Spring is nearly here!

[pollygog]

Harking back to your photo, lest we forget, the whitewashed triangulation pillar or trig point at the top of Cader Idris you are thankfully leaning on Colin, was designed by the very famous Brigadier Martin Hotine for the O.S. and put up there in 1936, everything was carried up by pack ponies (up the pony trail) When you think that actually two thirds of the pillar is out of sight in the base that was some feat!
This was repeated hundreds of times throughout Great Britain for Ordnance Survey.
With modern technology today, the modern receivers network are coordinated to just 3mm throughout the UK, really makes you appreciate the OS maps more.
One very tenuous link I have with Brigadier Hotine is my dad was born the same year as him in 1898 and both fought in and survived the Great War, the Brigadier, after a very successful career in OS, died in 1968, just a year before my dad:- who never made Brigadier!

The young girl Mary Jones who walked to Bala barefoot through the mountains for a Welsh bible has a new visitor centre dedicated to her built next to the Llansyl church just outside of Bala, where some of my father in-laws relatives are buried, they're Jones also, so that seemed about every fifth grave with a Jones in, in quite a large cemetery, they took some finding.

[pollygog]

We are having a 'Blue' phase recently, it started with seeing a Kingfisher on the Elwy a week ago Sunday followed by a pair of Jays visiting our bird feeders for two or three days then several sightings this week of a lovely blue butterfly I finally identified as a Silver Studded Blue, quite a small butterfly at just under 3cm but very pretty in the sunshine as it flitted across the lawn feeding on clover flowers.
I don't put selective weed killer on the lawn so there's a good variety of wild flowers to be found there by lots of visiting bees and butterflies. The final blue creature I found today fly fishing at Nanerch was simply dozens and dozens of azure blue Damselflies, the ones with a metallic sheen, flitting across the lake, I've not seen so many in a long time and they seemed to have over faced the trout, them and the massive hatch of Alder and sedge flies drifting over the lake like smoke at times.
End result:- four half-hearted nibbles all day and not a single take, result a blank.
Loved every minute of it though, just being there in such beautiful surroundings and enjoying the varied wildlife, there's a colony of Tufted duck, Coots and Greylag geese on the lake and Curlew calling in the hills above, just peaceful bliss soaking up the atmosphere.

Here is a flower from my 'Pink' period a fortnight ago on the Elwy, the
white flowers are wild garlic or Ransomes, anybody know what the pink flowers are?

[roselanekoi]

Without seeing the pink flower in the flesh it's difficult to say for certain but I think it's a variety of pink campion. They flower from May to October so you should see them for some time yet.

In case you think I'm a wild flower expert I got the information from http://www.seasonalwildflowers.com

[pollygog]

Well done that man!
I shall test you on entomology, or something similar next.

[roselanekoi]

If it's entomology you want to know all about, first try looking on this site before you ask me. If you're still unable to find what you want then please ask.

http://www.royensoc.co.uk/insect_info/w ... rflies.htm

It's amazing what a google search comes up with.

[pollygog]

I find the Fly-fishing Forum the best site for the aquatic entomology I'm mainly concerned with Colin, there are some pretty clued up bods on there who readily impart first rate knowledge of what's hatching in or near water.
Nevertheless its surprising the number of people around who just don't have a clue where to look for information.
I shall check your site out though, soon.
Back to the blue theme and an item of aquatic entomology, I saw one of those larger deep blue winged damselflies down by the Elwy this morning, I thought it was a blue butterfly fluttering by until it stopped on a stalk of cow parsley and I could see it was the large variety, a male Beautiful Demoiselle, I've seen them before down there by the river, they really are a pretty creature with their lacy delicate deep blue tinted wings and shiny azure blue body.

[roselanekoi]

If it's aquatic entomology you're interested in then I have just the book for you, "An Angler's Entomology" by J. R. Harris.

I haven't been trout fishing for a quite a few years and although every year I say to myself I'm going to start again this year, it's highly unlikely that I will, so I'll let you have my copy when I see you next.

[pollygog]

"The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven-
All's right with the world!"

Robert Browning

Just a thought Colin but, do you also have 'a copy of Fly-fishing' by J.R.R. Hartley by any chance? :- I could try 'Yellow Pages'
Jokes aside, you are very welcome to come fly fishing this Friday with Nigel and I and possibly not too far from you either at Llandegla or Nannerch.
If you need a fly rod we have a selection from 3wt to 9wt you can borrow.

[roselanekoi]

Does anyone still use yellow pages? The book you refer to is available from Amazon in kindle and softback versions, I'm not joking, after the successful advertising campaign someone published a book of the same name.

Thanks for the fishing invite, I still have all my rods but unfortunately I have a dentists appointment on Friday.

[pollygog]

We went on a really nice trip out on a steam train to York on Saturday morning, we had the option of continuing on to Scarborough but because of the wet and windy weather, Scarborough didn't seem a good idea so it was a trip to the railway museum then on to York Minster to visit the newly opened catacombs underneath the cathedral. Absolutely absorbing but just not enough time to see everything.
5 of us stayed in centre of Manchester near Victoria Station