Porters on Enlli

Star trails

2012-02-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

This last Wed night was lovely and clear with a good moon so Steve was out and about with his camera trying to capture some of the beautiful scenes.
Most of the following shots were stacks of 99x30 second exposures taken with a DSLR camera.

The Abbey was briefly lit by headtorch and the cross accidentaly lit by quad break lights !

Steve took advantage of the presence of workmen at the lighthouse and captured this scene from the top of the tower.

Looking across Henllwyn towards the lighthouse.The two brightest trails are Jupiter (upper one) and Venus (lower one).

Cows up on the mountain near Pen Cristin.

January Update

2012-01-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

There have been very few clear nights this winter so far, much to Steve's disappointment. However, he did manage to photograph this Rosette Nebulla during a brief clear spell recently.

We have been enjoying moments of creativity, mostly making items for the craft shop. We have added a few new candle designs to our current selection, so the beeswax candle production line has been busy!

Last Saturday was a rare calm, beautiful day....it was balm to the soul! Here's the view from Mynydd Enlli, with Rachel in the foreground.

The sunsets and beautiful skies provide an ever changing backdrop to the South End.....no two skies are ever the same!

However, this is our view for most of the day at the moment:

We are half way through crutching all the ewes (370 in total).......a really important job, although probably our least favourite of the farming year! Crutching, or dagging, as it is also called, helps the new born lambs find the milk parlour. Removing the thick wool also minimises blow fly strike once it starts warming up in the spring.

Going, Going Gorse.........

2012-01-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

A rare, but welcome break from the windy weather enabled us to continue with the gorse burning rotation on the mountain this week. Here are some smoky photos:

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

Now we're back in "blogging mode", we thought we would do one more to bring things right up to date and to finish off the year........here are a few photos from around Christmas time.

Ben was given a slack line for Christmas and so much time has been spent practicing the art, mostly in the shelter of the plantation!

Holly and Ivor, the geese we were given last Christmas, produced 5 goslings this year. Plucking them all before Christmas to send off for friends and family was quite hard work! I was quite tired of it by the time we came to doing ours......so I didn't do a very good job, as you can see:

It tasted nice though, not too "feathery"!!

A homely scene!

Some more of Steve's fish eye shots:

This is a blow hole on the West side that has been particularly active over the last few days

Autumn and Winter Highlights

2011-12-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

We returned to Enlli after our Kenya trip refreshed and ready for the busy visitor season - although the rest of the summer merged into autumn seemingly extra early, with the unsettled theme of this year continuing. Harvest was a bit sporadic, a few days having to be grasped here and there to get the silage baled ready for the cattle's winter supply.

One advantage of the dry weather this year has been the opportunity to access Pwll Cain with the digger and do some long overdue silt clearance. This pond, located in the wetland fields underneath Carreg Fawr, was originally constructed in 1979 with the purpose of attracting passage birds and enhancing the feeding potential for wetland birds and other animals. In 1982 a Pectoral Sandpiper, a major rarity, visited the pond. This bird’s name in Welsh is Pibydd Cain, hence the name given from then on to the pond – Pwll Cain.

The pond has only been cleared out once since its construction and over the last few years it has been reduced to a puddle.

Pwlll Cain after being attacked by the digger!

Welcome rain in the autumn started to fill up Pwll Cain again, and gradually the springs recovered too.

Once again areas of Barley and Oats were left to provide extra cover and forage for Autumn visiting birds. Three areas were also sown with Sunflowers for this purpose, although the dry conditions affected their growth this year.

Relentless winds have been a constant companion throughout the year, but especially since the end of August. The very occasional calm day has seemed eerily quiet! The sea-scapes have been pretty spectacular as a result, and have provided Steve and Ben with plenty of photo opportunities.

Bonfire night was a good opportunity to burn some waste wood......and for a community get together!

One of Steve's first "Star trails"

The stormy seas are great to look at, but can be dangerous to be out in - sadly there was a tragic accident that occurred about 20 miles out to the Northwest one saturday night in november when a cargo ship sank. Only 2 of the crew survived. The search and rescue operation made for an unusually busy sunday, with lots of helicopter activity and life boats around.

