My grandfather's brush

You know the old saying, that you're still using your grandfathers yard brush; it's just had the handle replaced 5 times and 7 new heads. I love that and but it's slowly happening to my camera! There's a little story....

I've been away for some time now and first it was illness, then it was a walking holiday and then serious mental illness upon return which has yet to calm down (to be brutally honest).

Let me say Cumbria is a spectacular place, a haven on earth and I encourage you to get there and hike!

Whilst we were there there was an accident with my camera in that someone (not me) thought they'd carry it for me and unbuckled it from my backpack without a word...it then bounced off the ground, rolled off a hill edge and landed in a rocky stream. Equals busted camera LCD screen and a very shocked and sad me. Plus an eternally sorry ginger haired husband.

So I recently received a new Sony a6000 body and add that to my replacement Sony a6000 kit lens last winter and 'my camera' is still as good as new. Lordy please let that be the end pf the accidents.

Anyway, first outing with said camera happened yesterday when I made my triumphant return to the allotment. Yep, haven't been near the place since the last post.

It was a jungle! There be monsters in there for sure, but with Toby on our team how could we fail to be victorious?

Before

After

Oh those photos aren't quite right, I need to tweak by settings on the new camera body *blush*

Let's talk mismanagement and neglect....
* The garlic died back - there is not one single plant
* The leeks bolted, every single one
* The peas look quite sad

But - the spuds are going great, the broad beans look super healthy and though I couldn't get as far down the weed choked paths to see them, I am assured the apples are lovely (need thinning though).

There was torrential rain which stopped play but we did quite well really. Recently its been touch and go as to whether we continued at all but we're more positive now. Andrew even went back later on Sunday night and planted out some things (squashes and peas?)

For now I leave you with a big hug
Carrie  xx

Ulster Way Hike - Ring of Gullion (pt 2)

Saturday 19th

In the car we hummed and ha-ed about the weather, it being rather cold but now raining on top of that, which we hadn't expected. It was time to pull into a garage and get a coffee in our new fancy Keep Cups and have a think...

"Well fortune favours the brave" said I, "who dares wins" said Andrew and on we went; the Ring of Gullion required a good conquering beneath our boots.

***

Slieve Gullion from Jonesborough

Jonesborough, is where we started again (as with pt 1) parking in the village car park. It didn't take us long to get ready and start the hike, the weather here being lovely, cold yes but blue skies poking through.

Moyry Castle

It was a lovely narrow road walk surrounded by farms and great views to get to our first point of call; the 17th century Moyry Castle (fort). What a surprise and what a situation, up on a hill with commanding views all a round for miles on end. It defended 'The Gap of the North', the main direct north-south route in Eastern Ireland. Truly, it had so many gun loops.

the best bit where I felt able to take my camera out

On again along lovely lush high sided lanes until we arrived at a battlefield; here all the trees had been cut down in a sweet bit of forest that looks so good on the map. Left behind was a mess of bog, holes and branches and brambles. We found it hard to get ourselves out the other side, thank goodness for the map app on Andrew's phone!

the border!

I was glad to get back onto the little roads, crossing over the border and back I don't know how many times. At one point Andrew used his phone map and we watched ourselves cross the line on the map - it was denoted by nothing more than a bit of hedge on one side in real life. Lovely.

* I have to keep reminding myself that I felt pretty good - all the beautiful little ruined farm steads, the views, the lush plants and now horses and donkeys! *

Awesome fungi - wood ears and ?

Making me smile now was my most favourite part of the walk - a trail round a ruined house, past a friendly horse in his paddock, down to a river with another gorgeous old house and some awesome fungi, a hibernating ladybird and lots of coconut in the air - gorse. It was heavenly.

At other end and we found ourselves in Forkhill. Here we stopped for a small pint and some crisps in The Welcome Inn (which we discovered a little late was for members only). They were very nice though and on leaving they wished us luck with our mountains, haha.

On the walk out of Forkhill we came across one of the most joyous experiences ever - 14 donkeys in the one huge field. We stood there for some time just admiring them, then had to drag ourselves away and on along the main roadway.

At a right turn onto a lane we met another donkey - more feisty and demanding attention; just gorgeous.

Then we began our slow and agonising ascent up the side of Slieve Gullion (so many false summits!). That's when it all started to metaphorically down hill - the drizzle started. Soon it was heavy and we stopped to put away the camera and put on our coats; we had climbed up into a cloud. Soon came heavier water drops and we (still climbing upwards) had to stop again and put on our water proof trousers and for me, take off my glasses - they were useless.

Miserably wet and now in some difficulty with seeing at all we slowly but surely made our way to the Slieve Gullion Forest Park - yay! Here we found coffee and toilets and a hand dyer which I used almost everywhere but my hands!!

Andrew did a map for us all - hugs Andrew x

It had been exhausting but after finishing our coffee it was only a mile to the bus stop. Back in the relative comfort to our car the heating was turned right up. We had done it (13.5 miles) and now it was time to go home and have a very warm shower.

