Thursday 31 December 2009

The Sun Goes Down...

... on 2009. And on the noughties.
As I drove back to Camposol this evening the sun disappeared behind the mountains for the last time this year - and this decade.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year and peace, love and prosperity in 2010.

From Mazarron to La Pinilla

Today I travelled along the little-used mountain road between the town of Mazarron and the inland village of La Pinilla.
The road is narrow and twisty and the area is beautiful and remote. There are derelict, abandoned fincas all along the route, but no sign of life and I only met one car on my journey. The road is so narrow I had to pull in on the grass verge to let him pass. The landscape reminded me of parts of Donegal or Kerry back home in Ireland - well, except for the cactus and olive trees. I really love the old houses and I couldn´t help photographing lots of them.

Mountains and Fincas

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And more...

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La Pinilla

El Cafe Bar

Saturday 12 December 2009

Warszawa, Polska

Photo by Maja
(Maja please don't be mad with me )
but - it's an excellent shot!

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Flooding

Record rainfall over the past month has caused extensive flooding in parts of Ireland, especially in Cork, Galway and the Midlands. Many homes and businesses were flooded, causing millions of Euro's worth of damage. My collage shows the river Shannon (Ireland's longest river) overflowing it's banks at Athlone.
The experts, like those meeting at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen blame "Global Warming" for freak weather conditions that are causing havoc around the world. Global warming - in this case surely a contradiction in terms!
(I'm back - light at the end of a very long tunnel)

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Home is...

The Dublin Artisan Dwelling Company was established in 1876 by a group of investors who wanted to build good quality housing at reasonable rents. It was not a charity but was aimed at providing accomodation for labourers and professionals. Arthur Guinness, grandson of the original Arthur who founded the famous brewing company was a sponsor and maybe for that reason many Guinness workers got housing in the artisans dwellings. The houses were transferred to a company called Folio Homes in the 1950's and many of the tenants subsequently bought out their homes.
Though modest, the houses are well built and much sought after because of their proximity to the city centre and to the Phoenix Park. They originally had the luxury (for the time) of an outside toilet in a walled back yard. Most owners have now modernized their houses and extended them by building a modern kitchen (and) or extra bedroom in the back yard. They only had 2 bedrooms originally and it's quiet a mystery how they managed to rear up to 10 or 12 children in these cottages! The Artisan Company also built what were known as "two up two down" houses in the Oxmantown area which I will feature later.

Monday 23 November 2009

Botanic Gardens - The Inside Story

Inside the Botanic Gardens - for Steviewren over at A little Birdie Told Me So (by special request)
(little amuses the innocent - the highlight of my visit was the Coffee plant!)