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. 

April Favourites

 It must be the longer evenings, it's certainly not that work has eased up any. Maybe the break over Easter helped too - whatever the reason, I have more favourite cards to share this month than the previous couple. 

The one with the owl was an Earth Day challenge, so for something recycled I used the kitchen towel from the box I use for spraying in. It had a good colour mix for the owl, I just lightened the centres of the eyes a little with a Posca pen. 

The "wishing and dreaming" with butterflies was to use our choice of techniques. The sanded pencil background is one I really enjoy - and this time I also used the stencil with the pencil remaining it to do some stencil embossing/monoprint, giving me another background for my stash.

The diorama was for a song-inspired challenge - I went for a mash-up of Yellow Submarine (obviously) and Octopus's Garden.

The 30th of April already -where has the year gone! I'll be back tomorrow with a few photos from a bike ride the other day and a new blog header. 

Botanic Outpost

 We took a trip today to Kilmacurragh gardens, which is described as an 18th century country estate, part of which officially became part of the Botanic Gardens in 1996. I think all my visits there pre-date that, though I've only ever known the house as a ruin. One of my first outings with a proper "grown-up" camera (an old range-finder, nothing even as fancy as an SLR) was there, so it holds fond memories memory. I still have most of the photos from that visit. 

We had missed what they describe as a carpet of crocuses and other wildflowers in the meadow in front of the house, but were at a good time to enjoy the rhododendrons. 

The "Broad Walk" is described as being wide enough for two Victorian ladies to walk side by side in their hoops and crinolines, and alternates yew trees and rhododendrons - all now massive. I imagine they looked much more orderly 200 years ago.

I had thought this looked very like laburnum, but being now under the auspices of the Botanic Gardens many things are well lablled, and it is in fact a Sophora cassioides.

This old trunk was always a favourite of ours, reminding us of Lucy M. Boston's Green Knowe books.

Someone told us they had seen a woodpecker. Sadly, we didn't see it, but we did see a red kite soaring overhead. 

These and a few more photos (25 in total) are in an album HERE. It also includes a short video snip of a little mallard chick. Last Sunday, or maybe it was Monday, we went for a walk along the canal looking for ducklings. All we found was one single solitary duckling with its mother, which was a little sad really, I'm sure it means the rest of the brood were predated as I've never seen only one before.