Ireland

River Suir, Ireland

I have moved. I still live near river Suir, but there are no herons, no meadows and no wildflowers here. City life…

Right before I left the town our Camera Club had an exciting outing: a boat trip from Carrick on Suir marina to Mooncoin and back, courtesy of Carrick on Suir River Rescue.

This noble organization has never received any funds from the Government and has been assisting in rescue and search operations all over Ireland since 1960s. At the moment they have sixteen volunteers who are on 24/7 call. If someone can make a donation, please read this page. They also have a charity shop in Carrick on Suir where you can donate unwanted goods.

Here are a few images from that boat trip.

On the way back it is getting darker.

Good bye Carrick!

When you work some people are happy with what you are doing…

…and some not really…

…and it is OK 🙂

Last week I was nominated for two rewards. Wow. Many thanks go to the inspiring bloggers who are just too kind and supportive.

First one was a One Lovely blog nomination. I was nominated by a wonderful lady who inspires her readers to change their life.

The rules for winning this award are simple. Here they are:

1. Thank the person who has nominated you. Provide a link to his/her blog.

2. List the rules and display the award image.

3. Include 7 facts about yourself.

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers and let them know that they have been nominated. This is a way to introduce others to bloggers that you love.

5. Display the award logo and follow the blogger who nominated you.

So here are 7 facts about myself; they are pretty informative:

1. I have sense of humor.

2. I am a lousy swimmer.

3. I adore cats.

4. I have lived in Moscow 5 years and never visited Lenin Mausoleum.

5. I feel sorry for the elderly. I always did.

6. I love mathematical puzzles.

7. I feel perfectly comfortable going to the movies or theatre by myself if no one is available.

It was hard…

My favorite part. I nominate these 15 amazing bloggers.

http://nananoyz5forme.com/

http://abitofwiggleroom.wordpress.com/

http://aquileana.wordpress.com/

http://ronyaroshauthor.com/

http://therepublicofann.wordpress.com/

http://beefandsweettea.com/

http://sydspix.wordpress.com/

http://sweetafternoons.wordpress.com/

http://believeinadream.com/

http://cynthiasreyes.com/

http://harvestinghecate.wordpress.com/

http://yadadarcyyada.com/

http://keeppicturing.wordpress.com/

http://teagansbooks.wordpress.com/

http://thetropicalfloweringzone.com/

Thank you again for the nomination!

Please check out these blogs!

And here is the other nomination, A Very Inspiring blogger award. Thank you Nana Noyz! You are too kind! I always feel humbled because I know how many really inspiring blogs are around. Please check out this wonderful blog!

Here are the rules:

Thank and link the amazing person who nominated you.
List the rules and display the award.
Share seven facts about yourself.
Nominate 15 other amazing blogs and comment on their posts to let them know they’ve been nominated.
Proudly display the award logo on your blog and follow the blogger who nominated you.

I already shared seven facts about myself… There are the bloggers I nominate:

http://nonsmokingladybug.wordpress.com/

http://olganm.wordpress.com/

http://indahs.com/

http://getoffmylawnplease.com/

http://bookofbokeh.wordpress.com/

http://darkecologies.com/

http://montserratsobral.wordpress.com/

http://justmobilephotos.com/photos/

http://thecrazycrone.com/

http://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/

http://charlypriest.wordpress.com/

http://beingbettr.wordpress.com/

http://russelrayphotos2.com/

http://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/

Please click the links. You might find a new blogger friend.

Photography tip of the day: Look in your viewfinder and make a composition before you press the shutter button. I know that it is a digital camera, but still you will spend less time deleting bad quality images.

Have a great week!

Castle and Peacocks

I learned to read very early: the magic of putting the letters together opened the whole world to me. One of my first books was a photo anthology of European capitals. Very little text and a lot of pictures, but when you are four even very little text is too much, and architecture is not your idea of fun. The only worthy images in the book were those of Zoo animals.

