It's true, I love potatoes

I want to live in a lighthouse, climbing the winding stair in my moth-eaten wools to read at the ocean facing window by candlelight. You’d find me wandering around by the cliff edge eating sandwiches heavy on the mustard, binoculars around my neck; with the waves as my soundtrack and the beacon flash my comfort. I’d scour the shore every day in the hope that exotic treasures have been washed up, the birds my company. I’d have a well-stocked larder for warming stews on wild nights and by necessity, a full wine rack. I would never be bored looking out to sea.

Rain not fay away

I find myself staring and smiling at a huge cloud reflection on the water, creating a light patch out on the otherwise dark turquoise Atlantic. I try and remember what dad says about the movement of clouds and precipitation and wonder if the rain will come. From this angle the three lights of the island are visible; The upside-down West Light, the beautifully classic striped East Light and the Beacon at Rue Point. I take out my phone to book the ferry for a Rathlin adventure next week.

Cloud reflection

Walking up the harbour road I gently trail my fingers through the verge, naming each plant aloud as it touches my hand. Lady’s bed straw, vetch, yarrow, birds foot trefoil, ribwort plantain, red clover, burnet rose…

The diversity, the harmony.

Mares tail, dandelion, nettle, buttercup, bramble, knapweed and then I pause, hovering longer on the grasses, such delicate beauty. I have a habit of carefully picking a single stem of grass and nibbling the end where it’s tender and succulent. All the while I have my eyes on the sea.

wild thyme

The waves are crashing in half-heartedly, loud but not intense, on the steep sides of the inlet. A meadow pipit and a skylark are singing by the fence, the lambs bleating nearby and further down by a flock of jackdaw an oystercatcher peeps at her chick; this perfect scene is disrupted by the worst of all the animals. Homo sapiens. The peace destroyed. I can never understand the way people can walk whilst listening to music or talking on the phone when there’s so much to hear and notice in the land.

Neighbours

My frustration at the sudden loud and out of place humans continues to swell as I pick up rubbish from the roadside. But I breath it out and calm down when I focus on the comfort of the camaraderie of the swimmers at the beach, the electric warmth of revellers in the pub and the intimate companionship of spontaneously sharing a drink from the same glass.

Staffy scones with Irish ølands flour

When I reach the water it’s cold, of course but feels as lovely as ice cubes on your lips and the shallow edges are like the subtle heat of a paddling pool that’s been out in the sun for the morning. Afterwards, I pick a fuscia flower and click off the end to taste the sweet nectar and notice now, that the rain has started. I remember a boyfriend saying once it was pointless to go for a walk the rain, he seemed so alien to me in that moment, my total opposite feeling meant sudden disdain and a judgement of his character in my heart from which he never recovered.

Kenbane

The rushy glen is quiet though full of life; the hirondelle have found breakfast and I watch a willow warbler tumble out of the trees in pursuit of its own little feast. There’s Hemlock at the river, this deadly poison at our fingertips, nature’s mystery; the mushrooms in the woods, the Laburnum in the garden and the belladonna on the verges. Strange this balance of risk; like the nightshades we love so well.

Bramble attack

Despite being fully aware of the explosive growth of green beauty in the countryside I meet my own garden with a look of incredulity; I’ve been intensely watching the soil of the polytunnel and the seedlings in the beds with quiet encouragement and now it feels as if it’s all completely out of control. Not the things I want to be though, naturally, the weeds and brambles are threatening to take over and I wonder if I spent too much time procrastinating over many other things rather than getting out to do even just a tiny bit of garden maintenance. I like the wildness, I tell myself, and I honestly believe it.

Golden light in the lane

For a moment the sunlight beams through the leaves of the geraniums on the kitchen windowsill. I walk out to see that the vetch is alive with bees and remember Helen told me there’ll be courgettes next week. Barefoot in the grass looking at the yellow haze of buttercup in the field and low-lying mist capping Knocklayde and I notice it’s raining again, ever so gently. Softly.

Strawbs are king

Spuds for two or so

The toxic but beautiful potato plant, as bound to the Irish as any stereotypical thing you might like to label people with. Careful now, it’s not that straightforward. Truthfully, I love spuds in any variation with a particular deep desire for their fried forms. It’s time, right now, for the early potato crop, whether that be the catwalk Jersey Royals or the papery skins of our beautiful Comber earlies from the sandy fields by Strangford lough. As with any early vegetables, they require very little intervention. Sometimes just as they are is total perfection but maybe try this.

In my opinion this is not a side dish.

Please listen to this beautiful song while you make some food

6-8 lovely spuds

60g Butter

Salt and pepper (I LOVE white pepper with spuds)

Small handful of sorrel

3-4 young horseradish leaves, stalks removed

A few Mint leaves

2 cloves wet garlic very thinly sliced

Fill a medium pan with cold water and bring to the boil, add your potatoes and cook for around 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile melt the butter in a small pan, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes, take off the heat then add the salt and pepper. I believe the fancy folk call it chiffonade but I’ll say ‘thin it slicely’ cause sometimes I get my words mixed up. Add that to the butter and tear up your mint. When the potatoes are ready slice into smaller bitesize chunks and put in a bowl, then pour all your buttery yumminess over the top and lastly the mint. Find a quiet corner (of the lighthouse) and be happy.