Grannymar

The other day I went in search of a Tall Ship.  Alas, I was out of luck.  From 13-16th August, Belfast will play host to the Tall Ships fleet of over 40 ships as they cross the finish line of the 2009 Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge a journey of over 7,000 nautical miles, arriving into the Port of Belfast to berth along the mouth of the river Lagan.

Two of the ships had already arrived but I would not get near to where they were before Thursday.  Crowds and walking are not my friends at the moment.  I hoped to head for Carrickfergus or Whitehead and catch one or two heading into Belfast Lough

I may not have found what I was looking for but I did find a little beauty.  Perched on top of a bollard I was reminded of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.

Meet Saskia, lost in concentration as she sketched Carrickfergus Castle.

This talented young lady was on holiday with her family and she told me she took her notebook everywhere with her to sketch whatever took her interest.  Sometimes it was flowers and sometimes it was buildings.  She hoped to fill the notebook with memories of her holiday.  She showed me the previous pages with a collage of pictures from her day at Belfast Zoo.

Saskia’s sister does a hand stand.

Saskia about to do a Cartwheel.

I enjoyed meeting this lovely family and mum and I exchanged email addresses.  I hope they have their photos by now.

I went out to lunch with Chris last week.  It turned out to be a bright dry day and we headed for Carrickfergus.

We were standing in County Antrim, looking across Belfast Lough to Co Down, with the Titanic Quarter over on the right with The cranes Samson & Goliath marking the spot of the old Belfast Shipyard.  Following the path to the right we passed along the recently built apartments.

One floor up would be nice, just high enough to see the view.

We eat at The Windrose Bistro in the centre of the photo below.

The food was good but the service let them down BIG TIME.  We sat outside on the deck enjoying the sights, sounds and fresh air. When our coffee cups were drained we wandered in the direction of the courtyard at Scotch Quarter and that is where I met Roger….

Roger!  Did I not mention Roger?

Well I am tired typing so Roger will have to wait for another day…..

The Sixmilewater River

The Sixmilewater River enters Lough Neagh at Antrim Town.

The water on this side of the bridge was like glass, but it held a surprise as I looked down from on top of the bridge.

A shoal of Dollaghan

Dollaghan, a Trout which behaves in a similar way to a Sea Trout but instead of going to sea it runs to Lough Neagh which is the largest freshwater lake in the UK, covering 153 sq miles (400 sq km).  Because of damage to the fishery due to pollution in June 2008, fishing is ‘catch and release’ only until September 2009.

I was unable to photograph the bridge from the other side due to the trees, so I went back to a previous visit for this view.  I think it was March 2005.

Crawfordsburn Country Park - March 2005

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“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” - Randy Pausch

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There’s a plan for everyone if you are open to it and ready to unlearn the rules set up by others.

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“Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” — General Douglas MacArthur

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The more you complain…. the longer God makes you live.

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“On your deathbed, will your final thought be I wish I cared more?”

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Crawfordsburn Country Park -August 2005

The sun had got its hat on, so I went out to play….

I spied these little flowers as I was on my way.

And the last one for today:

Anyone guess where I was?

Yesterday I made the most of a little sunshine.  My aim was to have a short walk, bring home the evidence by way of a photo or three.  Part two was to find a coffee shop with Wifi and put Tobias through his paces.  This was in fact a lesson for me.  I have used my laptop here at home and in Elly & Georges house (Everything in their house is connected to Wifi… even me!).

Well, I did manage to go for a walk.

I had decided I wanted a photo of a bridge and had a particular bridge over the Six Mile river at Lough Neagh, Antrim in mind.  As I neared my destination I noticed a few PSNI (Police Service for Northern Ireland) in Visi vests, then I saw the crowd of marchers.  I quickly changed direction and drove on to Randalstown, passing Masserene Barracks, where the two young soldiers were shot a couple of weeks ago on the evening they were due to leave for a tour of duty in Afganistan.  I am very anti war in any part of the world.  Those young men were some mothers sons and the ripples of heartbreak will radiate through many lives young and old for many a year.