I memorized their names. I hadn’t been taken to the Zoo yet, but living in the farm with my Grandparents, surrounded by forests and bogs and all sort of wildlife I appreciated the variety of species… I don’t remember seeing much of exotic animals on TV until the mid of the 60s, except some cartoons, so the photographs in that book were my only source of knowledge. The most beautiful of all the animals in the book was a peacock. In my imagination I pictured him walking in our back yard where my Granddad’s blue, green and brown beehives were sitting in the lush grass. My imagination painted the bird in pink, purple and gold: the pictures in that old book were black & white…

I want to share a few images from my recent visit of Johnstown Castle and Park, Co Wexford. If you want to go there some day, here you can find useful information about the tickets and directions.

As you can see, the weather was gradually getting better. Cranky grey morning turned into the perfect sunny afternoon. Photographers are wandering around the castle looking for a good composition.

Since the days I was four I learned to love architecture, but still I visit Johnstown castle mostly because of the peacocks.

Their beautiful plumage hasn’t fully grown yet at this time of the year, so I didn’t take any breathtaking images of a peacock in his full glory. I was simply happy to be close and watch them.

A bold one came to me to check out if I had any snacks.

After getting some pieces of French toast he settled in front of me.

I don’t remember when I found out that peacocks are not pink and purple, but I was right about the gold.

There are two images of the trees taken into the sun. I loved trees before I learned to read.

After that I went to the lake and took all the pictures I posted in REFLECTIONS. This is how the castle looks from the lake.

Thank you for visiting Johnstown Castle with me! Do you remember what animal or bird impressed your young mind? 🙂

Photography tip of the day: Horizontal means horizontal. Keep your camera straight. Of course you can straighten your images with the editing software, but sometimes it means losing the details that are important for your composition.

Have a great week!

Thomastown FOX NEWS

It is my second blog post about Patsy Gibbons and his foxes. In early April, almost 4 months ago, I went live with a blog post KINDNESS, amazed with my own boldness, and having a very little knowledge about blogging rules and ethics. Still learning.

That time Pat invited us to come again in summer when the foxes look gorgeous on the green meadow. Two weeks ago a friend of mine arranged a visit, but when he rang to confirm it Pat told him that he is in the hospital waiting for admission. They kept him in from Monday to Thursday; Pat’s brother fed the foxes, but they had to stay in their pen all this time, and they also missed their bath – a day when they all walk to the pond to get bathed. Needless to say, the foxes were upset, Pat wasn’t feeling well either, so this visit was short, and I left sad and worried .

This is Gráinne. She is an easy going, clever and curious lady, devoted to her master. Back in 2007 Pat’s brother-in-law Eugene was working in a storeroom and getting the cardboard boxes ready for shredding. To his surprise he found a fox cub inside a box, malnourished, almost dead: it could be there some 10 days without food or water. Eugene brought the cub to Pat who had helped the troubled creatures before. It is how the story started. Pat consulted with a local vet, and the cub was estimated as a 5-7 weeks old, and weighed 1 pound. It was not easy to nurse the little miracle back to life and health, but they did it! The cub got a lovely name: Gráinne.

Average life span of a wild fox is 2-3 years although a fox can live 10 years. Gráinne is in her senior age, but you would never guess it. She looks very healthy and happy on her rescuer’s shoulders; she has had a long life of mutual love, adventures and little pleasures. Gráinne run away twice, but was back for dinner the same day. How did she run away? She just snapped the leather leash when at walk. That easy, so if she wanted she could run away any time.

This is Minnie. Minnie is a bit of a drama queen. When we came into the pen, she was whimpering and howling, and putting on these funny faces, so that she had to be petted and rubbed and hugged all the way. Minnie is 5 years old. A woman from next village brought her to Pat when she was a month-old cub.

This is Henry, he is named after Kilkenny hurler Henry Shefflin. A man brought him to Pat a year ago after his dogs attacked and mauled him. Pat thought he would have to put him down, so bad he was. His ligaments were cut, his head was severe injured, especially his bottom jaw and left eye. Pat nursed him back to health, but it took a while. Henry is a gentle and affectionate creature. Pat calls his female foxes “girls”, but Henry he calls “son”.

