This Could Change the World!

Posted March 10, 2014

Filed under Bealtaine Cottage, Current Affairs, E.U., Growing Food, Inspiration, Ireland, Leitrim, Permaculture, Seed-Saving, Seeds, Trees, Woodland

Real Crisis in the Economy, Economic Forecasts, Economic Recovery, …the list of headlines, news and political in-fighting over the economy seems endless.

However, the figures that are collected year on year, collated and spun out to us all, regarding the state of our country’s economy, are referred to as GDP or Gross Domestic Product.

GDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year.

This includes trees.

Dead trees.

Only dead trees!

Trees that have been cut down and transported out of the country, or sold.

Now, imagine this…

What if living trees were included in GDP?

For, after all, a tree is of more value to us all, alive than dead!

A tree is worth $193,250…

According to Professor T.M.Das of the University of Calcutta. A tree living for 50 years will generate $31,250 worth of oxygen, provide $62,000 worth of air pollution control, control soil erosion and increase soil fertility to the tune of $31,250, recycle $37,500 worth of water and provide a home for animals worth $31,250. This figure does not include the value of fruits, lumber or beauty derived from trees. Just another sensible reason to take care of our forests.

From Update Forestry Michigan State University

GDP is one the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country’s economy.

It represents the total dollar value of all goods produced by that country…

But, surely, the health of an economy is as much predicated on the health of it’s people, land, air and soil, as it is on exported dollar goods?

Can you begin to imagine how the inclusion of all living trees could change how we regard economic health, wealth, growth and progress?

This small step could change the world!

******************************

You can place an order for seeds harvested here at Bealtaine cottage, from the plants seen growing here…all strong and vigorous. Click on the link below that will take you to the selection available:

https://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-for-sale/

I’m happy to write, photograph, podcast, YouTube and Facebook on behalf of Mother Earth…it would be great if you could take a second or two to press the LIKE button, leave a comment, or even subscribe to Bealtaine Cottage Good Life…

https://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-good-life/

The Heart of the Matter

Posted November 24, 2013

Filed under Animals, Cats, Crafts, Dogs, Inspiration, Ireland, Leitrim, Lifestyle, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre is a wonderful place for any unwanted dog or cat to end up…because 97% of these poor, abandoned animals are re-homed!

Today I visited Christine Coulson, the lady whose dedicated commitment to the welfare of animals in this part of Ireland, made the sanctuary possible.

Chistine opened this light of hope for the unwanted and stray cats and dogs, back in 1997 and has worked continuously, for the protection and welfare of abandoned animals.

Back in September, I held an “Open Gardens” fundraiser for Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre and raised 610 euros…thanks to all the friends and supporters of Bealtaine Cottage, who came from all over Ireland and sent donations from all over the world!

Christine has been quite ill over these past few months and was only well enough recently for this presentation to take place.

I’m sure you’ll all raise a glass with me, in wishing this great woman, good health, now and in the future.

Back in the cottage, I’ve been busy making cards.

The theme of hearts is compelling for me…drawn towards the heart as a symbol, not just of love, but of compassion, hope and trust.

Celtic designs are also a passion of mine…the intricacy of the knot-work fascinates and soothes.

Hearts and cats…inseparable!

And hearts and seeds, for the love of bees!

(I will be adding a little section to the top of the website especially for hand-made cards…X)

A Wonderful Donation!

Posted September 18, 2013

Filed under Animals, Dogs, Inspiration, Ireland, Leitrim, Permaculture

This arrived by special delivery this morning from a lovely lady who visited Bealtaine Cottage all the way from Austria.

Her name is Monika and her kindness for animals is abundant.

Monika has a gorgeous little dog named Bimbo, seen here.

Monika has donated this £375 to the fund-raiser weekend total of 200 euros.

The grand total now stands around 600 euros!

