Much Energy...

is now spent on keeping warm.

Even though the Summer was so cold, it was not a patch on the chilly nights we are facing now. I shouldn't moan, as last evening we went to a lovely local Italian restaurant where there is always a warm welcome and exceptionally good food. This treat was after a trip to the polls. Our new president will soon be in place and the less said the better about the waves of vitriol that have poured through the official media for weeks. Most people have lives and don't bother to cause trouble daily. Picking on public figures has become the latest blood sport for some.

I was going to go to Imma this morning. The Museum of Modern Art is always interesting, but laziness took over and it also seems more pressing to organise my own photos. A strange shift of perspective has happened. Now when I go to art galleries, I'm more interested in the shots of the building and grounds that I might capture, rather than the works on display.
This is a pleasant reminder of warmer days and shows that nature in Ireland and Britain is always a joy...

I've Been Around...

the World for sport again.

Co-incidentally, we had booked a ferry crossing from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead months before the ash plume played Molly Bawn with air travel, so it was reassuring to get to visit family without any obstacles.

Hours on the motorway is part of the package, but the anticipation, as usual, turned out to be worse than the real event.   Several years ago I got hit by a truck (twice within moments) while driving in England.   Everybody emerged without a scratch, due in no small measure to the fact that I had rested every afternoon for days, in anticipation of the journey and was in top driving form.

However, although I did not in any way lose my nerve, my co-driver is now so traumatised by the memory that I have not been invited to drive again...

This has many advantages... notably it leaves time for taking photos of interesting sights along the way.

The best way to travel in England, however, is by train.   We took the slow train from York, through Harrogate, stopping at every tiny station along the way and even catching a glimpse of the gorge at Knaresborough through a misty window.

Our first trip to Leeds was a great success.
The chocolate cake in the Art Gallery restaurant, an ode to the tilers craft, was top notch.

Can't wait to go back again soon...