nature

The Swiss Cottage in Cahir.

| Mairead

24 9a

(Pretty Swiss Cottage)

My mother and I went to visit the Swiss Cottage near Cahir on Saturday. It was built in 1810 for Lord and Lady Cahir and is a Cottage Orne. A playhouse for the rich. It was built for tea parties and to look pretty. It looks very pretty. It fell into disrepair but was restored in the 1980’s. Not much of the original survived, some wallpaper and one small window, so the restoration recreated the original and did a beautiful job.

24 9b

(Veranda going around the cottage)

You get to it via a walk along the very picturesque river Suir (pronounced sure), over a bridge and through an underground tunnel into the basement servant’s quarters (now a reception area.) When you’ve bought your ticket you walk up the servants stairs and through a hidden door to the hallway of the cottage. Here there’s an oak staircase painted a dull brown – the idea was everything had to look rustic, peasant-like, not expensive. So the oak was disguised.

24 9c

(Cute flower covered balcony)

I forgot my camera… again, but the cottage can’t take an ugly picture. Although it’s very pretty it’s not real. Come to think of it sometimes real is not pretty.

24 9d

(No photography allowed inside the cottage, this is a weird shot looking in one of the windows)

24 9e

(The one original pane of decorated glass)

From a rainy Greystones, Mairead.

Wake up Time.

| Mairead

19 9b

(Agawa Canyon… picture by Doris or Grahame (forgot to ask!))

I’m rushing off to a course this morning (more later) so instead of a post here’s a story from the book Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh that explains what waking up from unconscious living means.

19 9a

(A huge rainbow filled the sky one night as we left Staples (stationery shop) in Niagara, it was so big it couldn’t fit in my camera)

A little boy wakes in the morning and realises the whole family has slept in and the whole family will be late for school. He runs to his favourite sister’s room and very gently shakes her awake, “Wake up, wake up we will be late for school.” She awakes and is very angry with her older brother, so she shouts at him and kicks him. He is very upset, because he was gentle when he woke his sister and now she is angry with him. The he remembers that she was coughing in the night and probably didn’t get much sleep and may be very tired. With this realisation he understands his sister and he has woken up from upset. She is his favourite sister again and he is love.

19 9c

(A rock in a lake on the way to Agawa Canyon. There’s beauty everywhere to help us wake up)

In an instant the boy could let go of the upset because he “woke-up”. We’re upset when people treat us badly, we’re upset when things don’t go our way, we’re upset when we can’t do what we want to do, we’re upset when we’re not as strong as we’d like to be, we’re upset when we’re not as wealthy as we planned, we’re upset when we’re sick, when we’re tired, when we’re sad. What if it was possible to let go of the upset and return to love? Being in our natural state of loving is much more comfortable than being in an unnatural state of upset.

We can wake up in an instant, Mairead.

Friday Quote – Begin it!

| Mairead

14 9c

(When my sister began planning her move to Canada I wonder did she ever dream of this picture of her daughter swimming at their private beach?)

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.” – Goethe.

(Attributed to Goethe… may not be his… still like it.)

What are you dreaming you can do? Mairead.

Hot and busy at Niagara on the Lake

| Mairead

13 9b

(The flower filled main street)

We left Fort George at lunchtime and went on to visit Niagara on the Lake. We had noticed that the town centers we have visited so far in Canada are generally deserted and most of the activity takes place in the shopping centers and malls on the outskirts. Not so for Niagara on the Lake – it was full of people walking, shopping, having lunch or just drinking coffee.

13 9c

(Maybe they came from Cork?)

We found a place to park at the Prince of Wales Hotel (established in 1884) and took a short walk to a beautiful little cafe called Balzacs.

13 9f

(Too hot to sit outside)

Now that we’re back in Ireland it’s difficult to imagine walking on a hot sunny afternoon but thinking about our trip brings it all back. On that day I was really looking forward to wandering around the town doing some window shopping, maybe some real shopping but we were only able to manage a couple of streets before the heat was too much. We spent the next hour in the air-conditioned cafe looking out the window!

