The sun rises in a cooler sky, as the mist crawls slowly along the valley floor, in from Lough Meelaugh, past Kilronan castle to eventually meet the mists that cover the giant stretch of water that is Lough Allen.
Autumn is a time of mists, just as Samhain merges into Winter, so do the mists swirl and merge away off into the low clouds.
Lough Allen is an English translation from the Gaelic, meaning ‘Beautiful Lake’, and that it is!
The little town of Drumshanbo lies just above the Lough in the County of Leitrim.
It is little wonder it is referred to as “Lovely Leitrim.”
On a calm day the Lough takes on a look of pure glass, as in Maeve Binchy’s book, “The Glass Lake.”
I am happy to see such a beautiful sunrise and then sit here writing in the still of the morning…it’s now exactly 9am.
This morning has to be slowly enjoyed because there’s a mighty storm of heavy rain approaching Ireland.
Rain has been heavy all year and the earth is quite sodden…the wettest I have ever experienced.
As I write this, clouds have shadowed out the morning sun and already spots of rain are dotting the windows.
Even as the rain falls, the harvest continues…
Did you know that Rose-hips contain 20 times more vitamin C than the same weight of oranges?
Here is an old recipe for making Rosehip Syrup, a Vitamin C product given to babies and young children during World War Two…
Rose-hip Syrup
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2lb ripe rose-hips
6 pints water
1lb sugar
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Wash and remove stalks.