How do you like your Duck?

My youngest daughter is a duck lover. She has asked me on several occasions if we can get a duck as a pet. I already have a psychotic parrot, 2 goldfish (1 is a visiting fish from the creche my daughter  works in, he came to visit at Christmas and hasn't returned to the creche yet) and my Collie dog, Bonnie. The parrot and the dog have constant running battles. The parrot starts flapping her wings and Bonnie gets annoyed, starts barking and jumping up at the cage. The parrot seeing the dogs reaction, jumps down from her perch onto the floor of the cage and eggs the dog on. Now Bonnie has started to jump up at the cage in annoyance and I'm afraid that someday I'm going to come home to a scene where the dog has succeeded in knocking the cage and releasing the parrot. If that happens I would be more afraid for the dog than i would for Chicco, the parrot. But that's beside the point.

I could never have duck for dinner because of my daughter's love of ducks. I literally got away with murder when my children were younger. A friend of ours was into hunting, and on several occasions he gave us venison steaks and joints to roast. We could never tell the children that they were eating Deer so we told them that it was lamb they were eating.

Years later, (they are all adults now), we were all chatting around the table after Christmas dinner and they were discussing meat that they had never eaten. One of them said that they had never eaten venison and we said, well actually you did, only you thought that it was lamb! Well there was uproar. You'd swear that i had force fed them Bambi himself.

All these duck photos were taken in Cuskinny Nature Reserve, Cobh Co. Cork

At rest

Making a stand

Hangover Sunday

Bridge over troubled water

Special branch

First date

Popular girl

A little hideaway

The election trail

Missed me!

A watchful eye

All these images were taken with  a Canon 500D and   a Canon 70D. Lenses used were Canon

 EFS 55-250 and Canon EF 70-300

Cuskinny Swan Song

Silent O Moyle

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) 

Silent, Oh Moyle, be the roar of thy water,

Break not, ye breezes, your chain of repose;

While murmuring mournfully, Lir's lonely daughter

Tells to the night-star her tale of woes.

When shall the swan, her death-note singing,

Sleep with wings in darkness furl'd?

When shall heav'n its sweet bell ringing,

Call my spirit from this stormy world?

Sadly, Oh Moyle, to thy winter-wave weeping,

Fate bids me languish long ages away;

Yet still in her darkness doth Erin lie sleeping,

Still doth the pure light its dawning delay!

When will that day-star, mildly springing,

Warm our Isle with peace and love?

When shall heav'n, its sweet bell ringing,

Call my spirit to the fields above?

One of Moore's Irish melodies. I remember my mother singing this when we were children. She didn't know all the words but that never got in the way of her singing anything. Mam had a very deep singing voice, and a very strong Donegal accent even after more than half a century living in Cork. 

She blamed the cigarettes for deepening her voice. Apparently she sang in the church choir in Donegal as a child and was a beautiful soprano. 

I used to think she had a lovely singing voice when she sang at home. She used to sing at mass on a Sunday too, not as part of the choir but as part of the congregation. Her voice was so deep that when she started singing it was like Bagpipes warming up. All the children in the seats in front used to turn around and stare at her. Sometimes they would look at us and snigger. I was mortified, I know i stuck my tongue out at several of them along the way. 

I'd give anything to hear her singing now, she died 10 years ago RIP mam x

Silent O Moyle is the song of Fionnuala, a young girl who along with her brothers was turned into a swan by her evil step mother and banished to the lakes of Ireland for 900 years. You can read the story of the Children of Lir at this link if you haven't read it before. 

  http://irelandofthewelcomes.com/the-children-of-lir/

All the images below were taken at Cuskinny Nature Reserve in Cobh, Co. Cork. Ireland

I took them recently during a break in the rain, we haven't had many of those this winter. 

All these images were taken with a Canon 70D using either a Canon EF70-300mm lens or Canon 17-55mm lens

Down on the farm.

I haven't had a blog post in a while, mostly due to the fact that the weather hasn't been conducive here to getting out and about with a camera. We've been plagued with grey skies and floods of rain. The other reason i have been neglecting my blog is the fact that i like to crawl back into my shell from time to time, i get the hump with social media and the way it sucks you in. Time is precious but i have crawled out of my shell to give you this, I hope you like it.

Something happened a few years ago and if i had a shell at the time i would definitely have crawled into it. I needed to go to the A.I.B bank in Cobh to lodge money for a member of my family. It was  before lodgement machines became part of the furniture in the banks and the queue was nearly out to the door.

I was checking out who was in the queue, as you do, and my eyes were drawn to the woman in front of me. She had long black curly hair and she was wearing a long black coat, nearly down to her ankles. I recognised her immediately as the White Witch of Cobh. Absentmindedly i was looking her up and down and when i looked down I noticed that the end of her coat and her shoes were covered in mud. I was thinking to myself Jaysus 'you'd think she would make an effort' when I suddenly checked myself. Crikey I thought, 'this is the White Witch, she's going to know what I am thinking". Frantically i started looking around for distractions, anything to take my mind off the woman in front of me.

