Sundews

Went down to the market at Kilcrohane to sell a few cards. Not much happening but some nice music going on and a relaxed atmosphere. Caught up with a bit of chat then left early, put on my hiking boots and off we went for a ginormous walk. This is the route. For most of the way you are walking along a ridge bu there was an awful lot of up and down .. I swear we scaled at least five peaks! Wonderfully wild and remote up there . We saw:
a kestrel
larks
hillforts
old cottage
lots of cairns left by the ordnance survey chaps in the 1830s
a trig point
2 shepherds - one young, one old and three dogs
loads of flowers- bog cotton, bog myrtle, bog asphodel, heathers and these sundew! I was delighted, I've never seen them in the wild before. They are tiny but extraordinary when examined.

We also saw some boolies.(Not sure if I've spelled that right!!) These are the remains of little circular buildings which would once have had stone walls and a thatched roof. They are tiny and could be any age from neolithic upwards. The old stories go that women and children lived up here during the summer when they were sent to tend the cattle. This doesn't sound quite right to me, as the huts are tiny and you are never that far from civilisation so I don't see why they had to stay up here.

Coming down our path was covered in cattle so we took a long cut, climbed over fences, through bog and down through our friend Lisa's land. She was out.

Re bottle brush from yesterday - this is what a bit more of it looks like. I think it's originally from New Zealand. A very strange plant, very spiky but exuberant once the flowers are out.