According to the Celtic calendar spring begins on the first of February. This is St Brigid’s day, a holiday in Ireland and it is often marked by hanging wreaths of flowers outside houses. Even older rituals involve tying coloured fabric to oak trees, possibly as native flowers are rare that early in the year. Or […]
About Me
Jennie Finch on the seafront at Saltburn.
The Moth Man
The Drowners
The death of the Elver Man
The flowers that bloom in the spring tra lah
Posted by Jennie Finch on February 25, 2026
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/the-flowers-that-bloom-in-the-spring-tra-lah/
To the wood, to the wood – again.
Hello, welcome back and I hope you are all safe and dry after this spell of appalling weather. We have been rather quiet this last few weeks, partly through necessity and partly due to the return of the ‘flu we had before Christmas. We’ve christened it “shark ‘flu” because after taking a bite it circles […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on February 8, 2026
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/to-the-wood-to-the-wood-again/
Living in interesting times, in the Chinese sense
Please forgive my brevity and lateness but we are living in very interesting times at present. This New Year has certainly been eventful and I am really, really hoping it doesn’t carry on as it has begun. After all, interesting times in China is a curse. We opened the month with one of our little […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on January 29, 2026
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/living-in-interesting-times-in-the-chinese-sense/
And a Happy New Year to you all
Well, the festivities are almost over, the excesses of the past weeks should be fading and we are back at the start of a new year. We have been very quiet tis year, just us and our little pack of dogs. They still number three though Chloe is now 18 and her daughter has not […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on January 5, 2026
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/and-a-happy-new-year-to-you-all/
Keep Calm and Carry On – it’s Christmas
It is hard to believe this is our fifth Christmas in Ireland. Five years ago we packed up, gave many of our possessions away and left the UK. We had a rental cottage arranged but no permanent home to go to and we knew very little about the area we had chosen. It was, truly, […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on December 21, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/keep-calm-and-carry-on-its-christmas/
A bit more than “something” this month
As I have said before, there’s always something. Something to go wrong, or get in the way, or just vanish for absolutely no reason. Well, this month there’s been a bit more than just something and this overload’s the reason I didn’t post last time. Generally there are a few hiccups, living in such different […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on December 7, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/a-bit-more-than-something-this-month/
I’m alright! – Growing old is not for wimps
We have a new catch phrase in our house now. “I’m alright!” we call from one room to another. Maybe I’ve dropped something or there’s the sound of a bump or a sudden silence. Wherever we are we stop, listen and prepare to hurry to the aid of the other. Then comes the welcome sound […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on November 9, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/im-alright-growing-old-is-not-for-wimps/
What a week we’ve had this week
We’ve had a routine now for several years. On Saturday evening we cook a slightly special meal, set the table using the 1960s china and open a bottle of wine. It is a quiet little ritual that even the dogs recognise. Charlie, the youngest, jumps onto the chair next to me, hoping for a few […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on October 26, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/what-a-week-weve-had-this-week/
It is what it is – for now
Well, my apologies for the missing couple of weeks. We have had a rather fraught time over the last month and life has been a bit exciting. And very busy. I never really understood the saying, “It is what it is”, until recently but now it fits our life rather too well. Maybe it is […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on October 12, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/it-is-what-it-is-for-now/
Hedgerow jam, new readers and left-over books
Autumn is well settled in over here and we are trying to prepare for what might be a hard winter. My mother always maintained that the more berries ripening in September the harder the winter to come. She justified this by insisting it was nature’s way of feeding the birds. Well, in that case we […]
Posted by Jennie Finch on September 14, 2025
https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/hedgerow-jam-new-readers-and-left-over-books/