Tag: mist
The Month of Lughnasa
Lughnasa heralds the beginning of Autumn in the Celtic calendar.
Leaves have already begun to drop, with the gentle Birch tree being the first to shed.
There is so much fertility in this annual drop…Bealtaine now boasts reasonable soil, compared to ten years ago!
The change is equally gentle this year, as the summer gradually fades.Â
Sedums are developing their flower heads, slow to open, with big, flat, pink flowers coming through.
Pockets of light mist occur in the early evening, shrouding valleys and dips.
Lughnasa is my favourite month as the transition into Autumn begins.
Tonight a full moon will rise.
The air is still. Woodsmoke drifts lazily from the old stone chimney and bats begin to venture out.
I am half-sick of the daily news and the threat of war.
I have started knitting again, as a form of relaxing therapy and a choice to be constructive in the face of impending destruction!
Just handling the pure wool and staring at the colours and textures is both a comfort and a delight!
As we enter Autumn we are ready for change.
As we are driven into unstable times, so we need to prepare too.
Creating is important.
It keeps us grounded and optimistic.
The seasons continue, undisturbed by the vagaries of man.
And so shall I!
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EU Pimping Monoculture Failure!
Mist prevails as the earth slowly heats, releasing some of the water absorbed during the wettest winter on record here in Ireland.
The air is still and birdsong echoes through the foggy dew…
The first of the seeds are now sown in a big fish box in the tunnel, made from thick, white polystyrene, once marked out for the dump but rescued and up-cycled here at Bealtaine Cottage…perfect for seeds and young plants!
There’s a digger at work on the hill of Ballyfermoyle, I hear it’s machinations echoing through the misty morning.
Young trees and bushes are being torn up and tossed aside, in an effort for land to be measured by the EU on Google Maps.
Less tree cover shows more grass and it is grassland that the EU are paying farmers here in Ireland to grow.
More grass, more meat, more export, more globalization…you know the story!
And so, the Earth is losing more habitat in a land that cannot feed it’s own people…Ireland is heavily reliant on imported food!
Another famine lurks around the corner, as monoculture food systems are the order of the day, financed and controlled by the EU bureaucrats, blinkered up to the eyeballs with bullshit!
In this land of plenty there is little food grown around this area.
EU sponsored, subsidized and pimped Monoculture prevails!
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Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available seeds, this link will take you there…
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world…the donation remains the same no matter where you live, even Outer Mongolia!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
There are over 600 blogs in the archives on this site.
As an Ark for Nature, trees and wildlife, the smallholding of Bealtaine Cottage receives no grant aid from the EU, as only farm animals, monoculture and set-aside are grant-aided!
Your donation helps remedy that…
A Year at Bealtaine Cottage…
Not in any particular order…pictures of the year that was…
With the oven hot enough to bake a cake…my beloved Stanley Stove in the kitchen…
Early morning mist sweeps up the valley…
One of the Plum Trees laden with fruit…
The moon rising over the gardens…
Salix Contorta, or Twisted Willow, with Hag-Stones hanging from one of its branches.
Nasturtiums by the veranda.
Back of Bealtaine, near the main production gardens.
The lower pond in the Bog Garden.
My darling Missy…gone from this mortal coil, but her energy is felt…
Firing up the Rocket Stove with a bit of an old fence post…wicked heat!
Early Spring in the gardens near the tunnel.
Washing in the wind!
Home made compost.
Apple blossom…a great apple harvest every year without fail!
The tunnel in May…seedlings in pots and trays everywhere!
Productive gardens, around the tunnel and herb beds, in May
The Hen house…I will definitely get some more hens in 2014!
I miss the girls…hens are very relaxing to watch.
Bluebells under the kitchen window…I shall post some more tomorrow
Happy New Year to you all XXX and Blessings from Bealtaine.
Overwintering in the Lodge
The nights are drawing in fast now and the ice, frost and mist has been a nightly feature for about a week.
Autumn appears to continue during the day and Winter holds sway from darkness onward.
This morning was particularly beautiful, with swirls of icy mist hanging over the mountains and the air still and warming around the cottage.
The berries on the Pyracantha are turning deep in colour, as the Blackbird and Thrush both eye them up!
The Larch tree betond the Lodge is getting ready to shed its needles and the Purple Beech in the foreground hangs onto her leaves well into the middle of Spring!
Autumn is colourful and delightful and definitely my favourite season!
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Parsley grows through the winter in this old, bottom-less bread-bin, tucked into the raised stone bed…a good source of Iron and Vitamin C.
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Tiny Lichens are beginning to grow on this Birch tree…I love the delicate colours of the Lichens!
Bamboo and Beech compliment each other on the driveway…both are a source of energy and usefulness at Bealtaine. Bamboo lends itself well to many projects and makes fantastic tapers for using in the cottage, between the fire and candles!
Bamboo is also a wonderful medium to use when making wreathes, as it is very pliable when first cut and will bend into a circular shape with ease.
It can then be wrapped around with other plants and wood.
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Beech, seen here with Forsythia, grows into fairy tree shapes, all twisted and gnarled, reminiscent of the Arthur Rackham Fairy story  illustrations…these are indeed beautiful trees!
Red Dogwood comes into its own at the entrance to the Fairy Wood.
Do I believe in Fairies?
Indeed I do…don’t you?
Can you believe these cheeky little Perlagoniums, refusing to give up and go to sleep?
Tomorrow I shall lift them from their big pot and put them to bed for the winter!
A Life in the Country ~ A Beautiful Morning in the West of Ireland
Saturday morning, the 5th of November and the mist billows away as the sun heats up the ground…
Lovage and Lettuce…Easy Permaculture Crops in Ireland
The view from my window a few moments ago.
Mist is clearing upwards from the valley floor up towards the top of Kilronan Mountain.
There’s great promise in the day.
Frost has melted into the heat of the morning as the temperature rises…
As the buds burst open and the blossom thickens, the planting grows dense and shade descends below…the earth is once more protected from the impending heat of the summer.
Leaves opening on the dogwoods.
This is a good time of the year to feed plants like these.
I make up a sludge from chicken droppings that have been left to ferment.
Lovage is growing fast at the moment and will continue to grow, reaching heights of over seven feet by midsummer!
This is a perennial herb.
The flavour is intense…spiced celery and strong!
I use it in soups and curries.