13 9d

(The history)

On the way home we stopped off to fill the hire car with petrol and thought it might be interesting to note the price… so we took a picture of the pump. A reminder of something my Dad loved to do. Whenever we travelled away from home my Dad would frequently stop into petrol stations (you might remember he had a petrol station) – not for the petrol – to check if their prices were any lower than his. He didn’t have a camera so he kept all the information in his head. I’m not sure if he changed his prices when we got home or if it was just a hobby.

13 9h

(We got the regular (cheapest!) petrol and were very happy)

Anyway, as you can see from the picture the price of a litre of (regular) petrol in Canada is $129.90 and that means  €102.96 – nice eh? We couldn’t bring any home though because they have a lot of restrictions about carrying petrol in your luggage…

13 9g

(Busy and pretty)

Cloudy and hungry in Greystones, Mairead.

Is it time to eat yet?

| Mairead

11 9c

(Can’t have too many pictures of Niagara Falls)

We’re back from Canada….. in body anyhow, not so sure about mind yet, well maybe not body either. We have to get up by the clock and eat by the clock and go to bed by the clock because so far the rhythm of the day doesn’t feel right here. Before we left I read an article about living with jet-lag. On the plane I forgot to follow the instructions to eat and drink nothing and go to sleep. Instead, I stayed awake and ate and drank everything…. oh well. The one tip that I had heard a long time ago was get plenty of sunlight and that seems to be helping.

11 9b

(The crane-like structures in the background are where the electricity story starts, the green water in the centre is where the Niagara river pours over the falls)

Anyway, there are still some things that we visited and I haven’t told you about so today it’s the power station. You might remember we also visited a power station in Scotland? This one was in Niagara, between the Falls and a beautiful town called Niagara on the Lake.

11 9f

(and one more of the falls…)

On our way back from our visit to Niagara Falls we decided to fit in a couple more attractions. The first was the Sir Adam Beck Hydro Electric Power Station. This station started producing power in the 1920’s and it’s very interesting how they did that. In Grahame’s itinerary for Niagara Falls he had mentioned that the Maid of the Mist didn’t run early in the morning because the water levels are not high enough due to hydro-electric demands…. So I thought there must be a power station at the Falls…. there isn’t. It’s much more interesting than that.

11 9e

(Tunnel underground to the power station)

The power station is 8km down the road from the Falls at a spot over the Niagara River where the drop is even higher than at the falls. Higher drop = more power. But back in 1917 there was no water dropping from any height here, so… that diverted the Niagara river. At a place before the river went over the Falls they diverted it, and they reversed the flow of another river (can’t remember its name) that was flowing into the Niagara at that point. The picture might help to explain.

11 9a

(That’s the Niagara River flowing from top to bottom of the picture. Those white blobs on the top left are the falls (Canadian and American.) That fuzzy line on the left corner of the screen is the tour guide’s pointer – he’s pointing at the place where the Niagara river water is diverted down a canal (blue line running from top left to middle.) The yellow lines running from the diversion point to the power station are underground tunnels built in the 1950’s when more power was needed and a second power station was built. The two Canadian power stations are in the foreground on the right bank of the river and there’s an American power station on the left bank.)

11 9d

(The yellow turbines – well, the tops of the turbines. Notice the workers get around on tricycles)

More water going to the power station might mean more power but it means less of a splash at the Falls, so…. the diversion only operates at night and in the morning all the power of the Niagara river goes back over the Niagara Falls. The tourists are happy and the Maid of the Mist can operate.

Is it time to go to bed yet? Mairead.

Rain and Snow at Niagara Falls

| Mairead

06 9a

(View from our window – that low cloud on the right is mist from the falls)

A very busy day yesterday (Wednesday) in Niagara. We got up early and had breakfast at the IHOP (international house of pancakes) across the road from our hotel, omelette for Denis and pancakes for me. Then we set off to buy our Niagara Falls Adventure Pass. With the pass we could go behind the waterfall, see the history movie, walk along the white water rapids boardwalk and board the Maid of the Mist boat. At each attraction an attendant gives you a rain mac, yellow mac going behind the falls.

