SUNDAY THOUGHT Dublin

A person plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Photographed in Dublin 

April 2017

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving any comments.

Have a Blessed Sunday.

SATURDAY CRITTERS - Pet Nose Day at Mount Stewart- ALL the WINNERS

What a wonderful day everyone had during the Pet Nose Day at Mount Stewart this month and although not everyone could get a place, everyone was a winner.  Below is Alison (in red) who kept us all right and made sure all the various dog rounds ran smoothly, the Judge, George Angus looked at every single dog fairly, Lady Rose helped the judge in the final round of judging and these 2 dogs who are with their owners came out tops.

Below I am showing you the winners in all the classes judged.

They as follows-

Cutest puppy, prettiest girl, handsome boy, golden oldie over 6 years, waggliest tail, hairiest beastie, best mover dog and handler, junior handler and dog judge want to take home.

Sorry the post is so long but I could not leave any of the winners out and am linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS.

Signed permission was given for any photos with children in them.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments.

FRIDAYS' HUNT and WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

Time to join Friday’s Hunt and Weekend Reflections and the letter today is Q, Favourite and Evening.  When I was down at my old caravan, one day I went and visited the QUAINT QUOILE Countryside Centre and apart from the lovely garden you see below and the many walks, there is also this QUOILE Castle.

When this castle was built just after 1600, the river flowed right up to the castle as the river was a lot wider in those days.  It is of rectangular shape and has 3 floors with the windows high up to withstand any flooding.  It is thought that Captain West and his family and ancestors lived there for over a century but in the 20^th Contrary the South wall fell and was not able to be repaired.

The QUOILE River has a hide and so I made my way there and meet another birder who had brought another man with him (below) who was looking after his dog for him.  It turned out that this man was 96 years old and walks miles everyday.

It was QUITE a dull day as you can see but there were Swans, Godwits, Coot, Moorhen, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Tufted, Mallard and Goldeneye ducks as well as Cormorant and the usual gulls.

As the EVENING draws in, the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland are just visible in the distance in the image below and you can see the REFLECTION of the sky colours on the water.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments.

GOOD FENCES - St Stephen's Green Park - Dublin

Last week a group of us travelled by train to Dublin to see the Caravaggio Exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland and afterwards we had time to walk round St Stephens’ Green Park where we saw the lake with this fence.

  I am linking to GOOD FENCES.

We all found this sculpture entitled “Famine” by Edward Delaney very sad.

On the other side of the lake was a pavilion with a fence.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments.

St Stephen's Green Park in Dublin

Last week a group of us travelled by train to Dubbin to see the Caravaggio Exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland and afterwards lunch,we had time to walk round St Stephens’ Green Park and look at the beautiful displays of flowers before coming home.  The last image is of Linda and I with Oscar Wilde.  Enjoy.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments. 

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

As I walked round the lake at Mount Stewart, near Newtownards, Northern Ireland I saw, Tufted duck, Moorhen, Coot and Swan.  

I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

Many thanks for visiting and also for leaving comments. 

THROUGH MY LENS Mount Stewart's Grand Opening of the Restored Stone Floor in Entrance Hall

The day of the Grand opening of the Restored Stone Floor was upon on 13 April and we were greeted by hearing Amy McAllister playing delightful music on her Irish harp.  This is a long post but a very special day in the life of Mount Stewart House, near Newtownards, N.Ireland and I am linking to Through My Lens.

Mayor of Ards and North Down is Alderman Deborah Girvan, Peter Lauritzen (husband of Lady Rose and granddaughter of Edith) and Dr Bob Brown OBE,

Regional Chairman of National Trust in Northern Ireland (right) who are all standing beside the new display cabinet containing the Coronation roles and crown which Lady Edith, the 7th Marchioness of Londonderry wore at King George V's Coronation.

The kitchen/restaurant staff at Mount Stewart excelled themselves at the reception, before the official opening ceremony, by supplying those invited guests with Champagne and a wonderful variety of canapes.

 Lady Rose and her husband Peter Lauritzen as chief guests.

A few images of the invited guests enjoying the delicious refreshments. 

 Jon Kerr, General Manager of East Down National Trust, Northern Ireland introduced all the guest speakers and I will only mention one here and that is (left) Simon Murray, Senior Director of Strategy, Curatorship and External Affairs, National Trust, UK, who had made a bet with Jon and his team, that they would not finish this project either on time or within budget.  He lost on both counts as it came in under budget and on time so Jon was delighted to receive 2 bottles of champagne on behalf of his team from Simon.

After Lady Rose made a very eloquent speech, she cut the official blue ribbon and stepped into the restored floor of the Entrance Hall accompanied by Jon Kerr.

 I hurried in to try and get photographs before all the guests entered and directly below is the East side where you see the statue of Venus and below that is the West side of the Entrance Hall where Eurydice is standing.

Below, in the centre of the Entrance Hall, the stone is set in a radiating pattern while on the East and West side, it is laid in a design of octagons and squares.

I quickly decided a better plan was to photograph it from the Gallery above where they were holding an exhibiton of art from artists that were asked to show what Mount Stewart meant to them.  Although I am not showing you this now, they were really wonderful and creative works of art.

.

I leave you with part of the Gallery which is directly above the main Entrance Halll and where I was photographing from, and you can see some of the art work displayed in the distance.

I hope you enjoyed this post and many thanks for visiting as well as leaving any comments on this post.