Living as we do in the beautiful Carmarthenshire countryside we are very fortunate to have walks all around us. Over the last weeks we have walked around Llangadog, Llansadwrn and Llandovery! Lots of LL’s in lovely locations!! Stop it that’s enough of trying to be clever!!
Anyway maybe you can sense a bit of madness in this writing…or maybe it’s always like this! Trying to stay abiding by the Covid rules can drive one a bit potty when the weather is also trying to drive one mad at the same time! We have had every sort of weather thrown at us…indeed it felt like buckets of water being thrown when the rain came down! After the rain came the floods, then the ice followed by the snow and in between some splashes of sunshine!
Our walks out have been the best thing to keep us going and talking! On our Llangadog walk we crossed over the road bridge into the small hamlet of Felindre where track and trace was in force….the kite kept us under his watchful eye the whole time!
Leaving the houses behind we followed the road along the lanes and came to a junction splendidly marked by a copse of fine pine trees. We followed the lane on to look out for lambs in the fields but were disappointed! We were also disappointed that if we looked across the valley we could see sunshine lighting up the fields…just where our house is! We were chilly in the damp and windy side of the valley!
One constant in all the weather changes has been the never ending flight of birds to the feeders especially during the cold. The birds are getting very good at sharing!
Sharing! 
I want to be alone! 
Blue tit photo bombing! 
Dunnock 
Sharing! 
Not sharing…want to be greedy and have all the food for myself! 
Tree creeper…honest ! 
Sharing 
Watching ! 
Best photo of wren !!!
After all the rain the valley became flooded. We took the opportunity to look at the floods from above and walked up to Llansadwrn Forestry where one gets great views along the Towy river below. We were surprised to see that only a day or two later after the torrential rainfall someone had pulled the plug and the floods had receded! Across the valley the Carmarthen Fans were covered in snow.
We continued on up the forest track reaching the top of the hill after passing a wall full of interest and then we had more lovely views over the valley. Right in the distance was Pen Y Fan (45 miles!) and captured using zoom on my camera !
Pen Y Fan
Back in Llansadwrn the sun was still shining.
Path and wall around the church and grounds 
A resting place for the walker and on the other side of the wall a permanent resting place. 
Our garden is still there but mainly under water! Not sure how the bulbs and plants are going to thrive after the continual wet! However, there is still colour and lots of evergreens which I love! They are such good doers and give that structure to a garden and the all important colour in the winter.
As we had to drive to Llandovery to collect our prescriptions from the chemist we felt it was fair to take advantage of the situation and go for a circular walk from the town. We walked on the road, under the Heart of Wales railway line, down tracks, over bridges and back into town. Very enjoyable!
Llandovery church 
Towy river 
Dolauhirion Bridge 
Towy 
Is it a lamb? Same size as a lamb but? 
After the rainy days came the frosty days which changed the countryside from damp and dismal into frosty shimmering sparkle when the sun shone!
On a stroll from home we saw these odd tracks in the snow. Maybe it’s s stick that rolled along the ground but they were next to the fox prints and the bird prints and they went on for quite a way ending by a stream!
News this evening that Primary schools in Wales may open after February half term if virus numbers continue to fall…that’s great news. Also a maximum of two people from different households will be able to exercise outdoors together, as long as they maintain social distancing. They can take exercise starting from and finishing at home but they still can’t drive anywhere to take exercise! The world has suddenly become my oyster again!
Fingers crossed the vaccine rollout continues at pace here and worldwide and we can start planning for the future again. Yay!
How refreshing to feel a bit of warmth in the air and feet on dry land instead of sloshing through muck and mud…today our Walking Well walk was certainly that…a lovely amble through the country lanes around Dryslwyn Castle…thank you Philip!
