We all need colour in our lives, Black and White Wednesday

Some of our colourful photos from Pisa, and their B&W counterparts

They all convince me that colour is a big part of my life. How about you?


I like black and white photos,
especially when they're of people, but sometimes...

you just can't beat colour!

For more B&W wednesdays, head over to Lisa's Blog , TheLongRoadtoChina.com Lisa's post today describes their strategies during hurricane Irene. (sorry, blogger won't let me link it today)

I hope all my friends in the US are safe and dry, and that you have your power back. Take care.

Summer Stock Sunday Pink Plum Bonanza

There's a reason why today's Summer Stock Sunday post is a bit late.

Yesterday, my sister was going on holiday, so I offered to bring her to the airport. She lives down the country, in Co. Clare.

I got a text early yesterday morning, "expect a large bag of plums". When P says large, that means enormous! She doesn't do small, maybe not even medium.

Aren't they beautiful? Some of them are the size of grapes, and they're the most beautiful pink colour.
She has had the plum tree for about 7 years, and it never produced any plums. Now this year, the branches were so laded some of them snapped.

This is batch number 4 (i know! large!) washed and ready to be cut up for plum and orange marmalade. I'll post the marmalade picture tomorrow, I'm typing this as the sugar dissolves!

For more Summer Stock Sunday, click on the link at the top, which will bring you to Robin's blog.

Thanks to Hubby who took the pictures, my camera has run away from home to protest at being neglected.

Summer Stock Sunday

Summer Sunday afternoons are a great time to go for a little drive and visit a nice house with a good garden.

We went on an outing to Kilruddery House and Garden at the start of summer, and it really is beautiful.

This tree reminds me of how a woman looks on the dance floor, skirts swirling around her!

I love photographing light shining through the trees.

These pictures are just snapped with my iPhone, because I forgot to bring my camera :(

There were so many lovely trees, and a good view of the Sugar Loaf (mountain). We just walked around for ages, didn't bother going into the house as the coffee shop was very full, but I'll definitely go back again sometime.

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For more Summer Stock Sunday, go to Robin at Around the Island by clicking on the link at the top of this post.

Tuscany Day 3: the Final Day

This was our last day in Tuscany, so we had decided to stay "home" in Pisa and visit the sights there, including going up the tower. Each day, we've walked past the Tower on our way to and from the train station; it's a bit strange just walking past a tourist attraction, even though you are a tourist! So we had a leisurely breakfast, then walked into town.
By that stage, which was around midday, the queue for the tower had reached 4 o'clock, with 2 places left for the 4 o'clock, and 10 for the 5 o'clock.

That sealed our fate- we needed to be at the airport by 5, so we couldn't go up the tower. We weren't too disappointed, and instead just had a walk around, and a long lunch.

The restaurant was recommended in tripadvisor, and the food was yummy. We browsed the many souvenir stalls too, and did a little shopping.

I'm including a photo of the poolside at the hotel, with funky lilac furniture in the background. It was all plastic, but from a distance didn't look it, and was quite comfortable to sit on, and it has been in part the inspiration for my painting my own outdoor furniture pink.

This holiday diary seems to have taken longer than the actual holiday. I have a few last photos that I'll be posting for Black and White Wednesday, then it's onto a new topic (at last!).

Summer Stock Sunday

These guys know a good way to spend a summer's afternoon.

We spotted them when we were walking around Florence. Coudn't figure out if they were locals, or what the story behind their meeting spot is. Any guesses?

The next picture is the full scene, along the banks of the Arno, the little dots at the bottom of the picture are the card players. Sorry, I can't figure out how to make pictures enlarge in a blog post.

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For more Summer Stock Sunday, call over to Robin at Around the Island by clicking on the link at the top.

Summer Stock Sunday

This photo was taken in Florence.

We wondered why someone had parked a bike there, until we peeped over the wall at the side of the river, and saw the scene in the next picture

Good way to spend a summer afternoon!

For more Summer Stock Sunday, or to join in the fun, go to Robin's Tropical island by clicking on the link at the top.

Tuscany Day 2

Another blogger suggested going to Lucca, and when I heard that you could hire bikes and cycle around the old walls, it was sealed.

Oh, the fun of it!
I hadn't been on a bike in about 10 years, unless you count an exercise bike at the gym once or twice. Cycling around Dublin is dangerous as there are so many cars and buses, and honestly, they have zero awareness of cyclists. Several people I know have given up cycling because of the dangers.

After our cycle, we had lunch, then the very difficult task of deciding what flavour of ice cream to choose. Yum! I love Italian ice cream!

And this was just one of the many churches we saw on our travels. This one had a spectacular baptismal font.

This was so much fun, because there was no traffic. I thought if we cycled the walls once, we'd be doing well, but 3 times later, I had to be practically dragged off the bike to go for lunch! And it's true, you never forget how to ride a bike; after initial nerves for about 2 minutes, I was flying around!

Another great day on our trip.

Next post is the final day.

Tuscany Day 1 continued

Just want to add a few more photos from our day in Florence.

While we were having lunch, I noticed the Bride arriving onto the square. What drew my attention to her was the fact that she was so careless with her dress, not worrying at all how dirty it would get.

We took a few photos, from a distance, not wanting to intrude. Then we realised there were no guests.

And 2 photographers.

My guess is that it was a model doing a photoshoot. What do you think? If I felt that it was a real wedding, there's no way we would have taken so many photos!

When we came down from the hills (see previous post), we had another bite to eat, and then it was time to get our train back to Pisa, where we were staying.

Hubby took this shot of the Arno with lights reflected on it. I think it's beautiful.

Tuscany Day 1

Thanks to Robin at Around the Island, who responded to my request here for suggestions of things to do/places to eat in Tuscany. Notwithstanding that she was in the middle of studying for exams, she emailed me loads of info.
This walk took our fancy, and when the bus tour of Florence brought us to the starting point, we decided to give it a go.



Fantastic views!




The end point of the walk is a hamlet, with a fantastic restaurant, but we didn't make it that far. It was hot, we were tired and just couldn't keep going uphill any longer.






But, in itself, the walk was well worthwhile, and it was so nice to get up into "them there hills", and to feel the cool breeze. If I loved in Florence, the hills is where I'd head, for sure!