'It's A Beautiful Day' Wednesday, 20.01.10

Flagmount reflected in the water of Lough Graney, County Clare. No longer covered in snow and ice. What a difference. Do click on any of the photos to see the details.

I could have sung 'It's a Beautiful Day' (Queen) or 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning' (Oklahoma),
such was the joy I felt when I awoke to a beautiful blue sky and the sun shining on the garden. Jim and I were heading off to Limerick and beyond today to pick up a settee we bought on e-bay. We couldn't take Buster so we took him for a good walk first thing to the woods and Lough Graney. On my last visit, the photos I took were rather like this:

But today, it was another world, another planet even! Everything was green and lush, the moss has started to grow and Lough Graney was, at times, as still as a mill pond. Jim took his camera today, so I had nothing to do with the following photos.

We could see from our land that the reflections would be astonishing and we were not disappointed.


This shot was taken from the lane walking down to the wood and the view was on our right. I like the way Jim has included the fence posts in the foreground leading your eyes to the view.

Although the sun was shining, it was still quite low in the sky and made the following shot:


As Jim had the camera, there are one or two photos of me, for a change:


The inside of the wood looked beautiful, with dappled sun on the trees and the wood's floor.


I love those long shadows and if you click on the photo, you can see wonderful patches of colour on the ground.

Jim asked me 'Do I have to take the bull rushes shot?' and of course I said 'yes'. If you have seen any of my lake photos, you'll know I always have to photograph the bull rushes!


And here they are. Only one of them has a 'head' on it now. I can't wait for the new crop to start growing. Maybe there'll be more than 3 this year.

Here the sun is reflected in the water.


Buster's always ready for a drink when he reaches the lake side.

Just round the corner and we reach the rocks. The reflections were outstanding and I had to pose for Jim! But first, a quick 'joiner' of Flagmount:


I must learn how to get rid of those lines. One day...

Jim took so many of me on the rocks, I stuck them all together!!

If you wonder what I was doing, I was practising my diving technique, as taught to me at Mary Datchelor Girls' School, London many years ago. What a lot of Gina and Busters!

Jim and I felt quite exhilarated while we were walking and Buster seemed full of bounce too. It's amazing how different you feel with warm sun shining down and no bitter wind or frost to freeze your toes.

As we took a last look over to the mountains in the distance, there seemed to be multiple reflections. It was into the sun, but I think the following photo worked rather well:


Look at those little puffy clouds above the hills.

When we arrived home, we settled Buster with a large bone and a bucket of water (he prefers a bucket to his bowl) and away we went to the wilds of Newcastle West.

It was quite a long drive but we arrived in plenty of time and even managed to find the 'peach coloured house through a peach coloured gate'. None of the smaller villages have any name signs, so it's all a bit hit and miss when trying to locate somewhere. The settee is lovely, a rich brick red terracotta colour and it will match our sunroom beautifully. It was, however, rather large! We had come armed with rope and managed to secure the settee mostly inside the Doblo, with just a bit hanging out of the back. Luckily it was still sunny. The delightful lady selling the settee had taken all the cushions off and washed them for us. We paid a ridiculously cheap price for it as it was. Wasn't that kind of her?

We were going to call and do some shopping but with the back doors roped together, decided it wasn't a good plan and headed home, with a brief stop at MacDonalds, as we hadn't eaten yet. It was dark by the time we left and, with the back doors open, a bit cold in the car!

Oh, I forgot to mention that there is a large 'Dunnes' Apartment store next to MacD's, so we went in there to buy a paper. Well, they had a sale on. I came out with some new trainers and a new coat plus a lovely double duvet cover and pillow cases! Then we went home!

All together a most successful and satisfying day. The settee is already in situ and looks super.

Off to the UK

I am off on Friday to the Derbyshire end of the UK to visit my daughter K and her family. It's far too long since I last saw them all so I was determined to go in January. I am really looking forward to seeing them all. I have no doubt I will eat far too much and be spoilt rotten. Here's hoping! Please don't let it snow.

Sorry this is a bit long. Happy Thursday everyone. Woo Hoo. That's just a joyful shout.

Gifts in the Post. 18th January 2010

Dog In the Hole Studio, Wisconsin, USA

About a week ago, I received a wonderful postcard from Bea. Bea has done quite a lot of 'mail art' and I am lucky to have received some of it - from her 'Dog in the Hole Studio'. The link to Bea's blog is at the bottom of the page.


