The promise of peaches growing outdoors in the west of Ireland, another Bealtaine Cottage first! Blossom on these home grown trees, grown from seed, is looking good. So far, with only the first month behind us, this has been a remarkable Spring!
New Bird Boxes have been added to the rich habitat, now in its fifteenth year on these three acres.
The interior of the tunnel has been remodelled to create a sanctuary in which to enjoy being in the garden, even in very wet weather!
Sanctuaries are much needed in today’s world!
The plastic has been washed inside and out, ready for its fourteenth year!
The area around the tunnel, which includes compost heaps and potting corner, is now tidy.
Crocosmia is growing into fine clumps of lime green foliage.
Rhubarb doesn’t need forcing in the mild climate enjoyed here in the west of Ireland. 
Beds have been well mulched and Rhubarb banked up with enriched compost.
Work in the garden never stops, because Mother Earth never sleeps.
Sweet Peas have successfully germinated outdoors in plastic buckets. Many of you have been following this experiment.
There are lots more seeds germinating in this way and I expect them to be stronger and hardier for their experience being outdoors, even through the recent snow!
In between the outdoors work, clothes are hand-washed and hung out to dry in the wind and sporadic sunshine.
Potatoes are arranged to chit, as pots are brought together and prepared for potato planting.
In a home without television, reading is the great entertainment…my book of the moment is all about the incredible life of Vita Sackville-West…a rollicking good read in the form of a wonderful biography by Victoria Glendinning.
And, as always, whenever the weather allows, the back door is thrown open to welcome in the day that’s in it!
Books, Map, Calendar and Bumper Sticker selection…
Bealtaine Cottage Press:
https://bealtainecottage.com/bealtaine-cottage-publications-books-and-maps/
It was delightful to see the first catkins on the willow.
Heavy rain fell last night, so the pond was gushing!
Back up to the cottage to write this blog and upload some of the photographs. I have heaps more that I may put on a slideshow on YouTube.
To be oneself.
To be with others.
To be happy.
To be quiet and still.
To simply be!
We have forgotten…be kind, be kinder.
We are oft times unkind to ourselves.
We can never fully know or understand what others are struggling with, yet we all know the value of a kind word, a caring call or a shared coffee.
Being kind opens the door to personal happiness.
Body wellness is centred around being kind to oneself…something many of us never really think about…especially if we have others to care for.
In the past I have often posed the question, “who cares for the carers?”
Kindness changes everything.
This was the abiding message in the famous poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and yes, Rime is the correct spelling!
Being kind and casting a blessing on ‘slimy’ creatures, allowed the mariner to be freed from the corpse of the Albatross.
It is an epic poem and one worth reading, for it is a marvellous story and lesson.
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 here.
From the very first time I saw this place I envisioned a cottage in the woods, surrounded by the music of Nature and the beauty of life.
Their heady aroma moves through the trees in a binding spell of delight.
This will form one of the entrances to the new Lughnasadh Garden.
Outside the birdsong carries vibrant energy over the land.
On this, the longest day of the year, the Earth in the northern hemisphere basks in the glow of seemingly eternal light.
The shades of green seem endless, a patchwork of effervescence with splashes of outrageous colour.
As fast as flowers open they turn to seed and the future summers to come.
The hard work of the winter, creating the Lughnasadh Garden, has paid such rewards as could only have been imagined.
Midsummer marks the year in glorious technicolour and song, as befits Mother Earth. It’s like a birthday for her!
I have run out of space on this land…there is little room for more…yet more grows and arrives as gifts.
The workshop on July 1st covers aspects of co-creating a garden with Mother Earth, creating micro-climates, incorporating fruit and vegetables and the no-dig method of establishing, building and maintaining a regenerative Eden.
Aspects of seed saving will be part of the day.
A full walk and talk of the gardens will also be included.
You are welcome to take photographs and ask all the questions you may want.
Please allow for the weather in your outdoor clothing considerations…and footwear.
The day begins at 11am and finishes at 5pm.
Morning and afternoon tea and vegan cakes are included.
A vegan lunch, also included, is served at 1.30pm.
As of this posting there are two spaces left.
As I walked I thought about my Mother, my Grandmother and some of the women who have influenced my life, as Mother’s Day approaches…
Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland was certainly one of those women!
“The Irish presidential election of 1990 was the tenth held in Ireland and the first to include a female candidate. Independent politician Mary Robinson would go on to hold office for the next seven years. In the 1990 election, the Labour Party let it be known that it would run a candidate for the first time and nominated Robinson, a former Labour Party senator, and liberal campaigner. The renegade had been involved in the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform and is widely regarded and respected as atransformative figure in Ireland for liberalizing and revitalizing what was a conservative and low-profile political office. She was a remarkably popular president.” ~ 
My own questions formed around the environment in which I lived, most importantly the Earth and our relationship with her.
I felt empowered by Mary Robinson, as many women at home and abroad felt and continue to feel empowered.
The opportunity to fulfil my dream came over a decade later, when, throwing all caution to the wind, I embarked on what was to become known as the 
The book, “
I was not the only one though, for many, many others were embarking on a similar path all across Earth.
I spoke with all who visited Bealtaine Cottage about Mother Earth, when few people seemed to recognise her plight.
There was a distinct sense of energy rising from the very Earth herself…a form of communication at the most deeply intuitive level.
After years of feeling outcast because of what I sensed and felt, there happened a mighty shift in perception.
As I began to write and photograph what was happening at Bealtaine, so many of you tuned in…often in the most serendipitous of ways!
But, it was not accidental, for all is connected and often in ways we do not understand.
And so the website began reaching people all over the world.
What began as an impossible dream, became a reality of hope for many…that nothing is impossible!
That the doors of perception are not locked and barred!
We are all, each and every one of us on an incredible journey, each one unique, yet deeply connected to all and everything.
We are beautiful souls experiencing a human journey with the greatest Mother of them all…our own Mother Earth.