Love and hugs
Carrie

Ulster Way Hike - Ring of Gullion (part 1)

We're onto a new section of the Ulster Way in the far side of Co. Armagh, on the border. Determined to crush the kilometres beneath our feet and conquer the Way this year!  Here's part 1 of the Ring of Gullion Way.

We arrived in Newry early and caught a bus to the beginning of our adventure and it wasn't a long walk to our first area of beauty -  Ravensdale forest. Here we climbed up through stunning mixed woodland and heard lots of birds and little waterfalls in the distance. Toby tried to pee on every tree, haha.

Taking the above photo of the mushroom, I found a phone laying in the mud and leaves. Luckily it had an app on it that helped the owner know where it was and only allowed a finder to ring the owner's chosen liaison person. I made Andrew do the ringing (photo) we arranged to give it back; it was so lucky they lived in Newry.

We walked lovely narrow paths leading up the northern slopes of Clermont Carn were the wind whipped up from the sea through the trees and made us shivery. It is a beautiful area but oh my, the fly tipping!

It was a very steep descent down to a main road, patching up tarmac with concrete isn't the best practise. This road was on the border, not that you'd notice! After a short while we had to climb up again into the countryside  but before this could be attempted I had to have an emergency Cadbury's fudge break.

Up here there were many ruined cottages, horses and cows, perfect photograph fodder. I remember loving the very old farmer gents in their equally old tractors up this way. The roadsides slowly got higher and higher in the old countryside fashion and again it suddenly got very cold.

We planned to take our lunch break at Clontygora court tomb, a Neolithic picnic if you will. This time the cold stayed with us and we had nibbles and a sup inside the actual tomb.

Slightly warmed up again we got back on the road and passed by Flagstaff viewpoint with wonderful views over the Newry canal and off into the harbour. Then came the highlight of the hike - 3 donkeys! They were gorgeous and Lordy did we take many a photo of them. They in turn wanted nose rubs and and were momentarily intrigued by Toby but then simply ignored him.

Down and down we went on small winding roads and over a railway, beside it on the left then over it again and walked for a good while on a grassy path to the right hand side. Oh, it turned into a beautiful narrow trail all the way back to the car, twisting and feeling so old.

Back at the car we met the phone owner, a postman called Brain :) We quickly got ourselves unburdened of our backpacks and drove home, via some take out coffee - just so cold!

***

You should know that I find these days mentally and physically exhausting, every single time I do them. BUT I am a huge advocate for ecotheraphy and encourage everyone (not just those who also have mental health problems) to be outside as much as possible.

How does it feel? To me, I generally feel nothing but my physical aches and tiredness. It's the memories that I capture with my camera that mean something. I observe when I see through the lens and I take those moments with me into the next few days, slowly building up a picture (no pun intended) of what I did and how it should have made me feel.

Conversely, not feeling at the time is a two sided coin - I am detached from reality to keep me from exploding with anxiety; but also I am receiving the healing balm of 'the space in between' each photo. Those quiet, detached moments that we all get are when I feel no anxiety, no depression, no self harming desires, no suicidal thoughts - it's just blissful nothingness. That my friends is worth all the sore feet, the confusion and the tiredness. Plus I get the photos and the kudos :)

Looking back, catching up

Hike triumph - Newry Canal pt 2

I forgot to tell/show you that we completed the second half of the Newry Canal hike - hurrah to us! It happened way back on the 20th October and it was a much cooler and crisp day indeed, definitely more leaves on the ground and though this part of the walk wasn't quite as pretty, there were special surprises to be found. I'll simply put up two wee collages of what we found joy in.

old signs, many apples just out of reach, a donkey, more swans and cygnets

a beautiful bridge over  Moneypenny's lock, another mile marker and the lock keeper' s cottage, the lock and the neighbouring blacksmiths (still working away)

The walk started in Scarva, then we walked the 8 miles to Portadown train station (which meant my big red and sleepy mug had to face the Portadown public - eek!). The journey was grand and Toby was a very good boy indeed sitting under Andrew's legs and not barking once. Back at Scarva then, we disembarked and went to the local eatery for a lovely, well deserved dinner :)

And now because I simply forgot on Friday past....

Daily photo challenge round up (22)

 Day 27 - pop

A pop of pink in an otherwise dreary flower bed

Day 28 - contrast

In contrast to my usual view of a gingerbread man as jolly and plump this one is but a skeleton! 😄

Day 29 - black and white

Outside my fave bar in Belfast.

 Day 31 - rainbow

Beautifully arranged coloured bottles on the window sill of a sweet b&b in Northumberland.

And into NOVEMBER! With the same thanks to Fat Mum Slim for the prompts as before :)....

Day 1 - morning sky

This morning's glorious bright sky with the moon still up. Beautiful autumn light and colours.

