Of A Cuckoo

If you think about it the Cuckoo has some unfortunate sayings attached to herself. The two which spring to mind are 'going cuckoo' and 'a cuckoo in the nest'. See? Wouldn't that annoy you if it was yourself??

There have been studies lately about the migratory habits of cuckoos, and we were all brought up on stories of their charming habit of laying eggs in other birds nests and then their hatchling turfing out the legitimate heirs and gobbling all it can get, Goldilocks eat yer heart out...

But DESPITE all that, when the cuckoo arrives on our hilltop and starts calling from the forest it is the most cheerful sound! Its like the first daffodil, I know that the seasons will eventually change and just for a moment my heart flies upwards. She's been with us nearly three weeks now and every morning and evening I listen for her- come rain or shine her 'cuckoo' echoes.

Judging from what I've heard, we're the lucky ones to hear her, some folks haven't heard a cuckoo in years. I do hope she keeps returning.

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!

Inspiration, Totem-poles, and a walk in the woods.

Today was a creative mish-mash. Lying in bed this morning (the Hub is on early shift so gone to work by 5.30 am, good opportunity for thinking) I had an idea from an article I was reading in 'Quilting Arts Magazine' yesterday, so jumped out of bed to try it. You can't see very well but I was adding thread embellishments to patches on postcard-sized fabric. To be continued...

I then went over to the folks to persuade Dad to come out to Hazlewood and play with the (his!) camera. I want to do a piece of work based on totem-poles so printed out this photo from his computer, taken in Vancover a few years back. I love totem-poles, the scale, carving, colours, myths connected to the animals and birds portrayed...When I was very little we visited this same place and Dad bought me a tiny totem pole which, believe it or not has travelled with me and now sits on our mantlepiece here! (pack-rat? me?)

Oops!

Dad and I then spent about an hour and a half out at Hazlewood, on the shores of Lough Gill, 'playing' with his camera. I brought the book of the words along and we had great fun. I think I took most of these, but it was easier to see errors once they were loaded onto the computer, so many were subsequently deleted. I only fell in the lake once, but luckily brought a spare pair of shoes. We used to say of B that she would either fall into any available liquid, or spill it on herself. I wonder where she got that tendancy from?

Aren't these ducks funny? They look like miniature speed boats with the wake they are leaving!

This afternoon Sos and B had things to do in Sligo so I went into my favourite bookshop, Book Mart on the Mall to see whether they had anything on Gaudi or Klimt, both of whom I want to study. (The Library was closed) They had no books but Donal found several old postcards of Barcelona which he let me have! Sorted! I've been doodling and studying them as these photos were loading and it looks promising.

Sos very kindly made supper this evening, and then I discovered that B has chewed my drawing pencil all the way along. Honestly she's worse than a puppy! Had some texts from Dilly last night to say she was in the middle of a load of errands around Dublin center for work yesterday when one sandal disintegrated. She 'limphopped' (her word) to the nearest Penney's to buy another pair so she could continue! Later she bought a packet of red hair dye, and a cheap beanie hat in case it turns out badly! Honestly!