A selection of the crocuses growing in the grounds of Blarney Castle right now. [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="16101,16102,16106,16105,16104,16103,16100"]

The sun shines through the trees one early morning in November, 2013.

The sun peeks through the clouds to illuminate the ruins of a wall in the grounds of Blarney Castle, Cork.

Snow fell last night in Ireland and everything came to a halt as people all over the country gasped in wonder at the strange white stuff on the ground. Thankfully it looks like it won’t last. We’re not equipped to deal with this sort of weather at all! Blarney Castle opened later than usual but…

If you go down to Blarney Castle now you’ll see 30,000 daffodils blooming in the beautiful gardens there. In my last post I joked that the daffodils were confused but it’s a plant that flowers early and tolerates the cold so it’s perfect for this time of year. Be sure to check out Ferbal O’Callaghan’s…

There are some confused daffodils in Blarney Castle this year, out in January! I hope the rest of January is mild enough for them. I posted a similar photo on Instagram a few hours ago, just in case you’re getting a strange sense of déjà vu.

Leaves fallen on the ground near Blarney Castle, Cork.

Poor Santa, he’s a little worse for wear around this time of year. He’s so busy.

Red fruit from a tree in the grounds of Blarney Castle. I have no idea what tree they come from as the name plate on the trunk is far below the wall where I photographed them. I’ll update the post when I find out! I found out that they’re called “Cornus kousa” thanks to Adam…

Suspicious eyes watch us through a fence in the grounds of Blarney Castle about a month ago. PS. No watermark. Photo is CC anyway.

The River Martin flows through the grounds of Blarney Castle in Co Cork and after recent heavy rain the river was very high.

Beautiful roses at the entrance to Blarney Castle in Co Cork, Ireland.