Category Archives: Spring

A Welsh Spring and clichés of violence

Posted on May 26, 2013 by BarryH

Back in Wales and spring has at last arrived. Before I left Arctic blasts whipped across the tops of the mountain ridges dumping snow and lowering temperatures so that buds stayed tight shut long past their usual seasonal opening time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Pontypool, Reflections, Spring, Wales | Tagged apples, bees, black currants, bluebells, brecon beacons national park, bud burst, cliches, coat of paint, environmental triggers, explosion, fruit production, leaves, oak, oak trees, Pontypool Folly Tower, riot of colour, spring, temperatures, trees, violence, Wales, winds, wire fencing | Leave a comment

Welsh Winter Walking: effects of Spring deferred

Posted on April 1, 2013 by BarryH

With overnight temperature yet again down to minus 4oC and afternoon highs still well short of double figures, the last day of March, Easter Sunday and, coincidentally, the first day of British Summer Time saw no real signs of Spring … Continue reading →

Posted in Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged brecon beacons national park, Bristol Channel, Easter Sunday, midday sun, Mynydd Varteg, newborn lambs, snow, snow drifts, spring, winter, winter gloom, winter walking | Leave a comment

Spring surprise

Posted on March 24, 2013 by BarryH

After dismal weather since I got back from Canada my plans for summer travels in Greece are starting to take shape. Flights booked and looking forward to Easter on Kalymnos, then another trip by bus and train from Athens around … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Mountains, Pontypool, Spring, Wales, Winter | Tagged daffodils, equinox, Pontypool Folly Tower, siskins, snow, snowing on the mountain, spring, trees, winter | 1 Comment

Taking a trip up to Abergavenny

Posted on March 27, 2012 by BarryH

Mention walking to Abergavenny, or just pass a road sign, and it is amazing how many people burst out with the opening line of the song by Marty Wilde in 1968, the latest in a small genre of funky location-specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Spring | Tagged Abergavenny, funky music, Marty Wilde | Leave a comment

The tyranny of buying presents … but things are brightening up

Posted on March 22, 2012 by BarryH

Let’s be brutally honest. Buying presents isn’t a chore, it’s a nightmare, a tyranny which has us enslaved. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to give presents, I actually enjoy giving things which people will enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Grumpy Old Men, Pontypool, Reflections, Spring | Leave a comment

An Extra Day; a trip to Cardiff and The Big Leap Year Swindle

Posted on March 5, 2012 by BarryH

Wednesday 29 February and I decided to spend The Extra Day doing something different. Shame to waste a freebie just doing ordinary stuff. I arranged to meet up with friends in Cardiff and it turned out to be a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Grumpy Old Men, Reflections, Spring | Tagged bute park, Cardiff, Cathays Park, culture, Leap Year | Leave a comment

Ambitious plans

Posted on February 28, 2012 by BarryH

Having been mulling it over for some time I have now finally bitten the bullet and booked a flight to Greece and have an ambitious itinerary beginning to firm up for travelling on the mainland , visiting Crete, Santorini and … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Greece, Spring | Leave a comment

Time running away; the need to prioritise

Posted on May 30, 2011 by BarryH

Once again I regret the absence of the Blog for many days now. To use a cliché, time has been running away from me. Strange concept that, given that we think of time is a kind of measuring rod, something … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Grey Britain, Spring | Leave a comment

It’s good when a plan comes together: poetry and wild gardens

Posted on May 17, 2011 by BarryH

A couple of things are starting to come together. I have finally sorted everything out for publishing the book of Enfys’s poems. Completed the artwork and taken it to the printers. I collected the proofs on Friday and gave the … Continue reading →

Posted in extreme gardening, Reflections, Spring | Leave a comment

Unearthing art, philosophy of decision-making, deadline-brain

Posted on May 9, 2011 by BarryH

I’m back home again now, my house-sitting duties having come to an end. The garden usually springs into life during April, growth accelerating towards the end of the month and into May. This year the change in the 10 days … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, extreme gardening, Reflections, Spring | Leave a comment