Spring is Here

Today a brisk walk in the sunlight brought a sense of harmony after months of dreary weather.
Snow was not general all over Ireland, for the first time in several years, but Winter is always a shock and it's good to see it banished.

Here's to days sitting out of doors and planning gardens that give pleasure all year round...

The World Continues...

... to spin on its axis and given the lack-lustre developments in much technology recently (do we really need yet another design in mobile 'phones?), I have stopped looking at the ways a blog could be improved.

However,thanks to the new range of templates offered by Blogspot, the Photographedublin pages are more pleasing to my eye. It is called "Awesome Inc" and has a sharper and more clean interface than the previous choice.

Current attitudes to learning new tricks can best be shown rather than spelled out in words...

Woodlands

Much fuss has been made of the deforestation of Ireland and of the fact that the island is still relatively lacking in tree cover, when compared with mainland Europe.

This may offer some consolation... Addendum for Davimack: " http://ingeb.org/songs/cillchai.html" The famous lament for the felled trees in Cill Chais (Kilcash) is one of the many references to the destruction of Irish forests. Wood was needed for ship building over the centuries and oak was particularly needed. The Kylemore Valley was once a vast natural oak forest and remnants of native woodland can be found throughout the country.

The sense of regret for this loss is not always shared by those who do not find trees interesting.

And there is a cultural significance linked to the presence of trees in planted estates that can be quite sad:
"For the house of the Planter, is known by the trees."

This is from Austin Clarke's poem, "The Planter's Daughter".

Italy

Having discovered the friendliness of Italy, it seems to be the best choice for a holiday these days.

We chatted with an English couple last year who made the cultural nuances a bit more understandable. Some bureaucrats don't worry too much about being unhelpful, but since they seem to just sulk at the public from behind their glass protection , and do not tend to engage in high pitched yelling as can happen in France, I expect that whenever we need some real sunshine, Italy will continue to be an enticing place for some time to come.

Georgian Dublin

The Georgian Society have a very informed site with an exceptionally good page on the subject of doors in the 18th Century. Easily found under the heading "Dublin Doors, their Stylistic Development and Conservation Requirements".

There Are Warm Places Elsewhere

February is beginning to wear a bit thin here.

Today working with Iphoto opened up more subtle colour possibilities and offered a welcome reminder of a world where burning fossil fuels to keep warm is not necessary.