Saturday, April 10, 2010

Saturday April 10, 2010. Mixed Bag.



Lough Graney and the hedges full of golden gorse. The grass in the field hasn't greened up yet.
Do click on it to enlarge the photo.
ATCs

I have received a new ATCs from Lisa in my ATC/ABC group of ten. Lisa has been doing butterflies and moths and this one is L for Little Metalmark Butterfly.


Isn't it beautiful?

I have just done 'N' for Net. It's quite a simple one, but stylish I think:

The net on the 'N' is actually gold but it looks more silver here. I have actually added a bit more to this since the photo. This is going to Mim in America.

I have also done 'P' for 'Puffin'. This is going to Lisa in the USA, who has just sent me the butterfly:

I hand stitched around the puffin to give him an appliqued look.

I made another Puffin ATC for a new lady in the USA called Judith. It's similar:

Now I have to make an 'O' for Sunday. Hmm, no ideas yet.

Buster

Poor Buster has been in the wars. He must have been attacked by one or more dogs and came back 3 nights ago in a dreadful state. He had a puncture wound on his thigh, a weal on his front leg and a nip on his bottom. He was very shaken and cried occasionally. I stayed up with him overnight and in the morning he seemed a bit better. He was stiff getting up but apart from that didn't seem too bad. He stayed in most of the day and sat in the sunshine for a while:

Then he headed off! I went and fetched him from down the road and he seemed to have perked up. However, the next morning he could hardly get out of his bed, so I took him to see the vet in Gort. He bathed his wounds and gave him 2 injections, one of antibiotics and one a muscle relaxant. We have 4 days supply of tablets to give him too. Well, this morning we had a different dog! The old Buster was back, leaped out of his bed when we appeared and his tail was wagging like crazy. Phew! Animals. Who'd have them?

I had been told previously that Buster was overweight and was dreading the 'main' vet saying the same. He said he wasn't overweight at all and that he was in fine condition (apart from his bites) and lovely natured. Ah, I felt better then.

Gort

After the visit to the vets I took a few photos in and around Gort while Buster slept in the car.

The main street in Gort. They do seem to have a sign for everything!

I love this old painted Guinness sign.

The Catholic Church dominates the town. It has 2 arched doorways with splendid paintings above:


Either side of the main door there was a wreath of flowers - presumably for Easter.
Just round the corner is another church - part of which is the library. I'm not sure whether the church is in use, but I think it probably is. I took a few photos of it:

I rather like all the 'spikes' on the roof.


This rather attractive little bench was outside the church railings. A passer by asked if I was a tourist! I suppose not many Irish people take photos of their towns unless they're on holiday.

There is a little park between the two churches:



I think it might be quite difficult to get into the door above the white door!

Finally, some signs and a splendid clock from the main street:


The Garden

We've been very busy outside, as the weather has warmed up. Yesterday I finished building the wall along the bottom of the fairy hill and filled behind the stones with compost. Today I planted some pansies, primula 'Wanda', Marjoram and Saxifrage along the length of the wall.


I planted this little clump of Wanda a few days ago and it already looks bedded in.

Jim has been planting heathers in the new gate bed and the new acers are coming into leaf:


This one looks almost orange.


These narcissus have just come out and there are still loads of daffodils too.

On the arboretum there are some rockery tulips. They are so pretty:


The magnolia stellata has come into bloom today and Jim took a couple of lovely photos of it:

In the same bed, we had an olive tree but sadly the Winter frosts have put paid to that - it's just sticks now.

Jim caught me planting the pansies - I always seem to be in that position!

I do stand up occasionally. My grey hair is now growing apace! Beyond me you can see the grass which Jim has now mowed - it looks much better. He has also done some strimming today.

Tonight I had another bonfire - I always seem to create lots of rubbish to burn - I had one in the orchard a couple of nights ago too.

Finally, Jim took this joiner from our meadow:

Do click on it if you have time. The colours are lovely. On the left is The Deenery, the hill at the back is Flagmount then you can see Lough Graney and more of our meadow.

Have a great weekend everyone.

16 comments:

DK said...

smashing blog, lots of things to look at and read! Love the signs of course, loving your cruella stripe too mum!! ~grins and runs!~

DK said...

oh and gosh, SO sorry to hear about Buster, poor thing!

