So nearly at the end of a year and here’s a thing I’ve wondered about – the PROSTO bench! PROSTO(Polish) adverb full exactly // directly plainly // simply // in a simple manner //smack //directly and with force //square // firmly and directly // squarely // directly and firmly // straight // in a straight, notContinue reading “30.12.2020 ~ Prosto Bench”
Category Archives: Glen Stories from blog
29.12.20 Full Moon
A late walk home through the Glen under a cold clear sky, a full moon rising in the North East and trees throwing shapes, dancing with the streetlights against the deepening blue. I have been thinking about the winter rhythms, the pauses we celebrate in Cork, from the quickening and sharpening in the air ofContinue reading “29.12.20 Full Moon”
Hairy Bittercress
Cardamine hirsuta // Searbh-bhiolar giobach is sprouting out of the ground already. It is a native plant and member of the Brassica family. Like many of the plants in the Glen it is self seeded, and like many Glen plants it is widely considered a pest by gardeners. It claims its place, taking hold byContinue reading “Hairy Bittercress”
Mon 28.12.21 ~ Old Man’s Beard
Clematis vitalba also known as Traveller’s Joy and Gabhrán (meaning traveller) in Irish
last year’s galls
In summer 2020 I made some ink from the fallen galls of the large oak on ‘the ridge’ and since then I’ve been watching and waiting to see the arrival of new ones, hoping to catch a glimpse of their formation – there is no evidence of galls on the branches there yet, but onContinue reading “last year’s galls”
new growth
… the foxglove is already sending out tongues in the leaf litter. Foxgloves are biennial so this plant has grown from this year’s dropped seed, and it is growing leaves now to make it strong in 2021 and prepare for flowering in 2022….
fruiting bodies
Now the undergrowth is clear we can see more fungus forms too these hold the light in their glory and seem to me like creatures and a little like offal…I am intrigued by their form, not veiny and branching out as vegetation does, they appear more homogenous, almost like sorbet, or organ-like even perhaps thickContinue reading “fruiting bodies”
Ivy
Ivy is everywhere all year and stands out more in winter, on clambering the paths I notice the ground scattered with ivy stars, these little tumblers settle into the leaf litter – I wish I could upload smells – I look around and see the ivy vines make musical shapes from trees, like woodland harps,Continue reading “Ivy”
Monday 28 December
The flood water abates and, as new paths reveal themselves in the Glen ….so do new views (with a little help from “M”, resident path keeper, I saw him on the grassy knoll before Christmas, clearing the way up through briars, prickling gorse and twining, snaring undergrowth, a path maker’s winter job to be trampedContinue reading “Monday 28 December”
Christmas Eve
A walk with friends, on a blue skied day with cool Northerly winds, we saw that in the Council’s dumping ground a giant cyprus tree had been cut down, today – it looked healthy and my heart lurched and felt heavy, where from? …we strolled around and saw more tractors zooming in at the entranceContinue reading “Christmas Eve”