Skylarks on the Garth

Both Clare and I woke up earlier than usual for a Saturday morning, and decided to go out for a walk soon after breakfast. We drove up to Pentyrch and thence to the Garth, where it was less overcast than in town, just misty, and pretty cold out on the exposed hillside in the wind, but dry under foot. Later in the day when browsing to find out the age of the burial mound on top (4,000 years), I learned that that the Garth inspired the novel made into a film called 'The Englishman who went up a hill and came down a mountain', by local writer Christopher Monger, where it's called 'Ffynnon Garw'.

We heard our first skylarks of the year, a mating pair too. I got lucky with a photograph of one on the ground, and one in the air too, although this was not as detailed as I hoped for.

It was too chilly to stay out for long, so after a brisk walk we drove down to Llanerch Vineyard to have a very pleasant lunch. It was an occasion when several families were out together enjoying a 'Mother's Day' (as media and marketing now calls it) meal together. There were few voices to be heard without that distinctive mid-Glamorganshire accent of local ordinary people of the southern Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan. What I was brought up with. For me it added a little extra flavour to the occasion, as accents to be heard in Cardiff, not to mention languages (mainly Spanish and Welsh) apart from English, are quite different, whether demotic or educated in manner.

We went straight home after and slept away the afternoon to compensate for early rising. Then Owain arrived, fresh from the Wales-Ireland rugby game - he'd acquired a ticket at the eleventh hour, and was glad to have witnessed a splendid victory. He now wants to be coached in singing 'Mae hen wlad fy nhadau.' for the next time he goes. Kath texted me yesterday asking if I'd buy some flowers for Clare on her behalf, as we won't be seeing her tomorrow. Owain kindly did the errand for me when he went out to get her some flowers and a few goodies for supper. He cooked for us before going out to 'Ten Feet Tall / Undertone, the club in Church Street where he's dee-jaying tonight in support of someone called Mr Beatnick from London. He starts his new job on Monday, and wonders how long it will take him to get back into the routine of early starts, after a pleasant layoff of six weeks.

The BBC reported the unveiling of Ghandi's statue in a ceremony at Parliament Square this morning.

 

That's ol' Abe Lincoln in the background. I look forward to take a few photos of my own in due course, if sister June doesn't beat me to it.