Still........

...........even though we are far away from it now, the silvery silken  waters of Galway Bay will be breaking on the shore at Ballyvaughan.

We have had a lovely 9 days there again, meeting old friends from previous years and catching up.

re-acquainting ourselves with the Burren and its surroundings, and the lovely quiet village.

Every year we have new and different experiences and this year was no exception.

I went to Mass on Sunday morning in the village church. 

Its the first time I have ever been asked to pray for a successful hunt. Lets draw a veil over what that may mean and hope it referred to the safe return of all the riders and no kill.

We thought we'd go to watch. They assembled here...

 It wasn't like the few hunts I've seen in this country, far more 'ordinary' although some were definitely monied and turned up with wonderful horse boxes with push button ramps, and polished leather boots.

 While others were a bit more like garden sheds on wheels.

 I asked a friendly man in a mud spattered riding coat if they caught many foxes...he said they hadn't caught one in twenty years and if they did find one they'd probably 'sit down for a drink with him and tell him what a fine fellow he is.'

They took off suddenly.

 We got the car out and followed them down the road just to see the fast galloping and the hounds but it was a very slow process.They were stuck in a field for ages because the hounds had run off over the mountain where the horses couldn't follow.We were told the best place to see them was on the beach.

 We waited.

Eventually they came across the sand but not in a galloping frenzy but sporadically, in dribs and drabs, all having to be very careful whilst leaving the car park as there was a low overhead height restriction barrier!

A very sedate affair but whatever you might think of hunting it was an interesting thing to see.

On Monday my friend (who comes to keep me company)and I took a trip to Inis Mor one of the Aran Islands. 

Once the awful stressful feat of finding first the car park then the bus in Galway, (being guided by a woman from the ferry company on the phone and running with unlaced walking boots rather like Anneka Rice did in 'Treasure Hunt' all those years ago) was over, we relaxed on the ferry 

 sailing past the shores of Connemara..what a place for a graveyard.

 On arrival we were greeted by the offer of a pony and trap ride all over the island. We accepted..and after a difficult ascent into the trap, we snuggled under the rugs and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and scenery. The driver was wearing jeans, a short jacket and no gloves..it was freezing but he wasn't.

The stoic little horse who pulled us was called Johnny Cash. Johnny was due for new shoes the next day. I asked what he would do about the trap and he said he'd have to get his other horse..'W' ..short for WB Yeats. What a man.

Every now and then he got out and took a picture for us!

 We trotted up to Dun Aengus a fort on the clifftop, 2500 years old.

There's a sheer drop on the other side.

 After lunch a bit of shopping (Lovely cafe playing Leonard Cohen songs!) we continued along the coast road. I saw seals here in this bay but my camera didn't. They were playing in the blue water enjoying the sunshine .

 On to an old church (all seemed to be '7th century') and another photo opportunity!

The sun shone all day but my goodness it was cold. 

 We could have picked up one of these and hired a bike but I am so glad we chose the pony and trap.

 A little detail near the harbour.

 There was even a seal in the harbour on the mainland when we arrived back in Connemara and the moon rose pink and incredibly huge as we drove back to Galway.

On Saturday we made our usual trip to the Dolmen.

 Here I am looking as round as the aforementioned moon and much pinker.

 A little shop browsing in Ennis in the afternoon....wonderful clothes in some of the shops, but so expensive

 and on Sunday a walk on the beach at Fanore

 watching this young jockey to-ing and fro-ing and eventually trotting up the road home.

 We could hear the hooves on the sand and then on the road as he clopped off home.

Now for the inspiration!!!

I am inspired by all I saw underfoot.

Allow me to share my pictures with you.

I spent a lot of time looking down between the stones and the ridges.

 Look.....

 look more closely...

A puzzling sight

 even with the boat!

 Besides all the sights there were sounds, great friends, great craic, and above all , my husband thoroughly enjoyed his classes with the great Noel Hill, and had plenty of space and time to practise.

I give you....a happy husband.

So I hope you've enjoyed this fourth year of Ballyvaughan.

If you should want to read my previous posts about our visits there please click HERE

Ballyvaughan Again

We were a week later this year but the countryside seemed to be two or three weeks ahead.

The hazel groves, festooned in previous years, were almost devoid of catkins.

 There were new flowers about that we had not seen before

 The ivy berries were huge, plump and black

 and here and there were primroses, 

 fungi

the gorse was in bloom, then gorse always is, but the blossoms were vibrant and succulent making a beautiful bright yellow contrast against the Burren limestone.

 The grass was greener than we've seen it before

 but the in the  little overgrown abandoned cottage time stands still, 

 poignantly frozen in the year the last occupant died.

 White blossoms sprang from thorny bushes

 and elsewhere there seemed to be a programme of hedge chopping of vast scale...for Ireland.

 We walked and picked up a lovely dog along the way. He walked with us for about an hour

 until further along the way we were joined by another  and they walked ahead , together.

 We discussed the possibility of returning through the wood, instead of along the road, but the dogs were ahead of us, read our body language and jumped the stile into the wood. They ran ahead and disappeared. When we reached this area of flat stones with low hazel bushes we sat down to eat our
sandwiches,

 and guess who reappeared? Both of them. 

Until we'd finished and they vanished again.

It made us laugh to think they must do this with tourists and walkers over and over again.

 On Wednesday we celebrated 25 years of my husband's work as a self employed freelance restorer.

On Thursday my friend and I visited Lisdoonvarna and The Burren Smokehouse where we bought some incredibly pricey handsmoked salmon, then on to Ennis and lunch in the Rowan Tree cafe.

 I recommend it , lively and friendly and vibrant with good food.

 I took my friend to the airport and then I drove home alone. I stopped at the Polnabroune Dolmen, a portal tomb high on the Burren limestone pavement just as the sun was setting.

In the evening  Noel Hill, the teacher of the concertina school my husband was attending, gave a concert with his daughter.

This was really why were in Ballyvaughan, County Clare. 

His music is sensitive and beautiful and his teaching by all accounts is excellent. A group of perhaps 20 from USA, Spain, UK, Sweden and other parts of Ireland attended to learn what he had to teach. I enjoyed their company in the evenings. 

 On Friday I met my own sort of people! I travelled to Le Gra craft studio in Claregalway to meet with Esther Kiely who has been a blog contact for some time. It was great to meet at last. She arranged it so that there were other textile people there for us all to have a chat.  Here she is (on the right) with     Breda MacNelis from Dublin , a facebook textile contact who had been to Ballyvaughan to deliver her work.

 We also saw the work of Margaret and Veronika  they both brought lovely pieces for us to look at. Thanks you so much for making it a great visit, and to Esther for making me so welcome with tea and cakes. Here's the rest of the shop. Its well worth a visit .

 Now for an unexpected treat. On Sunday we left Ballyvaughan early to drive to Dublin ferryport. We arrived at 1.15 for the 2.30 fast ferry and guess what? It had been cancelled. We didn't fancy sitting around at the port until the next ferry at 8.50 in the evening so we decided to visit Newgrange, a stone age site with a 5000 year old passage tomb. The chamber is amazing (no pics allowed) but I particularly liked seeing the carved kerbstones around the edges.

 At the entrance is a door and above it a window through which at the winter solstice the rising sun penetrates the tomb with a shaft of light. If you want to read more about it go HERE. Its fascinating.

 We drove back to Dublin via The Hill of Tara, but we couldn't see much.

 It was just quite good to be there at sunset

 watching the moon rise.

Enjoy the rest of the photographs.

I've come back with my head full of ideas.