 Day 2 - I want...

better vision please. I've been wearing glasses for 30 years now and also have incurable permanent double vision.

 Day 3 - I have...

the sleepiest little dog today. 

*********

I have also been to the allotment! "What?" you cry, "Really?" and I proudly answer "yes 😊".  AND I have delved into a new (old) hobby.....So there is another wee blog post to come, soon, about that too. Hurrah.

Hugs and love

Carrie

National Dogs' Day

To celebrate National Dogs' Day I thought I would share some photographs of yesterday's hike from Ballynure to Ballyboley Forest and back with Andrew and TOBY!

Having completed this actually ticks the Antrim Hills off our Ulster Way Walk and thus tips us over the half way mark of the Ulster Way in total - yippee! And who cares about the absolute agony it had me in - I am crushing the Way under my very sore back and blistered foot *insert maniacal laughter here*

So, the photographs...

 the mid way point and finally the sun comes out - hurrah! This was our view, our wee country isn't so bad, right? we had walked from the lowest point in the valley to here, all up hill!

 Collages of some of the beautiful scenes I captured on the way back down 

My beautiful boy - he loves walking in the long grass verges

My best wishes for a happy Bank Holiday Monday. We are hoping to go hiking again - crazy I know, but you only live once 😉

Hugs Carrie x

Finishing the Fermanagh section of the Ulster Way

To finish the Fermanagh section we had to deploy the tent; just as well Andrew had bought a super light and easy to assemble one merely a week before hand :) The MSR elixir 2 weighs in at approx 2.5kg and as he was going to be carrying it, that was great compared to our Vango Tempest 300 which is 1kg heavier.

Day 1

We drove to Belleek (2 hrs from home) which we were to call the finishing point and parked the car in  Main Street. After much needed coffee and scones, we caught the bus to Enniskillen, then had 2 hours to kill there before we caught another bus. So you know what we did - we went to one of the oldest pubs in Co. Fermanagh for a while - 'Blake's of the Hollow' established in 1887...

Then we caught that second bus that took us to our starting point, the center of Belcoo :)  Our lovely campsite was only a mile and half away, so we walked there, getting some Ulster Way ticked off too,  set up camp and got acquainted with the facilities. At dinnertime we walked back into Belcoo to have some good food.

The sunset was beautiful later on....

******* 

Day 2
Like ninjas, we were so quiet putting away our tent and packing up our bags in the morning. We used the facilities, had breakfast and were off on our merry way by 7.30am.  And it was the best day of hiking ever so I do not apologise for the number of photos :)

These cows and the ruined church and graveyard were on the walk out of the campsite - great start to the day.

Haybales; a ruined house and barn with cool finds

Roses at the side of the road; Andrew at the entrance to Ballytempo Forest; the first way marker

Peat cutting; Andrew getting water from a little lough to filter for our drinking water; The forest tracks

Beautiful little Lough Formal (we had a full on nap at the side of road here, haha); The trees had all recently been cut down in this end of the forest, Into a new forest which had a lough with a road over it - full of fish and a heron

Up above the lough on 'Little Dog' hill we hoped would be less full of midges; Our tent pitched beautifully and then pain meds and nap time for me - hurrah! Then dinner - oh yeah, when you hike, food is pretty much all you think about and we'd gone quite far indeed.

Carrigan Forest and Lough Formal from the afternoon, Lough Nabrickboy and Little Dog

**********

Day 3
It had been raining as we slept and it continued to do so as we packed up the wet tent. Luckily we were able to shake a good load of the water off it but still, it meant Andrew had more weight in his bag as we set off.

One great thing was the rain had made a noticeable difference to the air quality and the midges weren't such a pain :)  But the hiking was harder from the get-go as I was stiff from the walking we had already done plus the slight aches from sleeping in a tent. But we soldiered on. Little was I to know....

Inside an abandoned cottage - there were birds nesting in it so we didn't stay long but snapped these few photos

.....the rain and breeze were nice but nothing would take away the increasing pain in my shoulders and hip. We had to stop every 1 mile or so for a break and though I LOVED the abandoned houses on this road, I was truly in agony. Thankfully the rain hid the tears. I had my prescription medicine with me but it makes me tired and I really am stubborn (as you know) and wanted to finish this on my own steam.

Abandoned Bus stop: Glen Mass Rock and Holy Well; Cob nuts; rain drops on the spider webs

It all got to a point were I could feel the damage I was causing to my body. At the final crossroads, with only a few more miles to Belleek (along busy roads), we had to turn the opposite direction down into a wee village called Garrison and search for help. But lo, they had no train, no buses, no taxis! What were we to do??

Our hero came in the shape of the bread delivery man at the local Spar. I have never instantly loved someone as I did him, Martin. He drove out of his way to get us straight to our car. Not accepting our money offer he asked that we simply do the same one day for another in our situation - what a guy!

Hugs
Carrie