Steve bought a fisheye lens at Christmas and this has opened up some new ways of looking at the scenery !

No, it's not snow! The wild weather churns up the sea so much that a thick foam, looking like the consistency of angel delight, fills the coves and covers the beach!

The night skies have been rather cloudy since October and so Steve has not been able to do any astrophotography . However , he has grabbed the few brief clear interludes to have a go at some star-trail photos. These are images constructed from 99 x 30 second shots with the camera on a tripod...the foreground was illuminated using a headtorch.The first shot is the 12th century Augustinian Abbey.

The Newborough Cross...

A single 30 second shot outside the back door of Ty Pellaf...the Milky Way heading straight up with the dark dust lanes threading through it. The bright 'star' top left is actually Jupiter. You can also just make out the small fuzzy shape of the Andromeda Galaxy in the upper left fringe of the Milky Way. The orange glow on the horizon is from Dublin...60 miles across the Irish Sea !

Summer memories

2011-12-29T01:28:00.000-08:00

The lack of blogs since May is evidence itself to the fact that we are not very good bloggers (excluding Ben, who regularly contributes to http://www.bbfo.blogspot.com ). While the winds are raging outside and the temperatures dip close to zero, it seems a good time to catch up a bit and especially to dwell on warm summer holidays.........
Our expedition to Kenya was a special treat, one that we had been looking forward to for years (well, most of us had - Steve took a little persuading as his last sub-Saharan visit was a bit of a bad experience health-wise! Thankfully this Kenyan visit was a positive one).
Here's a few snapshots....

We started our Kenyan tour with a few days of luxury on Samatian Island in the middle of Lake Boringo.

View of Samatian island from Ol Kakwe

Our lovely accommodation on Samatian island..with an all-round open view.

Ben was rarely without his camera; it seemed permanently attached to his shoulder!

Jo and Ben in one of the canoes on our way over to visit the island of Ol Kakwe. There were crocodiles in the water but they weren't too big .

The biggest termite mound we saw!

And we thought that getting sheep off Ynys Enlli was a challenge !

Rachel sketching the resident Verreux eagle owl, 'Wu' (top right-hand corner in the tree)

'Wu'..a dignified and aloof bird who spent most of his time sitting in the tree above the path, looking down on everyone.

A tortoise crossing ..!

You need big machines when your fields are 900 acres each ! Laurie Sessions shows Steve around the machine sheds at their farm near Mt Kenya.

Steve had an opportunity to check Laurie's hives of African bees...they were a lot more aggressive than our mild Welsh bees...so much so that they are only checked during late evening darkness so that they don't follow you back to the house !

We spent one morning being shown around a wildlife reserve next door to Sarah and Laurie's farm.

A blind White Rhino callled Baraka....it would gently eat grass out of your hand !

A rare sight; an elusive leopard right next to the road.

We had a quick walk up the lower slopes of Mt Kenya....drove up to 2500m then walked up to 3500m.

Internal flight from Nairobi out to the coast at Malindi.

Watamu beach. We were staying at the A Rocha base just 100m back from the beach.

The raised board walk at Meda Creek where A Rocha have been pioneering conservation work.

Steve found a kite-surfing school just along the beach...you're never too old to learn new things !

We spent a couple of hours early one morning watching this turtle cover it's nest of eggs with sand before heading back to sea.

Spring Update

2011-05-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

The last couple of months have flown by, probably because they have been so busy.....

Thankfully this year we were blessed with good weather during lambing. Most of the lambs are well grown by now, and experiencing some of the hazards of being raised on an island:

This lamb ventured too close to an oystercatcher nest!

This ewe managed to get her head stuck in a bucket!

We have also had a couple of sheep "rescues" recently, just to add a bit more challenge to our usual pastoral duties..........

The first involved rescuing Susi (Jo's blind sheep!) who managed to escape onto the mountain and then fell down onto rocks below Pen Cristin.

The second involved rescuing a lamb who decided she didn't want to be rounded up with her friends but thought she would explore the Irish Sea instead. She ran out onto the rocks in Henllwyn, but with the tide coming in was soon stuck on her own little island and would probably have drowned......... Here are two short video clips capturing the rescue:

The cows have been much better behaved, although theyre taking their time with calving....still 7 to go!

