Shannon View

To-day I took a pleasant stroll down to a little green area, just a stone throw away from my house and to sit on the river wall and take in the view. This poem by Pádraic H. Pearse came to mind.

The Wayfarer

The beauty of the world hath made me sad,

This beauty that will pass;

Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy

To see a leaping squirrel in a tree,

Or a red lady-bird upon a stalk,

Lit by a slanting sun,

Or some green hill where shadows drifted by

Some quiet hill where mountainy man hath sown

And soon would reap; near to the gate of Heaven;

Or children with bare feet upon the sands

Of some ebbed sea, or playing on the streets

Of little towns in Connacht,

Things young and happy.

And then my heart hath told me:

These will pass,

Will pass and change, will die and be no more,

Things bright and green, things young and happy;

And I have gone upon my way

Sorrowful.

Update

My first blog was about the Blue Tits moving into their new home, well, they left and moved on elsewhere. Holly hedgehog has found a new friend, now I can hardly tell them apart. Blackie the dad blackbird is stil very busy, at present he is feeding 3 rather large young blackbirds and is looking the worse for wear. The peacocks are still around and looking rather bare as they have lost their lovely plumes. The kitten has returned after an absence of 8 days and wasn't made at all welcome by Cheko. The bright eyed fox is still visiting at night, with 2 cubs, now there are 3. And the little rescued sygnet lost the battle.

In Full Bloom

Thought I should show a photo of the Clematis, this one is "Jackmanii Superba" and the Lily is "Apeldoorn", both are looking splendid at the moment.

Rescued

To-day two baby swans got seperated from their parents, other adult swans attacked them and killed one. After much panic this little fellow was rescued. It is only a few days old, so the problem was, what to feed it. On contacting the Wildlife Service they suggested feeding it with soft cat food as it has plenty of vitamins. Lets hope this little fellow does well.

Stray Kitten

This little kitten has been coming to the garden for the past 3 weeks. He looks nice enough in the photo but in actual fact he has red patches on his skin and is quite scrawney. He is very afraid of people but has made friends with a labrador, 2 peacocks and Cheko the cat. I gave him plenty of food and milk in the hope of gaining his trust, no such luck. However, I haven't seen him now for 5 full days, can't help wondering what could have happened to him.

Pink Carnations

Mallard Ducks

Ducks having a nap, on the road to God knows where

Two Peacocks

Two heads are better than one, in this case one head is better than two