Postcard from Wales

View of Tenby Harbour and beach

Just back from a fabulous week in Tenby - my first time there and it won't be the last. I went with my friend W and we rented a comfy apartment in the centre of town with views of the sea and the town walls. Plenty of walking, castles, dreaming, snoozing, feasting and exploring ensued. Our timing was perfect as we had the best of late April's weather - both warm and sunny.

Highly recommended.

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Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

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Jack Go To Bed At Noon

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Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
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Earth and Sun and Moon *

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Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

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Seasonal Recipe: Hedgerow Plum Jam

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