During April, Steve also ploughed 8 fields which have been sown with either oats, barley or a grass/clover ley, and one has been sown with Borage, specifically to provide the bees with extra flowers to forage from.

Rachel has been particularly busy preparing for her AS level exams. This "dew art" was part of her project.

Despite the busy period, we have been able to enjoy some of the beauty of spring and appreciate the amazing colour and intricacy of creation. Here are just a selection of some of the spring flowers on Enlli:

Early Marsh Orchid

Bluebells with Cristin in the backround

Spring Squill

Thrift

March adventures...

2011-03-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

With less than a week to go, we are all preparing for the start of lambing...which will be full-on untill the end of April, as well as calving, and then Ben and I start our exams. We had an unexpected calf two days ago, who is a little wobbly on his feet, but after some encouragement is now feeding well and growing stronger....despite a very bad-tempered mother.

Other signs of spring are also emerging on the island; pussy willows and catkins are thriving in the withies, the daffodils have sprung up near the abbey at the north end, and new arrivals such as sand martins have been flitting over the fields.

We have been quite adventurous in our free time; here are a few photos of what we have been up to...

The view from the top of the lighthouse...

Ben in 'Y Morlo Bach' with his first mate, Celyn...

Dad and I in the kayaks in Ogof Hir..

Celyn trying out a different type of sea vessel...

Trying out some climbs on small sea-cliffs...

January on Enlli

2011-01-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

We started the year with some gorse burning on the mountain and the south end - this is part of a 6/7 year rotational gorse control programme.

Last week the high pressure brought with it banks of thick fog which provided spectacular views from the mountain.

For the first time in 4 years, the settled weather meant that the sheep scanner and team could come over to scan the lambing flock. Knowing whether the sheep are carrying single lambs, twins or occasionaly triplets helps us to feed them appropriately prior to lambing.

The low tides over the last few days have revealed lots of starfish! Ben spotted one being carried away by a Herring Gull- captured on camera (see http://bbfo.blogspot.com/ for the 20th)

2011-01-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!! Here is a selection of some of Ben's best shots from 2010....

Frozen ponds and frost on plants provided good opportunities for pictures in the cold snaps of January and December.

Lighthouse with pink-lit clouds.

Redshanks feed in the wash of the waves in Solfach

Curlew with the mainland at sunrise

A Willow Warbler makes a good subject with the pink apple-blossom

Marbled Coronet

Orange Tip butterfly

Yellowtail and Lackey catipillars

Dunlin

Dried ground provides an interesting pattern.

Marsh Marigold anthers

Wheatear

Water droplets on grass and Oak leaf

Berries

Lichens on a willow branch in the withies

A Lapland Bunting takes a quick bath on the maririme heath pools.

As well as finches such as Chaffinches(top), a Goldcrests(bottom) and a Yellow browed Warbler(bottom) amongst other birds appreciated the sunflower patches this autumn. For the seeds in the heads and insects that they attract.

Dew droplets cling to grasses and spiderwebbs after a clear night

An adult Swallow performes suberb aerodynamics giving food to it's young whilst in mid-flight.

Fungi

Sandwich Terns move south along with hundreds of other seabirds past the north hide in the autumn

Sanderling feeds on Solfach

Droplets stick to a magpie feather

Sycamore keys provide an incredible pattern when back-lit

Red sword Grass

A Grey Phalarope picks, for once, a calm day to visit the island this year.

A Little Gull(top) and a Black headed Gull(bottom) feed in Solfach

Winter's starry delights..

2010-12-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

The winter nights are often long and cold..ideal conditions for a bit of astro-imaging! The cold conditions often lead to better seeing when the skies are clear and also make long-exposure digital images less 'noisy'. It seems that November and December this year have been particularly cold and we have enjoyed a good number of clear nights.I just thought I would post some of the images from the last couple of months..

The Andromeda Galaxy.

This is the most distant object visible to the human eye...a staggering 2.1 million light years away!If you know where to look in the night sky, it appears as a faint fuzzy object.It is a member of our 'local' group of galaxies and shares a similar size and shape to our own Milky Way...a spiral galaxy which we see slightly inclined.There are also two other smaller galaxies in the shot..the other fuzzies! You can clearly see the dark lanes of interstellar dust and if you zoom in a bit you can see some red emission nebulae there as well.

