Observed by Consciousness

Reality only exists when it is observed… These are images I photographed yesterday…what I observed here in the woodland gardens and food forest that is now Bealtaine Cottage. Reality can only be observed by consciousness. Is this why we are here? Are we part of the consciousness of Mother Earth? I believe we shape the beauty around us with both our physical selves and our conscious minds. We often hear the statement, ‘seeing is believing.’ I say, believing is seeing. Belief in the sentient being that is Mother Earth has formed a major part of the energy that has manifested…

My 100 Day Juice Fast

May 20, 2018May 20, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine Cottage · Health · juice fast · Life · LifestyleTags: Colette O'Neill · diet · fasting · health · juice fast · lifestyle · vegan plant based diet41 Comments

This was me last summer. I weighed over sixteen stones and felt encumbered by all the excess weight I was carrying. This year, on March 19, at the age of 62, I began a 100 day Juice Fast…for a great many reasons. Today I am over half way through my 100 day journey, Day 63 to be exact. I am feeling fantastic. I am in the process of writing a book all about my journey. In the meantime, here is a small selection of photos that have formed part of that journey so far.

So Grateful

May 8, 2018 Categories: Abundance · Alchemy · Bealtaine Cottage · Goddess-Permaculture · Growing Food · Permaculture · Permaculture Ireland · Simple Living · Smallholding · Spirituality · Summer · Sustainable Living · Trees · UncategorizedTags: Chief Luther Standing Bear · Colette O'Neill · earth · environment · Food Forest · garden · goddess · humanity · life · mother · native american · Native wisdom · regenerative · trees · woodland8 Comments

Mother Earth is thriving. Her abundance is nothing less than magnificent. Everywhere on this land She thrives. I have found a great many Cherry Trees She has seeded and grown over the past two years, but have remained hidden in the general mayhem of Spring and Summer, only to be discovered this year as Spring seemed to struggle and lag behind, so allowing me to see. It is simply delightful to behold. The mother tree was planted by me a mere 13 yrs ago and already she has brought forth abundance. This Field Maple is bearing fruit this year and…

Bealtaine Cottage Early Summer Album

May 5, 2018May 8, 2018 Categories: awakening · Bealtaine Cottage · Blessing · Country Living · Gardens · Goddess-Permaculture · Miracles · PermacultureTags: animals · bees · birds · blog · cats · celts · design · dogs · environment · gardens · goddess · grow · happy · hope · humanity · Ireland · life · media · Permaculture · reflections · summer · sun · visitors15 Comments

It has been some time… “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ~ Henry James Just as the rosebuds are swelling, early Summer makes an appearance. It has been a long cold Winter and Spring. Euphorbia has brightened the veranda with its vivid lime green. And finally, finally the garden stirs into full life. “Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.” ~ Pablo Neruda “Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet…

A Feast of Spring

March 16, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: A Cottage and Three Acres · A Guide to the Deep Midwinter · Colette O'Neill · easiest garden · flowers of Spring · garden · gardens in Spring · Goddess-Permaculture · In Search of the Goddess Rising · Ireland · magical · Mythical Map · Permaculture · Ribes · Spring · woodland garden24 Comments

Spring forever appears the soothing music part of lyrics unspoken. It thaws the frozen fears, mends the wounded heart that Winter has broken. ~Aarno Davidson Tomorrow is the national holiday of Ireland, St Patrick’s Day. As is the norm., the weather is promised cold and a little unpredictable in terms of snow, rain and wind. Here at Bealtaine Cottage the march of Spring continues unabated. Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer. ~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth As always, the mornings here are filled with promise…

How To Make A Willow Arch For Your Garden…For Free

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: Bealtaine cottage · Colette O'Neill · cottage garden · country · country cottage · Goddess-Permaculture · how to make a willow arch · Ireland · Permaculture · spring in the garden · woodland garden13 Comments

Go out, go out I beg of you And taste the beauty of the wild. Behold the miracle of the earth With all the wonder of a child. ~Edna Jaques The miracle of Spring is now very close. Birds are beginning to sing and all over the woodland gardens of Bealtaine Cottage, life stirs. I am sharing this post with you all today, as Willow can be collected at this time of year and used to great beauty in the garden. This is How To Make A Willow Arch… Making a Willow Arch for the Lughnasadh Garden…this is…

Changes

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: 2018 · Bealtaine cottage · book · change · Colette O'Neill · writer11 Comments

It was a time of change. 2017 brought a new direction for Bealtaine Cottage. What began many years ago as a blog, then a website, transitioned into an almost daily video on YouTube. The book, ‘A Cottage and Three Acres,’ was released in April 2017, with over 1,000 sales to date, and all from this website. The decision to have this book and all other Bealtaine Cottage books printed here in Ireland, rather than being off-shored to Amazon, meant a great amount of personal financial sacrifice, but was rewarded with simply amazing support from you…something which I am eternally grateful…

Early Lughnasadh in the Gardens of Bealtaine

August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: autumn · Bealtaine cottage · bees · Colette O'Neill · earth · Earth Goddess · garden · Ireland · lughnasadh · oldest permaculture smallholding · Permaculture8 Comments

The last flush of Summer happens in early Lughnasadh. As I walk the gardens in late evening, the earthy taste of Autumn pervades the air. The wheel turns as endings and beginnings wind their way through the days of change. All is change… Mists form in early morning cool air as heat continues to rise from the earth. Soon the clothes of summer will be packed away, to be replaced with woollens and woven items more suited to the cooling of Lughnasadh. In the world of man the destruction and threats of destruction continues, as though in another dimension. Mother…

The Long-Awaited Map of Bealtaine Cottage and Gardens

July 15, 2017July 15, 2017 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: Bealtaine cottage · Colette O'Neill · design · goddess map · map · Permaculture · permaculture map16 Comments

The Map of Bealtaine Cottage and Gardens is now with the printers in Sligo…finally! The tiny error in the spelling of Ballyfermoyle has been corrected, (not shown on here), and I’m hoping to pick the 200 copies towards the end of next week. This map has been painstakingly drawn with fine detail and creativity by the artist and cartographer, David Gascoingne. David Gascoigne Thanks for a wonderful day yesterday Colette, great connections made and great work done. And thanks once again for the opportunity & for supporting & encouraging me, I am still buzzing today & I have started on the…