The people in odd pointy hats are Zettis. On the back, Bea has written:

Brought to you by 'The Order' of five Zettites of Zettiaba!! Down one side it says 'by ship's catapult'. Isn't it adorable?

Thank you so much Bea.

ABC of ATCs, Part Two

Having reached 'Z' before Christmas, our little group of ten artists has decided to do the alphabet in Artist Trading Cards all over again. We still have ten contributors, but 2 of them are new/replacements.

I have so far received A for Aleph from Lynn Cohen in California, USA. Lynn is going through the Hebrew alphabet and this is their 'A'. Ah, Lynn commented that it isn't necessarily their 'A' but is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

It's such a bold design and so colourful and I love it Lynn.

I have so far made A for Ants but forgot to photograph my effort! Hopefully, the recipient Lolo will do that for me then I'll be able to post it. In the meantime, I have made:

B for Bloody-Nosed Beetle


I have never been very confident at drawing and painting but I decided I'd have a go at it this time. I am trying to do insects and interweave them with the letters. We shall see how it works out.

About the Bloody Nosed Beetle:

It is a large, flightless leaf beetle. When alarmed, it exudes bright red blood from its mouth. The blood has a burning taste and birds soon learn to leave the beetle alone. It can be found in Southern and Central Europe and its size is 11 - 18 mm. So now you know.

My beetle will be crawling its way to Anchorage, USA to one of our new members, Patty. I could probably do the whole alphabet in beetles as there are so many of them, but that could be a bit dull.

Today at The Deenery

Jim was up early and headed to Ennis to teach at the silver surfers computer class. Then he was going to do a bit of shopping.

I washed our wooden floors and did things domestic for a while. Jim returned and nobody had been at the class!

This afternoon I spent some time in the orchard. There used to be a turkey shed and enclosure at the top of the orchard, which Jim had demolished. Yesterday I piled the shed onto the bonfire. It had mostly rotted and fell apart as I moved it.

Today I attacked the brambles with a mattock and pulled up much of the ivy in this area. The idea is that it will revert to grass and Jim will then be able to mow it along with the rest. I stayed out until 6pm, by which time it was very dark. I had to change my clothes as I had been sweating so much. What a change from last week.

E Bay

We have been looking out for curtain material, bedding and a settee or suite for the new rooms. Jim had bought some striped 'Roma' material and the lady had some more she was able to sell us. We measured and talked and thought and re-measured, but no matter how we tried, it was clear that there wasn't enough material to do the 3 large windows and double doors in the sun room. I love the material though, so we decided to get it anyway and use it just for the window curtains . We will then get some plain cream or beige material for the double doors and I will add some of the striped material to it so that it all blends in. That's the theory anyway!

We have also just bought 2 bedspreads, one for the spare bedroom and one for our new bedroom. The one for the spare is a 1970s tapestry weave cover in blues and oranges. I love it and we bought it for a snip.

Now the one for our room is gorgeous. It is a stunning quilt bought by some people on holiday but never used and was made by the Amish people. It is in shades of green and as soon as I receive it, I will take a photo of it. All these things are located in Ireland so the postage isn't too bad.

Finally, we saw a terracotta 3 seater settee for sale, ending yesterday also, and bought that! Now we have to travel to Limerick on Wednesday and hope it fits in our Doblo van! So we are gradually getting sorted. I am excited about the curtain material. But I will have rather a lot of sewing to do and we still have to paint the walls!

Right, now I'm going to have a go at my 'C' ATC. Happy Monday everyone.

Part 2 of Our Adventurous Walk. 16.1.10

A drop of melting snow hangs from bronze coloured bracken


Buster and I have an Adventure. Part 2

Buster and I ploughed on through the bog and the sun even made an effort to come out. I had thought I might walk to the house of Clare and Terry, a couple I had met a short while ago. They said 'walk through the bog path and turn left when you get to the road'.

From The Deenery, in the Winter we can see a swathe of red through the trees and both Jim and I have wondered what the red is - I think I've discovered the answer with this photo!

When we drive along the road going to the main road, we cross a river. This same river travels through the bog:

Here it is. We also have rights to collect water from this river - that will be from the days when the inhabitants didn't have water to their own land or into their houses.

I passed another pond on the other side. Can you see that branch hanging down, covered in lichen?



