A Walk in the Woods

This morning I decided to go to Hazelwood and see whether I could find seeds and nuts to plant for trees. I have been reading about the composition of hedgerows and thought I would try to grow my own! When they heard where I was going, Youngest, Small Dog and Eldest thought they would join the expedition. We were nearly two hours walking, and I think I found more photo ops than seeds, but it was such a lovely morning that it was just wonderful to be out in the forest!

Lichen

Youngest and Small Dog aka Heinz.

 A very light-starved toadstool...

...and a very well camouflaged toadstool, isn't the camouflage amazing?

There was a long stretch of dense canopy shade, and then in the one spot where the sun shone through there was this ragwort growing about 4' tall!

Clover, beech, and moss- an amazing variety of mosses on the ground and on tree trunks.

Yew candles, lots of them and very pretty.

View across Half Moon Bay from along the lake.

View across Lough Gill towards Clogherevagh and the islands.

I came across Peter Pan crowing in the old Yew- 'Oh the cleverness of Me!'

New Boots? Oh Yeah! First outing and they had a lovely time too!

This should have been at the start, as I took it when we got out of the car on arrival. As you can tell, it was a lovely morning.

And now I have two somnambulent gargoyles and one snoring Dog Person all sprawled in the sitting room watching  the DVD of 'Ice Age' (???), as one does after a long walk in the woods!

Things Maritime

School went fine this morning, nothing wonderful or strange. After I'd finished all my classes I decided to go out to Rosses Point for a walk along the Promenade. It is a rather grey but the breeze off the channel was fresh and it was a very peaceful hour, most refreshing to the soul!

I took a few photos for yez!
Rosses Point Church, part of our parish and where the Hub often takes Services.
The lighthouse on Oyster Island with Coney Island in the background, Coney is inhabited year round, Oyster is just used for grazing.
Peculiar place for a cat to sit, I thought, but I guess the rocks are warm!
The wreck of an old fishing trawler beside the road, its been there for years, breaking up gradually with each storm.
If you fancy some ready-salted blackberries here they are, but I didn't have the courage to lean out over the water to pick them!
And one last item for your amusement which I discovered on the kitchen notice board this afternoon, its been there a while but I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it:

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark
1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
9. When you're stressed, float a while.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
11. No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting...

Happy paddling folks!

P.S. Since I wrote the above I discovered our water has been turned off, so perhaps the title should read 'Things Maritime and Drought'? Bet Noah didn't have this problem- but no doubt it will be resolved by the end of the working day!

P.S. 2. When I tried to leave the house to collect B from late hockey practice I found workmen had parked a steam-roller across my gate: Steam-roller v Fiat Punto...eh...no contest! What a day! But the water is back at least...