Monday, August 25, 2008

On A Mission to Ennis, Monday 25.8.08

Thank you ces for my award. When I find out how to display it, I will certainly do so!

It was once again horribly wet today, so I decided to take a trip to Ennis, quite a big town about an hour's drive from us. When we first came to County Clare, we used Ennis (pronounced Innis), as our base. It's a very pretty town with a wide river running through the centre and a ruined abbey quite near the centre. It also has a good mix of shops, a lot of them boutique style, not so many of the chain store type shops, though there are some of those on the outskirts.

Here are 3 Abbey Arch Shots. It was so wet, all the photos are a bit gloomy today:



















I was on a mission to buy presents for 3 certain ladies (I use the term loosely) who I am visiting on Friday until Monday. One's had a birthday, one is on 30th and one in early Sept. Now I can't say how I got on, because they read my blog! However, I did succeed, so all was well in that department. (You'll have to wait, you three).

It rained all day and the bottoms of my trousers (I like them long) were absolutely soaked. I managed to stay out of the food and coffee shops, very unusual for me, but I knew I had limited time. I was also looking for something to wear for the wedding! No, I haven't sorted anything out yet. I saw a gorgeous looking top, all jester type colours, long with a zip front, in a shop window and eventually decided to go and try it on. The shop assistant was very helpful and brought me the top, plus a camisole to try on under it and a pair of black trousers. Disaster, it made my hips look massive! Now I'm not tiny, but I don't need to look gross.

I think I'll try 'Treasures' in Gort on Wednesday as they have some very unusual suits in there. The trouble with buying in the UK is that the clothes in the main stores are all a bit 'samey', whereas if I get something here in Ireland, it'll be a bit different. We are also going to view the kennels for Buster on Wednesday, which is the other side of Gort, so it'll kill 2 birds with one stone.

You probably know that my daughter has a new blog called 'Enchanted Glimpses' which is full of windows, arches, doors and signs. Well, I couldn't help but look at windows in a way I never have before, and doors, and arches! (Bit of an arch theme in the Abbey ones). I hope you're not too cross with my efforts, DK. Of course you can pinch them for your blog if you like. The River Fergus was running fast under the bridge in Ennis. Here you can see it burbling and bubbling.













Next to the Abbey is a re-fitted shop with an arched door and arched window:



I loved the powder blue colour and the clean lines of the arch against the squares above.

















This was the same shop's window. If you look, you can see the windows reflected and a car's reflection and me taking the picture. This was intentional!This pair of Staffordshire Dogs were watching the world go by. Handsome stained glass panels were either side of them.

I wasn't sure what was in the 'grey' window above. A banana? Actually I think it's a rather arty ornament of some kind. This window was overlooking the square by the river in Ennis.






This rather splendid gate caught my eye. It is at the entrance to the Garda station (Police Station).

Here is the sign to the same place:
It's just by the side of the river so they have the best views.

Now the odd thing about signs is that in Ennis, lots of them seem to be missing! There must be a secret sign stealer about!







This non sign is so pretty!




Of course there were many signs with things in and on them!














This lovely bi-lingual Barber's sign is delightfully old fashioned













One of the many many pub signs, Brogans








A Legal Sign






Tierney Cycles and Fishing Equipment sign with the Clare flag underneath it


















A Mis-spelt Sign















A 'Manly' Sign














Broken Arches Window



















Slightly blurred Tourist Signs

















Now this really made me laugh. If ever there was a misnomer. Fast Foods? Not fast enough judging by the queue!!







On the other side of the river is this cute statue:
I'm not sure what it represents, as the writing on the base was all worn. Oh, notice it has an arch in the centre!

Here's another of it just looking through the arch.






On the opposite side of the road, I don't think I'd fancy staying in this hostel:







There are the 'backs' of some of the shops around the car park, where I parked. This window isn't a good advert for the shop!
























This is one of the many little lanes that inter-connect with the main streets








I spotted this tiny window high up in the eaves of a tall building. It's the sort of window you'd expect to find Mrs Rochester behind, with the bars too.





















All the benches were wet and soggy










Crikey, by the time the workmen had read all these signs before going on site, it'd be time to go home!








