At Carrowcrory for Bards and Harps.

Saturday last saw Andy and I at Carrowcrory, near Ballinifad, Co. Sligo at the home of John Willmott and Claire Roche. The occasion was the fifth Bards and Harps Day to be held here. Regular readers will remember John from the Poetree Walks postings. He is a fab poet, tour guide, folklorist, story teller and labyrinth maker. Check out his blog at www.celticways.com .

Claire is a harpist and singer, but not just any singer, a singer with the voice of an Angel. I saw tears being wiped from eyes as Claire gave her wonderful performance. In this pic, which is a crap pic because of the light, Claire is getting ready to play 2 harps at once. Quite an accomplishment! The cottage itself is wonderful. Decorated in the traditional style it is a warm welcoming home. But then a home can only reflect what the people who inhabit it are like. John and Claire welcomed each and every person with gusto. One immediately felt at home and so welcome. Throughout the day food was available. Delicious food prepared in the cottage. Between each performance everyone visited the big table in the kitchen which was laden with food all day. Breads, salads, frittata, chowder,  dips, tarts, cakes. Each offering more delicious than the last.

Everyone who came seemed to be imbued with the same happy, jovial spirits this place seems to generate. I love this pic of the lovely Tina Rock with flowers in her hair. Everytime she caught my eye the Sandi Thom song, I wish I was a Punkrocker with Flowers in my Hair, came into my mind. That’s Andy with the big grin.

That’s John heading round the corner. The pic was taken from the Tree Labyrinth which has been planted in front of the cottage.  There’s not too many thatched cottages left now so it’s lovely to actually know the people who have brought this one back to life…and what a life!

So I will finish with a little more about the day’s entertainment. In the evening we were treated to a performance from another harpist. It was after all Bards and Harps Day! Fionnoula Gill, of Riverdance fame, gave an amazing performance in the little theatre space behind the cottage. You could hear a pin drop in the room. Each and every person was spellbound. I wonder do all harpists have angelic voices? Seems that way to me! She finished her set with Molly Malone which everyone sung along to. So floating on that cloud of joy and enchantment we headed off at about 9 in the evening. John however had one last edible treat for everyone. He had made his own chocolate and peanut butter cups, just like Reese’s! I won’t say how many I had…but they were yummy! A wonderful end to an amazing day.

The Longest Day.

Summer Solstice is upon us once again. The high point of the Summer when everything in Nature is lush and abundant. This year the weather has been pretty good since March so it seems like we have had Summer for a long time already. We have also had lots of rain which combined with the warmth has enabled rapid growth of everything.

Now is a good time to propogate shrubs from cuttings. There’s always a place for new plants to be slotted in. Otherwise the abundance of the season can be shared with friends. A free plant always brings a smile to someones face.

A nice bunch of flowers is another welcome gift. This arrangement was collected from the garden yesterday morning. Given to a friend who is retiring from work,  it brought a beaming smile of appreciation. The flowers were placed in a glass which I then covered with this organza bag which was saved from I gift I had recieved. I always save nice packagings, ribbons and gift bags to be reused and recycled.

For me Foxgloves are the flower of Summer Solstice. They self seed everywhere here and most of them are left to reach maturity. It would be an insult to remove these gifts from Mother Nature. Far nicer than anything bought at the garden centre with the added bonus of no air miles attached. No patent attached here!

In the vegetable garden there is lots of produce. We are harvesting Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Peas, Broad Beans and Mangetous right now. The Potatoes are just coming into flower. They will be ready for harvesting about 2 weeks after flowering. Of course leaving them longer gives bigger Potatoes but thats not likely to happen. These are Ballydoon which were planted on St. Patrick’s Day.

Summer Solstice is the time when bonfires are lit to celebrate the season here in north-west Ireland. This tradition which has been going on since Pagan times has died out in other parts of the country but alive and well in this area. It is now called St. John’s Night, the celebration of the birth of John the Baptist. Like many other Pagan celebrations it was masked by Christians as the celebration of a saint’s day.

To conclude I wish you all health, happiness and abundance at this special time of the Summer Solstice.  Happy Days!

Bridget x

Cute stuff!

Isn’t this cute? Well, actually I’m not sure if cute is the right word as Ida’s tealeaves are making a pretty disastrous prediction. Hopefully Ida stayed safe and sound in the coop. This lovely print was my prize…drawn from the hat…for commenting on a blog I follow. At www.hedgecombers.com, which is a varied and interesting blog,  there is a link to Jane’s online Folksy shop where these prints and cards are for sale. Delighted with my prize…I think a black frame will suit it nicely.

