dreoilín

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,

St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,

Although he was little his honour was great,

Jump up me lads and give us a treat.

As I was going to Killenaule,

I met a wren upon the wall.

Up with me wattle and knocked him down,

And brought him in to Carrick Town.

Drooolin, Droolin, where's your nest?

Tis in the bush that I love best

In the tree, the holly tree,

Where all the boys do follow me.

Up with the kettle and down with the pan,

And give us a penny to bury the wren.

I followed the wren three miles or more,

Three miles or more three miles or more.

I followed the wren three miles or more,

At six o'clock in the morning.

I have a little box under me arm,

Under me arm under me arm.

I have a little box under me arm,

A penny or tuppence would do it no harm.

Mrs. Clancy's a very good woman,

a very good woman, a very good woman,

Mrs. Clancy's a very good woman,

She give us a penny to bury the wren.

doon lake

doon lake, near broadford, county clare

frosty morning

short days

and long nights...

fuchsia

A fuchsia flowering on late into the autumn...

woodbine

some late lonicera flowers

robin

My children were busy rummaging through leaves for conkers when I noticed this fella watching from a distance. As they moved along he quickly popped down to do his own rummaging through the leaves for some tasty morsels.

hens

 These four ladies are going well at the moment, still laying reasonably well, about three eggs a day among the four.

Rhode Island Red X Columbian Rock?

Black Rock

Sussex

Brown Leghorn Partridge

autumn plants

Heading into the colder seasons,  these are some of the plants we're growing now for winter weather.

Calcocephalus brownii

Euphorbia 'Ascot Rainbow'

Lonicera nitida 'Baggeson's Gold'

Viola Sorbet

Pansy Matrix

virginia creeper

Some nice autumn colour.

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

coal tit

This Coal Tit was too busy to notice me. It was flicking through the bird seed, taking only the occasional, presumably tastier, seed and discarding the rest.

spider

Spiders usually catch flies... But I just missed the moment when this one caught a smaller spider which had somehow wandered onto the wrong web. Faster than I could click she raced out and wrapped the unfortunate stray and parcelled her up for supper.

dove

A pair of these beautiful birds visit the hen house every day to steal some of the hen's food. If they were crows or jackdaws I'd run them, but who could begrudge these doves a few morsels.

bonsai 2012

Some of these trees will hopefully become bonsai some day. All have been more or less neglected up to last season, while this year they were all fairly well minded; fed, watered well and some light pruning. Next spring, I hope to re-pot into a superior compost and begin to style and wire in a systematic manner.

Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea'

Cryptomeria japonica

Cryptomeria japonica

Picea

Fraxinus excelsior

Carpinus betulus

Crataegus monogyna

Buxus sempervirens

Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana'

Buxus sempervirens

Juniperus

Carpinus betulus

Berberis x stenophylla 'Irwinii'

Buxus sempervirens

Fagus sylvatica

Picea

Cotoneaster horizonatalis

Fagus sylvatica 'Atropurpurea'

Sorbus aucuparia

Prunus spinosa

Fagus sylvatica

Corylus avellana

Crataegus monogyna

Buxus sempervirens

Pinus sylvestris