Pot Noodle Gardening..

 No I haven't invented another Prog group name.

Regular readers will know I like recycling stuff.  Here's a plant pot I made from an old Pot Noodle container:

I got a grown up😀 to help me puncture a drainage hole in the bottom and filled it with compost and one of my Catmint rooted cuttings.  

The plant isn't bothered about it being in an old Pot Noodle container.

Three Years Ago.

I've finished working on the island now.  Only the other day I was looking on my mobile phone on the ferry to work and I noticed good old Google had sent me a photo or three of what I had been doing three years ago this week.

Myself and an old friend had met up at Bristol airport and travelled by train to Dorset and Thomas Hardy's fictional Wessex.  It's on the blog search of this blog.  We visited film and book locations and three former houses where Thomas Hardy dwelled

We walked many miles and even visited Shaftesbury (me and the black Labrador picture) and Jude The Obscure book locations and Gold Hill where the famous Hovis adverts were filmed.

The sun shone and we stayed in tents and visited the wonderful Wetherspoon's pubs and drank copious amounts of English real ales.  We also took in a day at Wimborne Folk Festival and we went to see Blackwater County play in the Paddock on a lovely hot Summers day and sampled some pints of Ringwood bitter.  It was a really enjoyable and educational trip:

Here's a picture of Blackwater County.

I love this band with their Irish, folk, punk style of play:

My Octopus Teacher.

 Someone I worked with recently recommended that I should watch: My Octopus Teacher on Netflix.  It's an incredibly beautiful and moving documentary about an Octopus in a kelp forest and a diver.

To digress for a paragraph or a second.  I was standing at the pier waiting for the ferry last week and two work colleagues and I were watching Jelly fish close to the harbour wall.  I asked one of my workmates what purpose did Jellyfish serve?  He wasn't sure!

That night I asked Doctor Google and I read that they don't have brains, eyes or a heart and are made up of ninety five percent water.  They eat plankton and fish eat them.  They are all part of the food chain and all creatures play a part in providing food for every living creature.

That's the same  message I get from the documentary.  It's incredibly beautiful, poignant and sheds a light on the world under the water.  It's excellent!

Christmas Shopping In June.

 Regular readers will know we're always after a bargain or three.  Today (Saturday) we went looking round some charity and found some Christmas cards in cellophane.  Three packs for 1 Euro.  

We couldn't resist our inner Womble and duly bought them:

Have you collected any Christmas presents bargains yet?

A Garden Visit To Muckross.

 We went to Muckross in Killarney on Sunday  morning.  Muckross House, Gardens and Estate are in Killarney.  Car parking and the estate and gardens are free for everyone to enjoy.  

Queen Victoria once stayed in the big house and it is said she put tourism on the map in the Southwest of Ireland.  It's another place we never tire of visiting for it's beauty and spectacular gardens and scenery:

I met an English sounding lady sat reading a book overlooking the glasshouse and we talked about where the walled productive kitchen gardens would have once been.  Then she told us about a spectacular walk to see the Rhododendrons in all their glory.  A lovely lady, day and gardens and a good time had by all!

Two Beaches To Visit In County Kerry On A Sunny Day.

We visited two beaches in Kerry after the carboot sale in County Limerick on Saturday.

Camp church.  It's in Camp next to Tralee Bay and also on the Dingle Way.

The beach at Camp.  It's  incredibly long.  Over twelve miles.  I walked it all a few years ago.  Yesterday  we heard courting  seals talking to each other.  Amazing to hear:

  "How ya doing girl?"   " I've got to go for the messages boy".

Notice at Inch beach.  
 

Traffic cones on Inch beach.  You probably remember the beach in the horse race scene in Ryan's Daughter?

Looking out to sea.  The beaches aren't so full and they are free for everyone to discover and walk and swim.

Ireland is so incredibly beautiful especially when it's warm and the old currant bun in the sky is shining down on us.

I'm back on my free morning cruise today to the island for another weeks work.  I will reply to any comments tonight!

Another Teapot To Add To The Collection

It was beautiful this Saturday morning and so we went to a carboot sale.

Number 2 son bought his mother a Aga shaped teapot to add to her collection:

His mother was delighted and the cat 😸 looks happy too.

The ever growing Teapot collection.  

What do you collect?