Wednesday, September 15, 2010

On the first morning, monday the 5th, it was raining in Fethard. The horses in Cox's field were whinnying and the huge colony of rooks were holding a noisy ''parliament'' in the tall oaks. At the front of the house a pair of grey doves were huddled, hugging in a very small weeping-birch. Blackbirds foraged in the shrubbery bed, running in and out between the plants while the wood-pigeons sat forlornly on the roof. We took the car as far as Wellington Bridge, where the Owen Duff winds through a rush-lined bed. The tide was full and the small white egrets and grey herons were fishing. On one side of the road there was peace, the river, the rushes and fields fading into the misting rain. On the other side of the road cars, 4x4s, tractors and trucks lined the busy country road outside Wallace's Store and supermarket. We finished our shopping and made out way back to the house just as the sun broke through. I looked out the kitchen windows and saw that the back-lawn was made out of butterflies!! Well, almost. Hundreds of bright dandelions had pushed up through the cut grass and almost every one was playing host to a Tortoiseshell butterfly. They flitted and rose like crimson clouds, changed places and settled again. It was so beautiful. Outside the doves and pigeons were drinking from the rain-gutters. It was a though nature had settled in joy over the house and garden, just as the sun shone. I praised God.

1 comment:

  1. At last, your long-promised Nature Blog, Karin. Your descriptions are beautiful. I'm glad I got to see that lawn of butterflies and their dandelions. It really was one of the loveliest sights I've ever witnessed.

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