well heeled

Welcome 2013!

It struck me lately that I’ve nearly 2,000 images on Flickr, and they could be put to good use – such as generating blog posts.

I signed up to Flickr in 2006 and I’ve been adding photographs and artwork there on a regular basis. It represents a tiny fraction of the images I’ve shot over the past seven years, as I’m picky about what I show, and sometimes I’m too busy to sift through my images.

As a project for 2013, and to return to regular blogging, over the coming year I’ll choose images from my archive and use them as a springboard for a post.

I took the above picture at Brigit’s Garden in Roscahill, Co. Galway in early May last year. I was accompanied by the delightful Kate Laity (author and academic), and we arrived during a deluge of rain – rather typical for Ireland.

That weekend the garden hosted a special exhibit, called the ‘Sole of the Garden’, in which shoes were used as containers for plants.

I particularly liked this pair. They were striking, and also a clever metaphorical depiction of how it feels to wear stilettos.

Temperamental clouds rolled over us, dropping bursts of rain before storming off to leave behind blue skies and sparkling sun. The shifting weather couldn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the beautiful array of themed gardens and pockets of woodland.

We finished our trip with tea at the centre’s cafe, followed by a perusal of the gift shop; I bought a hat.

One of my goals in 2013 is to return to the gardens, perhaps later in the summer when the gardens are plump with flowers and greenery.

It’s a magical place. You leave with spirits uplifted, and a reminder of the beauty in the world.