Today's Random Pic...

We spotted the first of this year's lambs this weekend!







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Today's Random Pic...

A follow-up pic from the last one. This is another shot of the clouds on the mountain... Those little white dots are sheep grazing...







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Today's Random Pic...

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2010 Calendar - September

This photo was taken at the National Sheep Sheering Competition June 2008 in County Mayo. Being a city boy means that farm animals still thrill and mystify me. I can honestly say that I had never really been around sheep before coming to Ireland, and I have learned a lot about them while I have been here. Sheep are, in my opinion, the funniest animal I have ever been around. They are content to feed on roadsides as cars fly by, and they are in the element balancing on the side of a cliff, but their nerves of steel melt away as soon as they see a person. You really can see instant panic in the faces and hear it in their voices as they react with their one and only defense… they urinate. They are quick to run away – even if that is in the direction of danger, and try their best to hide by blending into the crowd. Needless to say, I have a new respect and understanding of why the Bible refers to us as sheep….

I try and make it to as many traditional festivals as I can each year. The sheep sheering is always a blast. The sheep with their thick winter coats a herded into large pens only to be snatched up by the neck and quickly relieved of their wool.The look of terror and bewilderment on the sheep’s face is always funny to me.

Click here to see the original posts about the sheep sheering...






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Today's Random Pic...

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2010 Calendar (June)

Connemara - In my opinion, few other places in Ireland capture the imagination like this wild area of the west. Connemara is a border-less area in the west of Ireland that is wild and beautiful. It is renowned for how traditions and the Irish language are still alive there, and there are few other places in Ireland with the pure rockiness of the Connemara lowlands, or the beauty of the Connemara mountains.

This photo was taken in the Connemara lowlands... Notice how generations of people have worked to clear the rocky fields by stacking the rocks into walls and thus are left with many small fields.






The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406



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Today's Random Pic...

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On the beach...

I have been stuck all day in the office catching up on office work. Normally this does not really bother me... today, however, was a beautiful crisp winter's day, which is a rare thing indeed! I left the house around 4PM to run down to the post office before it closed at 5. I left a bit early with the camera and hoped to catch the sunset around 4:30. As I drove down to the shore I ended up speeding faster and faster in an attempt to find a good place to pull over and capture the amazing sight unfolding before me before it was too late. The sun seemed to light up the sky and water with forty shades of orange. I parked on the beach and ran down to the shore. I quickly fired off shot after shot all the while brake dancing over the rocky beach. After a few moments I started walking down the shore line in hopes of getting a better angle on the light show going on over the water. It was then that I saw him. A little seal pup lying up on the rocks looking out over the water. He seemed to be enjoying the sunset just as much as I was and didn't seemed too bothered to pose for a few pictures. I ended up watching the sunset with my little seal friend... all the while counting my blessings for being able to live in such an amazing place.


























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Hunting Season

This post is for all of those hunters out there. I know back in the states right now many of our friends and family are sitting out in the cold woods waiting for a deer to stumble into they cross hairs. These are red deer the largest and the only native species to Ireland. They are believed to have had a continuous presence in Ireland since the end of the last Ice Age (circa 10,000 BC). At this time they roamed freely through out Ireland, however as a result of deforestation, over hunting and the Great Famine (1845 - 1847) many populations became extinct.








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Today's Random Pic...

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Across the road

One of our neighbors keeps a small group of cows in the few empty fields on our road. Several times a week they are moved around from field to field, and from time to time they are put into the small field directly across the road from our house. I really enjoy looking out of our office window and seeing the small band of hairy ladies staring back at me. Their moos always fool me into thinking that my mobile phone (cell phone) is vibrating somewhere. In fact, I actually got out of bed an hour early this morning because of the cows' mooing.

Today I was entertained by watching the cows make a new friend. A new puppy that lives a few doors down discovered the cows. At first the cows seemed threatened by the overly playful pup... and they chased her off. Later, however, I witnessed a friendship being formed.

I think that the pictures speak for themselves...














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The Horse Fair #4

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The Horse Fair #2

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Some random cuteness for Monday

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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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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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Rule #1

You ask - "What is rule #1"? I'm glad you asked... it is my number one rule... never leave home without a camera! I know... what a shock! I took the picture below this week when I was out with work. A friend and I walked down a little lane and saw a farmer struggling with a very stubborn donkey. The farmer pulled, yelled, and even slapped the donkey on the rear end, but the donkey was not very impressed. It seemed that the harder and madder the farmer got the less the donkey wanted to cooperate. Eventually, the battle was over... a truce had been struck... the farmer was able to drag the donkey out of the field and get him to walk down the road. It was then that I witnessed a split second moment of reconciliation that made me smile. See the photo below:







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A dog's life...

One morning (while I was out walking) I came across this beautiful dog sitting in the window. I snapped a few pictures of him and then found a bench and decided to sit and watch him for a while. It was not long until a little old lady came and joined me on the bench. She was a local on her way to the market and had decided to stop and enjoy the day. She told me that this old dog loves to sit there in the window and watch the canal boats go by. He apparently spends most of the sunny parts of the day on his pillow enjoying the waves of tourists and is always willing to have his photo taken. She also told me that he is recovering for surgery. Apparently he had just had a tumor removed and it looked like he was going to be ok. The little lady and I sat and talked for a long time about Bruges and about life... She eventually made her way to the market, and I left the dog to enjoy a bit of piece and quiet. Dee and I came back to the window to check on the dog several times, and he was there enjoying life and the sun.













