Our garden, gardens visited, occasional thoughts and book reviews
After all these years it is still amazing and wonderful and a perennial enjoyment, that change in the garden to autumn (fall) colour. A back garden view with Betula utilis 'Jacquemontia' on the right. A front garden view: An overhang of Parrotia persica, Hamamelis x intermedia and an Acer palmatum seedling below. We are almost … Continue reading A Rapid Fall
Storm Austen passed over us on Thursday bringing plenty of rain and some strong winds, but it did no damage to the garden - or house, or road, or neighbours - except for a few light, mainly dead branches from trees. Storm Boelo is just upon us as I write this Saturday morning but it … Continue reading Between the Storms
This site in Co. Wicklow has had various existences over the years. St. Mochura founded a monastery here in the seventh century, a fact still reflected in the Anglacised name, Kilmacurragh, The Church of Mochura. After the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland (1649 - 1653), a particularly brutal and merciless campaign, the land passed to the … Continue reading The National Botanic Gardens Kilmacurragh
A visit to Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford, Co. Wicklow, is an autumn treat we look forward to each year. The gardens are attractive and worth a visit right through the year but the gardens are particularly special and beautiful when the trees change to their autumn colours. Edward Walpole, a Dublin businessman, bought the … Continue reading Autumn Colour at Mount Usher Gardens
I've taken a screenshot of this image from the Bantry House website as it gives a far better overview of the gardens than I could have managed. I imagine a drone camera was employed. There may be beauty in decay. A house and garden long past their prime may continue to hold an essence of … Continue reading Bantry House and Gardens
We just passed through Kinsale, on a bit of a drive around during a few days away from home. We stopped briefly, a couple of hours, and walked the centre of the town, the area around the harbour, the waterfront, and a little into the older part of the town. It wasn't an extensive or … Continue reading Under Sail
It is one of those changing times of the year, one of those seasons when we seem to be constantly taking note of shifts as they occur, signs that things are changing. Hardly an evening goes by without a comment on how early it is now becoming dark. Sunset today in Waterford is 6.46p.m. and … Continue reading The Rats are in!
Continuing our wandering in Cork - and recounting it here because it is raining outside and there is little else to do. I have finished a book, The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden, and want a break before moving on to the next and, so, will take time to write a little. It was, … Continue reading Along the Shore to Courtmac
Timoleague is a small village in the south of Co. Cork, between Kinsale and Clonakinty and close to Courtmacsherry, our destination that morning. We were simply passing through, a matter of two minutes at most, but the village caught my attention and my imagination. There were two, I believe, active churches and three in ruin … Continue reading A Passing Fascination
We went for a few days to the "Inchydoney Island Hotel & Spa" in west Cork, a seaside hotel a few minutes south of Clonakilty. The hotel is well reviewed, seems to receive a general 9/10 scoring which I feel is reasonably accurate. The rooms were good, cleanliness reasonable, staff excellent and food outstanding (too … Continue reading Sand, Sea and Sky is Enough for Me!
