walk to the park as I hadn't seen the  Remembrance Day seats and statues.

or the latest work on the Well, which has quite a history as can be seen from the notice boards.

The old thermal swimming pool

The naturally hot water from the Well is being pumped to the nearby school and will be used for heating purposes.

"With its natural flow of warm water it is soon to embark upon a new lease of life as the common source of energy for two water-to-water heat pump projects. One scheme will provide heating for the nearby Park Pavilion and the other will meet the demands from the local Primary School.  

Heat will be extracted through heat exchangers connected to the existing discharge pipe leading to the river and transferred in insulated pipes to the new heat pumps at the Park Pavilion and School. There will be no change in the Spring flows to the river other than to have a lower temperature water of some 10 degrees C."  from NuVision Energy Wales 

https://www.nuvisionenergywales.co.uk/taff-s-well

Also I had my first ride since the operation and it was good to get back on the bike.

I took the folder and  was pleasantly pleased that it wasn't as painful sitting as I had expected.  I only did a couple of miles but its a start. 

Looking forward.....

I'm out of hospital and recovering at home .  Its a long slow process but its going in the right direction.

I've a long long way to go before I can get back to cycling like this, but it's good to have a goal.

The lights in the village, Gwaelod y Garth, on the other side of the River Taff. 

 Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Pre Christmas break

I'll be out of action for the next couple of weeks,

 so will catch up later. 

 

Mushroom update

I've been watching the mushrooms change colour and noticed that they had also been eaten.  Slugs and snails are the ones that come to mind first but also animals like squirrels mice and rats also eat them.and contribute to the ecosystem by helping to spread the spores via their faeces. 

Here's one having breakfast.

As my mobility is very restricted these days to just short local walks I noticed these ivy flowers and the berries getting ready as a winter food source for birds.

 

Mushrooms etc

 

Mushrooms appeared on the lawn !

Not sure what they were so after searching the Internet I still couldn't identify them so I contacted  this Wildfood website www.wildfooduk.com and they came up with Shaggy or Bearded Milkcaps.  They are edible, but I wont try them because,

 "If eaten without very careful preparation, Lactarius torminosus can cause very unpleasant stomach upsets. (Be warned: the Latin torminosus means 'cause of colic'.) Some authorities suggest that the Woolly Milkcap is edible after it has been salted and pickled, but many more assert that it should be treated as poisonous."                      

from Firstnature .com

Here's some more from my walk, the next four could be Terracotta Hedgehog or Common Hedgehog tooth, again edible.

 This one I couldn't identify.

Its good fun finding them but I'll stick to the shop bought ones!

More wildflowers.

  These photos are from the same walk, but on the other side of the first path, and at the bottom of an embankment which is in shade.

Old Mans Beard

Woodland ferns growing in the walls of the railway embankment

Ivy, a wonderful bird food source in winter.

 

Passing the Taf, at low water its usually a good place to see birds, and 7 Mergansers, the most I've seen here. 

Local wildflowers

I walked along the footpath / cycleway which follows the line of the  old Heath to Treforest railway, which took coal from the nearby colleries to Cardiff Docks for export.  The footpath is on an embankment and nature has reclaimed the sides with a nice mix of common wildflowers.  I've named them but let me know if you think differently.

Hemp Agrimony

Nipplewort 

Soapwort

Thistle 

Turkeytail Fungi

Buddlia

Oxeye daisy

A Cool Dude?

Elderberry

Japanese Knotweed. 

 The Victorians imported this and it's now a curse , it devalues property and is virtually indestructible.

 

Blackberry

Himalayan Balsam 

Again another imported plant and is a great one for the kids because when you press the seed pods they explode and scatter the seeds.  If you dont know, it makes you jump.