Silicon Bog

Author: silicon

  • The cast of characters

    Obviously lockdown is taking its toll, and we have started naming the wildlife in lieu of having pets or any other human contact.

    We’ve covered young Kenny Leveret before:

    Hare
    Kenny Leveret

    There’s also a small bird that likes to flit in and out of a wood pile at the back of the house. Obviously we weren’t going to go Dam Busters on that one, so I present to you Sophia (the wren):

    Sophia the wren
    Sophia the wren

    There’s a dog that likes to visit too, but he always has a big muzzle on his face (apparently due to messing with clothes on washing lines). To protect his privacy (does GDPR cover dogs?) I’m not posting a still from a security camera at the moment, but his name is Hannibal Dogter. I imagine he does eat liver, but not necessarily with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

    Finally (for now), we have Eric the bank vole. I don’t know why he’s called that, but it seems a reasonable name for him. He likes hanging around the turf stack. No photos yet.

  • Sunset pics

    Went out to the top of the drive with a long lens (Fuji 50-230mm) and a very short one (Samyang 12mm fisheye) around sunset.

    • Sunset through trees
    • Wide-angle shot of house
    • Wide-angle shot of drive to top of it
    • View from top of drive with turf
    • View from top of drive with river below
    • ‘Golden hour’ light
    • Driveway
    • Sunset with tree, daffodils and bluebells
    • Sunset with tree, daffodils and bluebells again, but slightly earlier in the evening

  • Hare today…

    A Good Friday treat, with the arrival of a young hare to check out our daffodils.

    • Hare
      Kenny (Leveret) hopping
    • Hare
      Kenny (Leveret) looking pensive
    • Hare
      Kenny (Leveret) looking soulful

  • A frosty reception

    The weather got very cold again – walking on the bog, the sphagnum moss crunched underfoot, unlike its usual squelchy/springy response.

    Frosty moss
    Frosty moss

    The light was exceptionally bright though – the first field benefitted from it a lot:

    Sunny rushes
    Sunny rushes

    By far the most exciting event of the day was the arrival of a new fridge/freezer. We’d been getting by for months with an electric (Peltier) coolbox, but with great uncertainly on the horizon with COVID-19, we thought replacing the old broken fridge/freezer would be a sensible option.

    Since a lot of the companies don’t know how much longer they’re going to be able to trade, the one we chose bent over backwards to fulfil the order. I phoned them and paid them, and the fridge was with us less than three hours later. They took away the old one too (thanks to the genius of the EU’s WEEE legislation from 2008). The new one is a Beko, as they seem to be one of the only companies that produce fridge/freezers that are designed to be ok in unheated rooms (which the kitchen often is), and had one short enough to fit under the slightly esoteric kitchen cabinet layout we have.

    Beko fridge freezer
    New Beko fridge freezer

    The evening light was amazing too… some very cheery shepherds I imagine:

    Sunset colours
    Sunset colours

  • Good day, sunshine

    sunny view
    Just as it seemed like the sun would never shine again…

    There is plenty of mud on the ground, which is business as usual, but at least we can be out getting some fresh air and a hint of daylight.

    Front field gate with person holding coffee
    Cheers!

  • Back to the bog

    After the total non-event of Saint Patrick’s Day, we head up to the house on the bog to see how things are going. It turns out that things are going pretty well, apart from the weather which is bleak.

    The daffodils are starting to flower (well, technically one daffodil has showed up, but better than nothing).

    First daffodil of the year
    First daffodil of the year

    In other news, the gates have been mostly installed now: one near the top of the drive (the main entrance), and one across the entry into the first field (over which there is no right of way).

    First field gate
    First field gate

    The main entrance gate hasn’t been fitted properly yet, as the distance between the gate posts was wider than they’d anticipated (due to tree roots / dodgy ground, either of which is actually believable). He’s going to have to come back again with different gate hinges once they’ve been made. Picture shows the not-very-confidence-inspiring temporary measure of a wooden block to keep the bolt in:

    Temporary closing for main gate
    A visionary fusion of galvanised metal and wood unites the past and the future in a hopefully-temporary hack…

    The gorse is flowering beautifully and it feels like Spring is beginning to take its job more seriously than it has up until now.

