Bog Cotton

This painting was done en plein air in a bog not far from Listowel. Many people in Ireland use turf for heating purposes. It's like burning wood. But the process to get it is very different from cutting wood. First, you have to cut the turf into brick like chunks. Then you have to pile it up to dry. I think this is called "turning the turf". When it is all dry, you "throw the turf" into a stack to use like firewood. A whole bunch of turf is called a "sod of turf". Now that we've got that covered (and I'm sure there's some part I may not have gotten quite right), there's the bog cotton. It grows wild in the bog and looks so pretty against the dark peat color of the earth. It's a soft, feathery flower that spreads out across the bog and honestly does look like cotton from a distance. Beautiful.