I was looking through some photographs taken between 2008 and 2013, that I had forgotten about and so began some quiet reflection as I studied them. 2008 was a mere four years into the Bealtaine Project, a time when the back-breaking work of mowing and planting, trying to make a living in order to pay the mortgage and caring for my two eldest grandchildren was my daily work, leaving little time, or money for any kind of self-care. It was also a time when the gardens and woodland was in it’s infancy and structures like this Willow Arch flourished in the brightness of a very young woodland…no shade as yet! It was a time when Kilronan Mountain was fully visible from the North Bank of the cottage and the Alder tree still inhabited the edge of the bank! The work continued unabated through each season, as my wellies wore out and leaked, causing chilblains on toes and discomfort. I wore out not just wellies, but spades, four of them, and several mowers as well as strimmers! It was in the days before Kilronan Castle was rebuilt as a grand hotel, allowing my little family to explore the haunted ruins and picnic in it’s shady demesne. Some of these photos are from even earlier years, perhaps 2006/7… It was a time of saving turf on the bog and then visiting in winter to see if there was any still in stacks along that I had missed…fuel cost money I simply did not have! Still, days of poverty were also days of plenty, as I watched the swans on Lough Meelagh, or was greeted by mists over the mountains that my grandsons and I called “Dragon’s Breath!” These photographs were found at a most auspicious time as the world emerges from the lockdown imposed by Covid 19, into an uncertain rebirthing, where all that was is now contained in the previous chapter and all that will be unfolds as we tentatively turn the pages of the story of our lives. This is a time to look to what has endured, timelessly down through millennia and know that we also have endured…and will continue to do so, but with a new story to tell. A story that, if we are to go forward, will see us re-aligning our values with what really matters…Mother Earth! This strange stone mound is burrowed into the bank behind the Stone Circle and is half-hidden by Ferns and shrubs…I deliberately do not show this, for it is part of another story… Here we are in the month of Bealtaine 2020, with trees that now cast shade and a landscape enriched by love, care and devotion to the Great Mother. It is a good base on which I can move forward. The times are changing and change is what we make it!Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at what we have and what we do not need as we prepare to step into the new world!
Note: My address and email are now on the right side of this page. Sadly I do not have the time to respond to personal emails.
Bealtaine Bookshop: open as always!
I refuse to avail of the income derived from allowing Ads on ANY of the Bealtaine Cottage social media, so a big thank you for supporting the Bookshop and my Patreon Page. All of what I do is for ALL to benefit from, nothing is behind a Paywall.
This website costs me a little over €300 per year to host all my work…hundreds of blogs and over 20,000 photographs, with NO ADVERTISING allowed, enabling me to keep total creative control over my work.
All books, maps and calendars are printed here in Ireland and posted from my local Post Office…NOT ONE CENT goes to the world’s first TRILLIONAIRE, Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD!
Blessings to each and every one of you XXX Colette and Jack
