I never saw anything like the crop of dandelions and some tall yellow weed along the roadsides this year. I think the tall yella fella is oilseed rape which has escaped from captivity but it may be what, as kids, we knew as prasha (charlock). They’re very striking when they’re in big swathes along the ditches. I saw some little cowslips up on The Rock a couple of weeks ago. I’ve never seen them in Donegal but they were a common sight in Kildare in my childhood. Garrett used to pay myself and Libby a penny each for every hundred cowslips or dandelions we collected. I suppose it got us out from under his feet for a while. They like limestone ground and The Rock is an old, disused limestone quarry where I winter the horses for its firm, dry footing. I’m off work at weekends now because I’m working very long hours during the week. The weekend before last the weather was glorious and I had decided to stay put in Cavan rather than go to Rathmullan as I wanted to spend a bit of time with friends I had been neglecting. I also had a lot of seedlings and cuttings similarly neglected, which were in dire need of being planted on.
