Elan Valley
The healing power of the great outdoors...and planting garlic.
I haven't managed to write a newsletter this week, life has been hectic and the days have flown by.
Last Sunday it was a year since my Mother passed away and my go-to response to anything mentally stressful is to be outdoors, so we went to one of our favourite places, the Elan Valley near Rhayader. It is a spectacular place with wide rolling heathland, mountain views, walks and of course the reservoirs and dams. It is the perfect place to reflect and breath in clean air to help with overwhelming feelings…and it was a glorious day which showed up the autumn colours.
Being outside is so therapeutic for me, I love my home and garden which is certainly vital for every day life, but getting out somewhere vast is just magical. At this time of year, and in spring, a landscape like that seems so welcoming, and puts things into perspective like nothing else. When we got home and had that blissful cup of tea after a day out, we could look back on a day well spent.
In other news, we had a proper frost last night, the ground was hard this morning and it signals winter approaching. It will have been very good for the swedes as they need snaps of really cold weather to boost their growth, as does garlic. Without frost and hard cold garlic cloves don't separate and you end up with just one solid lump of garlic - although still perfectly usable and tasty. I am late planting this year but it isn't too late, so the garlic that goes into the ground this weekend should do really well.
I went back to school days earlier this week too, and made my own fat balls for the birds, they will really need the calories now and making my own is fun and cost effective so I foresee many more will be in production over the next few months!
So, I hope you are all well dear readers, wherever you are.