May Blossom

 I’ve probably said it before, suspect if I checked,  I say it every year: May is my favourite month.  And in the last few days May has been at its peak of perfection. The wet spring has left everything so lush and green.  I quite like this kind of weather - it reminds me of home in Ireland.  We got absolutely drenched twice this week while out with the dog but still have had some lovely walks between the showers.  The Countess of Chester Park behind the local hospital is our nearest dog walking spot. There the fields are a sea of cow parsley bordered by hawthorn bushes with blossom so thick it is weighing down the branches.  And the cow parsley is taller than me.

Paul has just returned from a weekend in Scotland completing the Etape Caledonia, a bike event in Pitlochry,  so Kate has been here keep me company and assisting with dog walking. On Saturday morning we went to Loggerheads Country Park, thirty minutes drive away in North Wales.  There is a riverside walk through ancient woodland with rare wildflowers.  Apparently the one below is Herb Paris.  Loads of wild garlic too. There’s also a very good cafe there which serves generous slices of homemade cakes.  We shared a piece of coffee and walnut.

My garden too is green and about to explode into bloom.  The peony has eight promising looking buds, the oriental poppy many more and there are lots of self seeded foxgloves around.  I’m feeling quite proud of my garden. All the hard work of the last few years is eventually starting to pay off as things I planted are now established.  My new veg plot is also going well - we’ve eaten home grown rocket, spinach and Little Gem lettuce this week.

Since my last post we’ve had a holiday in Ireland - a week at the end of April touring Galway and Mayo and then up North to catch up with family.  I meant to blog about it when we returned but never got round to it.  So this is a kind of double post.  We stayed two nights in the Twelve Hotel just outside Galway which claims to be Ireland’s most ‘dog friendly’ hotel.  It certainly was - Alfie was treated like a prince with a special doggy welcome pack.  They also let us leave him in the room so we could go to the restaurant where we had the ‘tasting menu’, seven tiny courses which were delicious.  We explored the nearby Barna Woods, the Silver Strand beach and Salthill but never did make it into the city itself, deterred by traffic, roadworks etc. 

Paul’s photo of the beach in Barna at dusk. 

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Alfie enjoyed Dog Beach. Another of Paul’s shots. As you can see he has superior skills…

and a better phone.

We moved on following the Wild Atlantic Way and then stopped at Dog Beach with its pure white sand. Not easy to find since it’s a conservation zone and in a Gaeltacht, an Irish speaking area,  which means all the signs are exclusively in Irish. Then we drove through the spectacular Connemara countryside. We had a lunch stop in Clifden and then on to Westport where we spent another couple of nights in a distinctly less luxurious B&B. It did have a glorious view over the harbour and a pub opposite serving good seafood. I noticed that several of the people running the expensive clothes shops in Westport harbour were English.  According to my sister, the West Coast is the new Cornwall with lots of holiday homes.  I’m not sure I like that idea at all. We didn’t climb Croagh Patrick, admiring it from a distance, and instead drove around the rugged landscape of Achill Island. We also visited Westport House and learned a bit about Grace O’Malley, the Irish Pirate Queen.  Not much though as we didn’t bother with the guided tour.  Did buy a book about her in the friendly independent bookshop later. I think the owner was also English.

Westport Town. My photograph this time.

Westport House. The clouds look ominous but we stayed dry for most of the week.

After that we drove north via Lough Erne back to Ballyronan, staying in a holiday home and catching up with cousins.  Lunches at  The Scullery cafe in my childhood home. Still feels very strange. I was happy to see the photograph of my parents on display in there. Then a final night with my  sister in Dromore before catching the ferry back from Dublin to Holyhead.  Travelling by ferry is much more relaxing than flying and, if you include the two hour recommended check-in to negotiate security and the inevitable delays,  doesn’t take much longer either. Not cheap though especially when we had to fork out for an ‘animal health certificate’ thanks to Brexit.  No one asked to see it.

Just sharing one final photograph.  We are not huge fans of royalty in our house but did go to a local street party on coronation day. This was mainly because wanted to enter Alfie in the Royal Pets Parade. He won  the award for the dog with the ‘waggiest’ tail.