    Gorse
    Gorse

    We spent a bit of the afternoon walking on the beach and up on the cliffs in Ballybunion, which blew the cobwebs away nicely.

  • The empty streets of Cork

    We wandered around Cork today, a surreal experience with so few people on the streets. Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day, which will have no pubs open and all the parades cancelled.

    People are being optimistic, hoping that the impact won’t be too great, but taking it very seriously nonetheless. The theatre sign shows they’ll be closed until March 29th at least:

    cork theatre closed until after March 29
    Cork theatre closed until after March 29

    Shop signs up give warnings about keeping your distance from others, and pharmacies have taken to printing notices telling potential customers what they do/don’t have (and sometimes appearing to be cashing-in on things a little):

    Pharmacy sanitation pack offer
    Pharmacy offering 2 masks, 10 gloves and 50ml antibac for €9.95

    The roads are a lot less busy, and street signs show advice to wash hands regularly. The below photo also shows a hint of normality still (someone parking on double yellows in the bus lane).

    Wash hands regularly road sign
    Wash hands regularly road sign.

  • [Not] raining in Baltimore

    As our enforced staycation continues (due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis), we headed to West Cork for the day, taking in a few towns on the way to our final stop in Bantry.

    There seemed to be a marked difference in the level of health measures taken in different towns as the pressure to close things stepped up.

    The first ‘big’ place we passed through was Bandon, ancestral home of Graham Norton and formerly a bit exclusionary towards Catholics – a sign at the walls from the 18th century apparently read:

    Entrance to Jew, Turk or Atheist; any man except a Papist

    We went on from there along quite narrow country roads, stopping next at a small pub we came upon at a crossroads (the Beehive at Dungannon).

    Beehive bar in Dungannon
    Beehive bar in Dungannon

    After a quick non-alcoholic pint and general discussion of the evil virus taking hold, we headed on.

    Baltimore was a nice place to stop and have lunch. We ate a fantastic meal of hake, chips and salad while looking out to sea.

    Hake and chips from La Jolie Brise, Baltimore
    Hake and chips from La Jolie Brise, Baltimore

    Baltimore has a decent enough seafront and harbour, with regular boat trips out to Sherkin Island, Cape Clear and Fastnet Rock.

    View out to sea from Baltimore
    View out to sea from Baltimore

  • Staycation day 1 – heading east to Midleton and Youghal

    The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent risk of humanity’s weakening and ultimate destruction by gangs of emancipated horses has meant that we are unable to fly off somewhere sunny for a well-earned break… so we’re going to be exploring county Cork for a few days.

    First stop was Midleton, which has a food market on Saturday, amongst other attractions including distilleries of whiskey, gin, vodka and er… oil. Cork is known as the foodie capital of Ireland, and the market had a quite a few stalls selling expensive but nice home-made things like wild garlic pesto (from the Ballymaloe stand). I didn’t ask if they had any other under-the-counter remedies, as it seemed like it might cause offence.

    There’s actually a lot to Midleton, and it feels like a very solid town with an excellent high street. They also have some sculptures worth a look, including the “Kindred Spirits” feathers, which commemorates the selflessness of the Choctaw Native American people in sending money to the famine-stricken Irish back in 1847, and the significantly less tear-jerking “Flock of Geese And Boy” one near the market:

    Flock of Geese and Boy sculpture
    Flock of Geese and Boy sculpture

  • Apocalypse when?

    Obviously horsemen (or women) of any kind are not to be welcomed, but it seems like some of the classic ones are very busy visiting people right now.

    Rainbow
    Rainbow

    We’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of named storms, the most recent of which is being enjoyed in Ireland because it gives people the opportunity to mispronounce ‘Jorge’ in revenge for the mangling of ‘Ciara’ earlier in the month.

    There’s been snow, hail, sunshine and horizontal rain at unpredictable times, so we’ve had to make the best of any outdoor time available.

    Sunny view
    Sunny view
    Sunset
    Sunset