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sky confetti
Just before I landed last night Galway threw down some sky confetti to celebrate my return, which was a lovely thought but unnecessary. As we were in our final approach the plane had to pull up as the runway failed its ‘braking test’, and we soared back into the night skies. I admired the lights of Galway and pondered how they were going to help the runway pass its test again. I assumed there was a mighty grind session, or at least grit scattered about. It seemed to work as the plane was able to stop so we could disembark. Much to my surprise my bag was already waiting for…
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hot ginger
This is a picture of a hot glass of Rochester Ginger. I’m currently addicted to it. You can buy Rochester Ginger in any health food shop in Ireland, and I’m sure it’s widely available in the UK where it is made. It claims to be a ‘Dickensian recipe’, by which I assume it means Victorian, but perhaps Dickens was a fan of this beverage and raved about it constantly. I’ve no memory of Pip extolling its virtues after he set up in new digs in London, or Oliver Twist sipping it with the the Artful Dodger as they handed over the day’s purloined handkerchiefs to Fagin. Perhaps I missed something……
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getting in the spirit
In the past I’ve been more of Bah, humbug! kind of girl when it comes to the holiday season. There are a lot of reasons for that, most of them to do with memories of Christmases past. I haven’t even decorated my house in previous years. This year because of the ice and cold weather, and the economic glum and doom, I reckon a little cheering up is in order. So, last night we broke out the few decorations we own, along with a couple of new purchases, and placed them around the house. I hummed ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ as I did so. The starlights are a set…
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Mise en abyme
This is a set of Matryoshka dolls, or Russian nesting dolls, I bought recently at the craft fair in Galway (they are from Minsk). I’ve always wanted at least one set, because there is something about the self-similarity aspect of the dolls that appeal to me a great deal. I was introduced to the concept of fractals by Martin, quite soon after we met. Martin was an engineering student at the time, and loved the elegance of fractal mathematics and the Mandelbrot set in particular. When I saw the recursive patterns printed as images it immediately reminded me of the artwork by M.C. Escher. When I was a kid a…
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a dash of colour
I took this picture of flowers in a bouquet a couple of weeks back. It warms me just to look at it. A nice antidote to the ice and cold at the moment.
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the joys of frost
This is another image from yesterday, when it was bitterly cold. It’s funny the things you learn because a picture can get you interested in a subject. Yesterday’s image of a small natural frost bridge made me wonder about the exact nature of the frost growing upon the surfaces I photographed yesterday. I love the crystalline structure of the shapes. It appears that it is hoarfrost, which is a deposit of ice crystals caused by the sublimation of water vapor in the ambient air directly to ice. Here’s a close-up of another photo I took: Some of the shapes look like tiny Christmas trees growing on the shrub. My philosophy…
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iced in
Our severe cold snap (by Irish standards) continues. Tonight is supposed to be the coldest night we’ll experience during this period. Here in the West we’ve had two days of gorgeous sunshine, but the temperatures have not risen above freezing. All the snow that fell a few days ago is still on the ground. This means the roads in my area are dangerous to drive on, so we’ve doing as little of that as possible. Today I managed to get to the woods after a slow, careful drive. It was dazzlingly beautiful, although the tips of my fingers went numb as I tried to take photographs (I was using my…
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the finish line
NaNoWriMo ended yesterday, and I passed the finish line by writing 50,000 words in a month. I’m pleased that I hit the goal, and the challenge highlighted the fact that there is always time to write if I cut back on the time-wasting activities and ensure that writing is a priority. One of the problems I encountered with keeping to the schedule was a creeping sense of boredom began to pervade my day. I realised that I had to introduce some variety into my schedule, and having the same writing time every day just doesn’t suit my temperament. An interesting side-effect is that I hardly drank any alcohol during November…
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a little thrill
Yesterday we dug our car out from under half a foot of snow and left Wexford for a long, careful drive up the South-East of Ireland before heading West to Galway. The first section was like driving through the landscape of Germany or Austria in winter, without the benefit of a country used to heavy snowfall. The entire countryside was swathed in white, and the snow-capped mountains appeared ready for skiers. As we passed through the Wicklow mountains we encountered a minor blizzard but luckily we were on clear, good roads and left it behind after a short distance. Once we hit the motorway to the West of Ireland the…
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Remembering Rob
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of Rob Holdstock. It’s still hard to believe that’s he’s no longer with us. The above picture, which I’ve called ‘Elysium’, was taken a few days ago in Coole Park in Galway. As soon as I saw it I though of Rob. I miss him. The good news is that £3,761 was raised for the ‘Rob Holdstock Memorial Fund‘, and an acre of woodland in Victory Wood will be dedicated to the memory of Rob’s life and writing. Early in the new year a bench and plaque will be placed on the site, and people will be able to go there and…
