Life in The Foest

The weather is very changeable here in Ireland at the moment.  Warm and sunny one minute and torrential downpours with gale force winds the next.  So today even though it was a little cold and windy, the sun was out and it was dry, we decided to make the most of it and  head off for a walk in the forest.  We've been so used to seeing the bare wood of the trees here since winter started.  The only colours visible were the brown of the trees, dull yellow of last years moss and the grey of the sky reflected on the fast flowing river.
But today it was different.  The change in the weather and the slight rise in temperatures, finally spring is making an appearance.

I love the contrast of the bright yellow of the willow and the brown of the bare trees behind.  We were trying to decide what these are called.  I used to call them catkins, Lucy calls them cats tails and Patrick says they are pussy willows.  What do you call them??

The next spot of colour that we met on our path was the wild gorse.  I love to see this blooming because to me it indicates the beginning of summer.  I love when they are in full bloom and the fields and hillsides glow yellow with their flowers.  Not flowers to be picked and enjoyed in the home but to be appreciated from afar.

The shaggy petals of the wild primroses make it so much more adorable and attractive to the cultivated ones.  They look so delicate that if a gust of wind blew they would tear straight of the stem.

According to my son the new fresh growth of the moss on the forest floor looks like something from an alien planet.  What do you think?  It seems so spiky and rough in the picture but it was just so soft and bouncy to touch.

I was glad that I took this picture because it made me finally look up it's name.  It's called Lesser Celandine. Why when a flower has such beautiful simplicity do they have to call it "lesser".  It seems so unfair to me!!

And finally just as we were about to walk back to the car, I spotted these on the ground at the base of a big fir tree.  There were mountains of them scattered in all directions.  The squirrels must have been having a great feast after waking up from their winter sleep.  I wonder did they sleep in this year due to the bad weather??

What did you spend your Sunday doing?
Rosie xx

Felling the need to bring spring into the house this week as there is no sign of it outside in this freezing cold weather.  It has been trying so hard to snow the last couple of days with the tiniest of snowflakes drifting down for only a few minutes at a time.  We were all disappointed that no snow stayed on the ground.  Unlike everybody else we got no snow this year and we were quite willing to take the burden from other places to enjoy it here for a while.  We seem to be stuck between seasons at the moment.  Feeling wintery still but spring not ready to be sprung.  So we decided to buy some beautiful bright primroses and plant them in an old orange box.  It definitely brightens up the window sill for Easter. The house is full of daffodils and tulips. The Easter tree is now dominating the kitchen table, it's branches laden with chocolate eggs and furry little chics.  The kids had a great time decorating it but I think that they will probably have more fun slowly picking away at those chocolate burdens!!

 Happy Easter to everybody!  I hope that the weather is good for all going egg hunting.  And for those that don't need to hunt for their eggs, don't forget that there is no such thing as 'too much chocolate' at Easter!!

Rosie xx

PS. Thank you to everybody that have become followers.  I get so excited when I see a new follower on my list and visiting all your blogs.  Even more exciting is when I get comments from you all.  It's so great to see that there is somebody out there reading my little blog.  Thank you all so much again.

I Kid You Not !

As Christmas approached, I decided that I didn't want to buy in any sweets or biscuits for the holidays.  I wanted to bake our treats and not end up having half eaten tins of biscuits sitting in the pantry until Easter which is what happens every year.  And I kept to this promise.  But unfortunately I forgot to tell my husband and one day he came home laden with a big variety of all that I was avoiding.  Then at Christmas we got even more as presents!  Ahhhh Pulling out hair time....  I tried to give away some of the Hubbies purchases, but no everybody had enough already.
So since Christmas I have eaten......TWO tins of Cadbury Roses, TWO tins of Quality Street, one LARGE Panetone, one small Pantetone, one tin of biscuits, two trays of mince pies, two packets of Lebkuchen biscuits, a kids selection box!!!!  I Kid you not.  I feel like such a pig.  After my Hubbie buying all that stuff, he said that he didn't like any of it and the kids weren't interested either.  I'm not one to say no to chocolate and I didn't want to let them rot in the pantry...Am I just making excuses for myself now?  I never thought that I would say this but if I never see another piece of chocolate again, it'll be too soon!

So off I went today for a super long walk with the kids and the dog in the lovely cold crisp day.
The river was very high after a week of very heavy rain and gurgling gently as we walked alongside.
I was surprised to see the first signs of spring emerging.

I simply love the colour of the tiny buds on these branches.  Such a lovely shade of lilac.

My son took this picture of some fungi that he found.  It's just amazing what beautiful colours can be found in nature.

And now that I've made the big confession to you about what a glut I've been, I'm going to continue walking off all of the excessive festive feasting.
I bet nobody else has made such a pig of themselves as I have.  Or have you?
Chat you soon,
Rosie