A Change of Scenery

On the day of my arrival, the temperature reached a scorching 68°F and the sun came out for the entire afternoon! Yes, summer is in full swing in Northern Ireland. I have relocated here temporarily - to the countryside along the coast, not far from the city of Derry and the town of Limavady. As I write this, a sheep is looking over my shoulder. A mountain looms in the distance. And the breeze is so gentle, I am almost tempted to remove my wool blazer.




What am I doing here? Mostly two things: writing and riding. I've brought over my roadbike and I have a Brompton on loan from the lovely Chris Sharp. The nearest town is 3.5 miles away. The nearest mountain is just around the corner.




The food situation is pretty straightforward. There is plenty of fish in the Lough Foyle and berries in Ballykelly Forest. In a pinch, there is also the Tesco down the road.




I am still getting my bearings after 2 days of no sleep, but posting should be pretty regular. The wifi is fired up and working splendidly, so long as I add coal every half hour or so.




Later this afternoon I am off to watch a time trial. What more could a girl ask for?

Coming soon

The enigmatic Antoine Moussette.
































Greetings from... California!!

I am sitting in the "Park Rock Cafe" at Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, using their free wifi - which is the first wifi I've found in over a week.

I gave up finding warm weather in Texas. The further north I went, the colder it got. It was nice (50s and 60s) during the day but at night the temperatures were still dropping into the lower 30s. Not too bad but just cold enough to make it uncomfortable when the sun went down.

I also realized that if I were to visit Joshua Tree and Death Valley in a few more weeks, it might be somewhat uncomfortable the other way - too hot. So I buzzed through New Mexico and Arizona. But I'm going back. In a few days I'll be going to Death Valley, and then I'll return to New Mexico and Arizona for a while. At least that's "the plan" for now. I didn't make it to Guadalupe National Park. High winds and colder temperatures didn't make it sound too inviting. Perhaps another time.

There will be a few more posts on Big Bend and then I'll update you with where I've been since leaving there. But that's dependent upon internet access. I'm a bit further behind with posts than usual - it's difficult finding internet access in remote locations!

Taken at Picacho Peak State Park.
The stereotypical image of an Arizona Sunset!

Garden Flowers

All the garden veggies are flowering. We are eating zucchini, and yellow squarsh, cucumbers, and have green tomatoes. The corn is tassling and we hope we get some this year. Apple tree and peach tree are loaded with the branches hanging down to where they almost touch the ground. Just waiting for them to get ripe enough to eat.

ICE...ICE...ICE

Did any of you grow up hearing that your body completely replaces its cells every seven years? This was once taught in health class – the teachers told us that we became a new person from the inside out after each seven-year cycle.

If it’s true – then after more than seven years in Austin, my own body has lost whatever winter survival skills those replaced cells once had – turning me into a wimpy weather whiner.
It’s creepy outside, and will stay below freezing until at least Wednesday, with many schools, city offices, and businesses closed for ice. This is not a big deal for most of you, but in Austin we depend on the temperatures to go above freezing during the day – a fact that affects how we landscape our gardens, the kind of windows used in our houses, the exposed plumbing systems and the kinds of clothes and shoes that we own. It may also explain why there were five men in the express line at the HEB grocery earlier… in light jackets, some in shorts, all wearing caps, and each one toting a 12-pack of beer.

Before the ice encrusted everything, I ran out to cut the iris that had budded a few weeks ago. It's in water, and still might open. I bought this two summers ago at an iris society sale, labeled as a hybrid Purple variety. The color in this photo is pretty true-to-life - that bud doesn’t look as if it will bloom purple, does it?




While this new iris may still be a beauty, it may have to be moved, because that spot calls for a purple-blooming plant. About six years ago I bought a plant labeled "Blue Iris" at a Hyde Park housewalk. It bloomed like this last March and the flowers smelled like orange sherbet.

This is one of my favorite iris plants now, but I still really want some purple ones and hope the recently planted purple ones from my friend Sophia and the new start of Pam/Digging's iris called 'Amethyst' will not take years & years to bloom.

Every year in mid-January, I stay up late and get cramps in my hands, compiling the annual Divas of the Dirt Diary. It’s not a blog – more like an impressionist ramble through the past year, with as many photos as possible. This is last year's edition. I’ve been immersed for days, with no end in sight…so for once this is a short blog post – not a class in ancient garden history!

I'll be back sooner or later!

Annie

PS
So many of you have moved to the new Blogger, but I’m still standing on the edge of the pool, shivering in my towel. Since my posts have been going in many different directions lately, the idea of tags and indexing is very tempting! Are you glad you changed over?
Do the drawbacks outweigh the advantages?
What should I watch out for?
How much time should I set aside for the transition?
Should I do this, yes or no?
All advice will be gratefully received!!

The Cyclist's Dwelling

When I talk to cyclists who have recently moved or are looking to move house, most admit that bikes influence the location and layout criteria for their new place. Usually this admission is made sheepishly, with some embarrassment that cycling plays such a prominent role in their lives. Me, I don't bother to be embarrassed anymore. Cycling is not the most important thing in my life, but it is up there. It is also more intertwined with the other important things now than it was before. And it is crucial to my sanity. It follows that any place I live must be bicycling friendly.




