July Favourites

 Very thin on the ground - the cat/bee is only added on C's account.

We had a heatwave which probably didn't help creativity, along with the fact that we have still not yet finalised the sale of my aunt's cottage. And I've been covering extra days in work with other people on vacation - that time of year. 

I did visit my sister a couple of weeks back - right in the middle of the heatwave. She looked at the forecast and did a switch from her original plans, so on Saturday afternoon we went to Doneraile Park and the ruins of Ballybeg Priory.  The park was a good place for such a hot day, plenty of shade from the trees. But unfortunately not so great for photography with high contrast.  C and I used to see the signs for Doneraile every time we visited my parents, but never made time to visit so it was nice to finally get to see it. 

The full album of photos is here, I've just added a few. The dovecote in the priory was amazing - it has something like 352 little slots inside where the birds could nest. As it tapers to a narrow exit at the top, it's almost like a camera shutter. The monks would have kept the birds primarily as a source of fertiliser. 

On the Sunday morning we just walked to the Lough, which I think I have mentioned before. It's such a surprising little lake right in the middle of a residential area. a great amenity. We saw at least two coot families with very vocal youngsters - learning to dive but still very dependent on their parents. There were also a couple of radio-controlled boats, although we were unable to spot whoever was controlling them. 

My blog header is a photo from the Phoenix Park last August. Since they already harvested the hay back in May, I am rather expecting them to get a second cut this year.