Behold the Lights of Cranley

It's that time of year again

Supermoon

Got a couple of shots with the camera on my phone of tonight's supermoon. 37 years before it occurs again, I'll be old and grey or pushing up daisies by then

Nice taste, odd name

Carlow here I come

Just a week to go until my annual birthday trip to Borris in Carlow. Elaine and David of The Forge run the best B&B ever. A few pints of O'Hara's Pale Ale will be downed no doubt

The Gathering

Harvest time

We have been getting a few eatable odds and ends out of the garden for the last couple of weeks but today, before the rain came on, I got out into the garden and got quite a harvest - peas, runner beans, spuds and tomatoes. We even got a handful of blueberries.

A bumper harvest

New toy

Now I can have real coffee at home

Ancient times

For Lynn's birthday we took a trip down to the Lecale area near Downpatrick, staying at Ballymote House on the Killough Road. We did a little walking and driving, taking the ferry and heading up the Ards Peninsula. As we were on holiday we ate out with a couple of nice meals in Curran's (Ardglass) and Still Waters Cove (Donaghadee). There is some good scenery and plenty of history to explore.

 Ballynoe Stone Circles

Slieve Patrick near Rahholp

Super Seafood

The old Governer Rocks restaurant in Donaghadee has been taken over by new owners and renamed Still Waters Cove. We went there last night for Lynn's birthday. They do good grub, I had a mean seafood platter. Watch out Pier36!

Full time

I'm now back to work full time after my operation and chemotherapy. It's hard due to ongoing fatigue, not to mention having to get into the 'work' mindset again. I think I need a holiday

Sailing boat heading out of Strangford Lough

Very punny

I was in Killough, near Ardglass, today. They have a pub there that goes by the name of The Ann Boal Inn. I thought the name was quite amusing

Growing up

The stuff in my raised bed is taking over

Glenveagh National Park

A nice spot to visit in Donegal

This is Ireland

Another 'This is Ireland' post. I really should think about doing this as a series

First selfie

Spent a couple of days in Donegal with friends. It rained the entire time but we still got a few walks in. While we were there I took my first ever selfie (see below). I still won't be joining any social media sites any time soon, though.

Fermanagh

I spent a night at The Watermill Lodge near Lisnaskea. This was the view from my room

Ghosts

Just playing about with some camera settings.

Me and a ghost

Football, football, football

All I hear is football. I fucking hate it. July 10th can't come soon enough.

Ballycrochan

Star Wars

My son Martyn got chatting with the barman  in Farren's when we were in Donegal last week. As mentioned in a previous post Mark Hamill had visited the bar. As a souvenir he left a stormtrooper boot signed 'Forcefully yours'. Here's a shot of Martyn with the boot

 A happy Star Wars fan

This is Ireland

Spotted in a bookshop in Donegal...

A tail of a snail

Some people drive LIKE snails - this guy drives WITH one

Gumby (garden planning) update

The stuff growing in the greenhouse and the raised bed is now coming on really well. We've had our first strawberries and a few gooseberries and a feed of home-grown peas. The broad beans are nearly ready too and my potato plants look like trees. All my other bits and pieces are doing really well too. Such a contrast from last year

 

Donegal break

Martyn and I spent a couple of days in Donegal checking out a B&B for future visits. I managed to get plenty of photos and Martyn got to visit Malin Head, where part of the new Star Wars movie was filmed and also Farren's Bar, Ireland's most northerly inn where Mark Hamill paid a visit

 

Malin Head

Culdonagh Manor, the B&B near Carndonagh where we stayed

Big Yellow Tree

It's May, the time of year when the big Laburnum tree in my garden comes to life with yellow flowers that bloom for only a few days.

Ta Da!

At last father-in-law's greenhouse is finished. Because it was bought greatly reduced/no return/open box, numerous parts were missing. Nevertheless over the course of the last couple of weeks my pal Gary and I managed to get the thing built. Screws, washers, angle iron, silicone and duct tape were all pressed into use. Hopefully it won't fall down.

 

 A proud Gary with the completed greenhouse

Cowboy builders

My pal Gary and I are going to get a reputation as cowboy builders as we're currently alternating between several jobs. Gary's own greenhouse is on its way and we're also in the process of erecting a garden shed for a neighbour and a greenhouse for my father-in-law. Dominic Littlewood and Judge Rinder are going to be after us. Hopefully we will get better weather than in the photo below

Double rainbow after a heavy shower

Gumby (Garden planning)

The weather has been good this week. In addition to assisting father-in-law to build his greenhouse I have been doing a Gumby and tending to the heaps of stuff in the garden. Here are my greenhouse and raised bed with loads of things bursting into life

 

Walking the dog

Colin, my close friend and next-door neighbour, had to go to hospital for a couple of days due to an unexplained pain. I volunteered to walk his dog Moxy until he's fighting fit again.

