‘Every gardener know that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle, a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream’ B.Winkler
‘What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness’ John Steinbeck
‘Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous’ RUMI
Lacework of the hydrangea flowers.
‘In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy’ WILLIAN BLAKE
Totally enjoying a beautiful winter, the sky, the plants, seedheads, and all the little miracles that manifest during this time of year are a joy to behold. Winter is a time for reflection and restoration in nature and in ourselves.
Wishing everyone a peaceful and beautiful Christmas and mid-winter time, may peaceful blessings be upon you all.
This is what I choose to call our garden at this moment, a sub-tropical wilderness. It all happened in a week or so of soft rain during the beginning of July, come to think of it there was an awful lot of rain, both soft and heavy! There were some warm days and some less warm but overall the climate was conducive to rapid growth resulting in our present wilderness. It did not help that I tripped and fell and was out of action for over a week.
All the same there are lovely surprises to be discovered among all this wild growth. The most beautifully coloured hydrangeas have not been affected by the wet weather, whereas the lavender this summer disappeared rather too fast, they got destroyed. The shasta daisies held out beautifully despite all the wind, I did tie them to bamboo sticks though.
The lush growth is itself really lovely to experience and I’ve learnt to embrace it and not worry about the neatness that most of us expect in our gardens. I’ve learnt that such wilderness is very beneficial for our pollinators which at present is so important, I’m happy to say that our garden was absolutely brimming with all sorts of insects and butterflies during the past summery days.
Of all the flowers that I sowed the lobelias did best of all and are still in full bloom. Some of the self seeding flowers like the marigolds also did well. And I’ve got rudbeckias coming on. First year using a small greenhouse and I have found it very beneficial for all sorts of plants and seedlings. The tomato plants did not do well despite looking up information and trying to follow it, they became affected with some sort of fungus and I have no harvest. The potatoes on the other hand did fantastically well, we are still eating them.
First time growing gladioli, I find them such majestic flowers, and the colours are wonderful! Seeing that it’s becoming late summer, I’ve been drying several different herbs and saving lots of seeds.
I took a soil sample and tested for pH, I’m pleased that it is 7.0 to 7.5 which is ideal for growing vegetables and flowers alike. Though I did nothing to the soil around our hydrangeas the colours are changing, more purple and deep red which I love. I’ve also looked up our regional growing zone and see that it is 9a, it is always good to know what zone one is in, especially when planning new purchases.
Somewhere in the dark back of this last photo is our back gate… it’s not surprising then that my most urgent job tomorrow will be to cut down some of this elderberry tree at the very back of the garden, we cannot get to the gate anymore because of growth! I was hoping to save some of the berries but will have to cut some down before they are ripe. That area is also full of montbretias which of course are very good at self propagation. I love to see these grow for their bright orange colour and fresh green leaves, and they are so easy and hardy, totally taking care of themselves. For the next week or so I’ll also be planting out some leeks, kale, kohl rabi, and celery, but first I’ll have to make space for them.
Here in West Cork it is 16 degrees Celsius at present, and raining, no sun. I hope that wherever you are the weather is bearable and good for your gardens and your health.
Nature is at its very best right now. The month of May is usually the most beautiful in Ireland I think. Insects abound, flowers are lush and beautiful and still so full of energy, deep colour and vibrancy. And the trees are mighty in their greenery, strong and filling up with juice taken from infrequent spring showers. I feel it, their strenght, when I sit on the bench under our enormous hawthorn tree. I take time there, every single day. It’s one of the best restoring pills nature has to offer.
