Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge : Week 22 : Group

Stephensplatz, Vienna

Vienna on a Saturday is the place to see groups of people, making music, having coffee, singing, strolling around, or just people watching.    We were staying in an apartment right above the square, which was the perfect place for watching all the different groups below us.

Tourists in Budapest

Outside the Jewish Synagogue in Budapest, there were lots of people waiting to go inside and enjoy the beautiful building.

Visit Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge for more photos.

Who is ‘James Smith’?

• Have a listen to this  young man on Britain’s Got Talent,  he definitely has talent.

Perth Words... exploring possibilities.

@FrancesMForde  #FrancesMacForde  #JamesSmith15  #AmazingTalent   #Britain’sGotTalent  #FantasticSounds

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge : Metal and Wood

Window on the world

We came across this quaint traditonal old farmhouse near Kenmare, Co Kerry, that has been renovated to the style of the 50s,  and we enjoyed a cuppa and pastry in this room.   On the window along with the teapot and candlestick is what looks like an old meat safe, which would have been used for storage of perishables, and placed in the coldest part of the house.   I think the picture fits perfectly with Cee’s challenge for this week.

See some more entries here:

Thursday Doors

Fairy Door!

The red door is part of an old farmyard building we came across in County Kerry.   It would have been a door into the ‘loft’ or grain store, where the farmers stored the grain for the winter.   The grain store was usually above the cow barn, and as the cows were usually kept inside for the winter, the heat rising would have kept the grain warm, and prevented it from getting mildew or other diseases.    I presume there was once a ladder or some steps so that the farmer could get the grain into the barn in the autumn, and out again as needed to feed the animals.

Check out more doors here at Norm’s place

Tuesdays of Texture !

Higher, higher!

I love the texture and footprints in the sand at the playground!    And after all that hard work, it’s time for a treat!

Head on over to Narami’s blog for more Tuesdays of Texture

Coconut Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

A great, quick idea for breakfast.

The Cinnamon Fiend

Recently on my summer holidays at home I was watching a movie one night and the actress in it was baking – I’m not a big baker but I was inspired!

Once the movie finished, I randomly threw together these ingredients, scooped the mixture into bun cases, refrigerated and on waking in the morning popped them in the oven, ready to enjoy in less than 30 mins later!

So delighted with them I made them again a week later! I love how quick they are to throw together and they also made a great evening/mid-morning snack.

They are moist but not sweet. You can of course add 1-2 tbsps of honey or maple syrup if you prefer yours sweeter but personally I like these as a nice healthy unsweetened snack.

Makes 5 large or 6 medium muffins

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coco flour
3 eggs
2 tbsp milk of choice – I…

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Whale Watching in West Cork

During the last week in August in Ireland we have been celebrating National Heritage Week, and we have been taking full advantage of the many activities taking place, a lot of them free, and visiting places that are not usually open to the public.

One such place that we visited was the lighthouse at Galley Head, to do some whale watching.    It was a beautiful sunny Sunday when we travelled the hour or so to Galley Head, beyond Clonakilty.    The whale watching took place in the grounds of the lighthouse, and was organised by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), who gave a talk on the different varieties of whales and dolphins that can be seen in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland.

There were also Bird Watching Groups at the event, as large groups of birds usually follow the whales and dolphins, to take advantage of the copious amounts of fish and plankton disturbed by these huge mammals, so if ever you see large groups of birds circling over the water, it could be that there are whales nearby!

And did we see many whales…..not even one!    They were playing hard to get, I think!

Galley Head

Bird watching

Is that a whale…

Whales?

View across the bay

old ruins of a fort

more ruins

Taking a break in the sun

We did have a lovely day though, and managed to get a few more interesting photos on our walk to the lighthouse

Axel, Marianne, Leonard

For all Leonard Cohen fans, this is a fascinating story of his younger days in a beautiful Greek Island.

kbvollmarblog

„Das Wort normal verursacht mir Erstickungsqualen. Ich muss an andere unheimliche Worte denken wie gemeinsamer Nenner oder Lochkarte.“
Axel Jensen „Ikaros“

The word normal makes me suffocate. It reminds me on other eery words like common denominator or punchcard.

Könnt ihr euch an Leonard Cohens Song „So long, Marianne“ erinnern?
Do you remember “So Long, Marianne” by Leonard Cohen?

Drei Jahre zuvor (1964) hatte Cohen seinen viel beachteten Gedichtband „Flowers for Hitler“ nicht nur dieser Marianne gewidmet, sondern in ihm auch zwei Gedichte „For Marianne“ und „Waiting for Marianne“ aufgenommen. Wer war diese Marianne?

Cohen had dedicated his much discussed book of lyrics “Flowers for Hitler” three year before that song, but not only that, you find in this book two  poems “For Marianne” and “Waiting for Marianne”. Who was this Marianne?

Marianne war die Freundin und spätere Frau des norwegischen Autors Axel Jensen, die heute in…

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Wordless Wednesday : Looking at Me Looking at Ewe!

Springtime in Ireland

A Flock of Seagulls!

While walking by the estuary near Blackrock on Tuesday evening, we saw hundreds of seagulls resting on the mud at the edge of the water.    Gulls like to feed in flocks, so they were probably having a light supper on all the goodness left behind by the tide.    As the tide was out, we couldn’t get too close to them, so they were oblivious to the flash of the camera, and kept feeding and resting there.