Bound and drowned, but not beaten

Walking with Tilly along the Severn flood plain this morning and simply had to capture a couple of images of this piece of flotsam...

Ivy-bound tree

I just love the way ivy had bound this old tree, no doubt helping suck the life out of it. However having fallen and been floating around in the Bristol Channel for lord knows how long, the tree has finally washed up on the Welsh side of the Estuary where new life is slowly taking over.

New life takes hold

I find I am always impressed with the way Nature works... in this case the ivy having made perfect footholds for new plant growth. Neat, eh?

Welsh humour...

Loud but Fun!

I had an interesting evening out at Tramshed in Cardiff with the Daughter last night and properly enjoyed myself in one of Wales' newest rock venues. On the bill were three bands, Alestorm (Bacon Powered Pirate Core) from Scotland and Bloodbound (Power Metal) and Sabaton (Heavy Metal) both from Sweden. I just thought I'd share a little of their music with you...








Just a little taster of course, but you can always look these guys up on YouTube and explore more of their music.

1600 miles = Great Barrier Reef

Since I started wearing my free Fitbit Flex fitness band back in July last year it seems I've clocked up something over 1600 miles just walking... that's the same as walking the Great Barrier Reef from end to end apparently, not that you can actually do that of course... wouldn't mind swimming along some of it though.

Anyway to commemorate my 1600 miles Fitbit have awarded me this badge:

Great Barrier Reef badge

Am I supposed to be the fish d'you think?

A pig in a poke?

Tilly had an encounter she really wasn't too sure about earlier and it had to do with one of her favourite food groups... sausages! Oh yes dear reader we really do love a nice sausage, especially those of the pork variety. So anyway we were walking along enjoying some all too rare sunshine when we came across this lady sunbathing in her wallow.

Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

At first sight Tilly was somewhat less than impressed, but the very mention of Old Spot sausages soon gained her attention! There was a wire fence between us and the pig, which Tilly poked her nose though to get a better sniff of this slumbering lady. I suggested to her she may want to move back, but no... Tilly had a little growl at which point Pepper Pig woke up and did a little 'growling' of her own.

I'm awake, but you can't see my piggy-eyes

The snuffly growl followed by a couple of loud grunts soon had Tilly running for cover... well you can't really blame her, Pepper Pig was at least 50 times Tilly's size. I have to say if I'd had a length of rope I might have been tempted to take Old Spotty for walkies... straight into my backyard where I'd unleash my Great Uncle Sid's pig-sticker... after all, I like pork sausages too!

Doing the doggy-paddle

The sun shone for a while yesterday so Tilly took me for a walk down one of her favourite farm tracks... this track runs beside two reens and gives access to farm land between Magor and Redwick and Tilly usually loves it because there is always plenty to sniff and small rodents to chase.

Usually a favourite walk

Poor Tilly didn't so much walk as 'doggy-paddle' along the mile long track. She still managed to enjoy herself, but the expression on her little face when she realised the track was water covered was so sad...

It's going to take a while to dry out!

And of course the sunshine didn't exactly last long although we did manage to get home again before the rain started. Still it's dry again right now so we'll be going out for another 'paddle' shortly!

Think we'll give this track a miss today

Walking through the 'Rain Window'

It stopped raining this morning, the clouds parted and for a brief period the sun shone so I donned my boots and hit the roads for a six mile pre-lunch walk. Sadly the sunshine didn't last too long and there were a couple of showers, but for most of my walk it remained dry.

I considered branching out and crossing the fields though the deep mud and amount of water laying on the grass convinced me to stick to the tarmac. Even the roads were pretty wet in places and I ended up having a paddle on a couple of occasions. The worst flood I had to negotiate was through the hamlet of St. Brides on my route back toward Magor.

Flood Water at St Brides

No problem getting through this, especially if you happen to be driving a 4 x 4 or a truck. You need to be a little careful walking though if you don't want the water overflowing into your boots.

Bubbling Water

We've had so much rain the drains and sewers simply can't cope with the extra water flow... some of the excess water bubbles up through the manholes adding to the rainfall already laying on the roads.

Leaky Manholes

I wonder if the ducks approve of the extra thoroughfares? None around to ask today.

This is a Road not a Canal!