The foxes have a clean den with three separate compartments for privacy. Every fox has their favorite place on the shelves. In the evening they are brought into the cottage ( they are house-trained) along with Pat’s two dogs, and enjoy the time together watching TV or listening to Pat playing his harmonica. The foxes and the dogs are cuddling together, and actually the foxes feel more at ease when they go for a walk together with the dogs. Sometimes they get a snack – a biscuit or a wine gum. They adore the wine gums.

“You all right, son?” Patsy would ask and hug his little boy.

Henry’s left eye is still sore and probably will never get better. He is enjoying a few minutes in the sun and then Pat takes him back to the pen. Now it is the girls’ turn to go outside but Minnie has her drama moment 🙂

Minnie actually needs some extra exercises for her good, but she stalls and refuses to walk.

In the middle of this drama a car stops and people start taking pictures of Pat. It happens on a regular basic but Pat doesn’t like it. He would rather they stop, get out of their car, have a small talk and then take the pictures.

Minnie gets her way.

Pat is getting his girls ready for the portrait:)

Look at Minnie’s face. What a drama! 🙂

Pat has a kind heart and angelic patience. Minnie is getting all his attention:)

We had a good chat, but look at Minnie 🙂 Her facial expression speaks for itself. Pat says that he should better take the foxes back to their pen.

I wish them many happy years together.

PS I have found an article which says that a spokeswoman with Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland has criticised the media for writing about Pat Gibbons and his foxes thus promoting a dangerous and irresponsible attitude towards the wild animals. What do you think about it?

***

Photography tip of the day: Karl Taylor’s 10 minutes video.

Have a great weekend!

Birds of River Suir

Looking into the viewfinder I spotted a tiny bird flitting about in the waist-high vegetation before it landed on top of the cement pole.

The bird looked like a young female, and later I learned it was a European stonechat. It was flipping from one pole to another, and finally settled so I could take these pictures. After about a minute of chirping there came a male stonechat.

I don’t know if they were a couple; they rather looked like a dad and a teenage daughter.

Dad? Dad?????!!!!!

Your pole looks nicer. Can I come over?

No way. Stay where you are!

Didn’t you hear me? Don’t even try!

But she already took off and landed almost on top of his head.

Daddy! Wait!

I walked about a mile and sat on a bench to rest and enjoy the evening light. A Grey heron was standing in the middle of the river, quiet and patient skinny bird looking grave and funny at the same time. I thought I might stay and wait for him to catch a fish.

No such luck. He changes position, striking at imaginary prey.

Maintaining his dignity he takes off and departs. So do I.

Another half an hour back to the parking lot. Stress management: accomplished 🙂

A blogger friend Aquileana, inspiring mythology expert and a lovely person has nominated me for a Versatile blogger award. I am very honored and grateful for the nomination, especially from Aquileana who is such a great example of knowledge and personal charisma.

Here are the Award Rules:

1) The nominee shall display the Versatile blogger Award logo on her/his blog.

2) The nominee shall nominate ten (10) bloggers she/he admires, by linking to their blogs and informing them about it.

Here are the bloggers I nominate for this award. Please visit their blogs!

http://indahs.com/

http://halfeatenmind.wordpress.com/

http://thebluepolarbear.wordpress.com/

http://kmihran.wordpress.com/

http://allizzwell.net/

http://anotherdaysomeday2013.wordpress.com/

http://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/

http://dorisbolliger.wordpress.com/

http://sarbjitsinghkhaira.wordpress.com/

http://happendonthisday.wordpress.com/

http://yadadarcyyada.com/

Keep great work going!

Photography tip of the day: There is a link to the page where professional photographers share their advice. I have noticed ( and not only in this article) that the younger photographers often use the word “confidence” . Their older colleagues don’t seem to care:)

Have a great week!

