weather talks

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, photo photography, rain, strangers, talk, weather

After more than 24 hours of rain, wet socks, frizzy hair, and damp clothes it’s great to see a little bit of blue poking out between the clouds. Especially since the last two nights have been long and sleepless as the tattoo of heavy rain beating against my window has kept me awake for most of the night.

But no matter how miserable the weather proves to be the thing I enjoy most is the amount of strangers who strike up conversations by stating this obvious fact. On both bus rides to and fro from work – I declined to walk as the weather was just too wet – my seat companion told me in no uncertain terms that we were having  ‘shocking weather’ while their umbrellas dripped puddles onto my already wet shoes. Knowing the rules of the game I, of course,  answered the only way one can: with a pinched smile, a nod, a sigh, and a ‘I know, isn’t awful!’

Our shared commiseration about something we cannot change opened up the floodgates (couldn’t resist the pun) to stories of a few strangers lives. I heard all about the disasters of the paper shopping bags Pennys uses ‘sure they just rip, now me shopping is drowned’  and the splashing cars, bikes and buses soaking ‘me legs’.

While I nodded along to the lamentations I remembered a statistic I read a good while ago. It it it said that Irish people, on average, talk about the weather at least twice a day and 25% of the population even go so far as to talk about the sun and rain four times daily.

I suppose this means that with the ever changing of weather in Ireland at least no one will ever be stumped for conversation and weather talks will stay an easy way to connect.

leaf puddle in my backyard

 

going sock-less

Tags

Dublin, fashion, photography, photos, shoes, sock-less, spring, sun, weather

Over the past few days spring has fully sprung in Dublin, the sun has been shining, the trees have been blooming and everything is waking up from the long winter sleep. With the temperatures rising I have decided to let the weather ‘knock my socks off’ (couldn’t resist this awful pun) and relegate my socks to the back of the drawer and go sock-less again. So over the last three days my feet have been bare in my shoes and I have enjoyed the freedom of unhindered wiggling of toes.

Now I only hope that my socklessness state can continue until much later this year and who knows, maybe by offering up an extra few patches of exposed skin to the sun my vitamin D intake will skyrocket. Additionally I won’t need to spend time sorting my socks – I like them in pairs – and I’ll even save some (even if only small) space in the washing machine.

So maybe I should look around and see what else I could dispel and discover what I may gain by doing so.

standing in a spot of sun

grey mornings

Tags

autumn, Dublin, grey skies, home, October, reality and dream, weather

 

Today is one of those mornings in Dublin when the sky just seems to be in a bit of a mood and won’t turn on the sun. Clouds hide every patch of possible blue and the light disperses into grey.

It feels like a permanent dusk has descended, time has seemingly dissolved with the light, yet  it hasn’t affected my mood as I quite enjoy this feeling of suspended time. And since grey skies mean lit fires the scrumptious smell of burning turf is in the air creating images of cosy homes and happy hearts in my mind.

I know many struggle when the sun goes into hiding but for me it is as if a door between reality and dreams has been left on the latch, as if anything could happen. Halloween is just a few short weeks away and my neighbours have already decorated their homes with spooks, ghouls and witches, adding to the atmosphere of otherworldliness.

So before I head out to meet the day, I think, I will enjoy this grey morning just a little while longer, my mug of tea warming me from within.

 

rainy days

Tags

community garden, Dublin, dublin summer, flowers, mud island, photography, photos, rain, weather

Dublin is back to it’s old tricks – grey clouds and rainy outburst have been dominating the last few days. As I sit at my desk and watch the big droplets cascade down from above I can’t help but wonder where the sun has gone off to.

And while of course I know I shouldn’t complain after 11 days of no rain and warm sunny weather – is more than we’ve seen in a long while – but I do miss my afternoons on my blue bench.

In a few days time the community garden (Mud Island)  I am part of will have it’s open day and we are all hoping for a sunny day – or at the very least one that isn’t wet. But right now it isn’t looking too good and there is still a lot of work to do before we can show the garden off to its full glory.

And while I am still not sure I’ll be able to lend a helping hand today I will be wandering down on Thursday night to dig in, literally. Right now I will tackle my to-do list – but at least I don’t need to water my plants!

in full bloom

long lasting pansies

cheerful pink

blue friends

tackling my TRP

Tags

books, rain, reading, sun, to read pile, TRP, weather, wet

Today is one of those wonderfully weird Irish days. The sun lures you out with smiles and shine to only disappear, giggling, behind a big, black cloud, which in turn empties out bucket loads of rain, turning sunny patches into puddles.

But after the good weather we have been having I won’t complain, especially since it is giving me  a great excuse to stay home and have a lazy day.  With my TRP (to read pile) ever growing and I think I may just curl up with a cup of tea, listen to the rain on my window and flee into the magical world of storytelling …

snow day

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, snow day, traffic, weather, work life, working

I woke up this morning to find my skylight covered in snow – not the nice fluffy kind but the wet slushy kind – and knew that this would mean chaos.

