Schull

Hi everyone, it has been a while since I contributed news from life in West Cork. So here I am again. My last gladioli flower from the garden has a stunning colour. I love these old fashion flowers.

I don’t think that I have ever seen trees so heavely laden with bright red apples, almost too beautiful to eat! But not only apples, pears, plums, and other fruit and nuts are having an abundant harvest, whole hedgerows are flaming red with hawthorn berries. I saw our own hawthorn tree filled with fat sparrows the other day, over 20 birds chirping away, did they feast on our haws? I wonder.

Autumn is advancing. Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival is almost upon us. It celebrates the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter time. Pumpkins are all over the shops and my grandkids are talking about what they will dress up in. It’s celebrated here as Halloween, a commercialised version of Samhain ( I don’t like much).

Autumn is usually a time of slowing down, but not necessarily so, not until winter is properly upon us. There are exhibitions to go see, and musea to visit, and coffee gatherings with friends to enjoy, and so on. Some weeks ago I started a six week course online with the Transnational Institute, it is called “Cities beyond growth” focussing on post growth urbanism, it is very interesting, The first week we looked democracy and care, second week we looked at energy sustainability, how can living spaces be made more liveable in an efficient way , and we discuss housing this week. It is global, it draws information from scholars, writers, thinkers and idealists. Also interesting to hear what other students from all over the world have to say, and their experiences in their environments. The course is given via Podcasts, readings, video’s, lots to take in. The questions prompt us to think deeper about what it is to work toward a more sustainable future in every way, and to hear about what is, or is not working all over the globe. What this course is doing for me is very welcome, it is restoring hope and faith in a world that has been so shaken in recent years. Yes, It is doing that for me.

Other activies, like knitting socks for my beloved husband, and ofcourse my bobbin lace. Aswell as a recent webinar on the silk roads, which was brilliant.

Mellow evening sun, we are having a mild autumn

Ruin of St.Mary’s church in Schull. Schull is a lovely seaside village in west Cork, where my husband Ian is now being cared for in a nursing home. It is about half an hour from here. Ian is still writing a children’s book, it going to be brilliant!

Two more sights of beautiful Schull, can you believe that the fuchsia hedge is still in flower right now.

Along the road between the little seaside villages of Schull and Ballydehob in West Cork, the growth of wild flowers is at this moment so luxurious and beautiful that it is just like driving through a beautiful park. Bravo for not cutting or using herbicides on these roadsides. This, at the moment is very much discussed in Ireland. We want our roadsides to be beautiful, but most of all we want to take care of the disappearing bees and other insects, we realise how urgent this is today. The beauty of flowers along the roads lifts the heart of even the most unobservant driver, because you cannot but notice the wealth of it all. Today I was able to take a few shots of these roadside wild plants and flowers. Here are just some of them.