Thursday Doors – A Mixed Bag

This week’s Thursday Doors post is a bit of a mixed bag. July has been lovely with dry, sunny weather. Less travel restrictions have resulted in friends and families reuniting and a semblance of normality returning almost everywhere. Not too many international tourists about but plenty of the country’s own residents taking ‘staycations’ instead of holidaying abroad. One of our trips was to Blackrock in County Louth, which is where I took this shot of the sundial sculpture. I know I’ve featured it before on the blog but it’s in such a great setting, I couldn’t resist another capture.

One of the many lakes in County Cavan is Lough Ramor in Virginia. This bench is perfectly situated for taking in the beautiful view, except for the fact that the seat is missing.

Close to the ‘seatless’ bench there was a tree that had tied itself in knots, as if stating that it wasn’t going to provide any straight planks of wood to replace that seat.

On another walk in a different woods I came across this lovely mushroom specimen. I’m sure it’s a Dryad’s Saddle, which is edible. So I took a small piece to bring home and sample but after only a short time frying in butter it was very rubbery in texture. I’ll have to get there earlier next year and harvest some at the right time.

Living in county Cavan, I don’t have to travel too far to enjoy a summer in the countryside. The water level in the Erne river that runs through Belturbet is very low at the moment and on most days is so still it looks like a mirror, as you can see from this image of the old railway bridge.

I was recently told of an interesting feature in one of old stone walls that once surrounded the military barracks in Belturbet. I usually walk on the other side of this wall because it runs along the marina and that’s why I’ve been missing it.

I think it came from an older barracks that was built in the 17th century, on the other side of the river. It refers to William of Orange or King Billy, as some would say. Another engraved stone is one of many road and way markers that are dotted around the countryside.

I think this one may have something to do with the river, as it’s a bit different from the usual old road marker. I know this is a pretty mixed bag of photos for this week’s blog but it was fun collecting them. No links to other blogs this week as our host is taking a short break at the moment. But in keeping with the title of this post, here’s a door I’ve never featured before.

This is the door to our local Men’s Shed. If you’ve never heard of it before it’s a community based project that was started in Australia in the 1980s where men meet up to learn, share skills and often make long-lasting friendships. The movement has spread to many countries and in Ireland we have the most sheds per capita with over 450 of them being visited by at least 10,000 men every week. Most sheds engage in woodwork, gardening, carpentry and community work. But some also focus on music, fishing and other special interests. In Belturbet they are involved in the restoration of an old railway carriage.

Thanks for joining me for this week’s mixed bag of Thursday Doors from various parts of the country.

Advertisement