Dragon No-Fly

As below, taken in the park near my house in Lucan. I think all the bugs must have known there were going to be photos taken. This Dragonfly was really posing for the shot though I could only barely make it out at first. 

Buzzin Around

Sometimes I wish I had a faster shutter speed, but this time I was quite happy with the results. I love the way you can see the bee checking out the flower below it looking for some good nectar. Taken in the same patch of 'weeds' as the Ladybird on Daisy' photo below. 

Ladybird on Daisy

Taken in the outskirts of a big green area in a housing estate called Laraghcon near Lucan. The green area was quite tame, but the outskirts were buzzing with creatures. There seems to be loads of ladybirds around this year. They are really lovely creatures to photograph. 

Weir Duck

Taken in Lucan down beside the weir. The weather was overcast so I was worried that it wouldn't come out well. I put a delay on the shutter to get the water effect - fortunately the duck stood still long enough for the shot to work out. 

How does your garden grow?

It's good to see the flowers are all in bloom again, I thought the winter would never end this year. But it has, and it makes it worth the wait when your garden suddenly bursts to life and all the beautiful colours and lovely smells start assaulting the senses once again. It certainly puts a Spring back in your step!
 

Hope you had a happy St Patricks Day

 

Grand soft day, thank God!

Here's the kind of weather we're having between snow showers. This rain was coming down so heavy that cars were pulling in to the hard shoulder on the motorway just past Naas. Please excuse the Johnny Cash music on the radio, but you have to keep up with what's popular don't you? 

People will do anything to keep warm...

This poor car met its untimely end on the 21st of Febuary 2006 (Sorry for the lack of continuity here). This Suzuki was on fire on one of the back roads between Blanchardstown and Lucan. I have never seen a burned out car in htis area before, but I saw another one in a post burnt out stage today just down the road from where this happened. 

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

Here's a video of the Snow falling outside the building where I work on the 4th of March. It was coming down quite heavily, but didn't stay for long. Good to see that Spring is well under way?!? 

First snow of 2006

Here's my first snow of 2006. I was working on top of Saggart Hill just outside Dublin at 5:30Am. It was pretty cold and dark, and then just as the job started it started snowing. It didn't snow for long, but about an inch fell in half an hour.
When I drove down off the mountain it was like any other day - cold and miserable but no snow. 

Ralph!

Say 'Hi' to Ralph. This is my brothers new puppy. He is a golden labrador and as you can see is very inquisitive.

He was named after my sister, apparantly.

Glendalough

It was a bit overcast as you can see from the clouds, so I would probably have been better off taking this photo on a good day. But I still like it because of the way the lake cuts into the bottom of the surrounding hills so distinctly. 

Time to take the decorations down!

We were driving through the wicklow mountains en route to Glendalough for a bit of cycling when we saw not one but two trees decorated for christmas. It's either that or some very colourful rubbish got caught up in their branches. Pity whoever decorated them forgot to take the decorations off after the holidays. When we passed it was Feb 14th.