Musings

I took this photo thinking that I had the capability of producing a cleverly obscure comment to accompany it. Turns out: no.

So, here’s a posing lantana bloom. I went out for a stroll, thinking the rain was slacking off. Turns out: no; I was so wrong. I managed to convince my camera (aka phone) to obey my fingertips and not the raindrops it seemed to be seduced by, and here we have a flower photo against the odds. Lousy, but still….

Reminder: don’t sing either….

Posted at 10:21 PM | Comments Off on “Raindrops keep…”

We had a lazy day—for agriculturalists…wait, we’re just tourists at another B&B—and this one is very familiar. No fresh fruit, though; I’m going to downgrade it a bit on tripadvisor or similar. Oh, wait. The food selection is up to MEEEEEE! And I can report that the ’maters are still green.

Fun that the b-day guy and the niece visited for a bit. We are lucky folk! We gave them a gardenia (close your eyes and inhale), but no green tomatoes.

Posted at 10:23 PM | 2 Comments »

The wind (more than the rain) is bringing down the apple petals. They are reminiscent of snow on the grass.

This lupine is developing color, but still tight-closed.

Love the purple shades that develop in the blossoms. Some tend a bit toward lavender, and we have a small minority that are white or pink.

I just checked the lilacs, and ours have color but the buds are unopened. I smelled, and no scent yet. ;-(

Posted at 4:43 PM | Comments Off on Overcast, but springing

Escapee from the great-grandmother garden….

And another. The lupines are just opening…if you check every half-day, the purple-progression is obvious.

Not all the apple trees have this much pink in their buds and new-blossoms.

The first two have been sustaining themselves for nearly a century (okay, maybe only eight decades). I think the apples were planted just after WWII.

Posted at 10:23 PM | Comments Off on Floral trio

We’ve reset the seasons. That is, we’ve journeyed north far enough that early-mid summer is not now, now is early spring. And this lupine is far ahead of the curve. Most lupines in the orchard are just leaves and not even buds.

The apple blossoms have begun to open in the last four days. You can see both buds and blooms on these branches. And the cottage out of focus in the background (for those with sharp eyes).

The Guru took Droney for a run between showers and caught me burning off the trash and warming up the cottage. Honestly, I thought: no need for keeper wood—just a bit of heat to take the edge off.

Posted at 9:40 PM | Comments Off on The edge is off.

After days of a sheep-decorated landscapes, we just have to note: no sheep (here). Not a one. But here the trilliums are busting forth. Love me a trillium. So a carpet of them leaves me breathless.

I had not realized that the carpet of trilliaciousness* can be accompanied by an equally glorious showing of forget-me-nots. I am slightly more educated in wildflowers after today’s reveals.

I took both these photos are right by our northwest downspout. I didn’t have to venture into the woods, or even someone else’s woods, to obtain them.

Happy woods-wandering! Maybe you can find a floral vision that’s equally spellbinding….

* Made-up word.

Posted at 9:56 PM | Comments Off on No sheep

We drove 1926 miles in Ireland. That was over 16.5 days (average 116.7 mi/day).

One day that we climbed to several fortified ringforts, my Fitbit recorded that I climbed 169 flights of stairs. My phone recorded that I climbed a mere 14 that same day. The fact that, as I understand it, the Fitbit counts 8.5 feet as a flight, and the phone uses 10 feet doesn’t account for that discrepancy. And I don’t think either was close to accurate.

Posted at 9:47 PM | 2 Comments »

I thought this was our “last” high cross of the trip, and then we saw a replica in a museum. Does that count?

Also at Ardboe (no ruins of the monastery that was here), we found grave monument setters at work, and this lilac. Can you see the white spots in the first photo? And a couple of flies in this picture? Many bugs…a hatch. They weren’t house flies. Still annoying, however.

Haven’t noticed L-shaped stoplights before….

Strange that all these sheep turned their tails toward us—and they have tails. Lots of that here, but plenty are docked.

Last stone circles of the trip. These are the Beaghmore group.

JCB and the drone captured some fine shots. This is just part of the area of circles, alignments, cairns, etc. Further, this valley is peppered with stone features. And without a doubt more are undiscovered beneath the peat. The peat is covered by brown and grey vegetation in the drone photo.

On to the last ring fort occupied into the 1600s. This is a famous spot, as one of the last Gaelic kings (sub-king I’d say) was inaugurated here in 1593; his name was Aodh Mór Ó Néill. Aodh is Hugh in English. Mór means great. Aodh would have called this place Tulach Óc; today it’s Tullyhogue. Someone lived here in a wooden building into the 1600s. This is the entrance and the original entrance probably required a Z-shaped path between wooden palisades.

We’ve been seeing these blooming hawthorns everywhere—down hedgerows and here at Tulach Óc. The scent is strong.

In Belfast! Here’s the formal façade of Queens University Belfast.

Next to the core buildings of the Univ is the Ulster Botanic Gardens.

This is the door to the Palm House. The plants were ho-hum. There was a HOT room, that made my chest feel compressed.

A metal Lord Kelvin stands inside the main entrance to the BotGarden.

