Pondering and thoughts

EARLY MORNING MUZINGS

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The colours of the pre-dawn are magnificent, it is also the expectation of what is to come, the light! The light that will colour the world once again for another day.

Pre-dawn light

Last week saw me travel up to the city several times for appointments and one of those was early in the morning, so it was that I was able to enjoy the dawn albeit from a bus window. To see the first light appearing and the mist rising has always had me spellbound and needless to say I enjoyed it very much.

I had nothing else to do but sit and observe how the light scattered the darkness.
Being driven through the rural Irish landscape at this time of day is magical, the land still covered here and there with garlands of mist.
Flashes of colour reached my eyes distorted by the speed the bus was travelling, I loved it.
If I wanted to paint I could not do any better than what the eye of my mobile phone offered me in colour and form.

I was in a reality all my own

It was as beautiful as any of my other realities

Another day started and I was thankful to make it a good one

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A PEEK INTO MY HOUSEPLANT COLLECTION

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Even as a young girl I have always loved keeping houseplants and our mother allowed me to take care of those we had at home. Our collection consisted mainly of clivia’s and sansevierias, also busy lizzies and geraniums. Later after my husband and I moved to Ireland and lived in a lodge house, there I started a new collection. Houseplants were not so much on the agenda here and so in the beginning I grew mostly geraniums and primulas which I grew of my own seeds or cuttings. I always had houseplants except during the years when I was travelling a lot, then it was not practical. At some period I had a whole collection of cacti and they flowered beautifully. Now I like to vary my collection, my most recent addition are some bromeliads, small ones which I bought in Lidl. Some of the plants were gifted to me, or came as cuttings from friends and one of them even came from a long way away. Having them around me in my kitchen never ceases to give me good feelings, every time I pass they fill me with joy because of their beauty. They grow by artificial light because our house is fairly dark and this light needs to be on anyway all day. I need plenty of light myself to function! I also cultivate some orchids, peace lilies, a money plant and an Easter cactus. So here I am sharing some of my plants with you all and hope that you enjoy.

The new bromeliad plants, they are very small yet
Kalanchoe second flowering
Kalanchoe
Chamaedorea elegans
Hypoestes phyllostachya ( Polka dot plant)
Pilea peperomioid
Sanpauli several years old
Billbergia nutans
Orchid
Bromeliad
These small bromeliad are so beautiful
Pelleae. rotundifolia
Hypoestes phyllostachya
Dieffenbachia
Kalanchoe
Ficus tree
Chlorophytum

My dear readers, friends and family do you have plant collections too? I would love to hear what collections you have. I’ve enjoyed sharing mine with you.

CHRISTMAS EVE IN IRELAND

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  • Bees wax candles I love
  • Gozitan posturi
  • Local pinecones
This Christmas eve we are cosy inside, candles are lit and nice music fills the room. I am still inclined to go with the Flemish way of celebrating Christmas on the eve of the 24th. However, Ian being British has hugely different traditions and I try to do a bit of both, I find though that we celebrate Christmas totally in our own special way. I guess like everyone else we like to build memories and this of course also involves family. But this year Christmas is different, there is no family gathering for most people. We are lucky that we can have one set of grandchildren coming to open presents and enjoy the customary meatballs with red cabbage and apples. Many people are not so lucky and so we are grateful. As I have never cooked a turkey in my life, and don’t know how to make a Christmas cake or pudding I usually buy a good quality one for Ian and make him sweet white sauce to go with it. For me most important at Christmas are people, candles, music and the scent of pine and spices, oh and a walk in nature. So this afternoon the sun was shining and though bitterly cold it was a great opportunity to get some fresh air. Yesterday there was snow on the hills surrounding the town and I wanted to check if I could get some pictures of them, unfortunately the snow was mostly gone again. I came across so much fresh green, little plants that are either still growing from last season, and new plants like the foxgloves. These are the darkest days of the year but already I can feel fresh energy building up which once it is January will burst forth and there will be no holding it. January is my most productive month, my energy at its highest. But for now I seek peace and quiet, it’s too early to give way to high spirits.
View overlooking part of the town and surrounding hills, one of which is still snow-capped.
  • Lovely ivy seeds
  • Fresh wild green
  • Honeysuckle plants
  • Ferns grow here winter or summer due to the damp climate
After a lovely walk the sun was setting over some houses, a beautiful day, a peaceful Christmas eve.

As an afterthought, this evening I received from my sister two Christmas card dating back to 1920, my grandmother and grandfather exchanged those back then. I found it so touching and they are beautiful, that’s why I am sharing them here with you all. A great present from the past.

I would like to wish all my dear friends and followers all over the earth a blessed and joyous Christmas time, or Yule time, or Solstice, or end of year or mid-winter celebrations. I love a good story and am very interested in traditions from all over the world. How do you like to spend this time of year?

“KEEPING THE HEAD”

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PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

Sitting under our hawthorn tree, drinking a cup of tea, surrounded by our vegetables and flowering shrubs, my mind focused on what I was reading on my mobile phone.

Last week Ian was brought to hospital and has been there since. The answer to his health problems seems to be a long way off. Doctors are working on it. I receive messages or calls via my phone so it never really leaves my hands much.

Having said that, I have delighted in getting lots of maintenance work done around the house and garden and we have been having summer weather for a change which is absolutely great.

“Keeping the head” which to me says; ‘Staying calm and pragmatic’, this is defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as ‘to remain calm in a difficult situation’. I guess that as well as ‘keeping the head’ it’s important to ‘keep the head up’ too.

