Till we meet again

comeraghs

It is my last post of the series, but I will return to the mountains as I always do, and share more pictures in the future.

I will probably visit the mountains in May to walk through the Rhododendron Fairy Tunnel…

fairy tunnel

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…and revisit Glenary village.

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I am also curious if the tiny spruces and larches that are hidden in the tall grass haven’t grown up already since the picture was taken in 2013.

comeraghs

To add the last touches to my photo story about Comeragh Mountains I drive along the Eastern ridge which I hope to revisit when the weather gets more summery. Late afternoon sun paints the mountains in rich, warm colors.

I park at the side of the road and enjoy the beauty of Stookangarriff Ridge and Coumshingaun. At the bottom of the almost vertical cliff there hides Ireland’s most beautiful lake.

I continue driving along the mountain road, and it feels like flying a small airplane.

Comeraghs

More coums, big and small …

comeraghs

… and sheep, always sheep, with red, blue or yellow painted bottoms.

comeraghs

The mountains are their life. Rough life.

comeraghs

To complete a full circle around the Comeraghs, I drive along the Southern part of the mountains.

Once I stuck in this place for a couple of hours, because my car refused to start. It did, eventually, and I still have no idea what happened. Must be fairies. Anyway, as I managed to start the car and hurried home, I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed something unusual in the sky. I got out of the car and could not believe my eyes: a perfect heart-shaped cloud was hanging at the edge of the hill, and another cloud that looked like a pair of angel wings, was hovering over the heart. I had already packed my camera, but managed to take it out quickly and get a couple of shots before the clouds disappeared.

This Cloud Heart is here for all of you who took your time to read about my favorite mountains, and to be an active participant of our grand hike 🙂 Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and friendship! When I take more photographs to put up another Comeragh mountain blog, we will meet again. Stay fit 😉

My next blog is about creatures 🙂

inesemjphotography  Have a wonderful weekend!

 

154 comments

  2. Come back soon please!!! I love your posts, and specially this one… those pictures are breath taking, and the last one is simply incredible!!
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

  4. Do they paint the sheep’s bottoms instead of branding them? Such a lovely trip. I’m glad the fairies helped get your car started.

    1. Thank you! I took this picture in 2013, it was a fun and quite stressful trip, and the cloud was sent to me as a ‘sorry’ from the fairies 🙂

  6. What a marvelous finale to this series, Inese! The heart-shaped cloud is purely magical. ❤
    I'm very taken with the idea of the Rhododendron Fairy Tunnel. The description of the rhododendrons in "Rebecca" inspired me to use them in the first Atonement story, though mine had run wild. I'm a little sad to see this lovely series end, but with the promise of "critters" in the future I'm smiling. Mega hugs

    1. I wish I were more fit! That tunnel is long and magical. I hope to go there some day in May when the Rhododendrons are in bloom. The hill is very steep and my poor little car barely makes it, and there is no way to stop and turn around halfway as the road is too narrow.

    1. Coum means a hollow. Comeragh means ‘full of hollows’. Some hollows are deep and host a lake, like the Coumshingaun lake I want to visit for a future blog, but the weather doesn’t permit climbing these days.
      Thank you for stopping by!

  9. I so enjoyed today’s adventure in the Comeraghs, Inese. Your photos express well the grandeur of this region. I love the heart cloud. The tunnel is beautiful, and the blooming rhododendron flower is magical.

  10. Such a beautiful journey, Inese. I always wonder about the colors on the ubiquitous sheep. I’m sure you explained this in a previous post, but I don’t remember which one. 🙂

    I love the story and photo of heart-shaped cloud and angel wings that the fairies arranged for you to see. 🙂

    1. To put it nicely, the different colours on the sheep’s bottoms indicate which ram was kept very busy at some stage as each ram has a colour distributer strapped to their chest!

        1. I think he is, Inese – I’ve heard that before. Makes the mind boggle at the expression ‘like a bue-arsed fly’ doesn’t it? Love your photos, I must take that hike up the mountains soon.

    2. Thank you Carol! The cloud and the wings were more distinct when I noticed them in the mirror. It took me some time to stop and to pull out my camera, so the cloud almost went behind the hill. I was in awe, especially after all these hours of grief, alone in the mountains, with my car dead 🙂

    1. If you are driving from Dublin, then no, there won’t be any mountains. Look up Ennis, and from Ennis there is a scenic road around The Burren. Places to see – Poulnabrone Dolmen, The Ailwee Caves, Doolan (pub, food), Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch beach. It is a day trip, fantastic, but it is the best when the weather is dry. All these places are on google maps. Also you can look up the Burren itself. The area looks unearthly when the weather is dry. You just drive around the Burren and stop where you wish. Also Bunratty Castle near Limerick is a great place to visit. If you can travel further from Limerick, let me know I will think about something else as cool.

  13. Those sheep are so funny with their little blue bottoms. They have lovely shaggy coats to keep them warm. Those mountains have interesting shaped peaks. On of them looks as if giant troll has come along and bitten a chunk out of it!

    1. Thank you Sarah! Some peaks have cairns – piles of rocks – on the top. We have three mountain ranges very close to each other – Galtees, Cnockmealdowns and Comeraghs, and they are completely different.

  15. A beautiful opening picture with light rays shone through cloud is awesome. I love to see such scene. To me it is rare to encounter. The sight of long road and the light is spectacular.

    I am wondering whether there is any significant of blue or other color painted on the sheep? Why do they do that?

    Hmm, I am glad your car started eventually. That could be a bad if it was at night. I hope you get the car to a mechanic to check it out to make sure it does not happen again.

    How lovely to see of the heart shape cloud and angel wings over the heart. You must feel hart warming 🙂

    1. Thank you so much! They paint the sheep to know whom they belong. The sheep can roam miles around the mountain.
      Mechanic had no idea what happened, but just in case he replaced a part in my starter 🙂
      I have never seen a cloud so different. It floated a little bit when I was trying to take my camera out, but still you can see the shape.
      Thank you again for stopping by! 🙂

  18. The concept of fairies tinkering with the workings of the internal combustion engine made me chuckle. To end a tale, one needs completeness. Your words are thus complete. Super write. By the way, Lord Zoolon is taking his first break since I don’t know when in London. I’m guessing he will visit your blog upon his return.

    1. Thank you so much! Yes, that was a crazy day, I was afraid I got stuck in the mountains forever with no help. Ate my cookies, drank my water and prepared to die :). When the car finally started I was so happy to get away from there as fast as possible, and then that cloud, a perfect heart shape. It was higher in the sky when I saw it first. It was a ‘sorry’ from the mischievous Comeragh fairies 🙂

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