A Cry For The Last Child

In autumn 2008 I was feeling unwell and didn’t do any photography. That particular day I was limping across the bridge from the Plunkett train station in Waterford to catch a bus to the hospital, all soaked in drizzle and focused on my own misery. When I turned to The Quay I met the eyes of a giant girl looking at me from the Old Flour Mills over the river. I didn’t have any camera on me, neither was I planning to return to Waterford soon. I looked at the girl with regret and she looked at me with sorrow.

“I now see that sorrow, being a supreme emotion of which man is capable, is at once the type and test of all great art.”

De Profundis by Oscar WIlde

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

Controversial, as some people say, artist Gottfried Helnwein was born in 1948 in war-torn Vienna, Austria. You can read his biography on his website ( all the links open in separate windows), and not only the biography. I have read his interviews and quotes, and also translated some from German, for good measure, and I advise you to do so to know all by yourself who he is, what he is trying to tell, and why.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

Many people get confused when they encounter unfamiliar aspects of art; they tend to interpret the meaning based on their own culture, and get confused even more. They might even call this confusion “shock”. My daughter and I went to The Body World 3 exhibition in Salt Lake City a few years ago. The generosity of the donors’ last gift was humbling. Was this exhibition shocking? No. It was educational. Shock is something that locks, not opens. When one says that something is shocking, they stop thinking and learning right there.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

My Father was a POW from 1941 to 1945. I only know from my Mother that he escaped, jumped in the sea and swam, but was reported by a local farmer and imprisoned again in a different camp. He would sit on the sofa with me to watch a cheesy war-related love story on TV, but start crying after a few minutes; he just wasn’t able to bear the mention of the war. What terror had he gone through? You think it will never come back? You think that Fascism is a ghost of the past? Think again.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

“There are times when sorrow seems to me to be the only truth. Other things may be illusions of the eye or the appetite, made to blind the one and cloy the other, but out of sorrow have the worlds been built, and at the birth of a child or a star there is pain.”

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

Why children?

There are some blood-chilling statistics for you to think about. In the wars during the 80s-90s more children were killed than soldiers.

School shootings. Did you hear about gun control in the 19th century? Yet from 1800 till 1900 there were only about 50 school shootings registered in the USA, mostly as revenge against the teachers, or accidental ; about 190 cases in 20th century and 145 cases from 2000-2013. Statistics include also dormitory and drive-by shootings near the school buildings, and this information is only for the United States. You can also check http://www.ijvs.org/ which goes for International Journal on Violence in Schools.

How about home violence, genocide, starvation, children sex tourism? How about the gruesome discovery in Tuam, Ireland? I can go on and on about all the children who came into this world to be betrayed. Do you still consider the paintings of Gottfried Helnwein “shocking”?

“I feel there is a strong bond between artists and children and all other sacred fools”

Gottfried Helnwein in an interview with Yuchi Konno for Yaso, Japan

When I think about Gottfried Helnwein’s personality, the only thing that truly matters to me is Family. He is a family man who raised his family well. Over fifteen years ago he bought a castle near where I live. Gurteen de la Poer castle. He resides there with his family, his children and grandkids. I wanted to know what their safe haven looks like; to see what the artist sees when he is with his own, away from the media and curious eyes. I contacted his son Cyril and asked if I could take some photos around the castle grounds.

Isn’t it beautiful? They even have some ducks there, one named Donald. If you read the biography you will know that it is symbolic.

I was invited inside. It is so delightful and homely there, with the afternoon sun beaming through the green vines covering the gothic windows. And you know what? I actually got to see all the images from that Waterford 2008 installation because Cyril kindly gave me a copy of the book The Last Child!

Having this peaceful home why would one bother crying warnings?

Any of us can make our home a castle: we can barricade ourselves from the world, protect our children from bad influences, home-teach, train in marital arts, life-coach them to be always on the safe side, you name it. And say you succeed when the rest of the world is falling apart. But let’s see it this way: do you want your child to be the last child on the planet?

Have a great weekend!