This shot was just over two hours of exposures.

The Outer Limits Galaxy.

This is another spiral galaxy but this time seen edge-on.It is similar in size to our own galaxy (110,000 light years in diameter) but about 30 million light years away. There are a good number of other galaxies in the background..most noteably the ring galaxy just below the right hand star in the upper RHS of the image...one galaxy has collided with another and created a huge hole where the core of the galaxy used to be!

The Cone Nebula.

This is just a small section of a vast star-forming region 2,600 light years away (ie within our own galaxy) in the constellation Monoceros.The red colour comes from the clouds of hydrogen gas becoming ionised by the uv light of bright young stars and the blue area is the same light being reflected by dust clouds.The nebula gets it's name from the cone-shaped column of interstellar dust.

This is the longest shot I've done so far , just under seven hours of exposures in 5min subs.

The Triangulum Galaxy.

Another of our 'local' group of galaxies at a mere 2.3 million light years distance...seen nearly face on so that we can see the separation of some spiral arms.It is only a third of the size of the Andromeda galaxy .Again,dust lanes are apparent and also some red emission nebulae.

Nearly six hours of exposures went into this one,again in 5min subs.

The Rosette Nebula.

This is one of the largest nebulae (clouds) in our galaxy, measuring 115 light-years across but at a distance of 4,900 light-years.The bright cluster of young stars at it's centre are visible to the naked eye,but not the surrounding clouds of red hydrogen gas.Some impressive columns of interstellar dust are sillhoueted against the brighter blue reflected light of the stars.

The Great Orion Nebula.

Probably the best known of our nebulae.This wonderful star-forming region hangs in Orion's sword and is vivible to the naked eye (on a clear night!) The very bright young stars at it's heart are collectively known as the Trapezium and it is their light which both illuminates and blows out the clouds of interstellar dust.The formation on the left is known as the Running Man nebula..(turn the image on its side!) and again the blue colour is reflected starlight..

Steve

Some of life's small challenges

2010-11-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

Steve’s challenge for the last couple of months has been to replace yet more fencing on the island. Trying to erect hundreds of metres of posts and wire in gale force winds wasn’t easy, but he has now finished the quota for this year, and despite the strong winds, it is (mostly) straight! He has now started on some more of the winter ditching projects – in the relative comfort of the digger cab.

Spot the digger!

Rachel’s challenge has been getting to grips with her A level courses (this has also been my challenge, along with wrestling with new shapes of baskets!)

Ben’s challenge of the month has been how to get good photographs of the wildlife on Enlli; here he is waiting for choughs and waders to wander close by on Solfach.....effective, but pretty cold!

Spot the Ben!

A chough posing for Ben

The wet and windy weather has now given way to cold and frosty days. The snow laden hills on the mainland look spectacular, but yet again we have escaped any “proper” snow fall! Rachel and Ben can have a day off school only if there’s more than 1cm of snow.....will it happen this year?

The mountains of Snowdonia from Enlli

Frozen hail on Mynydd Enlli

October Update

2010-10-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

Yes, we are all still here! The summer has been very busy, as usual, and so our ‘weekly’ blog writing had to be put aside for...a short while...

Much has happened since May, and I (Rachel), will try to summarise the highlights.

In June, we went to Scotland for our annual two week holiday. It is seemingly impossible for us to go anywhere for any amount of time without visiting islands, as we stayed on Eigg, Muck and Rum in West Scotland.

After a week of walking on Eigg and winding up our fitness levels, we climbed the Cuillin Ridge on Rum during the second week.

After battling persistent midgies on the long and arduous ascent up Sgurr nan Gillan, we claimed our first summit of the day and watched Askeval and Halival emerge out of the cloud, their peaks looming above us. We were in and out of the mist all day, but when, eventually, the sun burnt off the fog, the views of the ridge and the valley below were spectacular.

We climbed the six peaks in 8 ½ hours, (including losing our bearings slightly on the descent of Ainshavel), and were all fairly relieved when the small outline of Dibidil bothy came into view, and we put the stove on for a much-needed beaker of tea.