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Today's Random Pic...

Allergy season in Ireland...






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Fields of fluff-balls

We have been having some amazing (summer-like) weather over the last two weeks. It was so nice on Saturday that I just HAD to get out and take some pictures... I know that is not a surprise to anyone. I called up a friend and the two of us headed out to the mountains for a few hours of driving, hiking, hanging out, and taking pictures. The lighting was perfect for most of the day... but it was at the very end of the day - after the sun had gone down - that we saw the most interesting sight. In fact, I would say that it was one of the coolest things I have seen in Ireland yet.

There was a smallish sized field that was just full of lambs. I have never seen SO many together in one small field before. I don't know just how many were in there, but there were only a few (maybe 12) adult sheep who hardly seemed to notice the overcrowded preschool they were standing in. Most of the adults stood in a daze as a crowd of adolescent youngsters raced from one side of the field to the other. It was as if one of them had organized a game and everyone was invited to play. Time after time they raced from one side to the other... finally, as if on a caffeine high the lambs spontaneously started hopping... then hopping and kicking... then hopping and twisting in mid-air. It was as if they were showing off for the camera.

I could have stayed there and watched them all night. I don't know how long we were there... but my arms were tired from holding up my camera and my trigger finger was sore from pressing the camera button. Needless to say... The evening was a dream come true for a photo freak like me!

Capturing this amazing scene was much harder than normal. The sun had already set, and there was just a strange orange glow over the hilltop. All of the lambs were playing in a massive shadow and the sky was way too bright for photos. So... all that to say - That is why the pictures are in monochrome (black and white). I did not, however alter the pictures or photoshop any of the sheep. Here are just a few of the pics that I got. Let me know which one you like best!























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Today's Random Pic

"Brothers from different mothers"






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From my sickbed...

I have been sick all week! I'm feeling much better now (I hope)... but I have spent most of the week in the house... I did, however, have a few bursts of energy. During one of these moments of clarity I experimented with some macro photography. Here is a picture I took of a little guy in our windowsill.










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I wish...

(Early on Sunday morning I headed out for a quiet walk by myself. I drove down to a quiet beach with my camera, a good book, and my journal... I ended up staying for three hours)


Photos really do not really tell the full story of just how amazing Ireland is...



I wish that I could describe the smell of seaweed, salt air, and last night's peat fire...

I wish that you could know the bitterness of a wind so cold that it makes your ears ache and eyes water...

I wish that you could know the warmth of the sun as it comes out from behind a cloud...

I wish that I could describe the stabbing feeling of the cold North Atlantic water sinking into my shoes...

I wish that I could tell you just how the rain stings as it falls from a clear blue sky...

I wish that you could know the textures of a giant boulder that I sheltered under...



I wish that I could describe the colors of the rainbow...



I wish that you could feel the excitement of spotting seals sunning themselves on the rocks and playing in the water...




I wish that I could really show you all of the artwork tidal waters create on the sand...



I wish that you could know how it feels to jump over little streams and to slowly walk on fresh sand as the tide retreats...

I wish that I could give you a whiff of the giant wet dog that slobbered all over me...




I wish that you could hear the sounds of seagulls and sandpipers looking for food or cows in far away fields...

I wish that I could tell you just how slippery wet seaweed and rocks are...

I wish that I could describe how it feels to stand 10 feet away from a seal and to watch it slip into the sea...




I love photography... but it never really captures the adventure and the story that goes behind every photograph.




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Today's Random Pic...

More sheep...








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Ha Ha...

(in reference to the photo below in the previous post)

No doubt that I have confused and probably worried a few sheep from time to time. But be assured that they have scared this city boy a time or two also! You can always tell that you are off of the beaten 'tourist path' when the sheep mistake you for the farmer and happily come running towards you. This has happened on several occasions (even with cows), and it is always a bit disturbing. Those things have horns!

The sign is obviously warning against dogs not on a leash that chase or could harm the sheep. This is actually a bigger problem than you might think. The sheep panic when they see a dog and lose all ability to reason when they are chased (not that sheep seem to have a lot of reasoning skills to start with). Farmers who witness an unleashed dog worrying sheep have the right to shoot the dog on the spot. Hopefully that same right does not apply to photographers who might startle a sheep or two.... ;)









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Today's Random Pics....

A pic by Dee:




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Swan lake

This weekend was an especially nice one here in Ireland. The sun came out... the rain clouds rolled away... people shed their coats... and for a bit - it felt like a spring day.

We spent some time in the city helping our new co-workers find their way around town and shop for their new house... but before we did this we stopped at one of my favorite little spots to feed the swans. I love the majestic creatures... but they can be a bit pushy if you have bread in your hand... and especially if you are a kid that is roughly the same size as them.

Here are a few pics...











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Here we go again....

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Should I be worried? I am starting to have this paranoid feeling like I am being followed.... it is a feeling like the little people really are after me.....


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But I am becoming wise to their tactics. They are tricky little things... they do their best not to be noticed.... they act casual.... they try to look like everyone else.... They want you to think that they are just part of the crowd....






(for the full story read these previous posts HERE and HERE)
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