As far as location, this can mean different things for different types of cyclists. For some it means being in the middle of a city with good bicycle infrastructure. For others it means being close to good roadcycling - hilly country roads, or networks of dirt roads, or mountain bike trails. For others still the ideal cycling location is climate dependent. And for others, it's dependent on proximity to clubs, races, randonneuring groups, "cycle chic" get-togethers, or other types of cycling-specific communities. Of all these things, for me it is easy access to good back roads and dirt roads that is on top of the list. While I love a city with good infrastructure and loved living in Vienna for that reason, I know that I can also function without it with fairly little stress. And while I appreciate a close-knit cycling community, at heart I am a loner and do just as well on my own. But when it comes to access to open roads, it's more than a matter of liking it or appreciating it, it is a matter of needing it. Living on the edge of town in Boston (rather than deeper in the city) is wonderful, because it allows for easy escape from the congested urban tangle. And living in rural Northern Ireland is a dream, because a network of country roads starts straight out the front door. I would not do well living in an area without easy access to good roadcycling.




As far as the layout of a house or apartment, I am pretty easy: I like a ground floor entrance for dragging my bike out the door. While I joke about having a farm with a bike shed, in reality I am quite content to cram my bikes into a small apartment space. But I do want to be able to roll my bikes out the door with the minimum amount of stairs and narrow hallways. As it is, I am covered in bruises from the narrow hallways in my current place - never failing to hit myself on the shin with a pedal or on the thigh with a brake lever whilst getting my bike out the door.




For someone who loves bicycles, I am unusually indifferent to "bicycle art" - cycling themed photos, paintings, sculptures, housewares and such. But I do tend to have bike parts and tools lying around in a way that they become integrated into the very fabric of the house. After two weeks in my current place, my roadbike looks wonderfully at home leaning against the book case. And the random bike parts scattered throughout look natural mixed with the household objects and appliances. It's funny, because I only have one bike in the house right now (okay, and one more out on the porch), but somehow the place still has that "bikes live here and they are important" feel to it.




Grabbing Desdemona, I roll her out the door, and - cursing affectionately as I bang my ankle lightly on the derailleur - I pedal away and head for the hills, thankful for the quiet, cloudy Sunday morning, for the emerald green sea, and for the warm tiny place that awaits me and my bike upon our return.

A Tree?

I think my 3 black cats thought I had gone nuts for putting up a tree in the house even if it was an artificial one. They helped me decorate it and then undecorated it.

Bison Country

Here is a shot from Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After spending almost 3 days in Nebraska photographing the Sandhill Crane migration in unusually hot temperatures for spring (each day the temp almost hit 90 degrees!), it was nice to drive up to the Black Hills and have the weather change along the way. On this day the temp never got above 45 and in the higher elevations of the hills it was about 36 degrees and sleet was falling from the sky.





































This photo was taken along the "Wildlife Loop Road" in Custer State Park. This state park is a great one for wildlife. I saw lots of other critters as well, but the Bison stole the show. I saw probably close to 200 Bison. While I enjoy a good close-up shot of an animal, I also like to compose shots that show them and their surrounding environment. I think (in most cases) that photos such as this tell more of a story than a close-up does. At any rate, I hope you like it!

Clouds and Ice

It is kind of a blustery (but mild!) day today, with some falling (but mostly blowing) snow. The blustery nature of the day has me thinking back to a few days ago when the day was absolutely calm and quiet. The photo you see here was made on this quiet day, with barely a sound to be heard along the shoreline. When this cloud drifted over the ridge of ice plates I knew I had to photograph it. The complementing blues of the ice and sky were beautiful. I sure hope we get a day like this on wednesday of next week, if we do it will be a perfect day for our wedding ceremony!

Aiguille du Chardonnet Direct Gabarrou

Leics Round 1 - Foxton to Bruntingthorpe

With Marta. Grey, but no rain. Chilly wind. Muddy in places. Lunch at Fleckney. Almost 10.5 miles.

Lock Keeper's Cottage Café Foxton

A great start to the day was coffee and a slice of fruit cake at Foxton Top Lock before we walked down to the canal towpath at the bottom of the flight of locks, and our official starting point for the Leicestershire Round.







Here's a link to some audio files



We walked over Bridge 62 and turned along the tow-path north, away from the Locks area. After a few hundred yards we crossed the footbridge, with its Leicestershire Round waymark and headed across the fields towards Gumley with the church spire and the tower of Tower House visible in the woods.

The path climbs up to the village and leads on to the Main Street, where we turned right and walked up past Tower House and St Helen's Church.





















We took the path by the church and near the wood, across a couple of fields to Debdale Lane.







We crossed this small road, going downhill quite steeply, then up again by a small wood called Smeeton Gorse. We arrived at the top of Smeeton Hill, where there is a bench. Today the views of Saddington reservoir were much clearer than in summer. The reservoir and channels were built to feed the canal.











A little grey, but lovely rolling countryside around Saddington. And yes, we had to go up to the village.



