Catherine Drea is a visual artist, writer and blogger who lives and works in rural County Waterford. Catherine writes a column called As I See It for the Waterford News & Star and her first book Solace-life, loss and the healing power of nature, was published in the Autumn of 2022 by The O'Brien Press. It is available now in all good . . .
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Wild foxgloves on the lane
Wild Foxgloves appear in a new place each year, especially some old patch that has been recently cleared. A corner of rocky earth suddenly gives birth to an abundance of the most exotic of our wildflowers. They nestle under trees and festoon the hedgerows. They peep over the tallest grasses and parade their purply pink . . .
In the green backwoods
We listen for the sound of the soft turf giving way with each footstep. We watch every little rustle in the leafy undergrowth. The darkened tunnel becomes our adventure today and . . .
Busy bees, the hoverflies and us.
We are busy; the bees, the hoverflies and us. We are buzzing, and flitting and re-focussing our intentions. We are working all hours to keep body and . . .
The stillness of a meditating Hare
It's 10 years ago, our first night in the new house and I can't sleep for excitement. It is such a quiet spot and all I can hear is the sound of the endless silence ringing in my ears. I can't stop myself listening and trying to hear something I can recognise. But in no time I am hearing things that are not there at . . .
……and just at that moment……
Special times come and go so fast. The one beautiful evening this summer. That last photo opportunity of the day. The final moments of the slithering sinking sun. After a pet day on Rossbeigh Strand, that elusive sun is tracked until it's very last golden seconds of light. Lads stop playing football on the sand and . . .
Sisters and summer light
Have just spent 5 wonderful days with not one, not two, but all three of my beautiful sisters. During a grey rainy July they brought such a blast of summer light into my life. Not that there was much sun (!) it was more their own warm glow, their laughing eyes, those common intertwining threads all the way back to our shared . . .
Foxglove time!
Ireland's most spectacular wild flower is blooming prolifically on the lane today. The Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, An Lus Mór, reaching up to 150 cm high and hosting up to 75 individual flowers on each stem is everywhere. I remember so well as a child putting the little flowers on each finger as faery hats or . . .