Accompanying my prize was this lovely card also from Jane’s range. So cute! It is sitting in pride of place on our mantelpeice.

No the postman’s not that good! I did send Jane my name and address to receive my gift. Thanks Jane!

Don’t know if a car can be cute but this one certainly tickled my fancy. It was spotted at a garden open day I attended recently. Bought in Germany by the current owner in the 1950s it has been completely restored and is in perfect working order. He and his wife drove it from Germany to Ireland last Summer.

The whole front of the car also doubles as the door. The steering wheel moves with the door to facilitate opening and closing. Amazing!

Dinky steering wheel…

and a rack on the back for one’s suitcase.

To finish here’s a cute pic of Lettie and Freddie on the couch. I know there’s too much light from the window and the crazy pattern on the throw makes for a busy picture. But I like it anyway! Hope you do too!

On a Summer morning.

After a short break when we had lots of much needed rain it seems that Summer is back. Yesterday we had 15 hours of sunshine…unheard of for Ireland. I went out just before 8 this morning to open the polytunnels…already serious heat had built up in there. On the mountain the wind turbines are still. There’s not a breeze of wind to move them. The valley looks so lush at the moment. Grass is plentiful for the animals and they are enjoying the sunshine. I love how the farmers here have left lots of trees. On large intensive farms one often sees all the trees and hedgerows removed to maximise grazing land. Electric fences are used to strip graze the land. This makes for a very boring landscape, no wildlife habitats and of course no shelter for the animals.

The Irises are in full bloom right now…it’s amazing how much these have spread. They were planted only last year. One to watch methinks in case it takes over.

I just love their colour…purple being a fave of mine…and form…the beauty and perfection of Nature. Don’t know the variety of these…the label has long disappeared. On another blog…can’t remember whose…there was a suggestion that rather than sticking the label in the ground by the plant that they were stored in the house or shed. A good idea I think as I can’t remember most of the names…and the labels blow away or disintegrate or the dogs chew them.

 

The perennial Geraniums have also come into flower. Deadheading regularly will keep these flowering for many weeks.

Foxgloves survived the wind and rain remarkably well. I thought they would be flattened. Plants are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for.

Swiss Chard seems to have become huge overnight. I just noticed this morning that this is ready for harvesting. I really love the leaves with the red ribs. Don’t they look fab…tasty too!

All pics taken this morning around 8am.

After the storm.

At last the wind and rain have stopped. For two days we have had strong winds blowing in from the west accompanied by non stop rain. Apparently there has been a month’s rain in the last two days, that’s about 4 inches. The rivers, ditches and lakes are full to capacity and the waterfall, which is usually a Winter feature, is back on the mountain.

 In the garden the worst fatality was the Angelica. It had put on tremendous growth and was standing, rather magnificiently, at about 6 feet tall. It is however battered to the ground this morning. It will,  I’m sure,  rise again.

By the garden gate the Honeysuckle is coming into flower. I’m so glad this was’nt damaged as it has grown well. The scent is lovely and I really like the flowers. I grew this from a cutting.

Now is a very good time to start taking soft wood cuttings.Was watching Gardener’s World last night on the BBC, Carol Klien gave a good tutorial on how to do this. Carol is brill, I love her easy relaxed way of presenting and teaching.

In the micro-climate of the polytunnel all is well. Growth is rapid right now and everything is lush. Produce is in abundance, right now we are harvesting Lettuce, Spring Onions, Beetroot, Herbs and Spinach. Spinach goes to seed quickly but I sow some new every few weeks. There’s nothing to beat your own fresh Spinach. We also grow Swiss Chard which lasts a year before going to seed but proper Spinach is my fave. I love Nasturtiums in the polytunnel. They are of course edible, but they also attract beneficial insects which prey on nasties like greenfly.

These Nicotiana have come into flower in the last few days. Cosied up in a pot in the closed polytunnel, it was’nt opened for 3 days, has encouraged them to bloom. Thanks, whoever invented polytunnels. It certainly makes life easier, at 600 ft above sea level here, it would be impossible to grow fragile things without them.

Every available receptacle has been used to capture rainwater. The way our weather is changing, who knows, we could be back to drought conditions again next week!

Happy gardening!

Garden in the rain…

The Poppies had been fully opened for the last few days…today they are closed and hanging low with the weight of the rain. Love their colour…so vibrant.