We returned to our own, now sun-baked, island to discover that we had missed a heat-wave whilst intrepidly exploring in the highlands, and it had apparently just left, (this seems to be an annual pattern), as July was, for the most part, inescapably wet and foggy. The weather did not stop the swimmers in the family from braving the artic waters almost daily with friends who were as ‘keen’ as we were.

In August, after diligently watching the weather forecasts and willing the wind to turn to the east, dad seized the opportunity and set off in his kayak for ireland. He started at an absurd hour in the depths of the night, and we all stumbled, bleary-eyed, down to Solfach to wish him a safe trip. The next day, after a tiring 14 hour paddle, he arrived in Wicklow, having been met by a friend, and after being treated to a curry, he got a ferry back to Hollyhead, having satisfied his adventure-craving for one year, anyhow.

Mum also took to the sea, exchanging a kayak for a wet-suit, and set out to swim Enlli sound for a second time, hoping to touch land at the other side. She completed the swim in 1 hour 23 minutes and became the first woman, (mad enough), to swim across the sound.

Ben and I did not escape the insanity, as we participated in the first island triathalon, along with mum, Rich.E, Gwyn and Carwyn. Inevitably, the weather took a turn for the worst about an hour before we had planned on starting, but we were determined to continue and ended up swimming in pitching waters, our ‘target’ buoy bobbing out of sight behind the waves, and running and cycling face-on into horizontally squalling wind and rain. Nevertheless, everyone finished; shivering and soaked, but alive and all headed up to Ty Pellaf for a mug of hot chocolate and warm bath.

Ben and I, along with Rich.E , run around the island every week, endeavouring to improve our personal times.

Hence, the summer passed in a blurr of visitors, farming activities and mad epics. September came round all too quickly and Ben and I were back in our classrooms. I have now started my A levels and Ben, now in year 10, is continuing his GCSE’s, having to be pinned to his chair by his long-suffering teacher every time a rare bird is announced on the VHF radio. Dad has now started his fencing work, and has recruited a temporary ‘slave,’ Tim O’hare, for a couple of weeks, who is a great help.

One of our recent challenges was erecting mum’s newly- aquired polytunnel. The foundations were painstaklingly marked out by mum and dad, and then, armed with shovels and pick-axes, we all joined forces to dig the holes and trenches for the base-plates.

It took the better part of two days to raise the skeleton of the polytunnel, and, a week later, the wind had died down enough to attempt the plastic.

I was absent during this phase but am told that it took the combined efforts of dad, mum, Ben, and Tim to prevent it from taking off with all four clinging on.

It was eventually finished and was still standing the following morning after the night’s gales.

Mum and I went to West Dean College for a week in September. Mum did a basket course, and I did a fused glass jewellery course; we both returned full of enthusiasm.

Dad continues to take stunning pictures of the heavens on clear nights.

And so, we are all now starting to adjust to our daily winter routine, and, as the days get shorter and colder, the wood burner is in use once again. Hopefully, we will be more diligent with our blog writing and there will be an update before next May...

May days

2010-05-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

The cold northerly winds have continued well into may/we still need a log fire every night to keep us warm! However, there is still evidence displayed in the wild life on the island that we are well into spring;

The Oystercatchers are fiercely guarding their territories and nests, screaming a warning as you walk by.

Squill has begun to carpet the coastal areas in a lovely light blue.

The Thrift is also starting to flower, the pink clumps lining the Gullies and cliffs.

We are also starting to see the oats and grass that we sowed a month or so ago beginning to poke there stems above the ground. All images (c) Ben Porter

April Activity

2010-04-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Now that we have finally said goodbye to the wintry weather (we hope!) and are enjoying beautiful calm, sunny days, there's a buzz of activity here on Ynys Enlli.
Apart from a few stragglers, lambing has finished and calving has begun:

While I have been rotavating, sowing and planting in the various vegetable patches, Steve has been busy cultivating on a bigger scale, ploughing the fields ready to sow arable crops and grass leys:

The cafe is in operation, offering refreshments to day visitors, and the craft shop is well stocked with crafts and products made over the winter:

More night-time wonders...

