Thursday 21 June 2012

Inflatable Stonehenge for a Wet Solstice, Huge Bracket Fungi, Silage In & More Rain

In keeping with tradition today being the Summer Solstice the Farmer & I paid a visit to Stonehenge...however this was Stonehenge as we had never seen it before. It was an inflatable bouncy castle full scale replica of the great stones complete with trilithons and sarsen stones and, quite the maddest, most bonkers thing I have seen a long time!
This extraordinary object was having its first & only appearance in Wales today at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales near Carmarthen at the start of its tour around Britain before reaching London for the Olympics.
When we arrived at the Botanic Gardens there were several coach loads of schoolchildren brought to see the amazing sight and to bounce merrily but the unfortunately the rain had also arrived and so the bouncing was brought to an end which must have very disappointing for the children. We viewed the very realistic rubber titans through a veil of heavy rain and it really was very surreal with the great glass dome of  the  Botanic Gardens in the background.

While the Famer was mowing grass for silage on some fields we rent about a mile away he spyed these amazing fungi growing on a tree. They are  huge fan shaped bracket fungi which were identified as Dryad's Saddle, a rather wonderful name. They are certainly some of the biggest and most impressive fungi that I have ever seen, they must have measured a good 12-14 " across at their widest point.
With the heavy & persisitent rain back with us we are congratulating ourselves on having been able to get our first cut silage crop in & sheeted up before the low pressure arrived yesterday evening. The Farmer & the Sons have worked long hours this week, with the Sons working away from home getting in other peoples silage as well as our own often not finishing until well after dark.
The three days of good weather were just lovely and now we are back to wind & rain & squelching across our shaven fields and rushing waters in our streams again.
I think solstice fires may well struggle tonight.

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