Cottage Garden

Just a couple of snaps from my aunt's garden last weekend - Sunday was beautiful, and we sat outside much of the afternoon. The passionfruit and rose make a canopy over the kitchen window.

July Favourites

We were away two weekends in June - which did give me a chance to do an initial cull of holiday photos, but without my familiar editing program (GIMP), I didn't get to upload any holiday photos yet. I didn't make a lot of cards either - some days it was just too hot. But there was a plethora of birthday cards, including a couple of commissions in work.
Ethan's grandmother told me that he likes trains, bumblebees and the alphabet (he's going to be 3). This is what he calls a one-light train - a fast one. I think he spends a lot of time at the local train station, where they have both intercity and local commuter trains.

This month's header is a photo taken one evening last August in the park. 

June Favourites....

Just a couple, as we were away for most of the month.

We had to leave a couple of days earlier than planned due to a problem with the ferry. I met C at work after lunch on a Thursday and we headed to the port. It was only about five in the afternoon when these photos were taken - a very cloudy, overcast day. But we hadn't sailed from Dublin before, and enjoyed the unusual views of the city.

It was a somewhat rough crossing, so the captain was unable to make up for the late departure. This was compounded by the fact that he had a call from the French coastguard asking him to detour and check whether a yacht was in trouble or not. So we were quite late docking in Cherbourg, and had rain for the first half of the drive down. We couldn't afford to stop much, as we needed to get to our campsite before the barrier closed - we just about got the tent up before sunset at about ten o'clock.

I'll be back (soon, I hope) with more pictures. Our first stop was Blaye citadel , a 17th c. fortress overlooking the Gironde estuary. The campsite is located within the ramparts. We'd stayed there for a very quick overnight stop a couple of years ago, and had been looking forward to having more time (and better weather) to enjoy the atmospheric setting.

Canal Walk

We took a walk along the canal the other evening when the sun came out after a shower.
Lots and lots of yellow wild iris, a mother duck with some little ducklings - and some young people swimming in the lock, it must have been freezing!
When the ducklings came over to the side of the canal where we were, they seemed to find great grazing on the algae growing on the houseboat. I was wondering if you could hear them from the inside.

I spotted these flying pigs - just for you, Lorraine. It's an old, possibly Georgian, office building which is being renovated into shared office spaces with a restaurant and bar. The workmen are still beavering away, so the windows are somewhat dusty. I think this is going to be the bar.

Allium time again - as always, they grow in plantings along the roadside, coming up after the daffodils and tulips have gone.