As the sun beamed more strongly, the droplets on all the trees shone out. I tried to capture this feature, but only one photo was even half a success:


If you click on it to enlarge it, the droplets show more clearly.

I came to a turning to the left which obviously had a gate at one time, so I guessed Clare and Terry must live along that road.


We walked along this path and once more crossed over the river:


It's wider here and even has a little beach.

I came to another gateway and went through it and could see the house up ahead:


The road was hard to walk on, it was either very icy or had humps and bumps from the cows! Still, we carried on until we reached the farmhouse. Hmm, I guess I took the wrong turning:


So I walked past the cottage into a field which led to the lake again:


I took this to show my shadow deliberately. Now what I didn't fancy was walking back the same way. My feet were a bit wet. Also, there used to be a style across the farmer's fence and now that this route is no longer the East Clare Way, he has sawed down the style and put barbed wire across it. The only way I could get through was to crawl under it! I looked from the edge of the lake to my left and could see the fishing stand where I usually take Buster, behind Kevin's farmhouse:

Can you see it in the distance? I wondered whether I would be able to walk along the edge of the lake back to Kevin's and decided to have a go. Buster was game! Well, to cut a long story short, I did make it but my feet were dripping! It was much faster on the way back than on the outward journey!

When I was nearing the Fishing Stand, Buster disappeared:


But I soon spotted him way out on the Fishing Stand, back on familiar territory!

I took 200 or so photos so I have spared you a lot of them! I walked home hurriedly with my soggy feet and trousers and was greeted through the window by the lovely Billy Boiler:

What a wonderful sight. I rushed inside, changed into dry clothing and a short while afterwards, Jim arrived back from his shopping trip!

Today it's been sunny apart from one flash of lightening and one clap of thunder, followed by a quick hail shower. I did some work outside, clearing fallen branches and twigs from trees in the orchard and moving an old turkey house that Jim had demolished last spring, onto the bonfire. It was dark by the time I came in and I was quite tired. Jim had been painting and he was worn out too. We watched a little tv and before long, both of us were asleep!

I hope you enjoyed the 2nd half of my walk. I'll add a couple more photos that I rather liked for those who're interested.

Cow parsley seed head, without snow or ice!


The skeleton of a barn at the old farmhouse.


This old ladder was completely rusty - it was the same colour as the iron roof.


A wind farm on the distant hills, the Fishing Stand and grasses in the foreground.


Grasses reflected.


Ice patterns - enhanced.


Purple Loose strife standing proud.

I hope every one's enjoying their weekend.

We Have Water! 15th January 2009

A rather splendid moss covered fence post. I passed this when I went for an adventurous walk on Thursday. Look, it's green, not white!

Well, hoorah for the mild weather. Precisely one week after our water froze, it came on again. I can't tell you the relief we felt. I was up early and saw that the tap was dripping. Jim was up soon afterwards and managed, with the help of plumber Seamus on the phone, to sort out Billy Boiler and soon he was blasting out heat to his heart's content. We had also had a delivery of wood pellets the day before, so all is once more well in our little world. Jim also went shopping and stocked up with supplies and posted some letters.

The first thing I did was to give the kitchen surfaces a good clean, wash up and put the full dish washer on too. Then I had a lovely, long shower. I have had the washing machine on almost constantly too, as we were running out of clothes. We really weren't very nice to know at all!

Thursday was the day that Jim went shopping and I decided to take Buster for a walk. I walked down to Kevin's farmhouse, but instead of going round the back of his house to the lake, I turned right along the old East Clare Way. It was still pretty icy in places, but that's better than its usual state, when it is churned up by cows and very muddy.

Melting ice on the lane down to Kevin's. It looks like a face.

As we passed Lough Graney on our left, I took this photo. The dark stripes are where the ice has melted.


There were drips everywhere, as the snow and ice melted. They decorated the grasses like jewels.


It's so good to see green again (and a little red crept in).


This is the ground just after I passed through the very awkward gate. It doesn't get much sun here at all. Can you spot Buster up ahead? This is the path that the couple I photographed, Claire and Terry, had walked along from their home, the other side of the bog.

Some of the ice seemed to have bubbles in it. If you click on any of the photos, you can enlarge them and see them in much more detail.