Too late. She turned around slowly to face me, a big smile on her face. I smiled nervously back. " I was on a farm yesterday" she said. She pointed down at her shoes and her coat and said "As you can see, I got destroyed". I was trying to pretend that i hadn't noticed but i was only blabbering like a fool. She kept chatting to me telling me about some of her predictions but i was in a strange place because of my stupidity and her voice was was like an echo in another room.

I'm very careful now when i see her, i have nothing but nice thoughts about her. My photos for this blog are all farm related. They are taken in Donegal, Galway, Ring Co. Waterford and Gougane Barra, West Cork. Ireland.

Little Bullock, taken on The Connigear, Ring, Co. Waterford

 A Farmer with a sense of humour, Oranmore, Co. Galway

'Show me the way to go home', The Connigear, Ring, Co. Waterford

 'In a leafy Glade', Gouganne Barra, West Cork

 'Three little maids', the Connigear, Ring, Co. Waterford

 ' A cow with a sense of humour', Mullinasole, Co. Donegal

 'Old Homestead', Mullinasole, Co. Donegal

 'A load of Bull', Mullinasole, Co. Donegal

'Discussing the meaning of life', Ring, Co. Watrford

'Stranded', The Connigear, Ring, Co. Waterford

'Itchy back', Ring, Co. Waterford

'A knowing look', Collie, sheepdog, Ring, Co. Waterford

 'Farming in Heaven', Ring, Co. Waterford

All these images were taken with a Canon, 70 D.

A visit to The Druid's Altar, Drombeg Stone Circle.

It's our 35th Wedding anniversary this month (the equivalent of 2 life sentences probably). We always go away for a few days to celebrate our anniversary. Himself offers me the world on a plate, "where would you like to go?" he says,  "a city break? a few days in Spain? England to visit Suzanne?"
You know what I'd love I say. A trip to west Cork, not 2 hours drive from where i live in Cobh, Co. Cork. I can't be doing with airports and travelling at the best of times and besides I haven't seen the whole of Ireland yet.

Co Cork has a wealth of Megalithic sites, places of Pagan rituals and rites and I wanted to go and soak up some of Ireland's ancient past in Drombeg, near Glandore, in West Cork. Not so much a cheap date or easily pleased, I get a whole lot more out of visiting old graveyards, ruins and ancient historical sites than i could ever get traipsing around cities and into shops. Drombeg boasts one of the most visited Bronze age Stone Circles in the country, originally it had 17 standing stones and 1 recumbent / Altar stone. Google it, it's amazing.

The photographer in me  dearly loves to have these places to myself to soak in the atmosphere of the environment and take my time composing my shots. A lot to expect at Irelands most popular Megalithic site.
We heard the voice of a child as we were walking up the pathway to the stones. Not an ordinary child but one that is obviously used to making herself the centre of attention. While mummy was giving a history lesson to a fine upstanding, quietly spoken gentleman madam was giving a narrative on her every movement.
While her slightly older sister was sitting day dreaming alongside the Fulacht Fiadh (you'll find out what that is when you google Drombeg Stone Circle) madam was climbing noisily up a rocky incline in close proximity to her mother.
"i'm  going to put this foot on that  rock, Oh it's a bit slippery here. oh no, oh no, I think I'm going to fall! Good I didn't fall, I'm going up a different  way instead. It went on and on and on in what seemed like and endless tirade of nonsense.
Don't get me wrong I love children but the noise seemed so out of place in this Ancient sombre place.

I had read that a physic had been brought to visit the place and she deemed it to be a very evil site where human sacrifices had been made. For a very brief moment I was a Pagan Druid contemplating making a human sacrifice and madam wasn't helping her case.

Finally they left and myself and himself then had the place to ourselves. Now all i had to do was make sure i avoided getting himself into the shots. Not easy when he decides to sit on the Fulach Fia soaking up the quietness and sombreness of the place. I had to angle myself so that he was hidden behind one of the stones.
In the end i got him up on the recumbent stone and sacrificed him instead.

We had about 5 minutes with the whole place to ourselves before a bus load of tourists arrived. I think got a few nice shots though.

Drombeg Stone Circle, Co. Cork

Camera-Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55@17mm, 1/800sec, f5.6, ISO200

 What remains of 2 stone huts

Camera - Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55@17mm. 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO 200

The Portal Stones

Camera- Canon 70D, Lens 17-55mm@17mm, 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO 200

Camera-Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@13mm, 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO 200

 The recumbent/Altar stone facing the Portal Stones

Camera- Canon70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@10mm, 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO 200

 There are some engravings on the recumbent stone, a mark made by an axe and 2 cup shaped engravings

Camera-Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@10mm, 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO 200

The missing stones

Camera- Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@10mm, 1?640sec, f5.6, ISO 200

My Human Sacrafice

Camera-Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@10mm, 1/640sec, f5.6, ISO 200

 A view of the Standing Stones with the Fulacht Fiadh and the ruin of the huts in the distance

Camera-Canon 70D, Lens Tamron 10-24mm@24mm, 1/250sec, f8, ISO 200

 The stone in the centre of the circle where people place offerings. This was excavated in 1957 by Professor Edward Fahy.  The cremated remains of a youth along with the sweepings of a pyre were found wrapped in thick cloth in an upturned bowl. Radiocarbon dating placed it 1100 - 800BC

Camera -Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mm@47mm, 1/800sec, f3.2, ISO 200

The Fulacht Fiadh. Professor Fahy performed an experiment here to see how long it would take to heat 70 gallons of water using red hot stones from the fire pit. It took 18mins.

