What A Year!

They say God never closes one door but He opens another - well, that's exactly what the year 2012 has been for me.

The year didn't get off to a great start with me having being recently diagnosed with breast cancer then facing surgery and treatment but by mid-summer the door was truly opened with the wedding of our eldest son making hubby and I the proudest, happiest parents in the world!  I couldn't have asked for a lovelier daughter-in-law, we get on fabulously.

Christmas has been extra special for me this year for many reasons, and you know what? - the best has yet to come, more about that in the New Year!

I just want to say a quick Thank You to all of you who were so supportive to me through your lovely comments during the year.

I wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful 2013!!!!


Above image: St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, taken by me, September 2011.

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Things That Make Me Happy

The following is a list of six things that make me happy, pretty much in order of preference although they could change from time to time but never the top one!

1) Having the whole family together for dinner.

2) The cooing of the wood pigeon.

3) The lazy sound of chickens on a hot summer's day.

4) Walking on the beach under skies of blue or grey.

5) Listening to poetry on the radio especially when the reader is Andrew Motion.

6) A phone call with the offer of exciting work.

The above image of Sandymount Strand looking towards Ringsend was taken by me in June 2005.

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It's About Belonging

I am not good with gardens. In fact, I have not the slightest knowledge of how to create and maintain even the simplest little patch of blooms but there is something I do have an understanding of. I know that if a sapling is planted in poor soil and not tended to regularly it will not grow into a strong healthy tree. It will always be weak and at the mercy of the elements. I think the same applies to humans and animals.

I see the family as the soil. If we are born into a secure environment, our needs taken care of and are loved and nurtured by the people caring for us then we have a pretty good start in life. In other words that beginning, with our roots firmly planted and constantly showered with love and affection, will in times of upheavel and insecurity provide us with a strength strong enough to weather even the most violent storm.

Above images at: www.photosearch.com

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Travels With My Camera

It must be the time of year but for some reason I find myself thinking a lot about my childhood lived in that wonderland I knew as Ringsend.

I'd like to share with you a few more images from that time before the construction of the toll bridge, the new roads, the bringing of the ships over to "our" side of the sea wall and the property developers' arrival changed the Ringsend landscape as we once knew it. It's all in the name of progress but I'm not that easily convinced.

Above, Pigeon House Road with Coast Guard Station and old ESB chimney stack. To the left of the picture you can just about see the two upturned rowing boats lying against the "slip" wall. Taken in 1969.

Below is the beautiful sea view from between the Coast Guard Station and the ESB (I would spend a lot of my time just staring out there, it was so calming). Taken in 1968.

Below is St. Catherine's Home, a one time convalescent home for TB sufferers as far as I know. I've been told it is a listed building so I guess it still stands. It's directly across the road from the sea view image above. Taken in 1968.

Below is an image that takes me right back into my early childhood. Here we would play cowboys and indians, yes, I also played with the boys. Many's the shoot out took place from those bushes! The houses you see are actually the back yards of the Cambridge Avenue houses where I lived. That image has dramatically changed over the years as many of the families have now built large extensions. Taken in 1971.

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