Yo-Yo Weekend

Well what a bank holiday weekend is was.  We were certainly kept busy and I'm only really recovering from it now.
It began with me smashing a tooth on a popcorn kernel resulting in emergency dental work.  Only when I arrived at the dentist did I discover that it was not one but two teeth that needed to be rebuilt!!  Oh what a wally am I??

There was a shopping trip to Galway city with the great company of my sister in law.  We bought some lovely fabric and a fantastic skirt sewing pattern and she has agreed to teach me some of her dressmaking tricks.  A beautiful lunch followed, all washed down with a lot of laughter and good hearted natter.  Unfortunately the main reason for the trip was to get my steroid injections.....YUK!

I had a couple of sleepless nights but the upside of that was that i was up for the sunrise and the dawn chorus.  This has to be my most favourite time of the day.  The magic of listening to the birds very slowly waking up, one by one.  As the sun rises, the silence is broken by one little faint birdsong soon multiplies to two and before you know it they are all singing their most beautiful songs with passion.  To me it sounds like they are all saying good morning to each other.

These solitary times at dawn means that I notice things that I may not necessarily notice.  Even though I was in a lot of pain after the horrible injections, I couldn't help but smile at the fresh growth that I was seeing all around me.  Look at these nettles.  Aren't they gorgeous.  The yellow to lime to green together with the shape of the leaves is so inspiring.  I think that it looks like a drop of bleach was tipped onto the centre of each cluster of leaves.

I must be the only person who loves dandelions.  The field behind our house is full of them and they look fantastic.  Actually I have never seen so many dandelions growing in every available space.  Covering all of the bog and the farmlands too.  I love their simplicity and their vibrancy.  Maybe because they are like me,  simple, cheerful but very annoying!!!!

After resting on Saturday, a gentle walk in the forest was what I needed.  And I was really delighted to see it full of life.  The bluebells were open and resembling a large purple carpet on the forest floor.  The ferns still coiled tightly while gathering the strength to open.  I have researched the top flower but have failed to find out what it is.  Would anybody be able to help me with that one?  I'd really love to know.

And Monday was by far the best of all the days.  The sun shone brightly and warmed the day.  We decided to take a visit to Belvedere House and Gardens.  They had a fun fair on for the long weekend and me being the big child that I am, just couldn't resist.  I was probably more excited about going than the kids were!!  After a couple of hours being thrown up and down, round and round on rides, we picked up our picnic and headed to the lakeside for a relaxing lunch.  The day was not yet finished though.  We decided to take a walk along the Narnia trail through the forest and on it's entrance we were greeted by the Oak King.  Isn't he just magnificent?

The trail was beautiful with lots of little statues hidden between the trees for the kids to seek out.

Somehow this guy looks very constipated to me, like he's sitting on the loo concentrating very hard on the matter in hand!!

And last but not least, meet Henry.  We spotted him in the gift shop on the way out and the Hubby thought that he looked very sad, so we decided to buy him and give him a home on our mantelpiece.   I really love him.  He's so well made and is one of my favourite colours too.  He suits the room perfectly.

Anyway I'm off for now.  my studio is coming tonight and hopefully I'll have something about that soon.  Fingers crossed!!
Rosie xx

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

A Hunting We Will Go...

Easter Sunday started off really well with big choc eggs galore.  This is mine, a lovely handcrafted Lir Co egg in a fantabby felt basket.  Sadly though i had to buy it for myself, knowing well that the Hubby was bound to forget.  And how right I was.  I was so glad that I bought this one.  The chocolate is thick and oh so velvety. plus I've been able to tease the Hubby for forgetting.  Mean aren't I!!

With icy cold wind blowing,we donned our bobble hats, sheepskin gloves and wellies and heading off to the Gruffalo forest to hunt for Easter Eggs.  In the deepest part of the forest, there is a small clearing and this is where the Easter Bunny lives.  We have been coming here to ask the Easter Bunny for eggs since the ids were able to walk.   And every single year he leaves a great trail of pretty foil covered eggs and maybe even a big choc bunny for each of the kids.

This year the hunt was the most difficult yet.  The eggs were really spread out and some were left in the strangest of places.  We were searching for over an hour but this made it even more fun.  The kids ran around frantically searching and screaming with excitement.

We ended up with a wonderful bounty of treats.  This is only half of what we collected.  We found eggs, beetles, ladybirds and bunnies.....all chocolate of course!

As we began to get too cold to stay out, I had to take a quick picture of this wonderful twisted tree.  It's amazing what can be found on nature.
Time for us all to have a glimpse at the pool in the forest to see how the frog spawn and tadpoles are getting on.  It was good to see that this spring time ritual is still going strong in this cold weather.  As the wind was beginning to sting our faces, we headed home to feast on our treats, the car smelling of chocolate and the rubber from our wellies.  Great day had all round.

Rosie xx

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