This Sunday afternoon I had a look through my recent photos of some of the lichens that I find growing in the area here, some of them in our own garden, others are found in the local forests of West Cork, growing on trees but also on rocks, on stone buildings, on roofs. Our own roof has some orange lichen (I read that this is a sign that we live in a clean environment… no pollution). I love lichen and find them fascinating but so far I have not had much luck with identifying them, for proper identification you need more than the naked eye, a microscope or at least a hand lens. So I’m not going to attempt to put identification with my photos as yet. Lichens are a combination of a fungus and one or more algae in a mutually symbiotic relationship. I read that the algae do the photosynthesis, providing the fungi with energy for reproduction, the fungi in turn provide structural form and protect the lichen from bright light . I find lichen beautiful and in fact would love a workshop on their identification, it would be very interesting especially as there are so many types of them growing here.
On the prompt of my brother-in-law I looked up this wonderful educational website: of the British Lichen Society ~ https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/learning/about-lichens: I’m sure it will be very useful for yours truly and for anyone else interested in lichen. Thanks Colin!
Yesterday was a lovely spring day, full sunshine and only a little breeze, dry. My grandson Ruben was visiting and after cooking lunch together we decided to go and see which flowers and plants we would find in the hedgerow along our favourite walk. We took off in a gallop as Ruben is a very fit twelve and a half year old, he leads an active outdoor life and loves his gymnastics. During this walk he wanted to take photos and so, as you do, I handed him over my phone. Following are some of the pictures he took. I think he did very well and he concentrated on what was to be found hidden away, and finding he did; some water plants and fresh grasses. He also took a couple of photos while half climbing a tree. And in his pocket he carried a bag in case he came across other people’s rubbish! He is a good citizen in the making who cares about his environment. We both had an interesting time and we also had a good laugh and fun as he pushed me or pulled me and called me an old granny if I lagged behind because I was looking at some specimen of plants I wanted to have a closer look at, but all in good spirit of give and take. I felt very refreshed after our walk.
Above are five of Rubens photos, taken on our walk. He came across a ladybird, and was fascinated by a little brook and of what was growing in there.
Searching, observing and finding that spring has started and that lots of signs are to be seen all over the place.
It is lovely to see buds enlarging on the trees. This walk is safe as not many cars drive here, it eventually connects to the Castletown road at Rusha Mill. With the town of Skibbereen becoming more built up, this is a very valuable piece of rural beauty and long may it be that way.
“Our mind is a limitless sky, and we can only be an albatross flying in the vast expanse to occasionally discover the joys of sublimity!” – Avijeet Das
“Bursts of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It’s the time of day when the sky looks like it has been spray-painted by a graffiti artist.” – Mia Kirshner
“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We shall find peace. We shall hear angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.” – Anton Chekhov
It is with great enthusiasm that on this very wet November morning I finally sit down to write another blog post. Life is busy and it travels very fast. Lots of nice things have happened during the summer and the beginning of autumn. It has been a most beautiful, warm and sunny summer season here in West Cork, very enjoyable to have door and windows open and to practically live outside, this I adore! We have had good days and bad, one of those was Ian’s fall, but he has healed well and is back in good form now. He has been busy designing and making a glorified Zimmer frame which will help him not to have another fall.
I have attended a short course about biodiversity in West Cork run by WILD WORK and facilitated by SECAD, which I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt from. It was run locally in a most beautiful natural setting, there was also an online part to it.
But right now I would like to share some photos and chat about a visit to a Franciscan friary which my daughter and I visited during September. We were on a rare outing; in fact, we had been given the chance to go away for a weekend while Ian’s daughter Anna and her partner came over to be with him. To say that I enjoyed that weekend is an understatement, and it did me the world of good. My daughter Tjorven’s company was lovely as always.
So, we visited the interesting Muckross Abbey in Killarney which according to the Annals of the Four Masters was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary. It is situated on the site of an earlier monastery which was built by a Saint Fionan in the 6th century. It’s remarkable that the site is still so well preserved keeping in mind its turbulent past, but with many repairs and restructuring it stands well preserved today. The building style is Hiberno Romanesque. In the embrasures of eight of the windows of the dormitory are fragments of wall paintings, this is not very noticeable, and I regret that I did not see this, only read about it later.
