A Herding Croon

The cattle are to-day going a-flitting,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
        Ho ro la ill o,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Going to eat the grass of the burial-place,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Their own herdsman there to tend them,
        Ho ro la ill o,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Tending them, fending them, turning them,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Be the gentle Bride milking them,
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o,
Be the protective Cailleach keeping them,
        Hill i-ruin is o h-ug o,
And The Three at the end of their journey,
     The Three at the end of their journey.
        Hill-i-ruin is o h-ug o.

 

~ From Carmina Gadelica Vol. 1 {slightly altered}

A "Critter Hotel"

Over the last few days I have been working on converting a part of our garden that is dedicated to pollinators, which involved moving some plants that they don't like {such as feverfew} and adding more that they really like. 

To this bed I added some more bee watering stations and some toad houses {a post about those to come!}, but the main feature added is a mini habitat sometimes called a "critter/insect hotel". Ours is a little bit different from some others one might find, being that the structure is an old bundle buggy, although it is pretty much the same idea.

I buried the buggy about 8 inched in to the ground and added some half-composted sod to the bottom on the inside. On top of that I started layering things such as sticks and garden pots to give some sturdiness. Inside all sorts of pretties are stuffed in there to create various living conditions in the hopes of attracting more wildlife friends.

On the top I added some compost and moss, planted some lobelia and placed a piece of an old log with some holes in it for solitary bees.

To find out more about insect hotels and to get ideas on how to create you own, watch this great video. 

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Sláinte!

Laurel

I Have Been in the Mood for Yeats Lately...

...or more so than usual.

And now I wander in the woods
When summer gluts the golden bees,
Or in autumnal solitudes
Arise the leopard-coloured trees;
Or when along the wintry strands
The cormorants shiver on their rocks;
I wander on, and wave my hands,
And sing, and shake my heavy locks.
The grey wolf knows me; by one ear
I lead along the woodland deer;
The hares run by me growing bold.
They will not hush, the leaves a-flutter round me, the beech leaves old.

 ~From The Madness of King Goll  by William Butler Yeats

 

Garden Lovelies

Things have been so busy around here with renos happening to our home, including water-proofing our foundation and fixing our drainage, which resulted two of our garden beds needing to be dug up. Now that part of the renos have been finished I have been scrambling to get our gardens caught up.

 

Here are a few photos that have been taken over the last month or so.

fiddleheads! {sensitive fern}

more baby sensitive ferns

cowslip

lilac

lily-of-the-valley

wild ginger
 

lady's mantle



dandelions

woodland poppy

sweet woodruff

periwinkle

mayapple

turkey tail {?}

johnny-jump-ups

ostrich fern

bleeding hearts

hen and chicks

more johnnys

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More to come!

 

Sláinte!

 

Laurel