Christine, who runs the sanctuary, is in hospital this morning having an operation…please be mindful of her and wish her a speedy recovery, for she does amazing work and is quite devoted to unwanted animals…97% are re-homed!

I have organized to visit Christine next week to hand over the entire donation.

Once again, bless you all for your kindness and generosity to this cause, so close to my heart. XXX

Non-Profit Organization

Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre 0719648300 leitrimawt@eircom.net

As the Sun Sets on Bealtaine

Posted September 8, 2013

Filed under Animals, Bealtaine Cottage, Garden, Gardens, Inspiration, Leitrim, Lifestyle, Organic Garden, Permaculture, Thoughts, Uncategorized

The Open Permaculture Gardens Weekend has been a great success.

Visitors have come and walked the gardens, shared the spirit of this little home and talked with others, gathered around the ancient and rather rickety table in this small kitchen.

People, from all walks of life, have shown tremendous generosity, in donating to the Leitrim Animal Welfare Sanctuary.

There is a fantastic 200 Euros to bring to the Sanctuary on Tuesday!

Despite the wet weather, great spirited followers of this blog travelled from all over Ireland, to spend time together in the gardens of Bealtaine Cottage.

Many expressed deep emotion to be here, in what has evolved as a sanctuary for Mother Nature.

After hours of walking the gardens and sharing stories, tea, cake and soup, visitors left with plants, books, cuttings and ideas, filled with a determination to create their own Eden!

Thank you to Jane Forrester, of Bandon Pottery, who travelled the 10 hour round trip from West Cork,

Sean and Roisin Mc Cluskey from Donegal,

Paddy kelly,

Isabel Huroczlie,

Claudia Kohler,

Paul Browne,

Patricia Wallace from Dunboyne

Joe Morrissey from Dunboyne

Sandra MacLiammon from Cavan

John Murray from Navan

John McAdam from Slane

Peter and Caroline

Nathan and Janet

Iris Weber

Dermot Henry

Sinead Jackson

Una Parsons and Gerry Hunt

What a wonderful, wonderful gathering of people under the eaves of Bealtaine Cottage!

Your wonderful energy resonates here this evening…thank you one and all!

Come Visit the Permaculture Gardens this weekend!

Posted September 5, 2013

Filed under Bealtaine Cottage, Books, Cottage, Country Living, Edible Gardens, Garden, Gardens, Inspiration, Leitrim, Permaculture, Seeds

The Open Weekend at Bealtaine Cottage approaches…

yes…

It’s this weekend everyone!

You have a special invitation to come and spend as long as you like on either Saturday or Sunday, this weekend, exploring the gardens, asking questions, looking inside the cottage and just having a lovely time in the permaculture gardens here at Bealtaine Cottage…and…it’s all for charity!

I am posting directions at the end of this blog, so you will find Bealtaine Cottage quite easy!

Carole from Whispering Pines in the U.S. has already donated the entrance fee, of 10euros, despite the fact that America is a long way off! Carole at http://whisperingpinesfiberandherbfarm.com/ writes a lovely blog every day all about her homestead and lovely animals…I often pop by!

Hopefully there will be at least 100 euros to donate to The Leitrim Animal Sanctuary by the close of the weekend!

Your 10 euro donation includes tea and lashings of cake, home made soup with home made bread and staying all day if you wish! How’s that for value…and you will be helping animals in distress!

There will be lots of tea, fresh coffee and home made cakes!

If it’s wet, don’t fret…with two covered verandas and a cosy cottage, there will be lots of dry space to enjoy your morning or afternoon tea!

I am selling a lot of my gardening books too…some great books!

There is lots to see and many secret paths to explore…so come along to the Permaculture Gardens at Bealtaine Cottage this weekend..

Directions to Bealtaine Cottage…

From Ballyfarnon travel on the R284 to Keadue for approx 4km. In Keadue turn right at the top of Village, signposted Leitrim Village. Travel for approx 2km and take right (L 15036) and house is third on the left.

