Yes the sun came out today, and it shone over the valley here in Skibbereen, it was glorious and so welcome after all the days of mist, rain, and stormy weather. So I took a walk along the boreen* and found a few wild flowers making colour, their therapeutic effects did not stay behind, I felt so energized after that walk.
To find the red clover in flower was probably early in the year, but then the temperature is warmer than normal, it has been a steady 10C for a while now and today in the sun the temperature went up to 15C even despite a cold northern wind.
This beautiful little fern grows along rocks even in urban settings all over Ireland. It’s most delicate and very hardy.
The gorse usually flowers twice a year, once in February, and once in the summer. It’s probably early this year, but I did not get any of its scent, we need stronger sunlight for that.
I took this photo behind our houses, it is waste land, the sedges are lovely, I like this sort of landscape too. Soon St.Brigid will be celebrated in Ireland and people will use the sedges to make St.Brigid crosses, I used to teach people in the library to make those, it’s fun to work with the sedges.
It is getting time that I start planning my garden, I have not done anything about it really because the weather has been so wet. Today I started to take stock, and some of the raised beds wood surroundings have rotted! The soil is still very wet.
Roll on warm and dry weather!
* Boreen is an Irish word for a path in nature, (Irish: bóithrín, pronounced [bɔːˈriːn]) it is a rural walking path.
Do show us how to make a sedge cross! Thank you for the word ‘boreen’ and the joy the sun brings.
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That’s a great idea Mary. I will go and pick sedges tomorrow afternoon if I can, then I will set about it. I used to love doing it, great idea, thanks Mary.
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I look forward to seeing it 🙂
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Love and envy your early spring, I’ll have to wait a bit, altrough the weather is too warm this week here. Your word boreen reminds me of slovene word ‘obor’ -fenced place to keep animals
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Thank you for the word comparison Tamara, interesting that! Both words describe something in the country, or on the land.
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And have wery similar pronounciation 🙂
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Amazing to have a red clover in flower – I associate it it with late spring!! Things are definitely a bit hay-wire this year:)
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That is for sure!
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And then there is slovenian word ‘obore’-fenced part of land in woods to keep forest animals in. This is interesting, indeed !All the best from Slovenia:)
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Lovely pictures, great commentary. I enjoyed the walk through your world. I guess temperatures are up almost everywhere; it’s the same here, in the Lower Mainland of B.C., Canada. Catkins and buds are out everywhere and of course the snowdrops are popping up too.
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Yes you are right, you hear it right, left and centre, climate is changing.
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Slovenia is lovely! I visited some years ago. Bovec in the mountains near the Italian border. Visited a garden there that has Alpine flowers and plants in it. Was very nice.
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So heartening to see your photos, Agnes. Sorry to hear about the wood surrounds of your raised bed rotting, though.
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Yes I was a bit surprised myself at that, I will have to keep an eye on it but then there has been extraordinary heavy rain every single day already this year, and past months too. Not usual.
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You must get so itchy for dry weather!
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Haha, and I am actually one that likes rain, you can imagine how some of the others feel around here 🙂 Roll on sunshine!
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Yes, indeed….
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Interesting tidbit about gorse needing sunshine to create their scent. Thanks for sharing your moments of sunshine. I will look forward to your St. Brigid’s cross post. My children make them each year in school, but I have never learned myself.
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wonderful flowers you have in Ireland, dear Agnes. I love them all, specially the little clover, it’s cute. Your nature is a bit ahead of ours. We had sun, too, and a lot of heleborus are blooming. Have a nice day, kind regards Mitza
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Thank you Mitza, oh heleborus are beautiful. Here too they are starting to flower. Have a nice evening too.
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I love the phrase “making colour”! Thank you for sharing your walk.
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Thank you Jan, I was for a second wondering if it was proper English 🙂
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“proper” or not . . . it is a wonderful phrase!
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🙂
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