Firsts and lasts.

Bringing the countryside indoors.

Spring has quickly gone and it feels like summer. It's been very dry and far warmer than we expect for this time of year.

The spring flowers have quickly been replace by early summer ones,

the tulips are just about over

and are now replaced with

irises and aquilegia,

Gertrude Jekyll.

Zephryn Drune.

 

 

Rosa rugosa.

some of the roses are also flowering,

White Rosa rugosa.

earlier than most years.

We have our first flower on the Lilac that we planted four years ago

and a Montana clematis that we planted last year has rewarded us with flowers.

Strawberries are late this year  probally due to it being so dry but we have now had our first good picking.

We have had our first cauliflower, not as good as normal, but again I think it's because of the dryness,

we have also had the first of the new potatoes, lovely with loads of butter served with a good helping of asparagus, this is doing well this year, it doesn't seem to mind it being so dry.For some reason, our Victoria plum tree planted five years ago has curled up and died, it flowered well and fruit set, the leaves started to appear then dried up and fell. No sign of disease, it just died, so no bottled plums or Old Dower House chutney this year.
In between hospital appointments we have manages a few trips out and about, we had a lovely trip to Cong which is a very pretty small town, it also has a lot of good eating houses, probally because it's a favourite tourist spot, it was made famous by John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in the film 'The  Quiet Man'.

We had a lovely meal out, the good old British staple, of fish and chips

followed by a very nice Pavlova ,

 we were pleased to find that Cong has it's own Craft Beer brewery, which was lovely. Gone are the days when choice was limited to Guinness, Smethwick's (ugh) or cider, many small towns now have their own micro breweries.

The weekend found us on the coast again,

Fishing harbour, Mullaghmore.

one of our favourite places, Mullaghmore in Co. Sligo.

Again we ate out, being a small fishing village it had to be fish or rather sea food, lovely fresh crab claws,

followed by a good homemade cheese cake.
The one thing that we have now become aware of is wheelchair access, although most eating houses have ramps, pavements are a nightmare. The worst place is Galway hospital, you would think that such a place would have easy access, what ramps they  have are still an inch high, and the pavements are full of cracks making it a very hard job to negotiate.

Snowball tree, Viburnum opulus.

We have at last had a couple of days of rain, but nothing to penetrate the soil more than a half inch, but the garden has appreciated it, so have the weeds and slugs.

Waves.

And more waves.

 

Banks of sea thrift.

 

 

Who would want to live here?

Having been brought up on the coast I am always drawn to it for a day out but I have never really hankered to live coastal again, there are however two places that  I could easily live, both in the beautiful county of Sligo. One is Lissadel, but it is close to Sligo town with quite a lot of new buildings and a lot of holiday homes.

 The next headland is Mullaghmore a few miles on towards Donegal. Again it has a lot of holiday homes, but to me it still retains the feeling of a small coastal village, plus it has one of the best restaurants in the West of Ireland.

Fresh from the sea.

Ethna's, renowned for seafood, all locally caught, she also serves some chicken dishes, the chicken is Organic as are the salads, produced by Tattie Hoaker Organic farm just five k away from the restaurant.

The food is simple delicious, and to us not expensive for Ireland, in fact the prices are on a par to a good class restaurant in Spain. However the wine is expensive. However it was a birthday celebration for Simon who has now reached the official retirement age.

Yes, I would want to live here, even if it does only have a shop that is only open during the tourist season.

The harbour is lovely, and quaint.

The fishermen still go out to catch a few fish

and the small fishing boats go out for the daily catch.

It is a sheltered harbour, surrounded by mountains and the views are outstanding.

At one time it was a thriving farming community, farmed in a sustainable way, the only things these people had to buy were tea, sugar and tobacco. Now most of the land is unused apart from a few sheep and a few cattle, yet it is good land, and a mild climate.

Wild Thyme.

A variety of wild plants grow here including sea thrift and wild thyme.

Classiebawn Castle shadowed by Benbulben.

 
It also has a castle, Classiebawn Castle, built by Lord Palmerston in the 19th century, it is now owned by an Irish person, the first time  the estate has been owned by an Irish person since the lands were seized from the O'Conor's of Sligo in the 17th century.
It is also known for the assassination in 1979 of Lord Louis Mountbatten.
Directly behind Mullaghmore are the Dartry Mountains,

Benbulben.

with Ben Bulben being the most famous and possible the most photographed mountain in Ireland.

It's a stunning area.
The garden is looking good and at last the first roses are now in bloom, the outside strawberries will be ready soon as well as the gooseberries.

Cauliflowers are now beginning to form their curds, we have already harvested the first one, I just hope they don't come all together.