RIVER LEE FLOWING THROUGH CORK

January 31, 2019 | gaiainaction

I was very lucky today because I seldom go to Cork city these days, it so happened that for the past few days I was there, unfortunately most of that time was spent with Ian in hospital, but while on the way back from parking the car in the multi-story carpark I took these snaps today. Most importantly Ian was seen to and is doing fine, and we are home again tonight. But as you can see for yourselves Cork, which is the largest city in County Cork, and to us the nearest city, an eighty minutes drive on a good day (without roadwork stops), it is above all a beautiful and charming city. Population is only about 417,211 souls. Cork was originally a Viking trade settlement around the year 915 and is now a thriving and very popular place to shop and visit.
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The river flowing through Cork, the river Lee, flows from a lake in Gougane Barra in the Shehy mountains on the Western border of county Cork, it winds its way down other lakes and eventually reaches Cork city where it splits into two, creating an island on which the centre of the city is built.

A lot more could be told about this lovely river but I will carry on and show you today’s photos of the views I enjoyed so much and which I hope you will enjoy too.
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Another iron bridge, this time it is just a narrow foot bridge, very much in use!

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Here are some interesting and beautiful gables along the streets near the Lee river, I could not resist taking some photos of these too. Just love that gate!

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NATURE TRAIL – BALLYDEHOB

January 21, 2019 | gaiainaction

Ballydehob is a small and very charming village on the coast of West Cork, and along the Wild Atlantic route. It was once a thriving mining town, now-a-days it is still overlooked by Mount Gabriel which is where copper was mined back then. Its beauty is superb, and last Saturday we decided to go on the Nature Trail which leads around and over the old railway bridge which leads over one of Ballydehob’s two rivers, the Bawnakeane and Rathravane, but I am not sure which of the two it is! We took along one of my granddaughters, she is a real nature child and took delight in drawing pictures of some of the scenery in her note-book. Ian was well able for this walk and enjoyed it too. I took note of all the new growth along the way, there were several flowers open, Lesser Celandine, Daisies, and Herb Robert were among them. I also noticed young leaves of the March Violet, a wild Geranium, and quite a few very pretty ferns. The walk along the trail is easy for anyone and the views are magnificent. We finished our walk in the village with coffee and delicious cake at a delightful eatery called Budd’s.
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WINTER GARDEN

January 6, 2019 | gaiainaction

taking stock of garden winter 2018

Beginning of January, and even though the days are still quite dark, there is a change to be noticed and it does the soul good. The mist and heavy clouded days have left us for the last few days, and though we have still not seen any sunshine, there seems to be more light in the sky. It is good, I think that one could learn to live without any sunshine, though it is hard to get used to it – it seems to be here to stay!

This morning I went into the garden and took stock of what is happening, and there is lots! There are the strong rigid and juicy looking leeks, the bright red and colourful chard, the celery and the cropping cabbages. There are also the many different herbs which are flourishing right now, oregano, thyme, lavender, sage, feverfew, dandelion, mullein, broad leaved parsley, three-cornered wild leeks, young cleavers, and even some young and tender nettles. It’s a very mild winter here, though we had very much rain during October, November and part of December. The temperature has not gone much below 10 or 11C and the soil temperature has only just now reached 10C whereas it kept to a steady 12 to 15C before Christmas.

The days for planning my garden for the next season are now, that is always very enjoyable. This year my plan it to grow many more flowers, wild and cultivated, so that as many as possible insects will have food. For ourselves I plan to grow some flowering shrubs that will cheer us during winter. Bright yellow Forsythia comes to mind, but more research is wanted.

What I take away from this winter is that there are certain vegetables that will grow easily and that we eat every day, these would be leeks, kale, chard, and herbs, these I will grow again and more plentiful next winter.

I wish those of us who garden a great season and much fun and happiness in their garden! 🙂

HAPPY NEW YEAR

January 1, 2019 | gaiainaction

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors by yours”
Taken from Benedictus by John O’Donohue

Wishing all my dear friends and followers a very happy and blessed 2019!

SHORT WALK IN ANTWERP

December 27, 2018December 28, 2018 | gaiainaction

Ian is having a rest sitting with the sculptures at the side of the cathedral

View toward the cathedral from the Groenplaats.

The Central station is an amazing building, constructed between 1895 and 1905, designed by Louis Delacenserie and Jan Van Asperen.

An amazing sculpture close to the cathedral

We were in Antwerp for a few hours only, Ian wanted to see the area around the cathedral, and I wanted to see the Lace shops in the same area. We had some lunch too 😃 Flemish food obviously! I love going back to Antwerp, eventough we mainly stay in Lier, which is not very far away, only a short train journey.

LIER IN BELGIUM

December 20, 2018 | gaiainaction

Some photos of our last visit to Lier this past autumn. Lier is a charming and beautiful place to visit with many interesting sites, such as the begijnhof and the Saint Gummarus church, built in Brabant’s Gothic style. I hope that you will enjoy my short photo album.

the lovely colours of magpie feathers

November 23, 2018 | gaiainaction

The most beautiful feathers of a lonely magpie that now visits the bird-table every day to our delight.

And other regular visitors to our bird-table right now are some starlings, beautifully covered in silvery speckles. And there are the blue tits, the great tits and the coal tits in fairly good numbers. Another observation is that most birds look quite well fed this autumn, especially the sparrows, they look almost obese.

Dear friends and followers, I have been almost absent from my blog for over a month now, this is because, apart from travelling, I am doing two on-line courses at the moment and my energy and time to attend to my blog is just not there. In another week or two one of my courses will be finished and I hope to be back to normal. Meanwhile I wish you all well and I look forward to catch up with you all soon. Kind regards, Agnes

HENHAM REVISITED

November 3, 2018 | gaiainaction

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Autumn can conjure up a variety of different colours and heart warming scenes, and this past October has been more mellow and beautiful than most. And a lovely golden sunshine has illuminated everything that it has touched.

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We have been staying in the ancient stables of the parsonage in the village of Henham in Essex. The cottage is lying next to a fine church built with use of flint stone. A fine square tower rises against the blue sky, and surrounding, the magnificent trees shed their leaves over ancient graves. Ugly gargoyles feature here and there, some almost completely erased.

The trees are most lovely this time of year, colours varying from deep dark red to pale yellow , gold, ochre, or sepia, a beautiful pallet. But it’s not only the colours that are like velvet to the eye, it is the shape and size of the ancient trees that attract the attention.

The architecture found in this village has always fascinated me, the thatched roofs, the variety of cottage styles, the village green, all make for a picture card scene. But that is only me romanticising because this village is also a vibrant and dynamic community and that has perhaps got to be of more importance for the people living here.

TEXTURE, COLOUR AND BEAUTY

September 28, 2018February 2, 2020 | gaiainaction

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Yesterday found us in one of the most beautiful places in West Cork, a small fishing village along the coast. It was a quiet and a sunny day, a day like you might get in September or October, when the sun is golden, bringing out the colours everywhere and in everything. The air was crisp, and all along the hedgerows lashes of bright red fuchsia were still proudly in bloom, lifting the landscape and infusing in us a feeling of vibrancy and beauty.

20180927_133454 — We stopped for a bite to eat, seafood chowder and smoked salmon on homemade brown bread, it was delicious.

We walked to the pier to watch the fishermen mend their nets, bright colours were everywhere, whether the nets were new or old, or whatever other materials are used by the fishermen, there is a wealth of texture and colour to be seen.