May 2019

POTD: Open Borders

Open Borders
Slemish Mountain
County Antrim, Ireland
2019

Having been to Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales before I thought myself pretty familiar with stone walls of various kinds. But I don’t believe I’d ever seen, or at least had never made note of, this type of wall construction which is quite common in parts of Northern Ireland.

According to sources on the internet, this type of wall has a number of advantages. They are quick to build (by comparison to other types of stone walls anyway), take less skill, and make the most of rock resources in areas where rocks in fields are harder to come by. They are not as stable as more complicated walls but that is said to be an advantage as well in that animals (and humans) quickly learn it is not a good idea to try and climb over one as it can result in injury from falling rocks.

 

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POTD: Exhale

Exhale
Glenarm Forest Park
County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Fungus on this tree-stump sculpture makes it looks like a sleeping giant exhaling on a cold day. Either that or he feel asleep while smoking, in which case I hope his giant-sized cigarette doesn’t set the woods on fire.

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POTD: A Dark Day at Slemish

A Dark Day at Slemish
The Cuttings, County Antrim
Northern Ireland
2019

This is what Slemish, the mountain we see from the cottage where we are currently staying, looked like when we first got here last Saturday. Two days later we climbed it in bright sunshine and fortunately it has been sunny every day since. We don’t necessarily expect the weather to stay this way forever (we are in Ireland after all) but are really enjoying it for now.

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