There are of course lots of ways to keep positive. I find that my gardening is helping me to de-stress at times like this. And of course counting my blessings helps very much, and we have so much to be thankful for. I have to wait to hear results of tests, meanwhile doing some research too, going on what Ian tells me. As he also has a very enquiring mind we both try and look for answers as well as looking for professional help, and help from our extended families who have great medical expertise, all in their own fields.

All in good time I will be more inspired to write and blog about our natural surroundings and life in West Cork. Right now my mind is too preoccupied.

FLINT STONE AND CLAY BRICKS

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I guess it is because I had become so used to the lovely honey coloured limestone on Gozo that I am taking so much notice of the red brick that is used so much in England and especially in Norfolk, it has its own beauty and is as natural as limestone seeing that the bricks are baked clay (earth).

And in Norfolk much use is made of flint stone in combination with red brick, the flint is found naturally in chalk, with layers in various shapes and sizes, flint is almost pure silica.  There is black flint and grey flint, the colours are due to impurities.  There is also rounded beach flint.  The flint has been used as a building material in Norfolk since ancient times and many archaeological material has been found in the surrounding areas made out of flint, it was a very useful material because of its hardness and sharpness.  Norfolk is also rich in clay and from the 13th century onward clay became an important building material in combination with the flint, giving the beautiful finish you see all over the area now.

And still in Norfolk, just a few days ago an abundance of wild flowers were already in bloom, like I showed in my last blog entry – GREETING SPRING – these are wild flowers and found while walking along the road-side. I was happy to see the first wild chestnut tree in bud and already showing the beginnings of a flower.

And so it goes on, ever discovering new things and rediscovering old ones, life is so interesting and fulfilling.

Meanwhile I am back home and working on my latest house improvement project (a little one), lining a walk-in wardrobe with wall paper to stop dust falling down.  And discovering that mice had eaten away some of the wiring covers….my little project has just become a very big one.

This is a very old house indeed.

 

FAREWELL GOZO, for the moment.

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A beautiful Red Admiral butterfly came across my path the other day, or was it I that came across its path.

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It is no wonder that we see bees and butterflies these days, the abundance of flowers is breathtaking, such a joy for both insects and humans.

Both in the wild and cultivated the delightful colours of flowers greet one, every inch of towns and village are made beautiful by these displays.

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In another day we are leaving Gozo for the summer months, we are already looking forward to coming back though I must say that we are also looking forward to spending the summer in Ireland and seeing everyone again.  Most of all we are just grateful for everyday we can live in peace and in beautiful nature among family and friends.  Living in the moment is the best way to enjoy life.

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We will leave some friends behind and the many people we interacted with the last few months have been lovely and very generous with stories, information and their time.

I’ve had a lovely and interesting time with my Gozitan bobbin lace making class, my great teacher, and fellow students, it was very enjoyable and I learnt a lot, and discovered that making lace can become addictive.

Ir-Rabat has been a wonderful place to live in and explore, all the artistic corners and the lovely ambience that is tangible in this great town have been top class, and the Citadella has been top of the list as have the little alleys around St.George Basilica and St.Francis Square too, and of course the library there.

Gozo has had so much to offer us, nature, people, art and culture, all much enjoyed.

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We are very grateful, that is Ian and myself, for having found a flat in Ghajnsielem for next winter, the view from the place is incredible, more and new adventures await, all being well.

Feeling very grateful and appreciative to avail of this opportunity.  So for now it is back to Ireland and to West Cork.  I must have taken thousands of photos while here and in the coming months will still be posting stories about Gozo, that is for sure.  But for the moment I am taking a week off from blogging, we will be with family in UK for several days, I will not be near WiFi perhaps.  So I wish all my dear friends and followers a good week, thank you for reading my blog, and see you soon.

XAGHRA VILLAGE IS PEACEFUL

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For some days now I’ve been saying that I should visit the village that we can see from our walk on the outskirts of Victoria, high up on the hillside it towers above the countryside. I was intrigued to know more about it. On the map I could see that the village is called Xaghra (pronounced shara with the ‘SH’ of Schindler) Its population is around the 5000! Seeing that the Ġgantija megalithic temples, as well as a stone circle are found there – it must be one of the earliest areas on Gozo of human habitation.

I found the village very peaceful, the little streets picturesque, and the ambience friendly. On this visit I did not go into the temples, nor visited the windmill which, by the way, dates back to 1725. That, as well as the caves with its stalactites and stalagmites, is planned for a visit in the near future. I started off by visiting the church (our Lady of Victories) always curious about what the magnificent Baroque façade will reveal on the inside. It was well worth it too, though too ornamental for my taste. After that I walked for a long time along the narrow streets, just enjoying the limestone houses, some really old and brittle, some quite new. I eventually ended up at a museum of toys where I was shown around all the amazing things of the past, a very interesting place and very nice people to welcome you.

One very interesting building I came across, and will talk about this further down among the photos of it.

I walked for hours (my workout for the day) and took the bus home to Victoria which drove there in 5minutes, I still cannot believe how close together all the places are here.
A wonderful day it was!
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Below are the photos of the building I wanted to talk about.  Though I know nothing about it actually, only what I can see and deduct.  Both the older and the newer building are literary built on rough rock, I just wonder how this is possible, it looked as if the buildings were just plunked loosely on top, but I am sure that cannot be the case.  Also the grey rock seems different material to the regular limestone that is used here as building material.  It’s killing me and I just have to find out more about it.  The last two pictures I took to the side of the older building, there seems something going on with the cement (not sure what type of cement it is)  it gives an interesting and lovely design in the last photo.  I did see this sort of thing also on some of the other buildings in the village.  On my next visit I will go to the town council and try and find out more.  The limestone of the Maltese islands has me totally bewitched.

The lady at the toy museum is a goldmine of information, she showed me so many of the toys, explaining all about them.