Too much

Sing for Earth Day Rostrevor 
singing in the forest after a morning workshop learning songs to praise the Earth.

It's been such a long time since I posted here - nearly three months - that I hardly know how to start writing.   It's not that there's been anything overly dramatic happening that has kept me away, just an accumulation of too much.   Too much distraction, too much general illness, too much tiredness, just too much.  Anyway, I'm back for now - not promising anything more than that, just to say hello and let you know we're all still alive here! 

So what have I been up to? 

We had a first trip of the year over to Scotland to do a couple of folk club gigs last month - it was harder than usual to get ourselves wound up and started, but by the third gig we were back in our stride again and the fourth gig of the week, when we got back home again, was superb. Great energy.  

crossing bridges in Scotland

My extra two new choirs have been enjoyable but I'm finding it hard to keep my energy up for three nights a week, especially during the dark months, driving on country roads and leaving a roaring fire after an early dinner.   Now with the brighter evenings it's not quite as bad.   But the one off workshops I've been doing -for International Women's Day and for Earth Day, have been very enjoyable.   I think I'd like to do more of those.   

Recording wise we're making good progress, finishing songs and getting guide tracks completed, ready for other musicians to add sparkle to them.   We are launching a crowdfunding campaign to presell that CD and get people involved with the process.   Here's the link if you're interested in contributing.  You can hear one of the songs which will be a single - People - in the background of the video.    

The view from Carrick Cottage Cafe in the Mournes on a sunny Easter Tuesday - heavenly.
The Isle of Man was visible in the distance and the place was absolutely packed. 

The garden is starting to perk up and I'm so excited to see that my wisteria has finally bloomed - I've always loved seeing very old wisteria after being in a house once on Orkney where the conservatory was just full of blooms and from there the whole house was filled with the heady smell.   I think I planted this one 5 years ago and patience has finally won out.  

Over Covid I've had more time to play with paper and paints and have dabbled with junk journalling which I really enjoy - it's great not to have to be brilliant at something and just enjoy sticking things in a book with glue. 

and playing with found poetry 

I think the best part of this pastime is all the bits to be bought - sweetie shop for grown ups lol. 

I have been dropping in from time to time to catch up with your writings and I was very grateful to Susan for getting in touch a while back to see if we were ok - I appreciated it so much Susan and hope I didn't scare you off with my ranting - it wasn't the best day when I wrote back !

Take care everyone and belated Bealtaine greetings. 

Blessings of Brigid's Day

 Beannachtai lá Féile Bhríde Ort

Blessings of Brigid's Day to you and yours

1st February, Imbolc, Brigid's Day, the start of Spring

I hope you are all keeping well.   We've had a lovely start to the year in this part of the world - bright skies and mild days.

Now the days are getting noticeably longer and there are the first signs of Spring. 

We've been busy in our recording studio finishing a new song to mark the day

Check out First of February here on YouTube

I had my first go at making a Brigid's cross with rushes I collected near my home house in Belleek.  You'll spot a little clip of me making it in the video of the song.  

Take care and enjoy the coming spring.
 

Happy New Year

From the Mourne to the Cooleys - winter sunshine

Happy New Year dear blogger friends.   May 2022 be kind to us all. 

Lots of love and blessings

Fil 

Winter Blessings

From our house to yours

Wishing you blessings of the season on these short days.  

Wherever you are in the world and however or whether you celebrate this winter holiday, I wish you peace, joy and good health for the coming days and months.  

Gorgeous Autumn walk

It takes me ages to get photos organised and get around to writing about outings but as Autumn turns to winter I was looking through some photos and thought I'd share a trip we took a couple of weekends ago when the leaves were still holding on to the branches and those that were lying on the ground were begging to be rustled through and kicked in the air.    

We took the caravan out for the last trip of the year, thinking we'd be the only ones mad enough to go at the end of November.   But boy were we wrong.   We went to CastleWard in Co. Down and the park was full - so we're not the only nutters lol.  But the van was so cosy and comfortable and we were blessed with the most perfect Autumn weather.   