From Carrick on Shannon, travel on the R284 to Leitrim Village, approx 5km. In Leitrim Village go over bridge and take left road signposted Keadue. Travel for approx 6km and take left (L 15036) and house is third on the left.

Distance from:

Keadue 2km
Boyle 12km
Carrick on Shannon 11km
Sligo 35km
Dublin 160km

Time to Reconnect with Gaia

Posted August 14, 2013

Filed under Autumn, Country Living, Gaia, Garden, Inspiration, Leitrim, Organic Garden, Permaculture, Spirituality, Sustainable Living

This has been a great year for trees…amazing growth!

Willow, pollarded and coppiced has made good growth too!

The morning has been wet, but very still and autumnal.

Crocosmia Montbretia is struggling to climb out from underneath the lush leaf growth. Both Che Mousey-Bear and Sammy-Bear have walked the gardens with me, despite the rain and the wet conditions.

Strange little fellows!

The branches I chopped earlier in the summer are almost ready to be stacked in wig-wam shape to dry out.

You can see from this photograph just how near the bedrock is to the surface of the land…I garden on very thin, poor soil on a north-facing slope!

Everything is grown from seed, so has a fighting chance of making it, despite the far from perfect conditions.

Mother Nature has worked miracles here at Bealtaine Cottage!

The rain has clung to cobwebs all over the gardens…

One web dangles with raindrops…

The new orchard is making good progress. I am keeping the ground well mulched as the trees, bushes and flowers find their feet!

Now working towards installing solar and wind power, your donation is much appreciated.

Blessings from Bealtaine Cottage

Towards Lughnasa and an Open Weekend!

Posted June 26, 2013

Filed under Animals, Cats, celebrations, Celtic Mythology, Celts, Culture, Dublin, Fairies, Folklore, Ireland, Leitrim, Lughnasa, Permaculture, Tea, Thoughts, Woodland

The festival of Lughnasa honours the Celtic god Lugh of the Tuatha de Danann.

Lugh was the god of arts and crafts among Celtic tribes and Lughnasa sat high in the Calendar of festivals.

Lughnasa ushered in the harvest season.

Lughnasa was a celebration of, and for, the Divine, for a successful harvest.

This ancient festival marks the first day of autumn in the Celtic Calendar, and thus the start of the harvest season.

In Britain Lughnasa is known as Lammas, from the Anglo-Saxon hlaef-mass meaning ‘loaf-mass’.

Here in Ireland the nearest Sunday to Lughnasa was known as Cally Sunday, the traditional day to lift the first new potatoes.

The man of the house would dig the first stalk, while the woman of the house would don a new white apron and cook them.

The floor would be spread with fresh, green rushes in their honour.

Lughnasa was celebrated on the hills and mountains as well as the valleys.

Climbing a hill or mountain and celebrating with lighting a bonfire was, and remains, a tradition.

In addition to climbing hills, Lughnasa was also a time for visiting holy wells.

Lughnasa falls on August the 1st and the evening before is usually when the celebrations begin…

I am hosting an “Open Weekend,” for anyone who wishes to visit the Permaculture gardens of Bealtaine Cottage.

This will be over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of September and in aid of The Leitrim Animal Welfare Shelter, so there will be charge of ten euros per adult…and will include tea and home made cakes!

This wonderful animal sanctuary is where I have adopted two dogs from, including Jack!

If you would like to visit Bealtaine Cottage on this special open weekend, please let me know in advance, so I can make arrangements for cakes, teas and coffees to be available!

This is a link to a short film made by RTE TV all about this wonderful animal sanctuary!

Hopefully we can raise much needed funds for this cause so close to my heart!

********************************************************************************

Thanks to the following lovely people who have donated to the Leitrim Animal Sanctuary…

Carole (wspines) from Whispering Pines Farm

Vivien Cruickshank

Save Our Planet Awards

Posted June 25, 2013

Filed under Bealtaine Cottage, Current Affairs, Inspiration, Ireland, Leitrim, Organic Garden, Permaculture

I am delighted to report that I’ve been nominated for the SAVE OUR PLANET AWARDS 2013!

