Summer Events coming up!

If you're very active or just prefer to watch then there are loads of events coming up in the next few weeks. The first is tonight- Race the Train in Fairbourne - I was tempted to take part but it clashed with my Welsh class. What a shame. This weekend the fantastic Three Peaks Yacht Race starts from Barmouth harbour (around 3.30ish on Saturday June 7th). I was hoping to help set them off with Batala Bermo at the quayside but unfortunately have to be elsewhere that day. You can follow the race all the way to Ben Nevis on the website www.threepeaksyachtrace.co.uk Other events coming up include the Trail Marathon in Coed y Brenin on the 21st of June. We have some guests staying at Pentre Bach that weekend who are taking part. Good luck to them! Also that day is the North Wales Country Fair in Bala. Merrionnydd Beekeepers' Association have a stall there! And on the same day is the Tywyn Summer Solstice Lantern Parade! Busy day. There's a Country Music and Line Dance Festival in Barmouth over the weekend of 5-6th July. Yee Ha! Then of course there's the annual Talyllyn Race the Train setting off from Tywyn on the 16th of August. Will I take part this year?

Bizzzzzy bees at Pentre Bach!

We’re all aware of how important honeybees are to our ecology and that in recent years numbers of bees world-wide have been dwindling. We’ve decided to do our bit to help increase the honeybee population, and so in early 2014 I became a member of Meirionnydd Beekeeping Association and subsequently undertook an intensive beekeeping course

run by the association over the course of three weekends. Meanwhile we obtained a hive and the various necessary pieces of beekeeping equipment and set about getting ready for our bees. The hive came as flat pack (not from IKEA!) and proved quite a challenge to build (although not too much to a man of Mike’s carpentry abilities!) and then we had to choose an appropriate location for our hive. With the help of a local established beekeeper, we decided to put our hive in the walled garden where the bees would be able to forage an abundance of pollen and nectar from our fruit and vegetable plants and in turn help us by pollinating our plants, while at the same time, would be a safe distance away from our guests. The hive can be spotted through a gap in the wall, yet is far enough away from the garden and field so as not to be troublesome to our guests. At the end of May our first nucleus arrived and within a few days was transferred into our own brand new hive. I managed to get stung on the chin during this process despite being well and truly suited up and ended up looking like the Elephant man! The colony should grow to around 50,000 honeybees by the end of the summer although that will decrease to around 20,000 over the winter. They're absolutely fascinating creatures and it's very tempting just to spend the odd hour or two sitting watching them come and go. The honey that is produced this year will most likely just be suffice to supply the colony with enough food to last them over the winter but hopefully by next summer 2015 Pentre Bach honeybees will be making enough honey for us to be able to sell some to our guests. We’ve also planted a wild flower meadow at the far end of our vegetable plot to help enrich the honey. Bizzzzy times ahead!

Get together in Llwyngwril! - Party People at Pentre Bach

Following on from the blog about the reasons why people come to Pentre Bach and Llwyngwril, the most popular reasons have, by far, been to celebrate significant birthdays, big family get togethers and student reunions. Large groups can just book the main house, or if required, the adjoining cottages Y Popty and Y Llaethdy. Families can eat together, party together and play games together, yet also have the space to get away from each other when they want some peace and quiet. Adults love the cosy traditional farm kitchen, the grand dining room and the window seats where they can curl up with a good book and gaze out upon Cardigan Bay. Children of all ages, enjoy the dressing up hamper, the hiding places in all the little nooks and crannies, the large field where they can play all sorts of ball games, the tyre swings and the table tennis room. The treasure hunt can also lead them round the village in search of the answers. Many groups have crazy fancy dress parties while others prefer a more sophisticated catered dinner party. We've recently found an excellent new local caterer who will cater for anything from a three course waiter service meal to a barbeque or even wedding reception! Here are a few pics of groups enjoying Pentre Bach!

Mom's The Word...: A Family Holiday To Pentre Bach In Wales

A lovely blog from a guest who stayed in Y Llaethdy over the Easter holidays. Mom's The Word...: A Family Holiday To Pentre Bach In Wales: So, Easter has come and gone pretty quickly I ...



What more can I say!

What people leave behind!

It's amazing what our guests leave behind in our cottages, after they depart. These are the most common: 1. Shampoo, soap and shower gel by the bucket 2. Cooking oil 3. Mobile phone chargers 4. Socks (everywhere!) 5. Milk 6. Coleslaw 7. Tomato sauce 8. Fruit juice 9. Pyjama bottoms 10. Salt But occasionally we are left some half empty bottles of wine, the odd can of beer, pairs of trainers, children's sit-on toys, toilet bags, keys and even a maroon red suspender belt! Go on......own up......Who does it belong to?

A taste of honey!

Well bees and beekeeping certainly seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment. Just the other week my mum told me that she'd been watching Mary Berry visit a beekeeper and their colony. Last night my daughter informed me that big Events companies (she's doing Events Management at uni) are all starting to keep bees as part of their environmental protection policy. Who would've believed it a few years ago? And then tonight I've just watched the first of a series of programmes on BBC 4 about bees, presented by broadcaster and beekeeper, Martha Kearney. This is all very timely for me as I've just completed a brilliant course run by the Merionnedd Beekeepers' Association and have ordered a nucleus of bees from a local beekeeper near Coed y Brenin. Mike bought me a suit and hive for Christmas (the hive arrived as a flatpack - IKEA for bees!), the special gloves were bought for me by my mother-in-law , and I've recently purchased a smoker and hive tool, so by June, when my bees arrive, I'll be a fully fledged, if rather less than confident beekeeper. But never fear, the MBKA have appointed a mentor, a very experienced local beekeeper , who will help and advise me through the first few months.

The next decision will be where I site my apiary. Do I site it where the guests can see it? Will our guests be interested, enthusiastic, wary or even frightened of our bees? We hope eventually to be able to offer all our guests a taste of our Pentre Bach produced honey. Maybe we might even sell some one day....... But we'll be doing our bit to increase the British bee population and will beeeee doing our bit to help with pollination. Did you know that it takes up to 56000 bee trips to produce one pound of honey? Watch this space to find out how I get on when I get my bees. It's going to be a bizzzzzy time! :)

More reasons for coming to Pentre Bach/Llwyngwril

In 2012 we had a large group who gathered together to celebrate Patrick and Jeremy's civil ceremony of their partnership. Friends and family gathered from all over the UK, the US and France to help them celebrate. Every year we have large groups book our cottages to spend Christmas and New Year together. We had an expat family, who came over from Dubai, in the hope of getting cool, damp weather! Americans have come here to visit ancient castles. One man stayed in Y Llaethdy and spent the week taking beautiful photographs, many of which now grace our website www.pentrebach.com Can you think of any more reasons?