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.