News From the Hill

Posts Tagged ‘The Weather’

We have had a few beautiful days of sun, light winds and starry clear nights. This week in August every year there are amazing night skies with shooting stars (Perseids) in the northern sky. Check out the Astronomy Ireland website for more details.

If you are blessed with clear skies then you owe it to yourself to go out at night, bring a rug, wear a warm hat and settle into your favourite deck chair to watch the show. If you have binoculars they may add to the fun however I often find it less frustrating to just gaze upwards and let the magic unfold.

I don’t think that I will get to see any stars tonight as we had a day of rain, all day…

I decided to make use of the rain to wash the outdoor bathtub so I put the plug in this morning to allow it to fill. After a few hours I went out to check on progress. Imagine my surprise to find two fine frogs swimming about in the tub…

A pair of happy frogs

Here is a close up of one of the swimmers, handsome fella isn’t he?

An Irish frog enjoying the rain

Today was just magical outdoors. It was a cold and frosty start to the day with strong sunshine at first which quickly gave way to freezing fog. I had planned a walk today however the fog put me off a bit and I took the easy option of staying in by the stove – after all it had been a very busy week and I was happy to do very little.

In the early afternoon I decided to take a trip into town to get some groceries and get some more peat briquettes for the stove – the weather forecast is for more cold weather. I was glad to be out and about and was enjoying the fresh air with the window open, hat and gloves on.

Everything looked very pretty as I drove downhill and I was surprised to find that the hedges and fields were more heavily frosted the further downhill I went. It was so beautiful that I had to often stop the van to admire the view – unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me so you will have to take my word for it!

Every now and then I would come around a corner and just gasp at the beauty of the frost rimmed trees standing so white against the backdrop of pale green fields or hedges of startling white with the strong green of ivy spotted throughout.

I really wished that I had my camera with me so that I could share the images. The advantage of not having the camera is that I will remember these sights better myself. I know this from previous occasions on which I wished I had a camera, looking at the scene as though planning a shot, wondering about the best angle, breathing it in. Somehow I find that I can be more present without the camera and I do remember the scene better.

The snow is softly falling now and tomorrow is another day filled with beauty to be discovered just around the corner…

I have been away from home for three weeks now and have not been very active online so belated Happy New Year to all you lovely people out there.

I had hoped to be home by now however the Irish weather has had other ideas and the roads are still very dangerous in places.  We have been in touch with a neighbour who advised us not to attempt the journey unless we really need to.  It is starting to feel as though I really need to…

We have been staying with different family members, first a week near a beach which was lovely and since then with an elderly parent. I have to say that Christmas was lovely, very peaceful and calm and christmassy, the ground sparkling in the hard frost…

It’s just that after awhile, no matter how gracious your welcome, it is good to go home…

I have been wandering here and there for awhile this summer, it’s fun to be footloose and fancy free – so to speak.

The weather has not been the best, however, this is Ireland and we have grown up with these weather patterns and have learnt from our mothers knee to just go out there and make the most of it – even if that means putting on waterproof pants and jackets, maybe even gloves – no I go too far, gloves are rarely needed

I have been camping in a few different places and having some lovely fun. No phones and no modems – hence not much action on the auld blog of late.

On the advice of a friend I headed to a beach on the west coast to see this friendly dolphin I had heard rumours of.  On and off over the last few years I had heard of a dolphin along the west coast who liked to swim with people and I often dropped by various places to see if she was visible. Until lately I never saw her.

She has moved to a very accessible although quiet beach and she is really enjoying the company of the swimmers. I have swam with her a few times now and can’t believe how friendly she is.

She seems to really want to play and spends a good deal of time with people who enjoy playing with her and ignores those who, for whatever reason, don’t want to play, which means that anyone who feels nervous about being in the water at the same time as her, need not worry about her swimming around them.

I can’t believe my luck to have had such wonderful experiences in the water with her. I snorkel quite often and it’s quite something to be swimming along, just looking at crabs and little fish and then to see, just about a foot away, a seemingly smiling face of a dolphin looking back at you.

Although I know some good swimmers who are reluctant to swim with her and are happy to keep their distance and admire her from afar, I have never felt any fear in her presence.

Mostly I feel a sense of mischievousness when she is about, a playfulness, a childlike joyful sense of fun.

I count my blessings to have had the benefit of her friendship this summer.

I have been preoccupied lately and not paid much attention to the web so tonight I have been doing some catching up and reading some favourite blogs.

It was like a winters evening, I lit the fire about 5pm, himself put a chicken in the oven.  I read as the wind blew around us and the rain pelted against the windows.

About an hour forty five minutes later I put my favourite cast iron pot on the stove-top and threw in some chopped leeks & raisins as the oil was heating. Then I added some cajun spice and a cup of basmati rice and stirred to mix well and warm through, adding two and a half cups of water to simmer while I read some more.

I wasn’t just catching up on blogs, I was also browsing real estate websites – not something I was expecting to be doing right now. Some family circumstances are changing and it is possible that we may move instead of building.

Nothing is certain yet however we are having a look to see what is available. To be honest I am finding the prices a bit rediculous and I believe that already they are lower than they would have been some months ago and will probably keep dropping.

Thank goodness for the grounding effects of a lovely roast chicken dinner!