High Summer on the land

We usually write a post at the start of each month, summarizing what has happen on the land and sharing a few pictures. Our camera gave up the ghost sometime in June and since then we have been using a phone for taking photos. Unfortunately there have been a lot of hiccups with uploading them to any posts and we have had to try to work around this problem. That is the biggest reason we did not post much in the last couple of months. We have hopefully found a system that works now and will post on a more regular basis.

In July and August the land was very generous and the seeds we planted in spring grew and supplied us with a bountiful harvest. All our perennial plants have also been great and we had more berries than any other year. This year we have also spent a lot of time harvesting herbs and other plants for drying and using in mixes for teas. We wrote a post recently with a few of our favourite mixes and their benefits.  

Around our main circle we have admired and cherished all the colours, smells and sounds. As you probably all agree this year has been very different from most and the land has supported and nurtured us through these unchartered times and kept us from falling into despair. What can be more calming and reassuring than resting your senses in nature.

We never got the chance to finish writing this post earlier as uploading the photos kept on being a problem but now we have worked around it and wish to share these pictures of sunnier days with you. It was a glorious summer despite the strange circumstances.

Please feel free to share some photos from your special summer in the comments if you like.

Chakra blanket

If you are a regular reader of these ramblings you will know that we like to recycle and reuse as many things as possible and prevent waste. Last year, when younger members of the family moved away to study, we wrote about making off to college blankets in this post.

Since then I have decided to set off on my own college adventure for a four year BA Hons. in Fine Art at IT Sligo. I have dreamt of studying art and drawing for many years and it is lovely to finally get the chance. I will stay for a few days every week in a small student apartment and wanted to bring something along to remind me of home. So I came up with the chakra blanket. A creation completely made out of wool remnants from others projects and odd balls found in the charity shop.

I think there is great inspiration for projects like this to be found in Nature. The above image shows a progression from yellow to green to blue…

I started writing this post some weeks ago and by now I spend most of my time in my student flat. We don’t have a lot of on campus time but the WiFi at home is just not up to scratch for online classes. So the blanket is a lovely reminder of home as I work on the course material during the week. In these uncertain times I think it is important to stay hopeful and happy. The bright colours work as an antidote to any unhappy or uncertain feelings. The colours of the individual chakras reminds me that I need to look after and be mindful of the whole of me and also all those around me.

As Ireland has entered another six weeks of lockdown I am grateful for the social bubble policy that allows me to come back home for the weekends and spend the rest of my time in my student flat. I am so busy with my studies that there is little to no time to spend worrying. I hope you find yourself in a similar hopeful and restful place. Stay safe!