06 9f

(See the boat in the background – those people are getting very wet… so am I)

We went behind the falls first and got very wet, then we went to the movie…. and got very wet. We were given a blue mac going into the movie (first clue it would be damp). I loved the movie. There was a cartoon to start and then we were ushered into a circular cinema to stand on a platform. The floor was wet (second clue.) When everyone was in place the screen showed frozen wastelands – the ice age – and it began to snow. Not on the screen… it began to snow on us! It felt and looked like snow. Then the ice on the screen began to melt and the rain came… on us. It was heavy rain and I had decided to leave my hood down so I was screaming…. with excitement. I continued to scream through the thunder and lightning and the rocking platform and the helicopter ride (on the screen). Loved it.

06 9g

(Maid of the Mist boat going towards the Canadian Falls)

Then it was time for the boat trip. Again we were given the rain macs – blue. We queued up with everyone and found a good spot on the top deck. It started off gentle enough with just a little mist as we passed the American Falls….

06 9j

(American Falls – so named because that side of the river is USA, this side is Canada)

But when we got close to the Canadian Horseshoe Falls the rain came in showers, of course it wasn’t rain it was mist coming off the falls but I was screaming again. Loved it.

06 9h

(Part of the Canadian Falls)

Off to Niagara on the Lake today, but first… porridge at Timmys, Mairead

The Agawa Canyon Tour Train

| Mairead

04 9a

(Grahame says this is why we don’t have snakes in Ireland)

Following on from yesterday we travelled north of Barrie and came to French River where there was an interpretative centre with canoes, fur pelts and animal skeletons. French River was a transport corridor used by the Algonquian tribes and later by the French and English explorers and missionaries. Outside we crossed the snowmobile bridge. In winter the snowmobile club comes up here to navigate the park and in 2008 they built a bridge to cross the deep gorge.

04 9b

(The snowmobile bridge)

We stopped for lunch in the city of Sudbury where there’s a nickel mining plant and a huge shiny nickel on top of a hill. At that point we were half-way to our destination. Four hours later we arrived at our hotel (a very nice Travelodge) in Sault Saint Marie. I was suffering a little from insect bites so Denis and I went across the road to the mall and got antihistamine, heavy-duty bug spray and tea tree oil for the itching and of course we went to visit Tim Hortons. That night we all  had a lovely meal at Docks restaurant on the boardwalk looking out on to the International Bridge that joins Canada to the United States.

04 9c

(Our train)

Next morning we were taking the Agawa Canyon Tour Train at 7.30am and we wanted to get a good seat (right hand side, middle of a window.) Grahame, Doris and Denis  made a preparatory trip to Timmys and then we boarded the train with our provisions. Way back in the early 1900’s the railway was built to transport iron ore. We were taking a four-hour section (114 miles from Sault Saint Marie) to a beautiful scenic spot called Agawa Canyon, on the tour train – not any old commuter train.

04 9d

(Speeding along)

The seats were plush, there was a screen with the drivers view of the track and we had guides (both on the screen and in person) who popped in from time to time to tell us some interesting facts and answer our questions. (There was also a lady whose sole jobs seemed to be checking the toilets – they were very clean.) Then there was a dining car with cooked breakfast – yummy, the boxed lunch and the souvenir shop.

04 9f

(Forests)

But the most amazing thing about this trip was the view – huge forests and pretty lakes, and each time a particularly good view was coming up the guide on the screen would sound a whistle so we would have time to get our cameras ready.

04 9g

(Lakes)

When we arrived at the canyon we had ninety minutes to explore. There were walking trails, another souvenir shop (in an old boxcar) and more beautiful scenery.

04 9i

(Made it to step 300)

We choose the Lookout trail – three hundred steps up to another amazing view.

04 9k

(View from the top)

We had considered doing another trail after that but a rest was much more attractive…  So we rested while the others explored for us.

Fresh air and wilderness – but no hens, Mairead.

Walking in Delgany Graveyard.

| Mairead

27 8a

(One of the oldest gravestones with the sunburst motif)

On Friday morning when I should have been packing (more about that later…) I was in a graveyard listening to a woman with a passion. It was Delgany graveyard and the woman was Lally de Buitlear. I want to be Lally when I grow up… For those of you who haven’t wandered as a child among old gravestones, it’s never too late to start.