This is organized within the North West of Ireland.

Bealtaine Cottage has been nominated in the Organic Agriculture section, which is now open for voting…perhaps you would like to vote for me…that would be great!

Here’s the link…

Colette O’Neill

An Awards Event to Recognise and Acknowledge the Extraordinary

Transformation Permaculture

Posted April 11, 2013

Filed under Animals, Cottage, Country Living, Eco-Living, Garden, hens, Inspiration, Leitrim, Organic Garden, Permaculture, Smallholding, Sustainable Living

Permaculture is about creating a beautiful space that feels like paradise.

It’s about taking better care of oneself and the planet.

Permaculture design can be applied in the city just as easily as the country.

Real permaculture is about taking care of ourselves in a way that is in relation to the planet.

The notion of paradise is one that has been sold to us as only attainable after death.

Strange really…as this earth is the paradise we have been waiting for! Permaculture is a path towards more meaningful living, where all aspects of one’s life are connected.

Permaculture design is focused on skills, rather than the money to buy whatever it is one needs, or is told one has to have!

The way we design and build our homes, often excludes the way in which we live our lives.

For example, here in Ireland we have an excess of rain, so a covered veranda makes good sense.

Of all the new houses I have seen constructed, not one has a veranda. Permaculture is about re-connecting…with everything that makes up our lives.

**************************************

Thank you for supporting this blog

Bealtaine Cottage Calendar 2020 NOW REDUCED!

This calendar celebrates the magic of Bealtaine and the evolution to a Sanctuary for Life. The Hare was viewed by the ancient Celts as being the link between this world and the Otherworld-a supernatural world which is directly linked to nature. The Hare is known for being able to run between our world and the 'Otherworld'. Shapeshifters are widely known in Ireland to take on the form of the Hare. This is told in the famous story of the Celtic warrior Oisín. The Hare guards both the entrance to and exit from, the Fairy Wood at Bealtaine. The Calendar, which features over 50 photographs and all the Celtic festivals, includes Postage and packing WORLDWIDE and can be posted on your behalf as a gift, from Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland. (Pre-orders now accepted) WAS: 16.50€ INCL P&P NOW: 13.50€ INCL P&P

€13.50

February 2020
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jan
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29

Real Crisis in the Economy, Economic Forecasts, Economic Recovery, …the list of headlines, news and political in-fighting over the economy seems endless.

However, the figures that are collected year on year, collated and spun out to us all, regarding the state of our country’s economy, are referred to as GDP or Gross Domestic Product.

GDP is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a year.

This includes trees.

Dead trees.

Only dead trees!

Trees that have been cut down and transported out of the country, or sold.

Now, imagine this…

What if living trees were included in GDP?

For, after all, a tree is of more value to us all, alive than dead!

A tree is worth $193,250…

GDP is one the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country’s economy.

It represents the total dollar value of all goods produced by that country…

But, surely, the health of an economy is as much predicated on the health of it’s people, land, air and soil, as it is on exported dollar goods?

Can you begin to imagine how the inclusion of all living trees could change how we regard economic health, wealth, growth and progress?

This small step could change the world!

I’m happy to write, photograph, podcast, YouTube and Facebook on behalf of Mother Earth…it would be great if you could take a second or two to press the LIKE button, leave a comment, or even subscribe to Bealtaine Cottage Good Life…

Share this:

Like this:

Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre is a wonderful place for any unwanted dog or cat to end up…because 97% of these poor, abandoned animals are re-homed!

Today I visited Christine Coulson, the lady whose dedicated commitment to the welfare of animals in this part of Ireland, made the sanctuary possible.