This is a sculpture outside the Ulster Museum.

Just periodic overcast, no sprinkles. Is this really Ireland?

Posted at 4:17 PM | Comments Off on Winding things up

This is the inland side of a promontory fort location, very defensible. The construction here dates to the same period as Donegal Castle that we visited yesterday. Visually, it looks quite different because the stuccoing (perhaps not the technical term) is gone here and not in Donegal. Anyway, the foreground is the original cobble street, discovered below the modern sod. Around me, the photog, are archaeological remains of the village that was outside the castle. This castle, far right and distant, was built/occupied by MacQuillans and then MacDonnells, Scottish landholders and traders. The village had a substantial Scottish merchant population, numbering nearly 300. There was an earlier castle here dating to the ~1200s. I suspect there may have been an earlier occupation, too….

We arrived just after two big busloads of tourons. As we made our way to the ticket booth, we realized they were not entering the castle, only standing at the fence. Yay for the logic of bus-tour scheduling (?).

We took many detail shots of the castle and its setting. This is the remaining bottom portion of a fireplace surround, and the view through the hole in the wall of the next peninsula, covered with pasture and gorse. Strangely, it was not windy.

I’ve messed with the photo settings in an attempt to bring out an etching of a late medieval Scottish galley. Perhaps easiest to spot is an upright triangle, representing the sail, I think. At the bottom are a pair of horizontal lines indicating the ship, with a line of dots along the upper line. Perhaps you can see the upturned ends to the left and right.

We went on east to a geological feature called Giant’s Causeway. It’s a basalt formation of hexagonal columns, broken and weathered on the tops. There are several folk tales about the formation; track them down if you like fanciful stories.

This view is back at the bus turnaround. Many people take the bus down, or more likely back (uphill). We walked both ways. My fitbit has been giving me in excess of 100 flights per day over the last 10 days; not today, unexpectedly.

We spent some time watching the waves crash near the end of the formation, soaking in the sunshine. Just lovely.

I found this tide pool with its brilliant green-yellow whatever-it-is. There are conical shells, too—barnacles? I don’t know much about sea-critters.

Here’s a top-down view of the columns. Love the slight distortion of the geometrics.

Here is a stand of the columns. So dramatic.

We spotted several dandelions along the return route to the parking lot, and even a few buttercups (I think), with flies camped out on them. In contrast, white flowers were bereft of flies. What’s the deal?

We made a quick stop at the Old Bushmills Distillery. We thought about taking the tour, but it was priced at £8/person, and we decided to pass. Even if it included a wee tasting at the end.

Here’s your daily pub shot. This is the Wild Duck in Portglenone. The town is on the River Bann, which connects the large freshwater lake called Lough Neagh to the sea. Vikings sailed up the Bann, and spent the winter of 840/841 at the monasteries at Antrim and Ardboe. Subsequently, they made camps other places around the lake from which they raided elsewhere in the interior of this part of the island.

Posted at 4:37 PM | 1 Comment »

It’s Sunday, so perhaps somehow fitting that we should begin today’s excursion at a churchyard. Another high cross…more burials. Flowers.

Bluebells, in this case.

This is the highest hill in Kells, and the oldest building remaining in the compound is the round tower, most of which still stands. Everyone seems compelled to point out that while most such towers have four window-openings at the top, this one has five—one for each of the main roads leading into town (and away from it, duh).

And, we’re off again. Colors—canola yellow flowers, red car, green vegetation, grey road. Yeah, a snapshot.

This is some of the earthworks at Hill of Tara, commonly called Tara, just as Margaret Mitchell used it in “Gone with the Wind.” Too much complicated archaeology to even broach it. Take it merely as intricate visual candy, and admire the ancient ones who planned and created this.

Here’s a little swoopy stone bridge over a river/creek.

This is the keep of Trim Castle; it’s the largest Anglo-Norman castle on this big island. It was here by 1175, replacing an earlier wooden fortified structure. Life hustled and bustled in the area surrounding the keep and within the curtain walls (completed ~1200)—craftsmen and servants, knights and merchants—and stables, a lime kiln, and so on. The castle offered sufficient security that the town outside the walls became substantial.

Loving these little ferns that have taken hold in the castle wall. And are degrading it.

We push on. We are looking for hills. Aha! There are some! We’re still in the Boyne Valley, but we’re inland and nearing the edge of the catchment.

Off on a “leetle” road. I’d call it a lane. With grass overtaking the center.

And, off to the right: gorse! Here’s a cluster of gorse blossoms close up.

We climbed a little hill this morning at Tara. This one, with some of the Loughcrew cairns atop, requires much more effort. And, on the summit: another Neolithic passage tomb. Signs around it urge “No Climbing.” The accent of every person I heard climbing the mound: Irish. It’s their patrimony…. We stayed on the ground surface. Plenty to see from this hilltop—you can get a hint of how high we are by the distant view in the horizon to the left. Sunny and gorgeous. Beautiful day.

I don’t know what this flower is called; I found it in the hedgerow as I stopped to catch my breath.

Posted at 1:10 PM | Comments Off on Sunday drive