News From the Hill

Posts Tagged ‘Trees’

I have put up some mileage over the last ten days and seen blackthorns in all their beauty. Blackthorns and whitethorns, known as hawthorns in other countries, abound in our hedges and brighten up this time of year so much.

The blackthorn flowers before it comes into leaf and the whitethorn comes into leaf before it flowers, so the whitethorn flowers later in the spring. Every year I look forward to seeing the thorny dark hedge bushes of the blackthorn brighten with a foamy creamy blush.

A few weeks ago I saw them flower in the west of Ireland and in Wicklow and slowly the foamy tide has moved northwards. Last week the thorn bushes were flowering at the bottom of the hill and and over the last few days the flowers have opened up along the hill road, still they haven’t reached our track yet.

It’s lovely to drive along the road into town every few days and see the difference that those few days have made to the colour in the hedges. The whitethorns have been coming into leaf as the blackthorn has come into flower, up on our hilltop the whitethorn leaves have opened from gentle green buds to beautiful fresh green leaves. We are still waiting for the balckthorns to flower up here and I think that it won’t be long now.

Meanwhile we have the birdsong and the green opening buds of the whitethorns to distract while we wait…

A beautiful morning was followed by a beautiful night. I don’t know what the night sky is like where you are dear reader, here in Leitrim it is only gorgeous right now. It’s almost nine o’clock and I have been popping out to keep an eye on the sky for the last hour or so.

Unfortunately I cannot provide a good photo of the night sky that would give any indication of the beauty I can see so words will have to do.

Yesterday’s east wind has wheeled around to the north and as I stand outside it gusts from strong breeze to good wind, it has that north wind bite to it and I stand in a sheltered spot with my back to the hills to the north of me. The trees around me are singing in the winds (aren’t I being lyrical tonight?).

Those hills behind me are blanketed in conifer forest and as the wind moves across the forests in the distance it sounds very much like waves washing up on a gravel beach.

The sky was very clear earlier and now is becoming a little cloudy, the half moon hangs above my home and it is bright enough to lighten the clouds, which are slowly moving in from the north and east.

The stars are crystal clear, sparkling bright and seem really close for some reason. It’s very cold outside and it’s well worthwhile wrapping up warm so as to be comfortable and to have a good look at the sky, enjoying it’s beauty…

What a beautiful morning this morning was, a beautiful spring morning.

Frosty Leaves

Crispy Moss

Meself and himself went for a romantic walk in the woods today. Because we work together and live in a small space we can sometimes get into the habit of taking each other a little for granted so we have lately been trying to spend one day a week, preferably Sunday, doing something which we don’t normally do so today we went for a lovely walk in the oak woods.

The oak woods are on the edge of Lough Gardice in Co. Leitrim and are easy to miss, we only found them a few years ago by accident and love going there to watch the seasons change. In spring they are filled with bluebells and wild garlic and sorrel and all sorts of nice things. There is also the remains of an old ringfort which you can find if you take a path which leads you into the woods and uphill away from the lake.

The wee road to the woods is easy to miss unless you know what you are looking for. If you are heading to Ballinamore from Ballyconnell you drive past Hortons Shore on Lough Garadice and look out for and take the first wee road on the left. It is signposted for Drumreilly Church, a lovely old C of I church and graveyard which you drive past and a little further down the road you find your self in a car park at the lake.

The car park was built to facilitate anglers, it seems to be a popular place for coarse fishing contests through the year and it is sometimes very populated there although it is still very pleasant and quiet for walking even during those times. The fishermen sit, mostly singly, on their wee camp chairs in little clearings at the lake’s edge and they are pictures of quiet contemplation as they await the excitement of a bite.

The woods are the only place I know of around here where there are so many mature oak trees. Unfortunately this is a rarity in Ireland, I don’t know of many old oak woods anywhere so to me it is quite a treasure. There are also hazel and holly trees growing there but it is predominantly oak, some are really quite large and just lovely to spend time with. Ferns grow from branches and provide wonders to look at when you look upwards.

There is a path all which goes along the shore and turns to come around by the old church and bring you back to the car park, it is a gentle one mile walk and the track is fairly even surfaced which means that you can do what I did today, walk for ages just gazing upwards at the contrasts of green, gold, bronze, yellow and the varying blue and grey of the sky.

So after a beautiful walk together we have come home to cook together , doing a little internet stuff (such as this post) and are now enjoying David Attenbrough on dvd as we wait for dinner to cook on the stove and boy – it smells good!

I hope that you have had a lovely day too…

Rare Blue Skies