After going through Saddington we mad our usual mistake and ended up a little too far north, coming out near where the road forks to Fleckney on the left and Kibworth on the right. We walked a little way back to pick up the Leicestershire Round across afield to a gate part way along the hedge. From here you can see a clump of trees, hiding a pond. We made for the left hand side and then for the corner of the houses on the edge of Fleckney.



We decided it was lunch time, and walked an extra mile and a half or so to the Crown in Fleckney.



We returned and picked up the track we needed which turns southwest at the corner of the housing, and heads upwards. Once we joined the hedge we walked with this on our right for a while, and then on our left as far as the next road.



We crossed the road and walked straight ahead on a minor road for a short distance before turning on to the footpath to the left. For most of the way ahead the path is fairly clearly marked, and took us through various fields with cows and horses, before climbing up past New Inn Farm, and on to the A5199. We crossed this and walked along for a short distance to the road into Shearsby.

Shearsby church seen from the A 5199

perched on a hill

At Shearsby we took time for a mini-break, and a chat to a couple who have walked the Round before. There are convenient benches on the wide roadside verge.

We walked through the village, along Back Lane and Mill Lane and past some cottages which look like the model for a jigsaw puzzle.



Just outside the village the Leicestershire Round path turns right into a field. We kept close to the hedge - it is the route, and kept us from disturbing the cows too. The path here was fairly muddy. In the next field we kept the hedge on our right, and turned slightly left when we came to a small wooded area. After this spinney, we crossed the hedge, which was now on our left. We went gradually downhill, and passed more trees on the left, before crossing a very big field - the line is marked by the signs. In the next field, the path follows the hedge and joins a clear farm track alongside another two fields, before curving to the left and leading into Bruntingthorpe via Little End.

1716 Tithe Barn in Bruntingthorpe

Next leg's starting point.

Mouses, Mouses

Drats, we have mice in the hay shed, and storage shed. Again.

Monticello Swans

Swan Park looked truly magical with the trees covered in hoar frost!



This weekend I met up with my friend Roger in Elk River and we headed over to Monticello, MN to see and photograph a somewhat unusual animal gathering. Much like the Eagles that I photographed in Homer, Alaska a few years ago, there is a gathering of Trumpeter Swans along the Mississippi River in Monticello each winter. In Alaska, the eagles were fed for many years by "The Eagle Lady" Jean Keene, who tossed several hundred pounds of fish scraps to the Eagles each day. In Monticello there is a woman known as "The Swan Lady" who tosses food out to the swans each day, only in this case its corn and not fish scraps.



Above: Sheila's neighbor has constructed this photo deck, which can be used (for a fee) by photographers and bird watchers. It gives you a closer view of the birds, and gets you closer to eye-level with the birds on the water. All proceeds go to help Sheila pay for corn for the Swans.



The day we visited "Swan Park" along the banks of the Mississippi in Monticello, every tree in sight was covered in beautiful hoar frost. The previous night had produced some thick fog which froze to all the trees, creating a white winter wonderland! There are a couple of reasons why Swans (and Geese and Ducks) congregate here in the winter. One reason is the power plant that is just a little ways upstream... outflow from the power plant keeps the river water warm and ice-free all winter. The other reason is the food. Several years ago Sheila "The Swan Lady" started handing out some corn to the ducks that wintered on the river. After a while some Swans started to show up. Fast forward several years later and the Swans now congregate in very large numbers on this stretch of river. The day we visited the river there were easily several hundred Swans, as well as a fair amount of Canada Geese and various ducks.





Swan Park is a very small city park nestled in between two home sites on the banks of the Mississippi. From the parking area on the opposite side of the street from the park, you can easily hear the Swans as soon as you get out of your car. As you walk towards the park and get closer the river, the sound quickly becomes deafening. We spent about an hour and a half photographing the birds and by the time we left I swear my ears were ringing!

To see a video clip of the Swans, click here: http://www.travisnovitsky.com/Video-Clips/Misc-Videos/4207197_KrddQ





As the birds wait in preparation for their daily feeding, several small groups fly in one after the other from down the river. This makes for some great flight shot opportunities, as they usually fly right past you then circle around before landing on the river.





One of my favorite things to do when photographing birds in flight is to experiment with slower shutter speeds in an attempt to create artsy blurs of the birds. This takes some practice, though. Too long of a shutter speed and the bird won't be recognizable. Not slow enough of a shutter speed, and the photo will look just like an accidental "out of focus" shot. When you can get the right mix of the perfect shutter speed combined with a well-timed panning motion of the camera to match the flight pattern of the bird, the results can be magical.

If you're looking for a fun way to spend a winter's day, head over to Monticello to see the Swans. It is certainly one of those experiences that will be with you forever!

Blue Ice Warthogs are back in stock...

Photo courtesy of Dave Searle collection



I have a good numberof the Warthog packs back in stock. Pre-orders wereshipped today.If interested you can order onehere:

http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//04/blue-ice-gear.html

Tractor Work

My son has been here for the past week. It was really good to see him. He brought his big tractor and did a lot of work around our property. He took dirt from one place where it was to deep and put it in other places where it wasn't deep enough. Nothing like living on a moving sand dune.