I did find my bridge a rather unusual one:

The river Braid at Randalstown

The lower bridge is the road into the town and the upper one was originally a railway line.  The last train to travel this way was back in the late 1950s or early 1960s.  Randalstown was another Linen town in days of yore.  At one stage about 1000 people worked in the mill weaving and finishing the linen.  If you inherited Irish table or bed linen from you mothers or grandmothers, perhaps it came from Randalstown.

Another section of the railway bridge taken from the road bridge

The old railway now paved as a walkway.

I did manage to have a circular walk along the train track and back through the town.  You see the photos but alas I have yet to discover a coffee shop with Wifi.  I suppose two out three are not bad.  Next time I aim to post my pics on the blog while enjoying a coffee away from home!

Sorting through my ever mounting collection of photographs I came across a folder called ‘Walks’. It was dated 2005 and became an exercise in stretching. Stretching my legs, my energy levels and stretching my eye behind the camera lense. At that stage a digital camera was still rather new to me and I enjoyed clicking away knowing that at the end of the day it was possible to hit delete if they were a total disaster.

This group of pictures were all taken in Crawfordsburn Country Park in Co Down. It was the month of March. I had decided that trees were to be my focus for the morning.

Taking the camera for a walk was a wonderful idea to get me moving. I would decide to go as far as a certain point in the distance before turning, yet when I reached it, there was always another carrot a little further on.

This last one is my favourite from that day.

Enjoy my walk!

UPDATE: I just realised the date - 2 years ago today I was pushed over a cliff never to return.  20th September 2006 was the day I started blogging.

Thanks Elly for all the fun you introduced me to.

Taking the camera for a walk in Lucan

If you don’t fit, put the camera through the the gate…

Gate Lodge at Italian Embassy

I enjoyed my walk through Lucan but not the difficulty of finding a parking place!

Wednesday was a very unusual day and it is no wonder I was all of a fluster when the phone went that evening. That is where you joined the day. It had something to do with lights!

Earlier I was being stalked by a Toyboy. He was very persistent and would not take no for an answer. My mother warned me about guys like that. He won in the end when he said ‘But you’re a photoblogger now, there’s no going back!’ I suppose that is the price I have to pay for chasing Toyboys So now I am a groupie!

Will, one of my long-time Toyboys said:

‘There is more than one way to do it’ He was talking about taking Photographs!

So when presented with something that has appeared on countless postcards, look around it for other angles of approach. Even buildings have personalities, and personal quirks. See if you can find them? Look carefully and you might find an angle where the dour faced statue looks like its smiling.

With this in mind I headed out, no dour statues on this journey so I had a go like this

Grannymar is an ‘older’ Blogger, Photoblogger, sometimes Podcaster and owner of an O2 N95, proving that technology, like sex is not the prerogative of the under 30 something’s! Gwan give it a go! You know you want to.

On Saturday I did something new. A FIRST for me. I wormed my way into a Photo walk. I was aware of several going on in Dublin over the past few months, but unfortunately I was never able to attend. Then I heard of one in Belfast….

Following my attempts at photo walking on my own I was given plenty of encouragement to join the boys! So for the second day in a row I was to be found here

I was looking for Toyboys sporting cameras. I wore out the grass walking around the statue of Queen Victoria. Plenty of guys, all with bags but not a camera in sight. Not to be outdone I walked up to a group and said “Are you here for the photo walk”? They smiled politely and said yes. I told them who I was and the smiles grew and I was made very welcome. The group grew and I nearly lost count, now let me see… there was Adam, Andy, Phil, Scott and Stepbar. Oops! That makes five.. Grannymar is losing her touch because there were eight Toyboys. My apologies to those whose names I have missed.

The Continental Fair was in progress again on Saturday so we started there. When we satisfied ourselves with pictures and food the idea was to move on to the Botanic/Queen’s University area, alas the walk that far was outside my energy span so I said my farewells and headed home satisfied with my first effort to be a Flickerer!

If you are interested in seeing some more of my shots they are to be found at belfast flickr meetup