Camera - Canon70D, Lens 17-55mm@17mm, 1/320sec, f5.6, ISO 200

A visit from John.

About 20years ago, long before the Celtic Tiger visited the country, we bought a cottage in Ring, Co Waterford. It was no more than a ruin at the time but it was once a home to John Tobin and his 11 children. Typical of the time it was a cottage on an acre. There was no electricity and the cottage consisted of 3 rooms and a lean to which housed a toilet and sink.
John Tobin had died about 2 years before we bought the cottage from his son.

It was a challenge getting the place together with little money and four young children in tow but we took our time. Nothing came easy, in fact from the start it felt like we were battling against an invisible force. Himself was working on the house and i looked after the children in a mobile home in the garden.
One day while Himself was working inside near the roof a few rocks fell from the wall hitting him on the head and he was very lucky to have escaped a serious injury. Every change he made to the house brought another difficulty and more challenges.

One night while we were sleeping in the mobile home one of my daughters, who was 8 at the time, woke up crying. She told us there was a man standing at the corner of the house looking over at us. We took her outside and showed her the house but she couldn't be consoled. Eventually she slept but from then on she was convinced that he was there, standing at the corner of the house.
Her vision developed from there and soon she was seeing him inside the house. No longer afraid she was able to tell us when and where she could see him.

Himself found a broken pipe in the garden and placed it over the fireplace, she said she saw the man picking up the pipe and looking at it before replacing it above the fireplace. She used to tell me he was watching me washing the dishes at the sink or peeling the potatoes. It freaked me out a bit to be honest, if he was in the kitchen watching me where else was he likely to be!

A cousin of Himself's lived nearby and we told him and his wife Dolores about our child and her visitor. They asked her to describe what she was seeing. She told them it was hard to see his face because it was very dark but his eyes were really bright and he had a cap pulled down over his forehead. I can still see Dolores's face when she  heard this description. She was stunned to say the least. You see John Tobin used to sit by his fire with the door of the cottage open. The room was in darkness as he had no electricity. He sat by the open fire smoking his pipe and all you could see when you looked in the door of the house were his 2 bright eyes looking out at you. He also wore a cap.

Sean and Dolores commissioned a local artist Bríd Kenneally to paint a picture of John Tobin on a slate for us. He takes pride of place now in our cottage next to the fireplace he loved.
My daughter laughs now when we remind her 20 years later about her visitor. She's very unsure of what was going on at the time, whether she was playing on the attention or whether she was really seeing him. One thing is certain, as soon as we acknowledged John with the picture things turned around.
One day Himself placed his hand on the bellows that stood by the fire. Up until then it was stiff and seized up. All of a sudden it turned in his hand and from then on things went ok in the house. It was as if John accepted us and knew we loved the place.

To this day Himself is finding remnants of John Tobin's life in the garden of our cottage in

 Baile na nGall Ring, Co Waterford. The photographs below show some of these items. 

The Bellows

Camera Setting - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mm f2.8@18mm, 1/40sec, f2.8, ISO1600

Artist's impression of John Tobin by Bríd Kenneally

Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens 17-55mmF2.8@55mm, 1/100sec, f2.8, ISO 500

 John Tobin's house when we bought it in 1995

My daughter Alice and her friend outside the house, check out the ghost in the window. There was nothing on the window apart from the curtain, so this is obviously a twist in the curtain or is it!

 John's wash jug, found in the garden.

 Camera Settings - Camera canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mmf2.8@28mm, 1/800sec, f2.8, ISO 100

An old paddy bottle, dug up in the garden.

Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mmf2.8@55mm, 1/500sec, f2.8, ISO100

 Bríd Kenneally's painting of John, done on slate. 

Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mmf2.8@18mm, 1/60sec, f2.8, ISO500

 Black and White image of the pipe sitting on the stone wall in the garden

 Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens 17-55mmf2.8@55mm, 1/250sec,f2.8, ISO 100

A piece of a leather boot dug up recently in the garden

 Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mmf2.8@28mm, 1/160sec, f4, ISO100

Black and white image of the Bellows by the fireplace (not original fireplace)

Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon17-55mmf2.8@17mm, 1/40sec, f2.8, ISO 1600

The pipe,  dug up in the garden

Camera Settings - Camera Canon 70D, Lens Canon 17-55mmf2.8@40mm, 1/320sec, f2.8, ISO100