As the sun began to lower in the autumn sky and the russets, reds and yellows of trees and shrubs continued to change in the light, the quietness of this part of rural Fermanagh was disturbed only by birdlife.
This is Galloon Island on Upper Lough Erne.
On a corner of the island, Elaina Kelly-Woods devotes her smallholding to organic gardening and recycling and essentially living as close to nature as she can.
At this time of year, harvest takes centre stage in her plans. In her greenhouse, there are still some dessert grapes to harvest; in the polytunnel, there are still a few chilli peppers, the odd tomato and salad crop still to be taken off the plants. Outside in the vegetable beds, the potatoes are remaining to be dug and inside the quaint stone-built cottage, the kitchen cupboards are bursting with jams, jellies, preserves and the odd jar of homemade rosehip syrup to provide some warmth during the cold days of winter to come.
There’s a sweet chestnut tree in the garden which produced some fruits this year, an apricot tree in the greenhouse which provided its first fruits, there was sweetcorn and butternut squash, cucumber, strawberries, asparagus, beetroot, cauliflower, garlic, leeks and kale.
Two pigs, a Tamworth an an Old Spot and Gloucester cross will provide pork in the freezer. The multi-coloured hens produce as many eggs that Elaina and her family members can eat.
Strawberry jams, blackcurrant and blackberry jams and jellies are stored for winter and the pulp from the jelly made into sweets! There is nothing wasted.
However another kind of harvest focuses Elaina’s attention most of all. Her small flock of Texel and Southdown cross sheep provide her with the fleeces that she will use to produce her own wool.
The fleeces are dried, hand dyed, carded and spun ready for making into her multi-coloured garments.
Elaina explained how she had always been interested in arts and crafts, especially when the children were young but took a more active interest in wool craft when her husband, Malachy took ill with cancer. Over the few years she looked after him until his death, Elaina took comfort with her wool craft, being taught how to spin her own wool by her sister-in-law, Brigid Maguire. 
“The children bought me a spinning wheel and I’ve been doing it now for four years. Brigid is interested in Aran wools but I like the funkier the better, the art wools,” she explained.
“I wash the fleeces, dry them, card them and spin them and then knit,” she said, pointing to endless carrier bags of wool in different stages of processing.
Then she lifts a ball of fine Merino wool, which she buys to treat herself from time to time.
Then there’s her homemade felting, using modern gadgets such as electric sanders and tumble driers to get the texture right.
“I do this mostly to occupy myself. I have to try and keep occupied. If you don’t use your hands they will seize up,” she says.
Elaina suffers from Fibromyalgia, a long term chronic condition that can be extremely painful at times and which can restrict the movement in her hands.
Elaina is one of the few people I’ve met who looks forward to the winter season.
“I like the winter because you don’t have to do the outside things and you can sit down and sew or knit. I don’t like to be idle.
“Because of Malachy’s cancer, it has changed my outlook on life,” she said, explaining how she attends groups of wool craft enthusiasts around the county. She does not like to think she teaches anyone but it’s clear Elaina inspires other people in many different aspects of wool craft.
Elaina’s home without her husband is not the same but she tries to continue the homely atmosphere with music sessions that would be traditional in this part of Fermanagh, particularly when her son and daughter are at home.
The warmth of the solid fuel heating system and the simplicity of home produced foods make this house a place to enjoy.