In the middle of the courtyard which is surrounded by a vaulted cloister stands a magnificent ancient Yew tree. It is thought to be as old as the abbey itself. Surrounding the abbey is an old graveyard and yew, beech and other native trees. The church of the abbey also contains some tombs, one of them seems to have a rusted handle!
We visited in the late evening and the place gave us that special feel that goes with observing ruins, thinking about the life the monks will have led, the stillness of the peaceful and natural surroundings felt by us now, and yet knowing what violent encounters those monks would have had over time, being driven out, returning and rebuilding, to be finally driven out in 1652 by Cromwellian forces.
This was just one of our exploits during out visit to Killarney, it was well worth spending the time there, but more of that in another blog post. Here follow some photos that speak for themeselves.
Vaulted ceiling of the tower
The ancient tree in the middle of the courtyard.
Simple capitalsMuckross abbey lies peaceful in its natural surroundings, a beautiful memorial of the monks who spent their lives there.
Summer has been long, warm and dry, how lovely it has been this year and still it continues though it is almost the end of September. The beautiful warm sunshine illuminates the now autumn colours. Day by day the leaves are turning red, yellow and all shades of brown. Pungent scents fill our lungs, it is a delight to our minds and souls.
My sister and I were discussing food for the soul the other day and while giving it deep thought I know what it is that often feeds my soul; it is what I find and observe in nature, meditation on it and thankfulness for it.
Last weekend my daughter took me to Killarney in Co. Kerry and one of our plans was to walk in the national forest which is one of the remaining ancient forests in Ireland with many native trees. The two days we spent there were very restorative. The beauty of the trees laden with their seeds at this time was what inspired us, we talked about it, it made us cheerful and light-hearted. We rested for coffee and cake at a thatched roof cottage and sat out in the sunshine with leaves lightly twirling around us, our conversation deep and yet full of excitement at being in a place where we felt not a care in the world.
This delightful cottage where lovely coffee and cakes are servedMy daughter
Though this was the first time I had a break since before covid time, I have gathered quite a collection of photos over the summer that are now waiting to be used and written about in my blog. So watch this space! (I will as well 🙂 )
Yes a little detour in this remote part of Ireland is always exciting to say the least, I knew that I was going to do it, I knew that I was going to take photos and I also knew that it was going to be a lovely break. So after my appointment in Bantry I drove into a little side lane off the N71 and followed it down to the rocky seashore. Magnificent views of Bantry bay with the Caha mountains in the distance greeted me. I strolled along the path leading beside the air-strip, quite a few people and dogs were walking there and one man had his fishing rod out into the sea. The rocks were colourful. The air smelled of seaweed and was very fresh. Somewhere far away I could hear a blackbird singing, one of my favourite birdsongs. When I walked back to my car this last view surprised me, I thought that I could easily have been in Canada probably because of the lovely pine trees. Peaceful and at the same time invigorating, this little diversion to my day gave me plenty, I realised all of a sudden that I had been doing an exercise that my recently bought book on photography in nature advised me. That is, spending 10 minutes in nature, breathing deeply, really observing nature, taking note of what you see, hear, smell and how that makes you feel, how that affects the photos, and all that even while I often spend much longer in nature, but then I probably don’t always take it in so intensely.
View towards Shrone Hill Sugarloaf mountain to the leftFerry to Widdy islandI’m actually totally in love with these mountains and hillsBantry airstripSugarloaf mountainBeautiful Bantry BayIn the distance I could see part of the beautiful little town of BantryThis view gave me much pleasureThis book I am currently using to inspire my nature photography, only just started it and finding it helpful and enjoyable. (translation title… Grip on creativity, developing your own style in nature photography). It gives me a new perspective on the endless photos that I take. It is mainly about creativity. I will talk more about this book when I have read and practised a bit more of what it teaches. Here’s one of my try-outs. Seagulls and shadows over the river Lee
agoyvaerts 