Nice November weather

No I'm not being sarcastic it has been a nice month so far. There have been some nice sunsets but they are behind a clump of tall pines now when I look from the house, in midsummer the sun sets over the mountains to the west of us about 10-15 degrees further North than at the moment. 

Technically speaking, the Sun rises exactly in the east only on or near the two equinoxes (around March 21st and September 23rd), everywhere on Earth except at the North and South poles. At other times of the year the Sun does not rise due east, but some distance to the north or south of due east. The "some distance" gets bigger the further you go from the equator and the closer you get to either pole. Above the polar circles, the Sun can even rise in the north or the south, and doesn't rise or set at all during a period of time that grows from 0 to 6 months as you travel from the polar circle to the pole.

Interesting ehh. 

Anyway I have been busy carving with the chainsaw again and have a sitting bear now out the front. The frog also got a coat of paint in passing.

 John might be coming up on Friday to give me some gardening tips and incentive to start more projects its good over the winter as there are no midgies and the grass doesnt have to be cut ever week, I did run the mower over a lawn yesterday but that was to pick up leaves rather than rake them as its easier. 

Have to go into Galway on Friday for a meeting with a website makeover job and have been busy perfecting an online booking system for the site that will be heaps cheaper for them than using the likes of checkfront.

 

pink ladies and Fall colour

Well its that time of year when the garden is full of Autumnal colours one of my fav trees this time of year is below

Below is "tred bear"

Pink Ladies at the front of the house 

Cosmos have been great this year too a planter box on my back patio has been flowering for weeks and there is a patch of them where my dogwood/ bramble patch used to be.

Moved the wind vane recently

I've been crook with a chest infection since George and Gail left and also have an ulcer of something giving me stomach cramps which is due to be scoped later this month whenever I can get an appointment at the hospital. The chest infection left me a bit lethargic and I havent been doing much work but I'm feeling a bit better now and there seems to be fewer midgies so there are lots of jobs needing doing. 

Perigee and apogee and snow on Mount Derrykyle

Its a really high tide tonight caused by Perigee (the closest approach that the Moon is to Earth) in fact this is the closest the moon has been to the Earth for 20 years at 221,756 miles, the furtherest it gets is 252,564 miles. Tonight's HW is 5.8 meters thankfully there is no gale of wind to push it any further ashore.

We have been having a good spell of weather the last couple of weeks, September turned out to be one of the better months this year. However mount Derrykyle has a snow cap and not to be beaten by Kilamanjaro it promises to last all year as well.

I have been industrious this last week with a new bear underway and I'm almost finished work on the Hippo, I think I'll call her Hanna. 

The Rugby World Cup has had some great games so far and they have been having good weather for it over in England too, My teams Scotland, Australia and Ireland are all going well and this weekend is a big test for both Scotland (against S Africa) and Australia (against a desperate England)

German organizational skills

My German helper Baerbell hasn't had great weather at all for her stay but that has not stopped her hiking and cycling around the place after work and at the weekends. We managed to get the spare bedroom and en suite painted this week and my Jarra outdoor table and chairs got taken to bits, sanded and stained / varnished so they look as good as new again. I had to replace the seat wood with new stuff. The shed also got organized properly and you can actually find things now.

Baerbell leaves on Thursday or Friday and has two pals coming tomorrow night from Germany and they will travel around for a while until she starts at the next farmstay.
Some photos below from her travels round Connemara.

Summer colour

Well we haven't really had a summer this year but the flowers are still trying their best to put on a show.

The cornflower and wild flowers at the front gate have been great so I'm going to put them in three raised beds I have built next season, the colour has gone on for a good couple of months and I'll try and stagger early season bulbs like dafs and then the wild flower mix later in the season.

Got a trailer load of good soil from the garden centre at Moycullin the other day it was meant to be a ton but I think it was more like 2 tons, no complaints right enough.

John has been up visiting and helped make the rockery in the second photo from the bottom. My next helper arrives tomorrow afternoon for a few weeks then George and the clan descend on us for Angies birthday.

Omey horse races

Ian, Robbie, Angie, Gus and I were at the races yesterday, not the glamorous Galway Race meet where you have to don your best Sunday clobber this was at the Omey races. Omey is a tidal island located near Claddaghduff, a few miles from Clifden, in the western edge of Connemara. There is a route across the sand to the island and, at high tide, the water is deep enough to cover a car. The horse racing takes place on the beach and if the weather is good it would be a magic day out, yesterday the weather was anything but good but it was still well worth a visit even though we got soaked.

Angie won the first race after backing the favourite she took away €1.25 in profit my horse came second but seeing there were only three horses in the first race that's the same as coming second last. Anyway I,m not complaining as I won €100.

Will definitely go to Omey Races again if the weather is nice next year.

The day before we had a trip to Cong via Maam cross through Joyces Country a region in counties Galway and Mayo in Ireland. There are about 2,000 people living in the area. About 25% are native Irish speakers, in my part of connemara about 85% are native Irish speakers.
 Joyce Country lies west of the Lough Mask area, beyond the isthmus; a hilly region in the north of County Galway, extending into the southern part of County Mayo, traversed by green valleys and lonely roads which takes its name from a Norman Welsh family who settled here in the 13th century during the reign of Edward I. Many people with the name Joyce still live there. The writer James Joyce carries the family name. Infact we were laughing away as we drove through the area as every sign was like Joyces hardwear or Joyces garage or Paddy Joyce solicitors.

The weather has been pretty dreich for my wee sisters visit although we did manage out on the yacht for a fish the first day they were here, kids caught about 25 mackerel all in.