CastleWard is a stately home and estate, one of the few run by the National Trust here in Ireland, and it is a fabulous estate.   We couldn't go into the house itself, and in truth it didn't look that inviting, but the park is situated on the shores of Strangford Lough and it really is magnificent.   The last time I was there, many moons ago, was to see NI Opera doing a traditional opera performance - tradional in that there was a 90 minute interval where we all headed outside to enjoy a champagne picnic on the lawns - a really memorable experience (couldn't tell you what the opera was though lol)

There are lots of walks mapped out and as one couple we met said, it's much easier to get out for walks when you're away from home and it's planned out for you.  

On the way from the caravan park to the main house ... 

crisp leaves waiting to be kicked up 

Playing in the shadows 

Lots of knobbly trees 

this one was a fabulous shape

and enticing views of the water

A really cute, full man size bug hotel and lots of activity spaces for children - very well managed.

Arriving at the old stables that was used as the set for Winterfell in Game of Thrones 

And on to the big house .... 

The view to Strangford Lough from the front of the main house - it was very windswept standing at the front of the house looking down, (probably the reason the door is at the back).   The family have a fascinating history - the couple who built the house had totally opposing tastes and apparently the house is a mad mix of styles.   I look forward to going back someday to get a look around inside.  

There are lots of different gardens beautifully maintained including a pristine sunken garden 

and amazingly for the middle of November there was lots of colour still around. 

As I said, this is one of the few National Trust properties over here and while it is beautifully managed and cared for it was disappointing to find no local crafts or art on sale in their shop - except for Game of Thrones memorabilia and a few items from very big producers in Belfast or down south - and the craft village has been reduced from 18 to 2 crafters.  I did manage to find a really nice ornament for my garden though (something for my Spend Local gift) and it was a total delight to find a really good second hand bookshop with an honour system of paying.  Poor Tom got to carry a pile of stuff back to the van.   

So looking forward to the next trip away once the festive season eases off.  

A walk around and about today

Hello friends, it's been a while.   

Life has been picking up again and there are so many excuses for not keeping up with blogging and social media-ing (is that a word yet?).  And Autumn has been so lovely.   There's not been too much wind yet to scatter the leaves and the colours have been spectacular.   

Along the beach it's been calm and gradually turning to brown.  

Here in NI  all adults have been given a £100 voucher to spend locally to help the local economy after all the lockdowns.  What a treat!  And we've been encouraged to think of it that way ... as a treat.   And yesterday  I finally spent a bit of it - just on some lovely locally made scents for the house, but it felt like being a child again.   You remember the times when you had £1 or £5 to spend and you took forever choosing exactly what to spend it on?  Well it was like that - and everyone is the same.   While many will be glad of the extra cash for winter fuel or extra foodstuffs, those of us who are a bit luckier have been thinking about shoes, or something for the garden, or money towards a new piece of furniture or a new coat or .....  And lots of places are offering extra if you spend it in their shop.   

 

So what would you spend a treat of £100 on?  Not online,  not on alcohol or gambling - they're the only exclusions.  Lucky us.   

Getting into focus

I love taking photos and I use a very scientific method introduced to me by an American friend years ago - point, snap, take loads and hope that you get one or two decent ones out of every 500 you take!!!  Honestly, she had me driving around Pennsylvania one time with the camera out the window not even looking at what she was photographing and miraculously some did come out.   Such a laugh.  That friend is now battling with the debris of her house after Hurricane Ida - I wish I was closer to help.  

But, back to the photos - I'm not quite up to her standard but it is alarming how many of my snaps are out of focus - and they look perfectly lined up to me when I'm taking them .. Like these sheep above - I was sure I had the next cover of the Countryfile calendar - perfect composition - the sheep was out on the point looking in to the water - but my eyes deceived me.   I'll have to wait for my moment of glory some other time.  

But it's a bit like life at the moment - nothing is quite in focus yet - there's the promise of things happening but nothing certain, the queries about things perhaps happening but then nothing.   And it is very frustrating.   It spills into every part of life - it's like living in prolonged holiday mode where you just can't seem to get moving.  

So I'm still helping Belinda a couple of days a week in her gift shop and we had a lovely last minute run up to the north coast again - this time to Ballycastle and Fair Head  - that's one of those places that get mentioned on the shipping forecast.   Wow!  On the clear day we could see Rathlin, the Mull of Kintyre and Iona.  A giant like Finn McCool would have only needed one step to get to any of them:).   

So let's see what next week brings, what might open up and how much more into focus life may become.