turtleknits

Recently took a day trip north of Dublin. A lovely sunny spring day called for a drive. Started out at Newgrange, but as some of it was closed we decided to visit at a later time. So drove around a bit and found Dowth . This comprises a mound enclosing a megalithic tomb. The view from the top is just lovely and so I just walked around and took some photos. Hope you enjoy the views.

Spring is here, or should I say summer if we go by the month. Although it's May I still think of Spring. A week or two ago, I paid a visit to the beautiful village of Inistioge in Co Kilkenny, and the lovely woodlands and gardens of Woodstock House. The pictures I've posted are just of the flowers I found there. Will show some other village and garden pictures next time.

I started out this New Year with the intention of using up lots of my ever-growing stash.I really shouldn't purchase any more yarn until some of it is gone, that is unless I need some for a particular project!! Anyway so far so good. This is a pair of mittens for myself. I had none and the recent spell of really cold weather prompted me to knit them. Recognise the yarn? Well I bought 9 skeins of this Noro yarn to knit up a cardi for myself, but when I got half way in to it I realised I would not wear it and it would not be flattering, so I'm knitting lots out of it including 3 pairs of sofa slippers, 2 pairs of fingerless gloves and these mittens, and I still have a skein left!!! I'll think of something to use it for. Anyway these mitts are really warm. These two items are felted covers for portable hard-drives. My daughter needed a cover recently for her new and expensive hard drive and so I created one. However when her college friends saw it , they fell in love with it ...

A 'duck' on our garden pond this morning. This is a cool watering can, a gift from my daughter. isn't it lovely. And our golden labrador, Eorna. Posing under the arch in the sun. She is almost 10 years old. Its a really beautiful morning with the sun shining. Hope it lasts, but from the weather forecast, I'm not sure. Anyway will enjoy it while its here. Have a good day.

Some pictures from my garden over the weekend. A lovely Clematis covers a wall the length of our side garden and gives beautiful pink Spring colour for a few weeks at this time of year. (not half long enough as its so gorgeous) The bees just love it and also love the bamboo screens and wood on our deck. As you can see they collect pollen from the flowers and scrape wood for their hives. For a number of years now we find bee hives in various places in the garden and under the eaves into the attic and when we examine them they are made up, it seems, from this wood they have scraped. On the needles at the moment is still my turquoise cardi. I have most of it done except for the cuffs. These were knitted separately to the sleeves. Pattern for this is from the Rowan mag No 38 'Duchesse'. Hopefully I will have it finished by next weekend. Will post some photos then. Another project at the moment is sewing for my daughter. More later.

On a walk on lovely Sunday morning last, I just had to take a picture of these beautiful anemones in flower in a neighbour's garden. The colours are so vibrant and really herald the coming of Spring and Summer. Amidst all the beautiful yellow daffodils its lovely to see the shades of red, violet, and purple also. Had a burst of energy and did lots of work in the garden. Spent the last 3 days sweeping, tidying and scrubbing the deck. It was really dirty and slippy with dampness and moss created over the winter. It had to be done before I could sit and relax. Its great to work in the garden at this time of the year when everything is peeping up from the clay. The growth is only beginning and there is space to see everything emerge. Later in summer there is, hopefully, so much growth that the chance to really see buds appear is slightly lessened. Off to cut the grass now! "Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe" Thomas Berry.

Although I don't blog too often, its amazing how much I miss it. This week our computer is completely acting up. Its impossible and I am posting this blog from my daughters account on it. There are five of us listed but only this one works. As I am a complete technophobe, I can only barely post text and cannot upload my photos now. Finished a pair of socks for myself this week and I'm really pleased with them. I used Opal sock yarn in grey, green and a stripe of coral. The colours are a little dull, even for me! But I am going to use them in my gardening clogs as my feet get quite cold in them. I've really had enough of sock knitting for a while. Have started a cardi for myself in a lovely shade of turquoise blue cotton/viscose mix yarn which I purchased in Lidl on one of their specials. Its really soft and I sure hope it keeps its shape. Have you ever had the problem of having tidied up your stash and even putting some in the charity bag, and the trunk lid won't close...

As its such a really wet and horrible day today, I thought I'd post some photos I took last Sunday while walking in Glendalough, Co Wicklow. It just goes to show how unpredictable our Irish weather is. One day glorious sunshine, if a little cold, then miserable, wet and windy.

Top image shows my purchases from Avoca Handweavers in Avoca village, Co Wicklow.The others are images from inside their smaller but nonetheless delicious cafe in the shop. Their annual sale of yarn is now on and I've had two lovely visits there. One on Friday when on my way to Wexford with two friends, when we just had to call in for a cup of coffee and a scone. While this is not the direct route to Wexford from Naas, we had heard that there may be a delay on the regular route, and that's how we ended up in Avoca. We had a preliminary look at the bargains and just a small purchase that day! However we had planned to go on Saturday so we did and met up with my sister www.craftydogs.blogspot.com and had a glorious few hours here again. The sun was shining and the food was lovely and on our drive to and return you could really see why Wicklow is known as the 'garden county'. Just made two more purchases. On our way home we visited the 'Eco shop' at the Glen o th...

What a beautiful morning! These pictures of the sun at 8.45 this morning while out walking the dog. 'twould rise the heart. Mmmm the smell of brown bread in my oven, with apple crumble to follow. Just in baking mood this morning. Lots of other things to do, but we'll see.