The garden &c.

View from the garden

Bryn Teg has a large, steeply-sloping garden, with magnificent views. There are lots of steps, some of them quite old so please take care. The stile at the top of the garden has been repaired - the white plastic "barrier" is intended to deter sheep from jumping into the garden so please make sure it is across the stile after you have finished using it.

General

The blown-down shed

Please keep the gate shut, to prevent sheep getting into the garden.

If you are in Bryn Teg during a spell of dry weather, it would be appreciated if you watered the tubs - use water from the rain water butt by the end of the cottage. There is a watering can in the adjacent stone lean-to.

There is a garden chest with garden furniture in it; there is a key hanging up in the stone lean-to and another on the main key bunch.

The chalet at the top of the garden offers wonderful views up the Lledr valley. It replaces the shed which blew down in spectacular fashion in February 2008. It has electricity which needs to be switched on (and off when you leave!) using a switch in the meter cupboard in the scullery. Here it is being made full use of the day after Tim and Serra's wedding on 19 July 2010. There are keys on the main house key bunch and with the back door key. Beware of the decking in wet weather - it can become extremely slippery. Similarly, take care on the decking outside the (upstairs) back door after wet weather.

Eating out of doors and barbecuing

The large paved area above the glass lean-to is the best place for outdoor eating. We call this the "slow worm patio" because we disturbed a slow worm when clearing garden rubbish off it during our first weekend at Bryn Teg in May 2005. Although the steps up from the glass lean-to have been rejuvenated, they are still quite steep so need to be used with care. There is a gate-leg table, four chairs and a parasol for use on this patio kept in the storage chest; the padlock key is on the main house keyring.

The paved area outside the upper back door is also an OK place for out-of-doors eating. The big orange cushions from the garden chalet bring the wooden bench up to something like the right height. A good place to have morning coffee or afternoon tea is the small paved area outside the french windows. There are two sets of a table + two chairs which can be used on these areas, usually kept in the chalet.

There is a brick-built barbecue near the slow worm patio; the ironmongery (fire box, oven, ...) is in either the glass lean-to, the garden shed or the storage box together with charcoal and firelighters. There are barbecue tools in the drawer in the scullery and also a "notebook" barbecue in the shed.

Midges

Midges can be a nuisance when sitting or working in the garden, though not on the same scale as in Scotland. There are candles, aromatherapy oils, repellent &c. which might help in the downstairs toilet. Some say that midges are unable to fly in the breeze created by a fan - there is an electric fan and an extension lead in the glass lean-to so you can check this out for yourselves!

Thanks to Dominic, we have had a Mosquito Magnet shipped from the US and with high hopes that it will alleviate the midge problem. The necessary US -> UK adapters for electricity and propane have been acquired so we had it in operation in the summer of 2013 but it was difficult to assess its impact as there were unusually few midges everywhere in the valley.

Rubbish

The wheelie bin lives at the bottom of Allt Singrug. Collection day is Wednesday.

Paper, cans, plastic and glass can be recycled using the posh recycling trolley, called a Trollibocs, which lives at the bottom of the hill with the large black bin for other refuse. Collection day is Wednesday. There are skips for recycling in the station car park and there is a large plastic container under the table in the glass lean-to which can be used to store large recyclable items.

DO NOT throw rubbish over the front hedge or the fence alongside the track leading down from the gate. Despite its unkempt appearance this is the garden of Llais Afon, the house below Bryn Teg. The new owners, Paul and Kristine, are making valiant efforts to control the jungle of weeds and brambles and are finding discarded wine bottles in their garden.

Composting

We would be pleased if you composted vegetable waste. The tub by the sink in the kitchen can be used to collect scraps to be taken to the compost bin on the right-hand side of the garden, near the top.