The leaves of Escallonia are super shiny in the rain. The forecasters say it is to rain all day today and tomorrow then nice again for the weekend. Fingers crossed they’re right.

Usually the Foxgloves are having lots of Bumble Bees visiting…but not today.

Lady’s Mantle is of course well known for how it holds the droplets of water. It also has medicinal use…it is astringent, styptic, tonic and vulnerary. Culpepper says that “It is proper for those wounds that have inflammation, and is effective to stay bleedings, vomitings, and fluxes of all sorts.”

Hostas also hold the water on their leaves. With all the dry weather we’ve had the slugs have’nt had a chance to devour them this year…so far.

The little pond in the big polytunnel is full again. I had to fill it fill it from the tap for the last few weeks as it was almost dry. You can’t see them in the pic but there’s loads of tadpoles in there…did’nt want them dying. Frogs are great for keeping the slug population under control. These seem to be at the tadpole stage for ages. Anyone know how long it takes for them to mature into frogs?

It’s garden visiting time….

June, July and August are the months for garden visiting here in Ireland. Gardens are at their best and the weather is usually ok. The weather was’nt great this past weekend but,  undaunted,  a friend and I decided to visit Saffron Thomas’s garden in Ardsoran, about 6 miles from Boyle. This garden is part of the Secret Gardens of Sligo initiative which sees gardens open to the public to raise funds for charity.

The garden is set on a south facing slope and the site is bordered by mature trees giving it a lovely secluded feel. Big wide borders filled with a combination of old favourites and rare and unusual plants make for an interesting peruse. This lovely border filled with blues, pinks and purples sweeps down to one of the ponds.

I love gardens with ponds, so beneficial for nature and of course they add an interesting extra dimension to the garden.

No chemicals are used anywhere in this land. The result is a beautiful garden filled with the humming of bees and busy with insects flying hither and thither. A feast for the senses.

A little wooden bridge leads to a path that takes you on a walk around the perimiter of the big field at the back. Already planted with so many varieties of trees, the long term plan is to have another very large pond on this as yet undeveloped part of the garden. This is a garden that is continually expanding. Every year Saffron collects, plants and nurtures thousands of seeds, resulting in thousands of plants needing planting areas. With a total of 7 acres there is lots of room for expansion.

Several sculptures are set amongst the plants adding extra interest. This is a piece of found bog oak set atop a lovely piece of wood decorated with a spiral. I really like that!

There are also 2 polytunnels and a small orchard here. One polytunnel has just been erected,  the other has been there several years. The long standing tunnel is so filled with plants it has a jungle feel. Vegetables, flowers and shrubs being brought on for the garden all together make for an interesting  feast for the senses. Plants like the climbing Snapdragon above and many more that I did’nt know existed keep one’s interest.

If you are in the Sligo/Roscommon area do check out the Secret Gardens of Sligo. It raises money for charity and opens up gardens off the beaten track that are varied and interesting. They also have a Facebook page.

Click on pics to enlarge.

Summer time in Arigna.

Everything is  fresh and lush after the recent rain. It was much needed as everything was so dry and the water pressure in our well had dropped. The weather is still summery but without the very high temperatures we had at the end of May. We Irish are not genetically adapted to very hot weather.

The Elder tree is just coming into flower here. Soon it will be time for cordial and wine making. Gooseberries and Elderflowers make a delicious jam combination.

The fields are flush with grass for the animals. Does’nt Daphne look cute amongst the Buttercups?

The Broom is giving a great colour show right now…it’s bright yellow so eye catching.  In the past Broom was used in the treatment of dropsy…it is not used nowadays as the plant is considered too toxic. It is poisonous to animals but they don’t touch it anyway. It always amazes me how animals know instinctively what plants to avoid. Broom grows in abundance by the river…I lifted this as a small seedling from the river bank 2 years ago and it has grown rapidly to this 5ft high monster.  Considered a weed by many…I love it!

The perennial Geraniums are starting to flower…they will give weeks of colour in the borders…especially if they are dead-headed regularly.

Purple is one of my fave colours so I really appreciate these Alliums flowering at the moment. I buy a few more of these bulbs each year.

Foxglove is starting to reveal it’s gorgeous blooms…another weed…to some people… but one again that we allow to self-seed.

Love this Iris…

In the vegetable beds these Cabbages have put on a spurt of growth after the rain and warmth. Not long to wait until we will be harvesting these.

Click on pics to enlarge.