-
Growing Backwards
7 July 2020 The wind is howling in the chimney, I am trying to decide between lighting the stove or putting on the central heating, and outside ‘blight-inducing’ rain and mist are battling for dominance. It is hard to believe that it is early July. The rain is not unwelcome, but the near gale force…
-
Set a thief to catch a thief
5 July 2020 Thieves My yoga classes have been taking place at home via the internet during the Covid-19 crisis. The sense of peace and tranquillity that the classes engender have been enhanced by my view out the kitchen window. A row of hydrangeas leads on to the fields on the hill opposite the house,…
-
The drought continues
10 June 2020 The onset of the Covid-19 restrictions meant that I was unable to shore up a hole in the eaves just above my kitchen door. It was not long before a starling took advantage of this – she and her partner are now feeding a very noisy bunch of chicks. I am in…
-
From one extreme to the other
27 May 2020 Cornus Kuosa with its tiny central flowers and showy white bracts doing well in the hedgerow at the bottom of the hill. Storm effects The garden is just picking itself up after yet another few days of stormy weather. We have had what I am now beginning to consider the worst conditions…
-
Unseasonable weather
10 May 2020 Cat’s ears creeping through the bench by the garage. Yesterday I put away all of my winter clothes and hauled out my summer gear. Today the temperature is creeping up to eight degrees at ten in the morning and that is without allowing for the windchill factor. There is a strong, blustery,…
-
Pests
1 May 2020 It takes a lot to make me cry but with this Clematis Montana Rubens I came close. When I moved here it did not take me long to realise that I was unlikely to be able to grow climbers in a conventional fashion for a long time. Despite the exposure I decided…
-
Blossoms for a challenging environment
13 April 2020 At the moment the rough land surrounding the house is ablaze with two main colours. The vivid yellow of the gorse and the lovely white flowers of the Blackthorn (Prunus Spinosa). The former appears to flower all year round here and although it dies back in the occasional winter, it seems unperturbed…
-
All changed, changed utterly
Saturday, 4 April 2020 Roaringwater Bay, the tiny dot just above the top island on the left is the famous Fastnet lighthouse W.B. Yeats wrote the famous lines – see blog title – in his poem Easter 1916 and they seem apt at the moment. It is hard to comprehend the changes that have taken…
-
Living Sculptures
6 March 2020 Windswept tree near Clifden, Connemara My success with growing vegetables has been rather hit and miss over the years. Until last year I was always able to produce a good crop of potatoes and enough onions to last me for the year. My leeks have been less consistent and my Brussel sprouts…