Moxy, patiently waiting for Colin

2016 Elections

Voting was today. Despite knowing that the usual bunch of useless wasters will get re-elected I voted anyway. The sheeple will vote as they always do along sectarian lines. Is it any wonder so many young people bugger off to somewhere else as soon as they can? By this time tomorrow night we'll probably have the usual lot back in power again. Ah well, that's Northern Ireland politics for you

Back to work

I'm now back at work 6 months after my cancer op and chemotherapy. To start I'm doing a few days a week working from home. After a month or two I'm hoping to get hiking up mountains again but for now I'm starting to increase the speed of my daily walks a little and jogging short distances as I go.

River Barrow, Co. Carlow

Snow

Bloody hell, it's nearly May and we have snow.

 

Snowy fields near Omagh

Today I have been mostly planting...

I had a quick stock-take of this year's garden plantings and so far I have blueberries, rhubarb, potatoes, onions, scallions, celery and chives growing outside in the open air. There is also bay, rosemary and a planter full of herbs which has a few gaps needing filled outside the back door. In the greenhouse I have normal tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, courgettes, cucumber, sweet peppers, 3 different kinds of chilli plants, herbs and a few pots of salad leaves (lettuce, mustard etc). There is also a sunflower almost ready to move outside. Although they are at various stages, most seem to be growing fairly well so I'm pretty sure I'll have a decent crop this year.

Bangor Marina

WTF?

I nearly fell over when we went to father-in-law's 80th birthday and this was on the table. A huge cock with enormous black balls; it's like something you'd find in a porno movie. Apparently it was there because he keeps chickens as a hobby. 

Summer is here

Two days of sunshine in a row... in Northern Ireland that qualifies as a summer heatwave. I got the grass cut and power washed the green stuff off my paths

The moon was out in daytime

First Run

I meant to post last night but by the time we got back from our meal at Pier 36 it was too late. As usual it was an excellent meal with a great selection of seafood. Tonight the weather was good so I went out for a walk and for the first time since my op had a quick jog, only the space of three lampposts, but it's a start on the road to fitness again and I'm chuffed with myself.

 Binnian Lough, Mourne Mountains

Weather report

Today was a fairly good one weather wise so after a good walk I was able to get a bit of stuff done in my greenhouse. Tomatoes have been planted, herbs potted and the whole lot given a good watering to get them going. If the weather gets a bit warmer I'll soon be able to get a few of them moved outside to the garden. There's still a couple of things in the propagator that need to be potted on and I'll hopefully get them done this week

My greenhouse today

Wine on a Friday?

Normally Saturday is wine night but as I had some Castella Blue and some Pie D'Angloys in the fridge I decided to crack open a nice bottle of red. It would be rude not to.

Florida birds

Aha, sunshine

Today was a nice spring day so I got some stuff done in the garden. I spotted the little bug below sunning itself my compost bin. Dinner was home-made ratatouille done at low speed in the slow cooker (v tasty) and served with couscous and roast duck

Vegetarian Heist

This chemo-brain is really taken its toll on me. I am 100% certain that I purchased a pack of steak pieces on Monday when I got my groceries. This was so I could make a beef curry and leave it to cook while I met a work colleague for coffee. This morning there was no sign of the beef, either in my fridge or freezer, I even checked the boot of my car in case it had fallen out in there. The only thing I can think of  is that the lady who bumped into my trolley in the bread aisle stole it and that she was a vegetarian who didn't want to be spotted at the meat counter.

Graiguenamanagh, Co. Carlow

Sick Game

Martyn purchased a game called Cards Against Humanity and we played it last night. It's a fun party game if you've had a few drinks and aren't easily offended. Answer cards contain racism, disablility humour and other taboo subjects. The fun will probably wear off after we've been through the cards a few times, but for now it's good for a laugh.

Circle of Friends (Inistioge, Co. Carlow)

Twisted

My latest kitchen gadget is a spiralizer. It can be used to turn most vegetables into decorative spirals for presentation and healthy eating. I'll be on Masterchef next

Carrot spirals made by my own fair hand

I haven't won the lottery, but it feels like I have

My next chemotherapy Cycle, 6 of 8, was due to start today but the doctors have decided what I've had so far has done the job and there's no need to continue. To all intents and purposes that means I'm now free of cancer, though I'll still have to go for regular checks to make sure it doesn't come back. BIG Celebrations will be taking place this weekend. Hopefully it won't be to long before I'm able to go back up mountains again. My last hike, prior to my operation, was to Hen mountain near Hilltown in The Mournes (photo below).

Hen Mountain