2010-04-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19

I hope you enjoy these next few images I've taken through the telescope over the last couple of months. Clear night skies have been a bit lacking recently, as has the energy to stay up and enjoy them...due to late-night lambing and calving duties.

This first image is of the Cone nebula area, in the constellation Monoceros (up and left of Orion). On the left side of the picture, the Cone itself is a column of dark interstellar dust sillhoueted against red glowing hydrogen gas. The blueish area over on the right is a reflection nebula , where the light of bright stars gets reflected off the dust.

The next picture is of the Outer Limits Galaxy...or NGC 891. This is estimated to be between 24 to 32 million light years away and is of a similar size to our own Milky Way galaxy...110,000 light years wide. We see it edge-on and so the dust lanes in it's spiral arms form a stiking dark band. It is situated in the constellation of Andromeda. Can you spot several other smaller galaxies in the picture?

This next one is called the Jellyfish Nebula...I think you can see why...
8,000 years ago in the constellation of Gemini a star exploded and sent a shock wave out into space which is still travelling. As it speeds through clouds of dust and hydrogen it energizes and excites them into the red glowing tendrils that form the Jellyfish shape.

A rather hazy shot of jupiter and two of it's moons. You can just about make out the Great Red Spot, an orange blob in a dark band (the South Equatorial Belt)upper left. This is a huge storm that is bigger than the Earth and has been raging for over 200 years...and we think this winter has been bad!

Galaxies M81 (lower left) and M82 in Ursa Major.
These two are 12 million light years away but only 150,000 light years apart...virtually on each other's doorstep! In the distant past it is believed that the larger galaxy, M81 partly deformed it's smaller neighbour (M82) and has left it bursting with star formation as a result.

M101...The Pinwheel Galaxy.
This is one of my favourites. A beautiful face-on spiral galaxy 27 million light years away in Ursa Major (next to the handle of the Plough). It is 70% larger than our own galaxy but quite faint and takes long photographic exposures (27 exposures of 5-10 minutes each) to capture the details of its spiral arms.

A poorly processed picture of the surface of the Moon. Funnily enough, although the Moon is bright it can be difficult to get clear, high magnification pictures because of turbulent air currents. I must be more diligent and remember to label my pictures when I take them because I can't remember which area of the Moon this is...any guesses?

The Needle Galaxy in the constallation Coma Berenices,32 million light years away.
Another edge-on spiral galaxy with dramatic dust lanes cutting across it's bulging central core. This is the largest edge-on spiral galaxy in the night sky, containing 200 billion suns! Our own Milky Way would apparently look very similar if viewed edge-on. There is another smaller galaxy lower on the right (NGC 4562)

Well..roll on clear quiet nights...and get your binoculars out!

Steve.

2010-03-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Spring Arrivals

Spring has been slow to start with the cold weather persisting well into March. However, the Daffodils have poked their heads above the ground and are now in full flower around the abbey. The Pussy Willows are also flowering down in the withie beds, like yellow-stained cotton buds. The real sign of Spring for me is when I start to hear the Chiffchaffs singing their name over and over again and see Swallows darting around. Among the earliest arrivals are the Wheatears, lovely smart and colourful birds of the Chat family that you can never get tired of. During the nights, as Dad checks the lambing flock in the pastures, he has heard the first few Manx shearwaters calling. And of course, there are plenty of lambs!

Pussy Willows (c) Ben Porter

Wheatear (c) Ben Porter

Daffodils and Celtic cross (c) Ben Porter

Chiffchaff (c) Ben Porter

Sheep (c) Ben Porter

The Goat Saga

2010-03-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time Steve and Jo had some Angora goats. Without going into detail, they were not a success. They certainly lived up to the bad reputation goats have acquired - as escape artists and as stubborn creatures. Steve was heard to mutter "never again" on numerous occasions.
It has taken 10 years to persuade him otherwise. Last week we made a special boat journey in Pererin to collect two British Saanan goats, who had travelled all the way from Cambrideshire to join the Enlli menagerie. Having researched the various breeds of goat, these are (apparently!) the most docile and are good milkers.