27 8c

(Formerly a spade… )

Last week was heritage week and there were lots of talks around Ireland. Lally introduced a group of thirty of us (including five very attentive children) to gravestones. We learned about the apprenticeship of a gravestone mason, the fashion for the sunburst design up to the 1700’s when it was replaced by the letters IHS. The fact that all the stones face the rising sun. The oldest ones are made of layers of slate, the old church (in ruins) was also made of slate, shipped over from Wales.Then there were the stories. About the odd-looking modern stone – the woman decided well before she died to get rid of her family gravestone and put up a “nice” new one…. About an old bicycle half hidden under the trees. About the power of a Buddleia tree to slowly topple a huge granite gravestone.

27 8b

(Gravestone with IHS motif, notice the layers of slate)

But my favourite story was about Lally herself. When she was younger she decided to go on a photography course and one of her assignments was to visit a graveyard and capture the gravestones. She went to Delgany graveyard and filled her portfolio. Years later when she was committed to the restoration of this graveyard she took out her portfolio and used the photographs to apply for a grant to help with the work. What’s more there was some ruling that said you could only raise fallen gravestones if you had proof that they had been standing. Lally had the proof in her portfolio and her team were able to raise those who had fallen!

27 8d

(Frost damage to the outer layer of slate)

It reminds me that nothing in our lifetime is without value. We may have started ten different jobs and finished none, we may have dropped out of college, we may have stayed in a job we hated, we may have taken time off to raise a child, we may have indulged in baking cakes, in learning karate, in playing board games. It all counts and it all adds up and it’s all valuable. It never too late to indulge your passions. Do the courses you are drawn to and fill your life with the things that make your heart sing. It may even lengthen your life! Thank you Lally de Buitlear, you are an inspiration and a mine of information. (By the way the team of volunteers at Delgany graveyard are always looking for more helpers.)

27 8e

(The little church is in ruins but this floor tile survived)

Right.. the packing… we’re in Toronto! More about that tomorrow, Mairead.

Japanese Gardens Co. Kildare

| Mairead

23 8a

(The Bridge of Life)

Yesterday we went to the Japanese Gardens. Our admission included a tour of the National Stud (horses) but we just went for the garden and the food. We arrived around midday and it was busy, tour buses and families. Ok everyone with the tour stand by the wall. As luck would have it there was a torrential rain shower as we got our tickets so we had an early lunch. Back in the garden it as a bit too busy for photographs, each time I lifted the camera to point at something picturesque a little one ran up to it. Look Gran-Mam, look at the stone!  But I got a few.

23 8c

(Couple of swans preening at the lakeside)

The garden symbolises the Life of Man. At the entrance you have the choice between the Easy Path and the Rugged Path. Of course we took the rugged path and before long were slipping and sliding on slick wet stones. Maybe the easy path would have been just fine….. We struggled on through the Cave of Birth – tight fit, the Tunnel of Ignorance – dark and wet, the Hill of Learning – more slipping and arrived at the Engagement Bridge. There’s a gap in the bridge and you have to leap (very small leap) across. On the Honeymoon Path there’s a Difference of Opinion and the path separates…  We bravely climbed the Hill of Ambition and arrived at the Chair of Old age.

23 8b

(Entrance to Fiachra’s Garden)

As the sun was still shining we decide to have a look at the Stud or at least the paddocks with the mares and foals, but it was not to be… another shower had us sheltering in the Beehive Monastic Cells. These are modelled on a monastic site found at Skellig Mhichil, off the west coast. A bit dark but very dry we sheltered with a few of the families. This was Fiachra’s Garden. Fiachra was a 6th century Irish monk who left Ireland and founded a hermitage in France. He encouraged manual labour, gardening and giving to the poor  and is the French patron saint of gardeners. His garden here was designed to make us think of this man (and many more like him) who followed a path of adventure inspired by their passion.

Paths can be slippery – be aware! Mairead.