It’s a beautiful Bank Holiday Monday here and the village of Blarney is buzzing with locals and tourists. Meanwhile, I’m at home working. If you’re off today, enjoy the glorious weather! [gallery] PS. watermarks courtesy of this script.

I had to get the car fixed today. A ball bearing was broken in one of the rear wheels and driving was like one of those modded cars with huge exhausts. Noisy and annoying. So, I took the car down to Blarney Auto Centre where they sorted it out this afternoon. I took the opportunity…

Adam is 1 tomorrow so we went out for lunch this afternoon. I really shouldn’t have had that chocolate cheescake. Yum though. Blarney was full of tourists wandering everywhere. The infamous “invulnerability zone” all tourists feel around them makes driving very hazardous, especially in the grounds of Blarney Woollen Mills. We had a party for…

Sunrise over Blarney a few days ago. There was a thin layer of cloud on the horizon that nicely blocked out much of the light of the sun allowing me to capture this early morning sun. It’s amazing to think that the light we see takes 8 minutes to travel the immense distance between the…

Call of the evening A bird atop the light outside my house calls into the glowing evening sky heralding the end of 2007. After walking Oscar I had to grab my camera and shoot the beautiful evening sky. The background was this colour, there’s no trickery here except a little vignetting and sharpening.

Charity Daffodils Here are the daffodils my wife picked up when she gave a nice crisp €50 note to the Irish Cancer Society collector in Blarney this afternoon. A few days ago I offered to give the proceeds from the sale of a photo to charity plus €50 of my own money/. Nobody splashed out…

Daffodil Day Daffodil Day is fast approaching on Friday so I thought a photo of these gorgeous flowers was appropriate. Daffodil Day is when cancer charities all over the world raise a large portion of their funds by selling daffodils. If you see an official seller please support a good cause and give generously. I…

Call me Spike Frost covered weeds still manage to grow and thrive in the cold. I saw this wonderful speckled white plant growing from a ditch yesterday morning and it looked very ominous. When I converted it to black and white I saw myself looking at something abstract, possibly evil, something that could be microscopic…

The frosty daffodil This morning was a frosty one. My breath made clouds in the air and a light breeze carried away the warmth in the shadows. Thankfully there was a lovely sunrise that more than made up for the cold. Down at the end of our park there’s a small green area, and this…

Horgans of Blarney The Irish flag flies outside Horgans of Blarney, a souvenir shop in the village. Despite the fact that it’s between the butcher’s and a pub, I’ve never been in there. I doubt most locals have been. Still, nice to see the flags waving!

Chains of property Chains line the road outside the entrance to the private manor next to Blarney Castle.

Emerald House B&B At the corner of the main green in Blarney sits Emerald House B&B. I’ve never stayed there but they have a great location, right next to Blarney Castle.