The path goes right through the Doorus Peat Bog. It is criss crossed with deep fissures where the peat has been dug to burn as fuel. We actually have rights to dig in this bog - but have never done so. It's jolly hard work and all the crevices are full of water. It's a strange place, almost other worldly with many dead trees and swamps. Lichen and moss clings to the branches and old stumps stick up out of the brown, peat coloured water. I tried to capture this feeling in the following photographs:



The above photo is a joiner of 3 photos and I think it shows the swampy nature of the bog pretty well.


Here, you can see where the peat has been dug out and left steep walls and water filled crevices.

I think I'll stop here tonight as it's late and that's probably enough for one post.

I'll continue with my adventurous walk tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good weekend. We will!

From Frost to Snow, Will it Ever Go?

Snow At The Deenery

Weather

Let's talk about the weather! It's a very English thing to do isn't it? Mind you, I think it's spread to the rest of the world with all this unusual weather. Jim managed to get out on the Monday before Christmas and, thank goodness, bought supplies and some wood pellets for our boiler. We then couldn't get out for ages.

We tried to go to Galway and had to abort our trip because of the sheets of ice on the main roads. Our pellets were getting low again and the company won't deliver to us because of the state of the roads. So Jim braved it again and it snowed on him. Luckily he managed to get through and buy some more pellets and food and struggled back. Our lane has had a river of ice down it for weeks. It's treacherous.

On Saturday, I decided to go off down the lane and take some photos of the snow. I got half way down and slipped on my bottom. My camera flash now doesn't work! Well, it's Jim's camera actually and he's not best pleased. The snow had covered the ice so I could no longer see where it was. I turned round and headed back home and took some photos around our land.

Oh, did I mention the water has frozen again. It's been a few days now. Erm, also, as a result of the water pressure dropping the boiler no longer works. So I'm sitting in my office with one bar of an electric fire on and my hands are freezing. We are beginning to wonder quite what we have done to offend the 'powers that be'. And to cap it all, we have been without the internet for 2 days, so that's why I haven't been able to post. We had to watch television!

Today we should have been heading off to the UK to visit Jim's children and grandchildren then going up to see Jason, Sam, Jack and Kitty. As it has snowed with intent now, both here and in the UK, we cancelled the trip. We daren't leave the cottage and probably wouldn't be able to get Buster to the kennels anyway. I am supposed to be going to Derbyshire next week to see K, so I hope it's all back to normal by then. Or I shall scream. I stayed in bed until 4pm one day - at least it was warm in there.

Right. Rant over.

I had a laugh on the phone with Noreen, the owner of the kennels. She has no water either, but a neighbour has been delivering some as she needs it for the dogs apart from everything else. When I mentioned our boiler wasn't working she said, 'I may be smelly, but I'm warm!' lol.

I braved the Neighbours

I have been wondering how our neighbours down the road have been managing for food and water. They fell out with us, in spite of my attempts to try and smooth things over, just before Christmas 2008. I have hated the situation and decided to go and see them. We had some peat blocks left over from when Stanley was here, so I took them down to them, as they have a wood burning stove (which we gave them). Sandra seemed pleased to see me and I went in and we had a chat for about 20 minutes. I also saw Pete and he was fine too. I feel better about the situation anyway and if we can just smile and wave as we pass, that will be fine. A good way to start the New Year I thought. They had been without water for a short time too, but friends with 4 x 4s had taken them shopping for food, so basically they're ok.

Arty Stuff

I had a play today with lots of different bits of green material. I cut it into various square and rectangular shapes and bondawebbed it onto a piece of backing. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do next but it's been fun having a play.

The day I stayed in bed, it snowed hard and Jim went out and took some photos. I'll pop some of them on, or this will be all boring writing! At least the snow looks pretty.


Fennel in the front garden


The contorted willow all snowy

The road out of ours, half way down is where I fell over!


Believe it or not, this is Lough Graney. As it's about 95% iced over, the snow is just sitting on top of the ice. It is supposed to rain tonight but then get cold again. I hope the temperature rises enough to thaw the water.


The mahonia bending under the weight of the snow.

So you remember that in the summer I planted some lobelia in my old trainers? Well, the lobelia has given up the ghost of course. I took this photo of my trainers covered in frost 2 days ago:


Then Jim took this one of them covered in snow!



I must say I think our living willow fence looks spectacular in the snow!

That's it for now. I am so behind with my photos having been off line for so long. Ah well, I'll just have to file them away.

I hope everyone is managing to keep warm.

Sorry I've been grumpy!
xx