Dublin doesn’t get much snow, so when it does most people, and amenities, just don’t seem to be able to cope: traffic goes mad, people stay home, kids get excited (even over slush) and Dublin isn’t quite in working order.

With that in mind I left a little bit earlier for work and arrived 15minutes earlier than usual – not the 30 minutes later like I expected. It was odd entering the office with only three early birds there to greet me. As the morning progressed it became clear my idea of leaving early was the wise choice, nearly everyone was late and at 10am we still had a few MiC (missing in commute).

But something else also happens when we have one rare snow day – people seem to change. The normal comments about the weather accelerate and a shift in mood happens. Somehow most people become even more laid back than usual – sure if you can blame everything on the snow nothing is really anyone’s fault – and everyone just gets on as best as possible, the excuse of snow always ready to explain everything away.

And of course there is always home, a glass of wine and the fire to round off a perfect snow day!

turning the page on the calendar

Tags

clothing, photography, photos, spring, warm, weather

A day later than usual it’s time to turn the page on the calendar and welcome Spring. Now I know that many may follow the astronomical beginning of Spring, which is the 20th of March, but I prefer the meteorological way. After all it’s easier to divide the year into quarters.

So, with Spring arriving on our doorsteps I can only hope the weather will follow suit – today it seems to be delayed with strong winds dominating Dublin. I long for a bit of warmth, not just because it will make my bike rides easier, but mainly because I am fed up with wearing all these layers of clothing.

I long to put away my boots and socks and slip into my sandals. I can’t wait to shut the drawer on my vests and stash away my jumpers, short sleeves and trouser legs are calling out to my pale sun unkissed skin.

But for now I will just have to keep warm and wait until Spring fulfills its promise and delivers some sunshine.

the new picture on my calendar today – Newgrange 2015

rainbow room

Tags

Dublin, Ireland, prisims, rainbows, sun, weather

Weather in Ireland often has a mind of its own and at the moment it seems to seek the most amount of variety it can think of. Stormy winds, rain, possibly light snow, frost, mild temperatures and sunshine seems to be what our days will be like in the near future.

But when I came home yesterday the low hanging evening sun was shining in through (my rather dirty I have to admit) windows, causing the prisms in my window to paint dancing rainbows all around my home -it was like walking into a rainbow.

And while today the skies look more like grey gravel than forget-me-not blue I can’t wait to be surprised by the sun again by walking into my very own rainbow room. I just hope I won’t have to wait all too long.

battling barney on my bike

Tags

Bad weather, Barney, bike, cycling, storm, weather, wind, windy

Over the last few days it’s been particularly windy and wet here in Dublin and it’s all big bad Barney’s fault. Barney is a massive storm front that, after Abigail’s blustery visit last week, has been creating lots of havoc- thousands were without electricity last night and trees were blocking roads everywhere today – with it’s wind speeds of up to 70-80kmh and  incredible gusts of 130kmh.

Since I have been cycling in and out of town since September it wasn’t very surprising that I got caught up in the winds yesterday on my way home, many so strong that I was nearly knocked sideways (I have big red saddle bags), I even had to push for a while not quite trusting my steely steed.

And this morning I was very close to either staying home (the weather was practically just sheets of rain and whipping winds) or giving in and taking the bus. But as I was shrugging on my jacket the rain stopped and while it was still windy it seemed to have calmed down a bit. So with that I decided to brave Barney again and cycle in to college.

Surprisingly all went well, I stayed dry even if I was a little bit out of breath, the wind was against me. But on the way home, Barney was still being gentle, I suddenly heard a big bang- like a gunshot – my tire had burst, violently and loud.  After a small, dangerous, wobble I dismounted and pushed home. Sadly the flat is so big I will need to take it the shop tomorrow, I can’t fix it on my own.

So while I may have won my battle against big bad blustery Barney, in the end I lost to something small lying on the road.

for a safe ride

August sun

Tags

August, August sun, seagulls, sun, weather

seagull flying high

I woke up to giggling seagulls this morning – their hysteria mounting as they merrily gurgled to each other. As I lay in bed the sun lit up my room and I couldn’t help but feel delighted at the prospect of another sunny day.

After the bad weather we’ve had over the past summer months it seems as if summer has decided to stop by for a few days and I am loving it. Finally my flip-flops have come out to play and my trusty cardigan hasn’t needed an outing in a while.

The seagulls seem to agree with me and their noisy joy just emphasises the sun beside the seaside feeling – and hopefully I’ll get to dip my toe into the water before the sun wanders off again.

But since I am behind on my word-count and need to cross a few more items off my list before I can call it a sun-day, my afternoon cup of tea on my blue bench in the August sun will have to suffice.