Chistine opened this light of hope for the unwanted and stray cats and dogs, back in 1997 and has worked continuously, for the protection and welfare of abandoned animals.

Back in September, I held an “Open Gardens” fundraiser for Leitrim Animal Welfare Centre and raised 610 euros…thanks to all the friends and supporters of Bealtaine Cottage, who came from all over Ireland and sent donations from all over the world!

Christine has been quite ill over these past few months and was only well enough recently for this presentation to take place.

I’m sure you’ll all raise a glass with me, in wishing this great woman, good health, now and in the future.

Back in the cottage, I’ve been busy making cards.

The theme of hearts is compelling for me…drawn towards the heart as a symbol, not just of love, but of compassion, hope and trust.

Celtic designs are also a passion of mine…the intricacy of the knot-work fascinates and soothes.

Hearts and cats…inseparable!

And hearts and seeds, for the love of bees!

(I will be adding a little section to the top of the website especially for hand-made cards…X)

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

The Open Permaculture Gardens Weekend has been a great success.

Visitors have come and walked the gardens, shared the spirit of this little home and talked with others, gathered around the ancient and rather rickety table in this small kitchen.

People, from all walks of life, have shown tremendous generosity, in donating to the Leitrim Animal Welfare Sanctuary.

There is a fantastic 200 Euros to bring to the Sanctuary on Tuesday!

Despite the wet weather, great spirited followers of this blog travelled from all over Ireland, to spend time together in the gardens of Bealtaine Cottage.

Many expressed deep emotion to be here, in what has evolved as a sanctuary for Mother Nature.

After hours of walking the gardens and sharing stories, tea, cake and soup, visitors left with plants, books, cuttings and ideas, filled with a determination to create their own Eden!

Thank you to Jane Forrester, of Bandon Pottery, who travelled the 10 hour round trip from West Cork,

Sean and Roisin Mc Cluskey from Donegal,

Paddy kelly,

Isabel Huroczlie,

Claudia Kohler,

Paul Browne,

Patricia Wallace from Dunboyne

Joe Morrissey from Dunboyne

Sandra MacLiammon from Cavan

John Murray from Navan

John McAdam from Slane

Peter and Caroline

Nathan and Janet

Iris Weber

Dermot Henry

Sinead Jackson

Una Parsons and Gerry Hunt

What a wonderful, wonderful gathering of people under the eaves of Bealtaine Cottage!

Your wonderful energy resonates here this evening…thank you one and all!

Share this:

Like this:

The Open Weekend at Bealtaine Cottage approaches…

yes…

It’s this weekend everyone!

You have a special invitation to come and spend as long as you like on either Saturday or Sunday, this weekend, exploring the gardens, asking questions, looking inside the cottage and just having a lovely time in the permaculture gardens here at Bealtaine Cottage…and…it’s all for charity!

I am posting directions at the end of this blog, so you will find Bealtaine Cottage quite easy!

Carole from Whispering Pines in the U.S. has already donated the entrance fee, of 10euros, despite the fact that America is a long way off! Carole at http://whisperingpinesfiberandherbfarm.com/ writes a lovely blog every day all about her homestead and lovely animals…I often pop by!

Hopefully there will be at least 100 euros to donate to The Leitrim Animal Sanctuary by the close of the weekend!

Your 10 euro donation includes tea and lashings of cake, home made soup with home made bread and staying all day if you wish! How’s that for value…and you will be helping animals in distress!

There will be lots of tea, fresh coffee and home made cakes!

If it’s wet, don’t fret…with two covered verandas and a cosy cottage, there will be lots of dry space to enjoy your morning or afternoon tea!

I am selling a lot of my gardening books too…some great books!

There is lots to see and many secret paths to explore…so come along to the Permaculture Gardens at Bealtaine Cottage this weekend..

Directions to Bealtaine Cottage…

Share this:

Like this:

This has been a great year for trees…amazing growth!

Willow, pollarded and coppiced has made good growth too!