As long as the Earth can make a spring every year, I can. As long as the Earth can flower and produce nurturing fruit, I can, because I’m the Earth. I won’t give up until the Earth gives up.
Alice Walker
I’m writing this between lighting the stove, going in and out to the barn chopping wood and getting my breakfast together.
Much of the wood I save and stack in the barn is collected from the ground beneath trees after a storm…it’s amazing how much timber for the stove can be foraged in this way.
I’m so delighted with this lovely gift from friends…
Thank you my friends Nick and Danielle for this funky new birdbox, created by Nick from driftwood!
Steps have been taken to avoid the one big bill, from the one mains service, coming into the cottage…electricity!
This is a Pay-As-You-Go-Meter, that also monitors usage and allows one more control over the utility.
I have managed to keep this week’s usage to just under ten euros!
I would recommend this as a way of taking more responsibility for one’s little bit of Earth.
It was free to install!
I’m weather-proofing all the wood around the cottage…with a selection of colours, some donated, some bought and mixed with leftovers, so Bealtaine Cottage will take on a different, more interesting hue!
Lavender is the colour of the day…with blue here and there.
One of the great things about cottage life is the simplicity of design…if it’s made from natural materials, then it doesn’t look out of place.
I love colour!
It seems a natural decorating choice for cottage living…one lovely eclectic mix of whatever it is one scavenges!
Blossom is out on the Ornamental Plum…
The sickly little Peach tree in the tunnel shows blossom for the first time ever…it has taken me four years to nurse this little gem back to life.
It was rescued from the rubbish skip at Lidl, where it had been dumped after being snapped in half.
This is a new bed I wanted to share with you…it’s another one of my experiments here at bealtaine Cottage.
The tyres are protecting the bed from the East and North , allowing the solar energy to be kept in the bed.
As the land is on a north-facing slope, any rain runs off the tyres downhill towards the north, thus leaving the bed clear from any run-off.
The tyres are well-weathered and already covered with mould.
This was a compost heap from last year.
I shall keep you updated as the growing season progresses.
And finally, a reminder of the thin soil that made up this land ten years ago…this is how close the bedrock is to the surface in many places all over the land here.
Tree-planting here has ensured a future unrealized before now…everything is possible! I cannot stress enough the importance of a Nursery Bed like the one seen here…grow, grow, grow! Then plant, plant plant!
“Husband the earth.
Protect
her from greed and violence.
Build
humbly, plant trees, grow flowers and clothe her
with dignity.
Respect all her creatures.
Honour her
natural laws and the universe which cradles her.
Above all, heartily worship the Source of All that is.
This world needs secret heroes!
Be brave, speak the truth,
heal the sick, make peace.
Be strong, serve patiently, love
generously, live simply.
Enjoy fellowship, eat and drink modestly,
celebrate the festivals.
Breathe deeply, sing and make music,
walk often, cycle and recycle.
Be thrifty, prefer cashflow to
possession, give good measure.
Let your work be your prayer.
Put on the whole armour of light!
Unearth the beauty in
everything.
Inhale the Spirit of Goodness.
Kindle kindness,
especially toward yourself, embracing the sweet
silence of your own soul.
Fear nothing.
Accept
what you are and — while you have
breath — give thanks.”
~John Rogers
Thank your for sharing that lovely poem – I have read it before. It really is a simple and moral code of conduct and at the same time the words are full of joy, love and light. I will also copy it out and put it where i can see it every day. xx
So beautiful the love expressed here. The blues and lavenders of the heavens come right down and flow from the tips of your paint brush. Your cottage exudes the warmth of the natural world. Amazing that much of your land is just inches from bedrock!! But with your tender loving care, fertility and beauty have been restored and the land continues to build and flourish. The garden is the reflection of your own being. Its so comforting to know that there are so many others in the world who rescue abandoned plants and nurture them back to life. And who gently push spider webs aside from book cases so as not to disturb the little house guests. Such reverence for all life is so needed in this world. Thank you so very much for rebogging these wonderful passages. I am new to the blog and have missed much of your previous blogs although I am slowly catching up.
Thank you Lynne! I carefully revise each blog before I repost it, adding a little here and taking away a little there, so it’s fresh and relevant. The site has little room left in terms of upload space, so reposting is useful and allows not only myself, but others to read and view many of the “lost” writings and photographs. Thank you for your wonderful emails. They are a delight to read!
Blessings XXX
Reblogged this on Bealtaine Cottage and commented:
Kindle kindness…
Lovely words and lovely images :). I love that you rescued that little peach. My mum always headed straight to the throw out section at nurseries and took pride in nursing very sick plants back to health. We have bedrock like that here on Serendipity Farm. A lot of the time we have to build up rather than dig down and we are on a steep slope that runs down into the river. Sometimes it is hard to garden here as a combination of Australian long hot dry summers and Tasmanian long cold wet winters does it’s worst on the poor silty thin topsoil that covers a thick band of massive clay but we are planting out trees. We are trying to create guilds, we are protecting the plants from the voracious native animals that can wipe out a series of trees in a single night and we are perservering because as you say, so long as the earth is willing to keep trying…so are we! 🙂
And we caregivers and nurturers take heart fro those words of Alice Walker…blessings X
🙂
Thank you for that; it seemed as if you were speaking directly to me, this morning! Another serial rescuer of plants, here; many of my best treasures have been abandoned or ignored by others, including most of my big roses (reduced to 20p, apparently dead) and the four stunning orchids sprawling happily along my kitchen windowsill, all hauled at different times out of the garden waste skip at the tip. And our small urban garden, home to many fruit & nut trees & bushes as well as a vast variety of birds & other wildlife (despite four resident cats) is guarded by a big, very old apple tree that keeps us in delicious fruit until March each year. We were advised to chop it down when we moved here more than 20 years ago; we fed it instead, by building a compost heap underneath it, and despite its great age, it seems to go from strength to strength.
I totally admire what you have done & are doing! And wish that many, many people around the world will take notice & follow suit…
Our band of Earth-Carers is increasing…and what a band we are!
Blessings X
I have copied that lovely poem onto my fb page xxx
What a beautiful thing to do! You rescued a poor plant from the rubbish tip of a big corporate, and now it is showing it’s true glory. You are truly an angel.
I am truly blessed…yummy peaches to come and all the beauty in-between…for free!