so long, november, next time be nicer!

the skip provides, all is well. with the abundance of cut flowers, we decided it's 'wear flowers in your hair day'. november is wearing thin, only three days left. i'm kind of glad to see it go, it wasn't treating me very well.

looking forward to baking gingerbread, eating peppermint sticks and hopefully kissing someone under the mistletoe. we just need to find one first...

the day was almost summery at one time. we ate a late breakfast with the sunroom/dining room door open and it was lovely. i finally took that long walk to the shore, with my friend, and found countless treasures, again... my order from the sea was also delivered, a driftwood plank to make a shelve from. it's still wet so it needs to dry out a couple days before i fix it to the wall. it'll be nice to have stuff off the floor.

i also had a bit of a tide scare, when i couldn't go back the way i had come due to the risen sea, and had to climb down a sharp, slippery rock to get back on track. for a second i totally panicked and imagined myself trapped there, my friend being too far to hear me shout. a healthy reminder to be careful out there. usually i try and go when the tide is waning so i don't have to worry about it too much.

the coral-looking purple thing is a seaweed, but it dries into these delicate, white strands that totally fooled me the first time i saw them. that rock face in the bottom photo reminds me of the belly of a big toad. and limpets are just plain awesome, just like lichen.

more trash

just because everyone and their uncle seem to be a bit worn down by the dank and dreary november, here's a bit of autumn sunshine. the colour of the moth's wings reminds me of pecan pie and ice cream... (but i swear i did not eat this sweet, little thing!)

this is the forest that is closest to the house, a few kilometers down the road. these photos are from last month i think, it's still pretty much the same though. it's a narrow strip of woodland by the sea, and really steep here and there. there's ruins of a big stone house by the trail, covered in ivy and filled with brambles. i wish it was closer so i could just go there on a whim whenever i please. as it is, it needs a bit of planning. or a surprise car ride.

even though the cold is finally letting go of me, i don't feel like getting out of bed. i've slept most of the time for two days and i think i'm a bit anemic as well. i'm fueling up with shortbread biscuits (pure butter) before braving the wind and impending rain on my way to the health food shop. floradix to the rescue, yet again.

i have talked about this before, how i sort of enjoy being limited by my camera. it has a great macro but the lousiest zoom, and the lens is not the best either, especially in low light. i do like the challenge this presents, and the framework to work within. but lately, with the days getting shorter and the views around me growing foggier, i've been thinking, just a little, about a new camera. i still don't want a big, chunky one, but the day may be nearing for me to upgrade to a more powerful ixus.

also, why did i not pack my fairly new, bendable, pocket-sized tripod? that alone would help a lot with the aperture issues.

i battled the sore throat with the only remaining weapon i could think of: hot & spicy pringles. it actually helped. still hurts to swallow, but not so much that saliva pools in my mouth while i procrastinate the next gulp. i also bought 'tempo plus', tissue that is "ideal for sensitive noses" and has balsam with not only aloé vera but chamomile too. it was a choice between that and 'man-sized' kleenex, whatever that means.

just came back from the lovely shipool woods, from a walk/lecture on irish forestry led by the charming and passionate ted cooke. it did me a world of good to get to breathe in woodland air, especially having been ill with fever for nine days. i was afraid the trek would be too much for a convalescer, but it was all good, no heart palpitations or faint spells. oh, the great healer, nature...

it was a bit dark already so i didn't take too many great shots, but i did find a rare cherry gall on an oak leaf and the hollies were in bloom still. i prefer their blossoms to the berries. the talk was interesting but there was so much that i seem to have forgotten what i learned. i can see the walk, and the talker, in my head but the words spoken are lost. i should carry a notebook in stead of my camera.

my throat is still incredibly sore, haven't had a cold like this since childhood even though i've been quite sickly in the recent years. last night i woke up every time i swallowed, from the pain. i have gargled with salt water and myrtle oil and swabbed my tonsils with lactic acid bacteria, i've taken homeopathics, drank gallons of honey and lemon water with cinnamon and nothing seems to get rid of it. now it's a bit better, i think. still hurts, though, but i don't feel like i have one foot in the grave anymore.

this is the kind of stuff we get from the skips. fresh flowers... the kitchen is full of pastries and cake, i'm a bit high on sugar. that is the downside of dumpster diving, you eat things you'd never buy because they are free and going to waste otherwise. i have had way too much processed wheat and sugar lately. (no wonder i can't seem to get better. cough!)

but the thing is, there's produce like toilet paper and freezer bags, in their wrappings, mint condition. thrown away because the corner of the package is dented a bit, or for reasons undetectable. like the white lilies from two weeks ago that are now starting to open. they smell heavenly.

"but they don't, do they..."

sometimes the grass just is greener on the other side of the fence.

plantago lanceolata - one of my very favourite plants

third day of fever, although it's now coming down a bit. i thought i had escaped the virus but then it hit me just when there would have been things to do, sneaking in to basketry class and a gig i wanted to see in a local pub. but no, i've been bed-ridden with a wet towel over my eyes. yesterday i ate a pear and an apple, today managed to down some porridge and jam. i had a really sore throat the day before but now i think we are moving towards the lungs and a cough. hopefully there's still narrowleaf plantain left, i gathered and dried some before for cough relief, but i'm not the only one in the house who's been ill lately.

i had trouble choosing what photos to post, because i haven't been out snapping away for a while. these are for getting better inspiration, from my favourite little cove near charles fort. i will take a long, quiet walk there as soon as i get up on my feet again. another favourite plant of mine grows there, sea thrift (armeria maritima) or sea pink. at home, in the garden, i have a white cultivar but i love seeing them in their natural habitat.

my ear has been kissed twice during the past few days due to bad aim and/or my lack of peck-on-the-cheek expectancy. it makes me kind of giddy, even though there's nothing more to it.

i absolutely love the combination of inky blue, plaid flannel and burgundy. it's all about comfort and warmth these days. i call it grampa chic.

did i mention before that dumpster diving is called 'skipping' in ireland? that also makes me smile every time. as does getting so much good stuff for free.

lavender scavenger

granny square slippers, crocheted and felted (and sweetly warm...)

oh jonathan, next time i'm coming along...

♥

if you look closely, you can see the leprechaun...

took a walk tonight. down the hill, and up the hill. it's still very warm, but there is a new season on its way. i just wanted to run into the corn field and become a small animal. but then i looked out to the sea (you can just see it in the last photo) and decided not to, because there are unfound treasures on the shores still.

i have a head cold, literally a flu bug that decided to reside in my sinuses and nowhere else. it's ruining my 7-day ayurvedic fall detox thingy, because i feel too ill to do any yoga. not that the sequences in the program weren't way out of my league to begin with... but i wanted to do the restorative stuff at least. now i'm stuck eating my kitchari morning, noon and night and taking lots of hot showers.

on the plus side, i have discovered the superb flavour combination of cloves and lemon, which i will bake into something or other next week, when the moon fills up and i will be older, again.