Propagating Dragon or Voodoo Lily's.

Welcome to my polytunnel  office.

 The wife  recently bought an Arum lily from our local German garden centre and supermarket and beer  and wine retailers.  Sure enough it flowered on our  "magic" kitchen window sill.  They are also called Dragon and Voodoo Lily's.

It's stopped flowering and so I decided it was time for Doctor Northsider the plant propagation fanatic to carry out an operation.

I split them with my knife into six new plants.  They are potted on and five of them are going to spend their winter in "Portugal" my plastic friend.  The other plant is back on the " magic window sill.  

Here's  your old mate Uli Jon Roth playing Voodoo  Child.  Did I tell you I saw him live last year?  Do you think we will see live music ever again?  

Dividing The Shastas Daisies Time.

The Shasta Daisies are finishing flowering now.  Any of them that need dead heading  I prune back and divide and repot.

Shasta Daisies after their haircut and division.  The beer glass is full of Rosemary cuttings.  
 

The one's below are repotted and placed on some builders plastic and another part of the veg plot is put to bed for the winter.  I might even use it for an extension of my plant nursery.  

Michaelmas Daisies In The Veg Plot.

 Michaelmas Daisies or Asters are now coming into flower in the veg plot and herbaceous perennials borders.  Another garden plant like the Sedums that reminds us that Autumn will soon be here.  The nights are starting to get longer than the days.

Michaelmas is the festival of Saint Michael.  Celebrated in the both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches on the twenty ninth of September.  It was a time for paying rents, the end of the harvests and deciding which animals would be slaughtered at Martinmass (Nov11) and also Armistice Day.  The end of the Great War of 1914 to 1918.

Goose was traditionally ate at Michaelmas and a cake or pie would be made with a ring it.  The lucky recipient would be given the ring for their wedding the following  year.

Michaelmas is also the traditional time for new terms to start in colleges and schools.

I like Michaelmas Daisies and I propagate them by division.  I have also grown them from cuttings in 'Portugal' my three hooped plastic pale or polytunnel even.

Sedum Plants Putting On A Show.

 I arranged some of the Sedums I have grown outside the old farmhouse the other day.  They are putting on a late Summer, early Autumn show.   

Sedums are very easy  to propagate  by division or by cuttings.  They attract the Butterflies and bees  and I like them very much.

They also remind me that Winter is on it's way.   

All Along The Ballincollig Watchtower.

 How's that for a good blog title?  

On our way to Cork yesterday we visited St Oliver's Cemetery and did some shopping in Lidl in Ballincollig.  We took a wrong turning and ended up in a carpark and whilst the wife put Lidl into Google maps for directions.   I had a nosey and a mosey around.

I noticed this old watchtower that use to be a part of Ballincollig  Gunpowder  Works.  In those days they feared French invasions and built Martello towers all over the place.  They are even near us on Garnish and Whiddy  islands.

The gunpowder was made to keep Napoleon at bay and for blasting stone during the construction of railways in Ireland, England, Scotland  and Wales.  This was until 1910 when some bright spark invented synthetic explosives and these  were used instead of gun powder.  

Cork council eventually bought the derelict building  from ICI and now it's part of a tourist park and trail.

My mental jukebox  began to play the following tune:

I saw Uli Jon Roth last year at A New Day Festival  in Kent.  Here he is playing one of Mr Hendrix's classic tracks.  Although on further research it appears that Robert  Zimmerman composed it.  Didn't you  Bob?

Visiting The People's 🎸 Guitarist Resting Place.

We finally visited Rory Gallagher's grave near Cork today.  He was born in Donegal and grew up in Cork.  Jimi Hendrix claimed that Rory Gallagher was the world's greatest guitarist.

Last August I went to A New Day Festival in Kent and I watched Band of Friends.  The bass guitarist is one of Rory's old band members and they played some of his songs.

I have been listening 🎧 to Rory avidly for the last year.  Rory sold over thirty million records and passed away at only 45.

I thanked Rory for his music and his gravestone is similar to an award he won.

Here's my favourite track of his:

Corned Beef Pie Like The One Bob Made.

The new BBC series of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is back on Sunday nights.

Oh how I wish I had a pal like those two.  They are so funny and yet so philosophical.  It takes me back to my old Coarse fishing days and me and my mates would go fishing on a mill lodge and fill our keep nets with cold cans or bottles of Northern English bitter.  Happy days and lots of laughs and a meditation on nature.


Any road Bob Mortimer made corned beef pie on Sunday night.  So yesterday we made it with corned beef, onions, potatoes and peas:

It was very filling and there was even some left for Rosie's the Golden Retriever's  breakfast today.  It was pure stodge and a very cheap tea.  Like something my dear old mum would make on a Monday night.


We are on beef curry tonight.  What are you having for your tea?