Photos from the Morning Walk.

The Irish weather is so crazy this year. Yesterday I took the dogs for their mornin walk wearing a skirt, tee shirt and a light shirt. Today I wore jeans, tee shirt, shirt and a sleeveless jacket. It’s about 10 degrees colder today. The sky was grey compared to the brilliant blue of yesterday.

Lots of Ragged Robin in flower on the lane right now. It is my favourite wild flower. It likes the damp soil and unspoilt wild areas we are so lucky to still have here. It self-seeds readily.

On the way back home I picked a bunch of Herb Robert. This little plant with it’s pretty pink flowers is the predecessor of the perennial Geraniums we now grow in our gardens. Made into an infusion and added to a footbath it is a great detoxifier. I will do this when the day’s work is finished. A simple indulgence free from nature.

The native Orchid is flowering too. This is the first one I’ve spotted this year. Beautiful.Bella and Enid absorbed in breakfasting among the Buttercups.

A remind of yesterday’s blue skies and energising sunshine. Hopefully it will return.

The Evening Walk. Part 1

Every day, (sometimes twice in the day), I go, with our two dogs Lettie and Alice, for a walk along The Railroad. The Railroad is the name given to the narrow road on which we live. So called because, up to the 1950s it had a narrow gauge railway bringing coal from the nearby mines. So, down our steep drive. The dogs wait to see if we turn right or left.

Right today. Lettie, the white speck in the pic, has to be in front, leading the way, ever the terrier.

Alice, always behind, he is 14 now, entitled to take his time.

The dogs run about, sniffing and checking out every Badger pass. For me it is the daily changes in the hedgerows that I love. The Hawthorn dripping with Lichens, signifying the clean air, the coming into leaf, then the flowers and last of all the haws, before Winter. So many wild flowers and plants, it’s hard to have a favourite. Herb Robert I always have a soft spot for though.Then there’s the Ferns, unfolding a little each day, to reveal their full beauty. I just love Ferns, some of the oldest plants on the Earth. 

   Check in tomorrow for part 2.