Stopping To Look At A Famine Pot In A West Cork Village.

We have often drove through Ballingeary on our way home from Killarney.  On Tuesday we  finally stopped the car  to look and touch an ancient famine pot.  They use to boil soup and "stir about" in them and people would queue up with pans and dishes.

The one in the picture above is from about 1847.  This was during the Great Famine that caused many people to perish from starvation and emigrate to England and Canada, Australia  and America.  The Irish diaspora is said to be about 90 million.  We live in worrying times now but at least we don't starve!

I touched the famine pot and reflected on the poors plight.  I think it's good that this pot is preserved and on display to show future generations what their ancestors went through.

Walking On The Beach On Saint Patrick's Day.

We went to county Kerry yesterday.  McDonald's was closed so no cheap breakfast in Killarney.  We did however find a petrol station with a delicatessen and cafe and we all had bacon butties.  Then we journeyed on to Castlegregory to my favourite beach in Ireland.  Its twelve miles long and I discovered it when a pal and I walked 100 miles of the Dingle Way a few years ago.

We saw a few joggers, walkers and dogs but the beach was almost deserted.  We passed smile greetings and waved at other brave souls out for a saunter next to the Atlantic.  Then we drove along the sand covered roads of the Maharees and saw ponies grazing, tractors carrying round bales, parents and children riding bicycles...

It was like a sign from above: life goes on!

Filling The Freezers With Blanched 49 Cents Veg.

We have noticed folk are buying supermarket food like its Christmas Eve.   So we decided to blanch and freeze some of the cheap 49 Cents veg on offer:

Carrots and Cauliflower  peeled and chopped.

Broccoli boiling in a pan for about five minutes or when the water starts

Then plunge the vegetables in ice cold water for about three minutes.  Our tap water from our well is ice cold and it comes from 220 feet down.  Then put them into freezer bags or even plastic carrier bags.  We often peel and chop onions this way when we have a glut of them in summer.  They taste far nicer than frozen shop bought veg.

The way things are going  at the moment with this with this mad shoppers buying spree.  Means we are going to either blanch more or grow a lot more like we use to do before I became plant mad and filled up the veg plot with shrub cuttings and perennials.

Have you been blanching or stocking up on tin stuff lately?  Have you thought of growing your own vegetables this year?

Local News.

A new sculpture was recently unveiled in Bantry town.  It's  a seal and its pup:

I think it's rather splendid, don't you?

"We're All Going On A Polytunnel Holiday!"

I thought  I would do another gardening  post today.  The blog often gets lots of views when I  write about  it.

The weather is very mixed at the moment.  February was the wettest on record and my gardens and veg plot are starting to look like the Munsters.  Well we do live in the Province of Munster😀.

However there is still plenty to do in the polytunnel:

Onion sets sprouting in trays of compost instead of rotting outside in the saturated soil.

The Nettles are growing between the trays and at the side of the trough.  There's  an old saying:

"Where Nettles grow.  Anything will grow".

Peas growing in compost filled modules..  If and when the weather gets better l will plant them outside.  Yes I know the modules are plastic but I use them many times over.

The polytunnel is finally being emptied of the rooted  shrub cuttings that have overwintered in the polytunnel.  I spent a full day  today potting up and giving them a sprinkle of organic pelleted manure in the polytunnel.  I also planted some more new potatoes  in the polytunnel  I was in plant Heaven.

• So what have you been up to in the garden, potting shed, greenhouse or polytunnel? 

Domino The Feline Assistant Referee.

Our Domino watched England ladies or Lionnesses play in the She Believes tournament on Sunday.  Says he's sick of VAR and offside.  So he decided to run the lines himself:

The silly beggar only decided to hold up his offside paw every time England attacked!

Have you got a pet who wants to be a match official?

Talking Plant Pots.

Mr Daffodils: " Do you like dancing Miss Ransoms?"

Miss Ransoms: " It's the wild garlic in me."

Mr Daffodils: "It's the flipping wind and rain that makes me dance about:

Miss Ransoms:  " I've got sunshine on a rainy day".


Sorry no blogs for a week.   Been working all week.  Hope you're all well and happy?

Planted my first new potatoes  in ye olde polytunnel yesterday.  What have you be up to garden wise?

Are you going to see any Rock concerts?  Where are you going for your holidays?  Flights are starting to get really cheap.  You can fly to America for 500 Euros.

I was talking to this Irishman the other day.  He swears like a trooper and a really nice chap.  Says he's  thinking of cancelling his jollies to the Canary Isles: "because of the Corona virus shite."
Said he would rather go up country "I don't  like the hot!"

It's  great to meet characters isn't it?"