Tag Archives: a place for reflection

Atmospheric Ireland. Winter Skies and Glens

10 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by in For the live of dogs, Ireland, Irish Adventures, Irish Scenes, new adventures, New Paths, sunrises and sunsets, The continuing adventure

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Late Evening in Donegal

The last time I came to Ireland I was twenty-two years old. I came with my family. I remember the craic, I remember the scenery, I remember how welcoming Irish people are, I remember walking up the Knockmealdown Mountains and looking out at more than forty shades of green, but I realise now I was too young to really appreciate the atmospheric scenery, and just how magical this place is. It really is a magical land.

We are finding our feet, as is always necessary when moving, let alone changing countries. Add the dreaded C-19 into the mix and it is difficult, but we can still get some shopping, and on Friday we went to the local larger town near us, Dungloe, to stock up. Of course we took the Welshies with us, they are still too insecure to leave them, I mean the cat’s haven’t even come out of the bedroom yet, other than to eat and hide in cupboards!

So off we set on yet another charabang outing which also involved taking the Welshies for a walk.

One of my all time memories of Ireland are the freshwater glens that run down from the mountain. I promise I will write of them often, not least because I have promised my Welshie furry son that I will show him the sunlight sparkling on them. Since he was ill late last year it has been my motivation through all this change to take Harley on the Irish beaches, and to the glens up the mountain. But on Friday we found a pretty little part of the town where a glen ran gurgling and bubbling into the open arms of a small bay.

I was so excited to find it, and it was absolutely stunning to watch as it ran into the sea, so beautifully lit up by the late evening winter sun. And just to make things really perfect we had a lovely chat with Finnola, who was so excited to tell us it was her birthday tomorrow.

The Glen Running Into the Arms of the Sea

We just stood at this bay, watching the light change, and as it did so everything else changed, as if a faerie was painting the land and sky in front of us.

Sunset in Donegal Ireland

On the way home I asked RD, who trusted me and came here having never been here before, what he loved. He said the scenery, the atmosphere, the friendliness of the people, being able to just chat to people and on and on. Eventually I stopped him and asked what didn’t he like, he immediately responded and said ‘nothing.’

Rosie

Sunset in Dungloe Donegal Ireland

Living In The Moment: sunny Autumn Days

23 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by in For the live of dogs, My home, poignancy, Reflections, Saying Goodbye, Simple things, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure, The seasons

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I have made myself a promise, in this insane world, to give myself a little silence every day.

Here in France it is a beautiful autumn day, the sun is bright and warm, with just the occasional cloud blowing by.

So I took the time, from my what can be stressful days at the moment, and I had my tea and toast outside with the Welshies.

As I sat listening to the birds singing, and the trees sighing with resignation as the breeze took more of their leaves from them, I thought back to my first autumn here. I can remember how I would stand by my washing line and look around me in amazement that I owned the land where the huge oak trees loomed over me, and the crab apple dropped her apples loudly onto the goat shed roof. I remember walking up the chemin that was covered with a carpet of acorns and cob nuts crunching underfoot, and thinking this is mine.

But it was never mine, I never owned it, I borrowed it when I needed to heal, and it did it’s job. Now it’s time to let it go, and let someone else sit as the leaves blow by. Let someone else look down in wonder at the carpet of walnuts hiding amongst the leaves. Most years there are well over three thousand, we have given up trying to pick them all up, and we giggled the other day when we took the dogs for a walk down the lane and realised we were following a trail of walnut shells left by the squirrels. .

I will ask my neighbours if they want to collect some. If not the squirrels will be fed for the winter.

I will never tire of this view.

But one of my lessons has been it’s a view, that’s all. There will be more views.

Rosie

Poignant Times: No Going Back ….

20 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in Change is a coming, new adventures, New Paths, poignancy, sunrises and sunsets, The adventures of living life in the French countryside, The continuing adventure

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https://www.frenchestateagents.com/french-property-for-sale/view/114748ADR53/house-for-sale-in-ambrieres-les-vallees-mayenne-pays-de-la-loire-france

So here it is. Our house in all her glory, now for sale on the internet and generating a lot of interest.

Why wouldn’t it? The location of our house is second to none, set amidst the rolling valleys of the Parc Normandie, at the very end of a dead end road, with no traffic.

God she is going to be hard to replace (a small tear came to my eyes then.)

But as I am writing this I know that selling up and moving is the right thing to do. I cannot be away from my family constantly on a long term basis, and I will have been away this time for weeks. Albeit with a fabulous client.

Even in paradise we all need money to live.

Over the five years I have been writing this blog I have written about change so often, and how we should not fear it, because it is the only constant we have. So I know this change is right for us, using all we have learned from this adventure to enhance the next one.

And boy! Have we learned a lot!

But I know that with my current job I will only have six weeks at home for the remainder of the year, and for me that is too long away from the ones I love. I also believe that life is too short.

I know that there is a high probability that this is the last summer in this beautiful place. That when I left last time would be the last time I saw the bales of hay waiting for collection from my bedroom window.

That it will be the last time we will sit in the late sunshine, drinking wine and watching the swifts teach their babies to catch the insects in the evening air.

So when I go home I am going to enjoy every sunny evening for the two weeks I am home. I am going to cherish that ‘here and now’. I will catch the sunrises…

and I will raise a glass to the sunsets.

And I will remind myself that Ireland will offer me more of the same, only different.

Poignant Times

Rosie

A late spring garden in France

30 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by in My home, The continuing adventure, The good life, The seasons

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I know that people love to see our garden and it has been a busy, and beautifully warm month. We have just under an acre with the part you see often in my blogs, where we also have a terrace and this view…

But we also have a large open part to the side, where the chickens reside in the ‘Chicken Hilton’, and our leaning cherry gives us shade, and a too many cherries to use every year.

We tend to sit on our recliners in this part of the garden, looking out across the hills. In addition we have a chemin (a lane), our very own private lane that we can walk up and access another part of our land behind our barn. It is on this we will set up a glamping summer house, that we will call sanctuary, because that is exactly what it will be for all those who come to stay in it, those who want to get back in touch with nature, with an outside solar shower! We plan to build a bridge across the chemin, and I will shabby chic it to the max, but that will be another story for the future.

We have finally moved the logs and huge branches that were laying in the lawn, mental note: don’t let the grass grow through them again! Piled up the cut logs, and realised we have a lot of work to do before the winter.

I have finally dug out the eighteenth century stone flower beds, and planted them up with trailing flowers so they have gone from this

To this…..

The flowers on my miniature cherries have been and gone, along with the blooms on my ‘snowball’ shrub.

Our clematis are in bloom, and our pot plants are thriving.

The birds are singing, we have magpies nesting in the silver birch that has burst back into life after we cut down the pine trees, and the bees are humming.

We love the new arrangements of our seating areas, and our place for reflection on our vintage bench under our beautiful pine tree.

Life is good, simple, (some may even say basic) and that is what makes it good. I am grateful every day.

Moisy