Woodland Bard

Sunday afternoon is usually Bards In The Woods time. People who know me know that I love a woodland venue much more than any inside event. Our woodland plans for this day changed some weeks ago to Bards In The Labyrinth using the little woodland that the Carrowcrory Tree Labyrinth had become. As this day was getting closer it became obvious that the weather was to become challenging. Well it was! Wet, windy and coldish. One of the excitements was Mike Absalom asking to come along. Mike is someone that myself and some school friends were fans of in the mid 60s, during his years of 'fame', but with harp these days even better. So Mike and his harp arrived, harp parked silently ... Most people arrived on time at 4pm and tea was served at high speed as well as the feeding of a feast. I had made vegan veggie pasties, as I often do ... Also some creamed string beans which were woofed down, three bean salad with cheeses, my famous vegan potato salad, and a green sa

Leitrim based Councillor, Padraig Fallon, a member of Sinn Fein,  has expressed concern over the increasing afforestation levels in Leitrim and the lack of support for farmers who wish to farm the land. He claims that forestry is replacing families and communities in rural Ireland. The Sinn Fein party have recently launched it’s ‘Stand up for the West’ campaign where it is calling for more protection for rural communities to prevent the decline and eradication of communities. Cllr. Fallon tries to balance this by saying that he is not anti-forestry, but believes that the same incentives and support that forestry has in Ireland should be available to farmers, which I assume is for rearing more beef and sheep as very few farmers in Leitrim grow crops other than for animal feedstuff. Oh dear, doesn't this rustle up a hornets nest of problems??  What Padraig says I find I both totally agree with and am also eager to challenge. Total forest cover in Ireland is still r