> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://rathkill-island-news.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Reminder: do not send your children into the fog to fetch things - URL: https://rathkill-island-news.ghost.io/dont-send-your-children-into-the-fog/ - Published: 2026-07-20T07:22:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-20T07:22:09.000Z - Description: Do not call out names of loved ones who have gone into the fog, as this is known to attract additional fog. - Author: Orion Slade # The Tide Brings News… Island Newsletter Vol. XIV ## **Local News:** The fog came in on Tuesday and has not left. **This is not the regular fog.** Council reminds all residents: do not enter the fog on foot. Do not send your children into the fog to fetch things. Do not call out names of loved ones who have gone into the fog, as this is known to attract additional fog. If you must cross from the east quarter to the lower harbour, use the rope laid down by Pádraig Oig along the wall of the dairy. Follow it both ways. If you find the rope has been knotted in a new place since you last used it, stop and return home. Do not call out names of loved ones who have gone into the fog, as this is known to attract additional fog. [](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1532936991818-d0611467fbee?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw2fHxmb2d8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgwNDI0OTcyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080&ref=rathkill-island-news.ghost.io)Congratulations to the Turpin family on the birth of their daughter whoarrived on the third day of fog, which we’ve agreed is auspicious. The child has been given a name but the family have asked us not to print it until the naming window has closed. We respect this. We are not sure how many legs this child has, please stop asking. The post office box at the harbour has been making a sound at night. We have agreed as a community to ignore this for now. There is a lid on the box. The lid will hold. Rory Cléirigh’s goats have again escaped the upper paddock and were found standing in formation on the strand facing the water. Rory requests that if you see them, do not look directly at them or they will scatter into the dunes and he’ll spend a week finding them. Avert your gaze and walk past at **a normal pace.** They will follow. ## **Craft Corner: Monthly Talisman** This month’s recipe comes to us from old Malachy down at the crooked sheds. We nearly didn’t print it because he wrote it on a paper bag, but here we are. Thanks Malachy. ### **Fog Ward (For Use During Extended Fog Events Only)** **You will need:** - a white candle (or a taper, whatever you have) - three small stones from above the tideline - a length of red wool - something of yours that the fog has not yet touched (a ring, a coin, a tooth, we don’t judge) Speak to the wool. Not to the fog. Not to whatever is in the fog. To the wool. Tell it what you are owed and what you are keeping. ### **Timing: During the fog only. If the fog clears, abandon and start again when it returns.** 1. Light the candle in a room with the window shut. Do not open the window. 2. Lay the three stones in a line on the sill, touching. They must touch. 3. Hold the personal item in your left hand and the red wool in your right. Tie nine knots in the wool (3×3, same as always). 4. Speak to the wool. Not to the fog. Not to whatever is in the fog. To the wool. Tell it what you are owed and what you are keeping. 5. Thread the wool through the stones and hang it in the window — on the inside, not outside. This is important. Not outside. Replace each time the fog returns. Burn the old wool. Do not save it. ## **Herbarium Arcanum** Siobhán Gunny has confirmed that her book is still coming out. We believe her. Her editor, apparently, is also still alive. This month’s extract is below. ****Warning:** Do not harvest Sea Holdfast for personal use. Previous harvesters on the island have reported that the pools were noticeably smaller on their return visits. If you feel the pools are watching you, leave the pools. ### **Plant: Sea Holdfast (*Tenacula maris profundi*)** **Kingdom:** Plantae **Order:** Littorales **Family:** Anchoridae **Habitat:** Found exclusively in the rock pools on the northeastern face of the island, below the high fern line, visible only at spring tides. Never found elsewhere, despite repeated attempts by researchers from the mainland to transplant samples. The samples do not survive transit. Or rather: they survive, but they arrive somewhere different. **Morphological Notes:** Flat, dark olive-green in colour, with a surface like cold rubber. Emits a low vibration when touched, perceptible to some people and not others. Children consistently report hearing it “hum.” Siobhán notes that she personally cannot hear the hum, and finds this significant, though is not yet prepared to say why. **Warning:** Do not harvest Sea Holdfast for personal use. Previous harvesters on the island have reported that the pools were noticeably smaller on their return visits. If you feel the pools are watching you, leave the pools. ### [](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1605490659271-df9f89699d01?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHw0fHx0aWRlJTIwcG9vbHxlbnwwfHx8fDE3ODA0OTU2NzR8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080&ref=rathkill-island-news.ghost.io)**And Finally, the Local Weather** Fog. Ongoing. No further forecast is available at this time, as Tomás who does the weather readings has gone into the fog to check the instruments and has been gone since Thursday. We expect him back. We are fairly confident about this. **Wind direction:** indeterminate. **Sea visibility:** none. **Birdsong:** returned briefly on Tuesday evening around six. Stopped suddenly at six-twelve. A small mercy. --- **Tips, hints, comments or suggestions? Email the editor, Orion Slade, at orionsladenews@gmail.com**