K loves these huge pylons that straddle our countryside like mechanical giants. It was a bit dark for this photo, but I tried.
























I did have fun taking this reflection of one in my car though


I didn't get home until about 7.30. Buster rushed out to greet me! We've had a leisurely evening, bit of tv, lovely meal of sausages, potatoes dauphinoise and good old Heinz baked beans. Can't beat it!

The cats are asleep up in Jim's office, Buster's asleep in his posh bow bed, Jim's typing away at something and here am I. I hope you enjoyed my day. I had a good time in spite of the rain.

14 comments:

Happyone said...

Sounds like you had a great day and I sure enjoyed all of the pictures you took.

BT said...

Hi happyone, I was still sorting it out when you left your comment, so I hope you worked it out! My photos and titles weren't quite lined up!
Thanks for calling.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

I just love going along on your outings! And I adore gothic windows and doors, so these photos were a treat.

I do know what you mean about the difficulty of finding something to wear for a special occasion. I can never find something when I need to, but just walking through a shop with nothing special in mind and...there it is. I've learned to snatch things up when that happens for future outings!

I look forward to visiting your daughter's new blog. Windows and Doors....sounds wonderful!

Tess Kincaid said...

More splendid pix, BT! I especially enjoyed all the signage. The barber sign is so charming.

We have quite a bit of that gothic arch design used in the architecture here at Willow Manor.

I love how you always end up with what you ate for dinner...except that it makes me hungry late at night. :P

BT said...

Thanks for the visit P, t and e! And thanks K for putting my award on my blog. I don't know how you did it, but thanks anyway!!

Glad you liked the gothic windows and doors Pamela. I also try and get things when I see them, but we live so far from the shops here that I don't get the chance to do that. I still have a couple of days when I get to the UK, so I'll get something, I'm sure.

BT said...

K's new blog is on my list of links, pamela, it's called 'Enchanted Glimpses'. Go see!

Rachel Green said...

Fabulous photos, Gina. So many of those were in my area of interest :)

DK said...

Oooh wonderful pictures mummy, so glad to see you got the windows/doors/arches bug too - isn't it fun?

Do keep taking them and send me the odd one for the blog (http://enchantedglimpses.blogspot.com) any time please, these are lovely!

DK xxx

DK said...

ooh and I forgot to say - smashing shots of the hulking pylons, I LOVED those in Ireland when we visited, so pleased to see them again!

btw I pinched a few pics for the EG blog!

Anonymous said...

Very enjoyable post and lovely photos. Thank you for sharing all those great sights with us bloggers! It certainly looks and sounds a fascinating place. I think the green painted shop window which you see from the carpark is just great - a really quaint looking shop. I wonder what it really sells.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.
Crystal Jigsaw xx

aims said...

I always look at those big electrical supports like they were something out of War of the Worlds. Strange that...

Beautiful pics again. Who's wedding? I've missed that I think.

And yes - you've made me hungry too...but I thought right away - oh damn - there's flour in the beans....I'm a celiac....so have to be careful all the time.

BT said...

Hi Crystal Jigsaw, thanks for dropping by, glad you liked what you saw. The green window was fascinating. I must go round to the other side in the next road and find out what the shop is!

Glad you enjoyed, Rach and K. Help yourself K.

Poor you, aims, must be a pain being a celiac. It's Jim's son's wedding, Russell and Caz. Should be a good do!
xx

mansuetude said...

i sure enjoyed this tour--the Abbey, the arches, the blue door is to drool for, the signs, Mostly the sign without a sign, that is smart--but your sense of humor is the best drop of dew among it all. Enjoy.

I can see Buster is a Fox Hound on clicking image to get larger view--he looks so much like my dog in the ears, nose, shape--but longer legs... and I love the shadings that outline his ears. Very richly handsmome.

BT said...

Thanks so much for your visit mansuetude. I'm so glad you liked the photos, the blue door's gorgeous, isn't it?

I do try and add some humour to my blog. In life, Jim and I are always giggling about something! We make up songs about all sorts of silly things too.

We think Buster is rather handsome, but maybe it's like your own child! His colouring is certainly appealing, and those eyes! We were hoping he'd stay small, but it wasn't to be. Now he can get onto the table and reach most things. Worse than having a child.
xx