Year v: 5 Years On

Picking up from where I stopped last year. Snowdrops, magnolia’s and primroses. The silver ‘Capsule for Destinies Unknown’ at Visual Carlow. A one way port hole bathroom window. The Exo building. A whopper ice cream sundae and crispy spuds to warm the soul.

The blossoms return, along with the forget-me-nots, rhododendron, ceonothus and bluebells. Sunlight Chambers on Essex Quay in Dublin. The Quaker Graveyard and Lecky Family Graveyard in Ballon, Carlow. An extremely handsome yellow eyed pup called Vasco, a tall ship and a trip to the Cote D'azur.

The Jockeys by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, shutters in Nice, more scenes from the Cote D'azur in Villefranche-sur-Mer and Juan-les-Pins. Fields of rapeseed, daisy chain costume jewels, the northern lights and barter economy toilet door graffiti.

A sleeping Dublin portal and a secret Guinness estate garden. Lankum in the grounds of The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Jelly & ice cream after a gnarly wisdom tooth extraction. Private Chinese meal karaoke. A black bee, a live bunny and a very dead hare.

The ferry to Holyhead. An almost blooming Titan arum aka corpse flower in Kew Gardens and boats in Richmond upon Thames. A moody sky above Hampton Court palace. An almost rude rosebud. A few days in glorious medieval Kilkenny, including a viewing of the stone carving on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle that looks like Keith Duffy. Freshly cut grass.

A summer holiday in Cork, a day trip to Johnstown Castle and more time in London. Particularly beautiful stonework from the Chapel of St Patrick and the Saints of Ireland at Westminster Cathedral. The morning room in Sambourne House. Examples of Kazari Yamakasa in Japan House London.

A mix of dreich and paradise weather. A still life with butterfly and cockchafer. A starry sky. The clocktower in St. Anne's Park, Raheny, Dublin, built in 1850 by Benjamin Lee Guinness. A great site specific exhibition ‘Longest Way Round, Shortest Way Home’ in the old pumphouse in Dublin Port.

Some beautiful crisp autumn days. Dirty old, disappointing Dublin. Roast trays of chick peas. History festival & theatre festival. A day spent at The Rock of Cashel. The last roses and sweet peas, a young fly agaric, an ink rendering of an Irish hare and a seaweed bath.

Big skies and polar sunsets. Bright shoes to beat the winter blues. Alf the newt at Science Week. A 0.0 Guinness in The Padraig Pearse Tavern. Hanging On!

Harry Clarke’s-Stained Glass at Collins Barracks, my annual seasonal visit to Glasnevin Cemetary and The Botanics and a month of lights. A new years escape to Scotland where the weather held us in its mercy.

Iced in a few times. Then a thaw, as always. Typical January blues.

A rendering of the inside of my eye. Brighter skies, slowly. Good dogs. Saying goodbye to my beloved Jack </3

A tent on a street. A rat on a rake. A sulky on a road.