Rural rhymes

A little piece of heaven

Roisín Smith

There is a little piece of heaven

Way over from my home

The beauty fills my memory

Wherever I do roam.

It’s my lovely lake that nestles

In the valley down below

The water is so still there

It never seems to flow.

A swan comes out to greet us

Like a king upon his throne

He beckons to her majesty

That she should follow on.

The ducks come paddling in a line

Like soldiers on a drill

They bow their heads to royalty

As if to say I will.

In the evening the reflection

Of the cattle grazing round

I glance down at the water

And see them upside down.

The dark clouds gather over it

And even though it’s fine

I know that it is telling me

To take my clothes in from the line.

Then the moon beams down upon it

And connects it to the sky

And I think of all my loved ones

That join me from on high.

Abridged extract from Poems from the Heart by Roisín Smith, in aid of Embrace Farm. Priced at €15, the book is available from Candlelight Book Stores, Cavan or direct from Roisin Smith, email: rosesmith33@hotmail.com

Chef’s tip

Janine Kennedy

I know I shouldn’t mention the C word in October, but ... have you started your Christmas cakes yet? I am admittedly later than usual this year (I like mine to age for as long as possible) but will be getting them going this weekend. In addition to the usual butter, eggs and treacle, I also add roughly 80g of strawberry or plum jam to my batter. It adds a bit of sticky richness to the whole thing. And don’t forget to soak your fruit in alcohol for at least 24 hours prior to making your cakes. Brandy, whiskey and rum are all great options for making a deliciously boozey Christmas cake. Once soaked, I divide my dry ingredients in half and sprinkle half directly over the soaked fruit. I gently fold the flour into the fruit (this helps them to stay evenly distributed throughout the cake). Happy baking!

Growing wild

with Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Haws.

Look out for haws, the red berries of the whitethorn. They are rich in antioxidants and are eaten by birds, such as fieldfare, thrush and migrating redwing, as well as small mammals. In folklore, whitethorn was associated with magic and to interfere with lone fairy thorn trees or trees growing on ringforts or other archaeological features was very unlucky. Boughs laden with haws are not found on trimmed hedges even when cut every three years. Having escaped hedges with mature whitethorn trees and retaining individual thorn trees within topped hedges are both essential for our native Irish biodiversity.

Picture of the week

Hats off: Alan Fitzpatrick (11) didn’t want an Aldi, TikTok or baseball cap at the Ploughing this year. He wanted the Farmers Journal flat cap when he saw it, so he could just be like his grandad Pa. This is Alan waiting for his lift to an U11 hurling blitz of a Saturday morning wearing his new flat cap and getting his reading done for the day ahead. His cat Toby is in the background.

Tweet of the week

Quote of the week

We’re a food business and a farm – we’re running two businesses and both have been badly affected with costs. For us, it’s a survival strategy, at the moment, as opposed to the growth strategy.

Women & Ag panellist Aisling Flanagan from Velvet Cloud.

Number of the week – 355,000

The amount in Euro spent on locum GP care on Achill since January 2021. Described as “flabbergasting” by Dr Jerry Cowley

See rural health series.