Some random cuteness for Monday

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Today's Random Pic...

in slow decay...







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The Running of the Mackerel

For two or three weeks at the end of August / beginning of September, conditions are just right for something magical to happen.... The mackerel run...

The high tides line up with the setting of the sun... and a small bait fish (known locally as a sprat) migrate close to the shores. These conditions make millions of hungry mackerel swim in close to the shore and bite at anything in the water. This flood of fish is a dream come true for any fisherman willing to throw out a line. Locals say that the fish are so bunched up close to the shore that they can be snatched out of the water by hand. I've never seen anyone do it, but I have seen many people pull in four or five at a time.

Right now everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the mackerel. They have come in close to the shore several times over the last couple of weeks, but storms have pushed them back out again. Last night, however, the storms let up for a little while, and people flocked to the shore with their rods and reels to try their luck. I watched for awhile, but never saw anyone catch anything. Who knows... maybe they will be delayed until my dad comes to visit! Here is hoping!



The view from the shore last night...





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The Emerald Isle...

I have to confess... no matter how much fun it is to travel... it is always better to come home to Ireland.



Here are a few pics that I took from the airplane window...










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A few more...

just a few more pics from Germany... actually.... these were just over the boarder in Austria...










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1,000+

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1,000+ words

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1,000+ words....

We got back from our trip to Germany last Thursday, and we are still recovering. It was nice to see some new places and to see some old friends and co-workers, but it is always so nice to be back in our home in Ireland. I have a ton of pics... so many that I'm not going to post them all... I am, however, going to post a few more over the next few days.

It is said that a picture is worth 1,000 words... I think that the following few pics (posted over the next couple of days) are worth a bit more. Hope you enjoy:








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Today's Random Pic...

A few more castle pics...







This is Rick Steves' favorite castle in all of Europe









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Get'n older

Well... the big day has rolled around again. That day that I looked forward to in my youth... and now dread... has come: my birthday (insert doom and gloom music here). Now that our meetings are over (here in Germany) we have hit the road for a couple of days to celebrate my B'day. Dee has been great to let me do whatever I want to do on my big day. That means castles and pictures! The Germans sure did build some amazing castles... and we have seen our fair share over the last two days. Here are just a couple of quick pics of one we saw in the Mosel valley:











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Today's Random Pic...

Took this picture out of the car window as we were driving... This was actually just over the Austrian border (we snuck over during an afternoon off... don't tell anyone!)...








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"Ding-a-ling"

I noticed it the first night we were here in Germany....

"Ding-a-ling"

Outside my widow...

"Ding-a-ling"

across the darkness..

"Ding-a-ling"

"What is that sound" I kept thinking....

"Ding-a-ling"

the faint sound of wind chimes...?

"Ding-a-ling"
"Ding-a-ling"
"Ding-a-ling"
"Ding-a-ling-ling-linnnnng!!!!!!"

The only problem is that there would have to be thousands of wind chimes to make the faint 'ding-a-ling' sounds I was hearing.... The answer to my mystery came with the daylight. Cows. Yep... cows with bells around their necks. You know... it is almost stereotypical for a cow to have a bell around its neck, but I can't say that I have EVER seen one.








PS - I should also note: this beautiful sound... is starting to drive me crazy! I don't see how farmers stand it!!!



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On the road again....

Yep. It is hard to believe but we are on the road again. This time it is a business trip to Germany. Before you become jealous - just keep in mind that this is a business trip (i.e. conference rooms and meetings). Don't worry... I have my camera with us........ and you know that I can't resist using any spare time we have to shoot a couple of quick pictures! Don't ask me where we are... I really don't know the name of the town... All I know is that it is in the Black Forest somewhere, and it is beautiful!!! Here are a couple of quick pictures that were taken from the hotel.














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"Mary in the window"

I took this photo last week while on a short walk (not too far from the donkey and farmer picture below). The thatched cottage was beautiful, but it really was the little statue of Mary looking down at me from the tiny window that caught my eye.








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It happened several weeks ago…

I have downloaded my pictures a thousand times… but this time I lost around 600 photos. Yep… 600… Please don’t ask me what happened. I don’t know. I was downloading them just like I always do when suddenly the camera battery died. I changed batteries, but the photos were gone. They are not on my camera or the computer. Ouch! 600 photos… To be honest I don’t even know what all I lost. I know that I lost a ton of pictures of a dauphin playing just off shore… losing those makes me sad… I also know that I lost a lot of macro (extreme close-up) photos that I had taken in my garden. Several weeks have passed, but I am still a bit mad about it! Thankfully, I didn’t lose anything sentimental or irreplaceable!

So… in honor of my lost pictures I am going to post a couple of macro shots that I took in the front garden. Hopefully, I won’t lose any more anytime soon!















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Today's Random Pic...

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