Wedding White

Newly restored summer house/pagaoda in Finnstown House; we had our wedding reception here (4th April 2008) and we pop out for dinner at regular intervals - the new owners have done a lot to upgrade and refurbish it and this to me sums up the restoration - not replacing the well loved old features but bringing them up to date, refreshing and renewing them.

On the Green

Translucent Sunlight

Summer finally hit on Sunday; I spent the morning armed with camera around the Delgany area, and especially around my sister's garden as we were housesitting. I experiemented as much as I could with different settings and got some shots I liked, they'll be making an appearance over the next few days!

Cosy

Thatched cottages in Dunmore East...wouldn't you just love to curl up in one on a cold morning? I also liked the sky dish on the bottom roof....a touch of modernity.

Inside the KIln

Inside the Kiln
temperatures reach
degrees that would
scorch us.
Some materials harden
take form beyond
nature's intent.
Others crumble, break
tear apart, melt;
ressumed into fire.
Consumed by this
I ask , would you
willingly make the attempt?

©GMB 2008

Best Blogs...

Iced Coffee asked bloggers to award the following award :

• 
  Pick five blogs that you consider deserve the award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.


• Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.


• Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.


• The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

So here goes:

1. Iced Coffee - I know you already got this award from Grannymar but really, has to be done! I love your shots and yours is a blog I look at almost everyday.
2. Darren Greene - I am so jealous, frankly. I think the animal shots recently have been extraordinary but your photos are always of such a high standard.
3. McaWilliams - I have loved this blog for ever, it's amazing - there have been some incredible shots that have really inspired me to try harder.
4. Inphotos.org another blog I look at almost every day - wonderful
5. Vivendie.ie - stunning images ! I love both the uban ones like Tate Modern and the sea scapes/landscapes.

I also wanted to add in Will Knott, but that makes six...but really it's an amazing blog, witty as well as image rich.

and they're all Irish ones, I've found some amazing ones from around the world....damn talented people mutter mutter mutter.

Making the Mundane Magical...

I love this shot because something utterly mundane, my back garden, looks mysterious and romantic in this light. Taken just before the rain came pelting down - in one of the rare moments of relative dryness this summer :)

smugglers cave

Baginbun beach, wexford...a series taken there this time last year. Stuck in work in the only glorious sunshine I've seen this year and I'm drawn to old images of holidays :)

My Friend the Pony

My friend's daughter fell in love with the little pony we passed on a day out and still talks about "my friend the pony"

Brooding Hills

One of the most poetic landscapes I've even seen, the west coast of Scotland around Loch Torridon....

Poetic Landscape

Night Life

Taken from the rooftop terrace of the Victoria, in Rome - I loved watching the night life below us, as we sat on the terrace or an evening (the mad Irish - it was too cold for the natives in April)
One of my favourite memories of the Roman part of our honeymoon.

Views from the Circle

Views across the headland on Orkney from the Ring of Brogdar stone circle;




Close up of the stones - the sufaces are beautiful despite years of weathering.

I can see gods....

View from the Ring of Brodgar, across the landscape. The sea level has risen over the centuries, but otherwise it's a reasonably unchanged vista. From the vantage point of the raised hillock beyond the circle (where it is postulated some ultimate or post-ritual ceremony took place) this is a dramatic and inspirational view. You can just see one of the ancient pathways worn through and around the site in the front of the photo.

Dominate

Another from Orkney: Not only are the stone circles, particularly the Ring of Brogdar, impressive - each individual stone is extraodinary. Allowing for the weathering they've recievied over the millenia, they still boast impressively angualr shapes and each dominates the aspect of the landscape behind them when you stand in the circle.

Stones in Circle, Worshipping

From Orkney, one of the most interesting Stone Circles I've been around. I took several shots of various aspects; I think I may post them up now.

Because of the level of tourism it's hard to describe this place in terms of either Brí or Bua but I have to say I could imagine easily the drama of the place, at the right time.

Manneken Pis

One of the things I love about Belgium and the Flemish side of my family is their earthiness; they have a truly bawdy sense of humour that is wholly unexpected in the face of their proud bourgeoise sensibilities. The Manneken Pis to me exemplfies that - I took my husband to see it and he just shook his head and said "This says so much about your family." It does - we can be very much the staid, calm, traditionalists but there's a part of all of us that will laugh our heads off at a statue of a little man pidding in the street. And adopt it as a national emblem.

Lightening Rod

Taken in April in Rome, it's another ominous story of the Vatican visit - I felt as if at any minute the lightening would strike the obelisk !

Mist and Rain

Rain and Sun

Over the hills and away!

Taken on the road from Galway to Portlaoise, over the Slieve Blooms.

Summer, how are you!

I can't help feeling the Mid Summer débacle in Galway was the harbinger of doom as far as our summer is concerned - it's such a dark grey day in Dublin I keep getting drawn back to those stormy pictures from the weekend.

And the weather forecast isn't much better. I'm off to sacrifice a chicken to the weather gods!

Wheat Grass

What we used to call Wheat Grass as kids - we spent ages "harvesting" the grains from the top of them in the back garden and then crushing them between two "mill stones" (big flat stones from the mother's rockery) to make flour.

In the Garden: Variagated Ivy

Ivy covers our entire back wall and is threatening to climb the back of the house. not the dark green ivy I remember as a child but the variagated ivy climber, with cream hearts and shiny waxy green on the outer part of the leaf; on red vine. I love the colours even though the Mr. is planning ivyocide on the plant if it continues to creep any further.