Anyone know whats going on with WordPress? Anyone else out there having problems with visiting blogs or leaving comments on other WordPress blogs? Last week Blogs I Follow was changed to Reader…not accessible…to me anyway. This means that I can’t access blogs I follow or leave comments. Sorry folks…hopefully WordPress will sort this out soon!
To destress after that whinge I will share some pics from our woodland outing yesterday. We went to Deereen Wood, near Knockvicar where the Bluebells are in full bloom at the moment. My pic does’nt do it justice but you get the idea.
Our quest yesterday was to find Toberdarragh Sacred Well. This required us to go deep into the woods, far off the beaten track. John Willmott, who leads the Poetree Walks had found the well on old ordnance survey maps.
After fighting our way through the undergrowth the woods opened out into a much clearer area of lovely mature Beech trees. On we went through the Fairy Ring…
stopping to admire the Bluebells which were only within the circle of the ring.
On we went past more beautiful Beeches… I do so love Beech trees.
Finally, thanks to John’s sense of direction and his trusty compass…we came to a broken down stone wall…over the still merry band went…and there was the well. Much overgrown and long disused we set to work immediately to clear the brambles and weeds choking this long forgetton but once important water source.
Fallen branches were cleared…
and willing hands remove the tangled mass of weeds. It’s amazing how quickly a few people working together can get a job done. In the spirit of the old ways this Poetree Walk had turned into a Meitheal. Meitheal is an Irish word for the once common practise of people working together…usually on farms…to help each other get the work done. Sadly now in Ireland Meitheal seems to be practised only by alternative living people or “hippies” as the locals would say. So be it….
Check in tomorrow for part 2 of the well clearing.
arignagardener 
Oh, I hear you about the wordpress change. Not awful, but not overly useful.
So I’m tending to use Google Reader to follow blogs myself. It’s just easier.
Michael
Might try the Google reader myself. Fed up with the constant unnecessary changes. I say if it’s not broken don’t fix it.
I had trouble leaving a comment on a Blogger blog yesterday but don’t seem to have had problems with WP. I follow through google reader though, rather than WP’s own follow feature.
It looks like you had a great time uncovering the well. I bet the local woodland spirits feel a lot less choked up 😉
Can’t help with your WP problem, Bridget, as I follow blogs by email now. I love beech too – such a stately, handsome tree. D
What a great story– with a great outcome. Tolkien would be pleased… I look forward to the next installment!
Very interesting about the well. Lovely photos.
Regarding word press. They now want me to sign in any time I want to comment on a word press blog. Trouble is, they leave too much information when I do that. I just use another of my email addys so I can comment without signing in.
I am having trouble with changing sizes of my photos – the system doesn’t seem to always allow for it. Hope these problems are temporary.
I had noticed it had changed to reader but thought this was because I was using hubby’s laptop whilst we were away. Didn’t realise it was a proper change, but it is working for me. I have had one of my badges disappear which I can’t work out why, maybe they’re fiddling about and this explains it. It is very annoying when they keep changing things about. Most of the time it does improve things but when things don’t work it does get annoying. Hopefully it’ll be working soon. The sight of bluebells is certainly one I would miss if I lived elsewhere.
You must have been delighted to find the well, Bridget. Great bunch of people to do the clean up!
I found how to reply, click on Comment in the email you get from the blogs you follow, at the top of the next page you will find “Reply”…Try that Bridget,hope it works!
Thanks Cath! I follow most of the blogs through WordPress though so still disabled. Hopefully it will be sorted soon.
Love this and I so miss the bluebell woods and beech trees. Both are magical! I’ve spent years, prior to moving to Egypt, searching out old wells and fairy houses!!! One of my favourite activities. I wonder if this well was also one of the sacred wells? Any water emerging form the ground like this I always feel is holy, a gift from the Mother. Here in Egypt we look for lost altars out in the desert instead of wells!!!
Lovely blog! I do miss home…I will have to take my Husband Omar to see Ireland one day!!!
On the old maps this well was indeed sacred, the waters were said to be a cure for stress. Hope I did’nt make you too homesick!