Living Life's Golden Moments.

It's summer and I'm living life in the real world. Blog posts have consequently fallen behind as I continue to question how much time I spend in the virtual world, neglecting the things I like doing in the real world.
I've been busy enjoying some golden evenings, celebrating our son finishing school and supporting him through the exams, rejoicing that he knows what he wants to do with his life,  taking lots of photos at some wonderful community events, and, best of all, going on a family holiday which included our dog.
So, I've got lots of catching up to do but first let me share some golden moments found close to home.

The Simple Joys of Summer

I am loving this unusual spell of beautiful summer weather. It tempts me and seduces me into thinking how wonderful it would be if it was always like this. Warm summer days followed by long warm summer evenings.

Life is easier, less complicated, and simple pleasures easy to find.  Summer clothes are unearthed from suitcases, holiday dresses, cool linens and sandals donned every day, salads and bar-b-ques, strawberries and fresh home made smoothies. What's not to like?

The long days seem to last forever, with so many extra hours for myself when I come home from work.

There's time for dog walking, picking flowers, taking photographs.  

Time for watching, time for dreaming, for letting hopes soar.

And still time to come back home, full of the joys brought our world transformed by the gentle heat of the sun and the kind rays of light which warm our hearts.

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.

Back with music and flowers

I've been a neglectful blogger of late. I've been meaning to post but life kept getting  in the way. Mostly good stuff, thankfully, but I felt I had to stand back and access my priorities and live in the real world.
Now I've got some time to catch up.
Spring has arrived and with it blossoms, blustery showers, sunshine and cool breezes. Not quite the weather we'd like in May but at least it's not non-stop rain.

I've been to a musical festival. Having gone to the now legendary music festivals at Lisdoonvarna and Ballisodare, as well as the early years of concerts at Slane Castle, I reckoned my festival going days were well and truly over. Camping, mud, crowds, mud, queuing for loos, and yet more mud, no longer held any appeal for me, no matter how good the music might be.
But the Vantastival festival now takes place just down the road in the beautiful woodland setting of Bellurgan Park. It originally started as a get together for VW camper fan enthusiasts with a bit of music on the side. Now the music is firmly centre stage, although the camping is still a big attraction for many as it's a wonderful laid back family friendly festival.  Over the Bank Holiday weekend I saw some great bands - traditional Irish musicians Altan were naturally going to be a highlight for me,  Dublin band The Eskies were a great discovery, while The Twisted Sisters from Co Armagh with their comic songs about big knickers, hormones and love had the audience falling  out of their seats with laughter.  And best of all, I could go home and sleep in my nice warm comfortable bed.

The Eskies

Altan

Cat Dowling

The Twisted Sisters

The Raglans

A Little Note from Me to You

I haven't gone away. I've just been busy...living life. I've been evaluating how much time I spend on line as opposed to actually doing things.  So, I've tried to pull away from the lure of blogging, photo sharing and tweeting, of constantly posting, commenting, sharing.  But I have been reading your blogs, enjoying your words and pictures.
And when life is slightly less hectic I'll be back with some stories and images from the Irish spring,
the fresh green countryside and a fantastic laid back music festival.