February Scavenger Hunt

Joining in with Suzzie for the Scavenger Hunt once again. As the weather was quite foul with lots of storms in the early part of the month, I found it harder than expected to come up with images for all the clues.

F is for  Fishing Boats

Fishing boats tied up in Dundalk Harbour

3pm

Finished work early so time to get a photo of the tower of Dundalk's St Nicholas Parish Church, popularly known as the Green Church because of its copper spire. It's the oldest building still in use in our town.

Grain

 We buy logs from a local forester for burning during the winter months.


Lamp

A dusting of snow on this street lamp on our one hour of snow this  year!

Clock

Clock tower in Drogheda

Honey

I like to put a little honey on my porridge for breakfast in the winter.

Fountain

This is the fountain in Dundalk's Market Square. It's very popular with children and usually gushes  up much higher than this but it was on a  subdued cycle when I stopped to snap it on my way home after working late. I intended going back in the hope of getting a more impressive shot but it has been closed off due to roadworks ever since!

Round

Ireland is famous for its round towers which were used by monks as a place of refuge during Viking invasions. This one at Dromiskin, Co Louth, dates back to the 12th century. It would originally have stood higher but the top was altered at some stage leaving it with a squat appearance.

Shadow

We had so much dull weather at the beginning of the month that it took me longer than I expected to get this shot of shadows on the wall of the old St Joseph's orphanage at Seatown Place, Dundalk.

Group

A group of birds including swans, mallard ducks, moorhens and gulls in Ice House Hill, Dundalk after a brief snow shower.

Repurpose

Beer barrels which were cut in half find a new use as planters outside a pub in Dundalk

Clouds

It's great that the evenings are getting brighter so I can get out to take photographs and walk the dog, and enjoy sunsets like this, after work.

At the end of the day

At the end of the day, when I'm searching for beauty, there's a place I go not far from  home.
On this early summer's evening, the day trippers have gone, leaving  just  a handful  of dog walkers.

Alone with my camera, I drink in the beauty. I watch the sun sinking, the sky a kaleidoscope of changing hues, reflected in the still water of the in-coming tide.
 The waves lap gently on the rocky shoreline. I  inhale the salt infused air and breath deeply.

This is peace.
And there's more. Behind me the clouds are illuminated from the sun, even after it has slipped below the horizon.

The Heavens' Embroidered Cloths

'Had I the Heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light.....

These favourite lines by WB Yeats flooded back as I watched tonight's sky turn from blue to silver to gold and back to  deepest blue of the half light.

I lingered as the sun slowly sank below the horizon, listening to the evening song from the hedgerows, watching as the sky teemed with darting swallows.

The magnificent cloud formation which graced the sky as we walked the dog to the shore and  back remained as I made my way down the lane to a townland whose name I've only half-remembered...Tullyhanna...Tullycanna...a placename which slipped off my father's tongue as he talked of the fields where cattle grazed.

It's a peaceful place, undisturbed except for a few farmers tending their land and the hum of traffic.

Reluctantly I turned for home.  Soon darkness will keep me indoors as summer fades to distant memory.