Wordless Wednesday : The Long Road Home

Long walk in Kinsale

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge : Week 21

Chichester Park from the City Walls

We went on a lovely stroll recently on the City Walls in Chichester,England.   The city dates back to Roman times, about two thousand years ago, and the walls have been restored and turned into an interesting elevated walk which is only about one and a half miles long, and goes around the park, the cricket grounds, and the gardens attached to the Cathedral and the Bishops Palace.

History of the Walls

And if you don’t feel like walking or running on the walls, this might be an easy alternative!

Linked to Cees Which Way Challenge

Is it a Bird, Is it a Tree?

Giraffe in the woods

This old tree in Garryduff Woods, near Cork city, looks a lot like a giraffe about to take a nibble from the sweetest leaves at the top of the trees, or then again, it could be a very long legged horse. What do you see?

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge 2014 : 16

Here are some of my Which Way Photos for this week, taken on a recent hike in County Tipperary

time to go on down the track

Going towards the Liam Lynch monument

A long way to go!

Linked to Cee’s Challenge

Hiking the Hills

These photos were taken last year, mostly in the Galtee Mountains, Co Tipperary, and show some of the beautiful countryside we have here in Ireland, it is so great to get out on a dull or fine day, and to be able to climb a mountain medium sized hill!

On the way up the Galtee Mountains

Galtybeg, Co Tipperary

Reaching the top

And the mists came down

Travel Theme : Pink

Fuschias

Pink is a colour that always cheers people up, and is loved by all girls, big and little.   These pink fuschias remind me of a summer’s day, and I look forward to seeing the fuschias in bloom in the next few months.

And I will be putting on these trainers soon, to brighten up my evening walks.

Time to go walking!

And my sweet grand-daughter is pretty in pink as she enjoys the snow last winter

Fun in the snow

Travel theme: Pink

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.

The After Shock of the Storm

At the weekend my friend and I went walking very close to home, in Currabinny Woods.   This is a popular walking spot, and has many varieties of broad leafed trees, like beech, oak, sycamore, as well as Scots Pine.    The woods are in a very beautiful spot in Cork Harbour, and have great views across to Crosshaven and out to Roches Point.   At the summit of the woods, there is an old cairn, and also a gazebo erected in years gone by so that the residents nearby could enjoy the view of  the harbour.

The main thing that struck us on our walk, though, was the devastation caused by the recent storm, and the amount of big trees that had been damaged.  Some of them were not uprooted, probably because of there being so many trees close together, but were ripped apart higher up on the trunks.   We hope that the live parts of the trees left standing will be able to continue to grow and heal themselves.

Even with all the damage, Currabinny is still a great place for a Sunday stroll.

Look Up Look Down Challenge : Week 26

For this week’s challenge I am looking up at some of the trees in Curragh Woods, near Midleton, there are some magnificent trees there, with lots of moss and vegetation underneath.   The woods are very popular with walkers and runners, and are easily accessible from the city, if you want to get away for a few hours.  You can find several different types of trees in these woods, such as beech, chestnut, oak, larch and Douglas fir.   At the top of the woods is a ring fort, with a clearing in the middle, and when the bluebells are in bloom (April/May) there is a beautiful carpet of bluebells underfoot.

Tall trees

And my ‘looking down’ photo is one of Cork City, taken from the top of St Patrick’s Hill and looking down on the main street of the city, St. Patrick’s Street.

Check out this link to see some more entries in this challenge.

Reflections on a Sunny Saturday

After a very cold and frosty start to Saturday morning, even though I was tempted to stay inside and wait for summer, my friend and I went for a lovely walk – one of our favourites – by Blackrock Castle and the railway line.    The sun shone, the sea was calm, there were hardy canoeists training in the picturesque surroundings, and we finished it off with coffee and cake…what more could we ask for!