Mountains and Stairs

There are two main differences between the house we now live in Ireland's North West, and any Australian house I've lived in.  

1.  I haven't ever had a mountain in my backyard before, and
2. I've never lived in a two story house, with a flight of stairs.

Both of these things have taken more getting used to than you would imagine.

The first adjustment was a very pleasant one. That's only when I remembered I had a mountain in the backyard, and the weather was kind enough to allow me to see it.

During the recent winter months, I would leave work when it was dark and return home again in the darkness.  I was conscious of an imposing large object looming over us, but without seeing it, there was just a strange sense of calm and some slight shelter from the strong winds that battered the coast a short distance away before they hit dry land.

Yesterday was the Equinox, and boy, am I pleased to see some serious daylight.  There is something special about the light in this part of the world.  I am not sure if it is because I have hung out all winter to see the sun, or whether being this far North provides for a particularly luminous horizon.  Either way, my backyard fully lit brings me much joy; I understand why so many great photographers come here to capture the landscape.


I don't profess to be anywhere near as good as any of the professionals. All my photos are taken using my camera phone and I am very lazy....I take a lot of photos from my back step.  The photo above was taken five minutes ago.  The one on the right was taken when a low lying cloud meandered in from the sea, and then just as quietly, meandered away again. The photo below is the only one slightly altered, to bring out the rainbow.  And the last is the rear view as you leave our place.


I love listening to the sheep bleating in the mornings as they cling on with their sheepy toenails to the side of the mountain.  Watching sheep dogs-; flecks of black among the white-, round the sheep up and bring them safely down the mountain has helped me truly appreciate the scale of this place, as well as the challenges of farming the land. Paragliders have floated into line of sight from the comfort of our kitchen table, and then drifted away to the right, following the wind currents as far as they will take them, and away from our own peace of paradise.

I can't wax as lyrical about the stairs in the house- they are a pain in the arse.  While the second storey helps me see the mountain from a different perspective, I still haven't learnt to take everything with me when I need it. I am sure that I am not the only resident of a two storey house to consider buying two of everything, just to avoid that extra journey up the stairs.

My main grievance at the moment is hairbands.  I am sure I have accumulated hundreds of them over the years.  But for some reason, I can never find one on the bottom floor when I am heading out the door. I'm pretty sure this is the absolute definition of a First World Problem, equivalent to finding that two loops of the said headband is too loose for your hair, while three loops is too tight.

On that profound note, I will sign off to go and enjoy more of the one view I hope I never tire of seeing.