"Never again" was muttered soon after they arrived.......
As a result of the long road journey, with a bit of sea sickness thrown in at the end, the milker went downhill rapidly with what was diagnosed (by the expert honorary vet, Gareth Roberts) as milk fever. She was not a happy goat, unable to stand up for 3 days. However, many Calcium injections later and much molly coddling, she is now fit and well again and are both happily munching Enlli brambles, gorse and grass.
Morwenna ('white sea') is producing 4 litres of delicious creamy milk each day, the surplus of which is sustaining the pet lambs.
Eira ('snowy') is a cheeky one year old goatling who will hopefully be bred and have a kid or two this time next year.
May they both live happily ever after....well, for a good long time anyway.

Morwenna and Eira outside their new willow shelter (which I hope they don't eat!).

Lambing has begun

2010-03-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Today we have had our first lambs of the year....the beginning of a busy 5-6 weeks, as there are approx. 350 ewes to give birth.

It has started a couple of days earlier than we expected, so today we also moved all the pregnant ewes into the 'lambing paddocks' - pastures which have been kept free from grazing over the winter so that there's (hopefully) plenty of grass for them. The ongoing cold weather has been a problem, slowing the usual spring growth, so finding enough grass will be a challenge if it doesn't warm up soon.

This little lamb got a bit cold and needed warming up in the bottom of our aga!

So, we're really praying for green grass, happy sheep and healthy lambs!

Enlli art

2010-03-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

A painting of a grey seal.

Last week, the wind died down enough for me to go off to the mainland to do my art exam. The exam is ten hours long, so i decided to do it over two days, in five hour shifts.

My theme was Spring, and my paintings included one of two very bedraggled daffodils that had barely survived the rather turbulent boat journey across the Sound.

The exam wasn’t half as bad as I expected, as I had a room to myself in Botwnnog school where I was sitting the exam, and I was doing what I love most. It was strange being back in a school, to say the least, and not particularly pleasant, so I must admit that I was very relieved when I finished the exam and was ready to go back to quiet Enlli, (though mum and I did get stuck off for a night).

I have now finished my art GCSE, and am looking forward to exploring new tecniques and being creative without the stress of an impending exam!

Some of my work...

Watercolour painting of Snowdrops on homemade paper.

Swirls done with pastels.

Some of my polymer clay jewellery.

A Close Shave

2010-02-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

One of the jobs in the countdown to lambing is shearing the back ends of the ewes, known as 'crutching' or 'dagging'. This keeps them clean and also helps control blowfly strike later on in the spring. We're half way through - 200 to go!

Before......

In the queue........

During......

After!

Steve has also had a pre-spring shave - although not with the sheep shears (and the other end)!

Before.....

After!

Wind in the willows!

2010-02-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I made my first basket out of willow and hedgerow cuttings...since then I haven't stopped! It's a craft I really enjoy and I have been busy weaving during the winter months, experimenting with new shapes and designs:

Baskets were used by our ancestors from the cradle to the grave. Findings of woven twigs pre-date any fragments of woven cloth and even certain forms of pottery. Before the potter's wheel was invented, basketwork was used as a mould for clay objects.
The convenience of the throw-away cardboard box and the ubiquitous plastic carrier bag have made people dispense with their old shopping basket, although with the present focus on recycling, the basket is coming back into fashion.
"Prayer baskets" were made in early Christian communities such as on Iona - maybe here on Enlli too. They believed it important to discover a rhythm of prayer as they worked, so baskets were woven simply out of reeds as the monastics framed their prayers, the simple manual task assisting to bring focus to the praying heart.
The withy beds here on Ynys Enlli were planted in order to supply willow for making lobster pots. This was replaced by cane, which is slightly easier to use, and then by today's netting and metal frame lobster pots. The withies are now managed as habitat for wildlife and areas of mature or overgrown willow are coppiced on a rotational basis in order to encourage fresh growth. This is ideal for basket making and winter is the time to harvest it , as the rods are more pliable and less likely to snap when the "sap is down". I now tend to use a mix of island willow and imported willow from the mainland (Conwy, Llyn and Somerset!)

