21st October 2008, More Rain, More Brambling

The day started well with sun shining in our bedroom window. It was one of those days when one minute the sun was shining and the next we had a shower, some of them quite heavy. Luckily the worst shower didn't come until about 6pm. Jim and I tackled yet more brambles at the top of our land. Jim took some photos today so you can see what I'm talking about. This is the section we have already cleared:














I said it looked like the Somme! On the right one of many piles of brambles for the next bonfire. Look at that blue sky. All the area you can see was covered in brambles and the trees were hidden by them. What a difference. The grass will grow again, it always does.

Here I am about to start the next section. Jim worked on the right hand side and we hope to meet somewhere around the back!




















This is the latest section. The tree on the left is an Alder, on the right a Silver Birch. The alder was totally hidden! There is a bit of grass here at least. On the right, behind the fence (you can just see one post) is the meadow.







This cleared area is bigger than our whole garden in the UK!! It's a tiny bit of the one here in Ireland. The tree on the right is one of the specimen trees planted by the previous owner.


I love this tree on the right, it's doubled in size since we moved in. I've made some progress into the tangle of brambles here and Buster's helping.




Click on any photo to enlarge it.





More progress made. The little pine tree to the left was so hidden we didn't know it existed! Another alder in the foreground right.










Towards the end of the day, as you can see from the long shadows. Buster still being my assistant.











The sky was particularly lovely and Jim captured the clouds over our meadow, Flagmount and Lough Graney:


























About 5.30 the sky darkened and it absolutely threw it down. Jim felt a sting in his ear and it was a hail stone! We sheltered underneath the greenery and kept reasonably dry. When the storm had passed, we came out from there and were met by this amazing site:

You can see the storm clouds but the sun and blue sky were behind us. It was one of those eerie skies. Can you see the 2nd rainbow?




















You can see that the area to the left of the rainbow is lighter than to the right.













The last one is where it was beginning to fade.

Jim took the cats (who'd joined us in our endeavours but were getting hungry) back down to the cottage to feed them.





They're like book ends sometimes! BlackJack and Sandy
















Come on Dad, Sandy's getting impatient












I carried on working. Underneath the brambles and ivy was a fallen tree trunk, all covered with moss. It had fallen from the bank and looks wonderful. That will stay there. Jim also discovered an even bigger one from the side where he was working. That one was covered in ferns as well as ivy. They'll make great features.

Jim brought me up a mug of coffee, just as it was starting to rain again. He couldn't resist cutting off a branch I had left sticking out before he went back to the cottage. It was throwing it down again by the time he'd finished it. I stayed a bit longer until the rain had subsided a little and I'd cut a way through to 'Jim's side'.

Buster had long since disappeared and gone for his regular evening stroll. It was very dark by 7pm and he didn't return until 9. Goodness knows where he'd been.

Dinner in front of Holby City concluded the evening's entertainment. Tagliatelle parcels with Jim's own sauce and grated cheese on top. Delicious. I must mention that Jim decided to use the last bit of tomato puree from the tube, instead of using the new one as I'd suggested. He then proceeded to squirt it all down the front of his jumper!! Lucky I had my camera handy....




















Jackson Pollock would be proud of that artistic splodge!











My own clouds have lifted considerably today. Woo hoo.