Canal Walk

Thursday was a real summer day here - sunny, blue skies, just beautiful. I was on a day off, too, and if the car wasn't so problematical at the moment I am sure I would have gone to Farmleigh or the park. As it was, I had a lovely walk along the canal enjoying all the birdsong and greenery.

I don't think I've ever seen so many sparrows along there, as well as the usual chaffinches, tits, pigeons, blackbirds and robins. Down by the train station was a hen mallard with one single chick, and on the bank was another hen with an older brood of about five, no longer chick-like. And down at the marina was a swan with two very young cygnets.

Alkanet

Hawthorn

Moorhen

Sparrow

The holiday weekend has at last given me time to read the second chapter in my Elements book, so the next batch of Greek photos won't have crooked horizons!

(The current blog header is a photo from the Bois de Vincennes in Paris last June)

Arillas

Arillas is a little village on the north-west coast. They do, so I read, have a heritage trail that runs through a small farm showing the old methods of cultivation and finishing at the microbrewery, but it was only being signposted for the new season after we visited. If we go again, it will definitely be on my to-do list. As it was, it was just a short detour off our main route to see if we could actually find the brewery (no), but the scenery was just beautiful. Despite what it looks like in the third photo, C says he barely got wet at all, and not when he was sitting at the end. If I remember right, this was a very windy day. First beach we went to, the surfers were out and it was too cold for me to get in. It was still very surfy with a lot of undertow on the beach we visited after this, but we both got in and really enjoyed it.

Still learning Photoshop Elements, so I haven't yet worked out how to rotate photos to straighten crooked horizons. I will get there soon!!

Hot Sands

We're just back from two weeks in Corfu - a lovely break. 1000+  photos are going to take a bit of culling before I get round to editing the best ones, but these are from possibly my favourite place. C likes the mountains and the olive groves, but I love Lake Korission, and it was a pity that this time we were staying too far away to visit it more than once. Don't worry - it's not all sand! My favourite part is along the fringe of the lagoon and through the juniper grove. .But even on the bare sand there's plenty of life. We saw a lot of bird tracks, both large and small, and then spotted this Little Ringed Plover. I  can only guess it was hunting insects, which were abundant. We also thought we saw a snake track, quite possible since we saw a dead snake. Last time we visited we saw a hare racing across - no such treat this time, but we did have another  real treat when we first got to the lagoon, but sadly I had not brought my point and shoot so wasn't able to zoom in as much as I wanted too. I'll save the surprise for another post, though!

Hot off the Needles

It's my nephew's birthday this week, so this has just gone off in the post to him. I'd originally bought the cotton to knit something for C, but after knitting the gender-neutral top for his colleague who was expecting a baby back in January, there wasn't enough left for him any more. So George gets the benefit.
I've been loving knitting in the round and top down - no sewing up at the end is a winner in my book. I even treated myself to a book on knitting in the round, I just need to find time to read it properly.

Faded Beauty

I'm not always the best at throwing flowers out when they start to fade.
But when I spotted this lovely dead head a few days ago, it was worth waiting a couple of days for some better light!

April Cards

Favourite cards for April!
Not too many, I was so tired that I felt most of what I made was on the bleah side...

I loved the robot one, though. When I started making it I was thinking of my youngest nephew, but actually I think it will do very well for an adult engineer who studied robotics. Can't you just imagine a robot-style voice saying "Seize the cake"? I could.

Either my computer is ageing even faster than I am, or the new release of GIMP is very resource-intensive, I'm having a lot of trouble editing photos these days. Since C gave me PhotoShop Elements 11 for my birthday, I think I badly need to find time to load it and learn it and see if it reduces the amount of crashes I'm experiencing.

Birds

This was going to be a post with a couple of birds and then my pick of April cards. But time has run away from me, so tonight it will just be birds, the cards will have to be selected over the weekend.
As the goldfinches become a bit more accustomed to us, it's becoming easier to grab a few photos of them other than on the feeder. Of course with the robins that is never a problem! One of the current ones is already venturing up to the back door if it's open, they certainly know where their food comes from.

And how did I come to think my blogaversary was May, when actually it was 22nd April.
Thank you to those who have kept on visiting through the years and have become such good cyber friends.

Green mist, white froth

After it stopped raining today I walked down to post some letters and pick up a couple of things from the greengrocer. I could really see a green mist on a lot of the trees now, and the cherry blossom is finally out in strength. And a lot easier to photograph than the green haze on the trees, though I like this photo as it still has  a totally bare tree in the foreground. The third picture is a chestnut tree.

The remaining photos were taken on the way to work on of the brighter mornings. I discovered it's a bit hard to feed the gulls and take photos at the same time!

The coffee sign is outside the same restaurant which had the Spring sign way back in February! (last photo in the post). I hope they're more accurate in their description of their coffee than in their weather forecasting.

Don't Bug Me

It's getting warmer, it most definitely is. Last time C visited his parents they'd been sitting in the sun at the end of their garden, and yesterday he did the same.
After he came in he felt something in his hair, and when he put his hand up to feel it, this Hawthorn Shield Bug (I think) hopped off and landed on the floor. Luckily (because I had something under the grill and couldn't spare much time) the macro lens was on the camera, so I took a couple of quick shots after bringing it outside.

We haven't had any long-tailed tits for a week now. I miss them, scruffy little things that they are, but I hope it's a good sign that they're now finding plenty of insects in the wild. Certainly I've seen bumblebees and even butterflies flying around. We still have a bunch of redpolls and goldfinches, thoough.

A redpoll, and two long-tailed tits from last week.

Hot news - I think there are little robins in the hedgerow. I hear the cheeping, and I see an adult flying back with food in its mouth. Maybe that inept male robin wasn't totally ineffective in his courtship. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for some baby robins!

Mixed Bag

A couple of photos from an alternative route to work that I've recently started walking occasionally. It helps that I pass the HSQ Superquinn where they have one of the best yoghurts I've tasted outside France. C is pretty fond of them too.

First photo is, I assume, an extractor hood on the roof of Heuston station.
Second photo is the Brunel building in HSQ (Heuston South Quarter) - the curved one on the right. See that blue sky!! It's been pretty windy (enough to get hand-washed Aran sweaters dry yesterday), but a lot milder and how lovely to see some more blue skies. I know Brunel worked on the railway line from Dublin down to Greystones, including the tunnels between Bray and Greystones, so I know for sure there's a railway link with him. I haven't looked at what any of the other buildings are called.

Shadows on a fence

The robins are still squaring off any time I put food out. The one on the wall is the less dominant male, the one on the log has puffed himself up to look big and intimidating.

I had to order a large bag of nyjer seed online recently; between the goldfinches, the redpolls who are back in force and the siskins it's going down pretty fast, and it's hard to find reliably in any of the shops here - and expensive! More blue sky and a goldfinch. I think some time C is going to get me a better zoom lens!!