Baskets have been used for every conceivable purpose; as containers for gathering and storing, for carrying and hauling, for living and sitting on, for travelling in and with, and for holding food - and even water. Basketwork has produced fencing and fish traps, huts and hats, chariots, chairs and clothing, cradles and coffins. They're are increasingly being used in our household, in various shapes and forms!

Daisy (asleep in Celyn's basket!)

Tia's basket

Celyn posing infront of our log basket

The basic procedure of making a round basket:

Beginning with a woven base

Inserting the side stakes to create a 'spider'

Weaving the sides

The finished basket.

These will soon stock the craft shop......but orders are welcomed too!

Starry,Starry night....

2010-01-29T08:34:00.000-08:00

In a recent survey of the distribution of dark skies throughout the U.K ,Ynys Enlli and Pen Llyn were among the clearest.The survey hilighted the difficulty of seeing the beautiful details of the night sky from areas where light-pollution is a problem.Our nearest light pollution (apart from the lighthouse!) is the faint orange glow from Dublin,about 60 miles away.
Having already had an interest in Astronomy,it was an obvious place to bring my telescope to take advantage of the stunning night skies. However,the challenge here on the island is the almost continuous sea breeze that causes the telescope to shudder and spoils the view.I managed to get permission to install a small observatory dome behind the farm that now enables me to use the scope even when there's a breeze.
Some of the fainter sights of the heavens can better be seen by taking long exposure photographs,which I have been having a go at and include here some of the results...so far.

The image below is the Horsehead and Flame nebulae. These are 1,500 light years away in the constellation Orion. In fact the bright star in the shot is the left hand most star of Orion's belt,Alnitak.The Horse's head is a large cloud of interstellar dust outlined against red ionised hydrogen gas.

This is the core of the Andromeda galaxy,just over two million light years away. You can see this with the naked eye on a good night.Apparently it's about twice the size of our own galaxy and contains 300 billion suns! The smaller fuzzy object is another,smaller galaxy.

This next one is the Triangulum galaxy. It is only one third the size of Andromeda but of similar spiral shape,though we see it more face-on than Andromeda.

Next,in black and white,is the Whirlpool galaxy,or M51 by it's Messier catalogue number. This galaxy is 15 million light years away and sits just under the tip of the handle of the Plough. There are two galaxies here,the larger one gradually pulling the smaller one apart through gravitational forces.

The Great Orion Nebula ,located in Orion's sword,is a large area of glowing hydrogen gas and dust.The nebula is being illuminated and blown apart by a grouping of stars at it's heart called the Trapezium. This is quite an easy object to see with the naked eye or binoculars.

Finally,the Rosette Nebula. This is the largest nebula in our galaxy,about three times the size of the Orion nebula,though appears of similar size because it is also three times further away (4,900 light years).

Mud,mud,glorious mud!

2010-01-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

People are often asking us what it's like to live on Ynys Enlli through the winter.One of the consequences of being so close to the sea is that we escape the extremes of temperature. The arctic blast that has just gripped the U.K dealt us a far softer blow and we only had a few days of frost with barely a dusting of snow. The weather station only got down to O degrees C on a couple of days.However,the one thing we do get plenty of in the winter is...MUD! The situation around the silage feeders gets particularly interesting,as you can see in the pictures below .The ruin in the background is the 12th century Augustinian Abbey.

The Fulmars are back! Over the last couple of weeks we have begun to notice the fulmars returning to their nesting ledges on the east side of the mountain. Although the Winter has some way to run yet,the birds give us our earliest sign of approaching Spring.

The history books tell us that some of the caves on Enlli have been used by Saints past as dwellings. We took the opportunity of a fine day on Sunday to go and explore one or two. Ben thought that this particular cave looked promising but I wasn't convinced that we could get enough living space inside for the four of us plus three dogs...! Besides which, Rachel found a few cave-spiders already in residence and didn't fancy sharing...

Smoke signals!

2010-01-12T09:07:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend we were burning gorse on the mountain, as part of a rotational management programme....it was a good excuse to keep warm!

Smokey Steve!

Moonlight meanders New Year's night...

2010-01-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Hi all...Happy New Year!
Thought you might like these pics I took around the lighthouse on Ynys Enlli in the middle of the night on January 1st 2010 with only moonlight for illumination...just past full moon.