May favourites

 Not a productive month on the card front (and I didn't realise till well into the month that my watermark still said 2021 even though I had switched out the Snoopy graphic). 

I think the boat and gull one is probably my favourite. It reminds me of, and was probably inspired by an Ellen Horan tile my sister gave me.

The first one was geometry inspired.

The teasel is the technique where you build up two or three layers of clear embossing powder, then stamp on it with Versamark and emboss the image with another colour, so it sinks into the clear layers. I'm frugal with my clear EP, but had fun with this. The next two were for a mason jar theme - the penguin jar is actually 3D and will hold a small gift. I have at least two stamps, but pulled out some Bigz dies for both projects. 

The last one was for Mother's Day (in the US). Thank you, Lorraine, for the kingfisher. We did actually have a lovely little kingfisher jug when I was growing up, but I don't remember seeing it when we cleared the house out, so maybe it broke along the way. The real mother-based inspirations were using a page from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary which her father gave her for Christmas when she was 23 (frequently referred to as we were growing up. I kept one volume when we cleared the house), a French theme in the background and some music. 

I considered three different photos for a header this month - also-rans were a view of Lough Tay from our drive up in the Wicklow Mountains last June, and a sparrow feeding a young one, but the heron came out the winner.

Farmleigh

 I paid a visit to Farmleigh on Thursday morning, which turned out to be a good choice as Friday and Saturday were both very showery. As I was stowing the saddlebags in my backpack and switching sunglasses for regular, I had a curious visitor who first perched on the pedal and then flew up to the handlebar of my bicycle.

I don't recall ever noticing so many wisteria before - a whole row of them growing up frames  - and yet I must have been there around this time of year. With peonies also out and some oriental poppies, it slightly made me regret that I hadn't had the energy to go as far as the Botanic Gardens.

I did cycle the longer (and flatter - usually I go for the shorter and more hilly = exercise) route so that I could take a picture of the deer sculpture now that the alliums are starting to come out.  I did grab one at the tulip stage, but missed the stage after that when there is some tall stem with either blue or white flowers, and which I haven't yet taken the time to identify. 

 

Canal Ride

 I had my annual medical checkup last week, and since driving aggravates my shoulder, I decided that it was withing cycling range given a good weather forecast. It was a nice combination of into town along the canal, and then a short part through the city before I was back out on the coast road with a cycle lane all the way. Now I know that I can plan around tide times and take a trip to the North Bull Island nature reserve with my camera some time. Last week, though, I just had my phone and I was a bit pressed for time on the way out because C was wrong when he told me I couldn't miss a particular turn. I had spotted this utility box on the way out, and was glad to have time to stop and take a couple of pictures on the way back. The two striped chimneys are a classic Dublin sight - Poolbeg Power Station, and there is a strong Viking heritage in Dublin. In fact the Battle of Clontarf (this area) in 1014 resulted in the victory of Brian Boru and his Irish army over an Irish-Viking alliance, and came to be seen as a battle that marked the end of the Viking domination of the country. 

Many people enjoy sitting along the canal side - but only the famous get sculptures to commemorate the fact. Here on the Royal Canal we have the poet  Brendan Behan sitting just above the 2nd lock. The Grand Canal plays host to another poet, Patrick Kavanagh. 

And at the 10th lock is a sculpture of a lock keeper. While most of the locks along the River Shannon are now automated, we did pass through one old one on our holiday last summer, when we detoured down the Camlin River, which had to be opened manually by the lock keeper just as represented here. 

I had plenty of choices for this month's header. Originally I had a swan, but in the end I decided to go with this chick - I think it's a coot. And I'm also adding a just for fun card. The rat had been floating around my desk since last November when C took his trip to Maine. Being on mineral paper he wasn't as substantial as all the other bits and pieces that float around indefinitely, so I was keen to use him up.