Birds of Prey

My own favourite sight in and around the cottage are the big birds of prey soaring over the valley. Buzzards are fairly common in the UK (they have the fan-shaped tail, if you catch them in silhouette, the Red Kites have the forked tail).

We have a significant population of Red Kites around the cottage (when they neared extinction, this area was the last pocket of resistance). Fortunately they were saved, and have spread back around the UK.

I lifted these images without permission (my apologies) from the RSPB site, click on the images to find the source material, or just visit the main RSPB site here.

You can find the Welsh section of the RSPB site here.

Last Minute Cottages

We have just added the cottage to Last Minute Cottages, and you can find us on their website.

We will add the availability calendar to the website, but this is

JUST A TEST

so please check with us directly, before assuming the calendar below is current and up-to-date.

Thanks!

BBC Winter Breaks

You can see us listed on the BBC Winter Breaks page...

This is the Homes and Antiques magazine...

Testing the banner

This is what banner2 looks like (using Centred, Medium sized in Blogger upload).

I have also made the image itself a clickable link.

Julie is on the map!

Julie is still developing her wool craft activities, and you can find her listed now on the Heritage Crafts Network map - zoom in to Cardiff to find her...

And this is what the entry says:

I am a serious amateur in tradition wool crafts such as knitting, felt-making, and weaving. Recently I've also been sampling various related disciplines such as basket weaving, embroidery and mixed media textiles for wall hangings. I have a degree in fine art, but my first love has always been wool crafted textiles. I spend all my spare time advancing my skills and knowledge, and attending courses in related subjects. I hope one day to become a professional artisan and to earn my living from textile production (whereupon I will update you with a business address).

Ty Cariad awarded Four Stars by Visit Wales

We were very pleased to hear that Ty Cariad has been awarded Four Stars as a Self Catering holiday cottage, by Visit Wales (formerly The Welsh Tourist Board).

timetable for Vale of Rheidol railway

I have added a link to the website for the 2010 timetable for the Vale of Rheidol railway, which runs from Devil's Bridge to Aberystwyth.

You'll find it here.

Tan-y-graig

Julie has started enquiring about the cottage through the archives.

The first discovery is that it used to be called Tan-y-graig (beneath the rock) which makes sense if you visit. It isn't clear yet if that is the name for the two joined cottages, or for our half.

The researcher has also looked back as far as 1841 to find stone masons and lead miners living there, so we still don't quite know when it got built.

Local news and weather

The Pontrhydygroes Commmunity Web Site doesn't seem to get updated very often, but it contains someuseful information.

We have already mentioned that the mobile phone coverage is very limited in the area, and although I have occasionally got a freak Vodafone connection up on the hills, the main coverage comes from Orange. Even so, down in the valley you will get no signal, more than likely.
This phone coverage map might give you an idea...

In addition to the weather station that I have linked to on the website, the Community site offers this Ystwyth weather station (not sure exactly where it is located) - which you might find interesting or useful.

Cold weather for birds

The snow has carried on, and birds of all kinds are highly visible around the feeder, and exploring around the gutters of the house.

You can just watch Red Kites from the fireside, they have been so close to the garden. Beautiful and bright against the snow. Stunning aerial displays.

Snow Fun

We have come up for a winter break, and we met ice on the hill when we arrived. Couldn't make it around that final, steep, hairpin bend until a kind neighbour took his wheelbarrow up to a salt and grit bin at the top of the hill, then skidded back down with it. The one on the corner was already empty.

But we made it. This morning the world is covered with snow, much to the bemusement of the dog.

As I looked out the window a red kite came in to land on one of the nearby trees, when I crunched out to see if I could get a better shot it didn't like being looked at, and took off...that is how close they come!