Catsngrams said...

What beautiful pictures. Oh I love those pictures of the churches. So beautiful. I am hopeing that our weather tomorrow will be good so I do some gardening. Have a great weekend.

Lynn Cohen said...

I love that Lisa made this butterfly a collaged layered effect. Beautifully done.

Your puffins are adorable.

Always love the sights of sites around your country side.

Hope the pooch is feeling better!

Bella Sinclair said...

Awww, poor Buster! I wish he could talk and tell us a story of his adventures as we all sip tea around a fire.

Oh, Gina, those ATCs are wondeful! I love those puffins. And that N is very cool. I also love the ones you drew in your earlier post.

Beautiful photos. I love looking at architecture, be it shops or churches. And star magnolias are some of my favorites. What an exciting time to be in your garden!

Rachel Green said...

What fabulous pictures! I'm quite jealous of your garden! Poor Buster!
The top door would have been a goods door where they had a ramp to a delivery cart. My grandfather had the same in his bakery.

Heather said...

Love the ATCs, especially the butterfly and your puffins. Poor old Buster - glad he's better. Overweight? What rubbish - he's a fine figure of a dog. Interesting photos from Gort and great garden pics.

Mim said...

glad buster is doing better, he is a lovely doggie and certainly not overweight. he must have been so sad when he didn't feel well, poor pooch.

and that N is wonderful and the usual Gina-creative-look. can't wait to see it in real time.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I am glad you got your butterfly BT. I can't wait to get the puffin. They are one of my favorite birds. Poor Buster. He must have been in a terrible fight. I am glad you take so many pictures around where you go. I enjoy seeing your part of the world. Your garden looks so interesting. I wish I could walk through with you.

soulbrush said...

lovely cards, we are having fun aren't we? poor old buster, give him lotsa hugs from me.

Jason said...

Glad Buster is ok, xx

BT said...

Thanks K. Ha ha, I like the Cruella stripe!! No need to run. I'll catch you unawares!!

Thanks re Buster, he is much improved now thank goodness.

Hello Catsngrams, lovely to see you. I love churches too, that's why I keep photographing them!! I do hope you had good weather too. Today's been really lovely again.

Hi Lynn. I'm glad you like my puffins. And the Irish photos. Buster is much better now thank you. It was a scare though. My Hebrew 10th letter ATC has arrived and it's lovely.

Hi Bella. We did think of attaching a 'Bustercam' to him, but fear he would smash it in no time! We always say 'where've you been?' when he returns but he never lets on!

I'm glad you like my ATCs - I do enjoy making them. You would be able to draw incredible ones. I love architecture too, it's so interesting. In Worthing, where we have a house, there is a lot of Art Deco stuff - I love it. Glad you enjoyed the flower photos, I think the magnolia stellata is one of the best.

Hi Rachel, I guessed the door must have been something like you described. Practical of course. I wish you could come and help in the garden Rachel!!

Hello Heather, I'm glad you like the ATCs. Aren't the puffins cute? Buster is fine now, just a bit of the scar on his side still to heal. He finishes his antibiotics tomorrow.

It's lovely now that some warm weather has come at last and everything seems to be springing to life in the garden.

Hi Mim, I'm glad you like your 'N'. As usual it looks better in real time, as you say. You can't really see the net very well in the photo. Buster was more shocked than anything. He is such a softy I don't think he could understand why he should be attacked.

BT said...

Hello Lisa, I love your butterflies, you are so clever. Buster is much improved happily. I still worry now that it might happen again. Still he will wander off and with our 'open' land it's hard to stop him.

I'm glad you enjoy the photos - maybe one day you'll be able to visit??

Hello soul, we are having fun indeed! I'm loving this series more than the last! Hugs duly given to Buster!

Thank you Jason. xx Missing you all.

Bea said...

Still loving the header. Poor Buster. What great ATCs you are receiving. Always busy working in the garden, aren't you too. BUT, what wonderful photos you get from your beautiful flowers. :)Bea

BT said...

Hi Bea, thanks for calling! Glad you enjoyed the photos. xxx

OffalyGoodLife said...

Beautiful pictures only bettered by the beautiful surroundings - and lovely to see that you can look up from the garden to enjoy them - a lesson of encouragement for us all