Birds at Castle Espie.

No, not the real birds. There's plenty of those flying about at Castle Espie but I was there to see an exhibition, 'FLYING SOLO' by Emma Hall.

I was interested in the little blue tit I'd seen on the card advertising Emma's exhibition as I had also made a blue tit recently.

Emma's was a lovely little needle-felted blue tit and so realistic, I was very impressed with the feet and claws on all her birds.

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There was a brilliant display of stitched toadstools on the mantelpiece. 

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This owl had a coat made with scraps of fabric and stitching and a lacy tummy!

Aren't they gorgeous? The nicest thing was a hedgehog curled up in some hay - and this owl was so cute with that fluffy tummy.

There were other needle-felted birds and animals, some paintings and embroidery.

It was a really lovely exhibition, I came away inspired to do better!

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From Castle Espie we headed off round Strangford to Downpatrick.

We stopped off at the Down County Museum and Historic Gaol.

This exhibition is on and there was a lot of jewellery on display, I would have needed ages to look at it all properly!

Too much stuff and I get confused but it is great for anyone with an interest in jewellery.

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On to Newcastle and a walk along the promenade.

If you look through the gap in this spire you see the top of Slieve Donard.

Turn around and you're looking towards the Slieve Donard Hotel.

Turn again and it's out to sea. 

                                               Then across the road and fish and chips for tea!

Hillsborough and the International Oyster Festival.

I was here this morning and it was wet. We have had such a lovely summer and it ended today!
My photos don't do the rain justice and typically, when something good is on, the weather has to put a dampener on it. Not a great audience for the drummers but people were still out having a good time.

The main street of Hillsborough was closed to traffic today.

People scurried in to the Gourmet Food Market to get out of the rain. 'Free' it said on the flyer.

 No, it wasn't free as there was too much tantalising food for sale.

Who could resist the Dundrum oysters? Me! I used to like cockles and muscles but I've never been tempted to eat an oyster. The guys were working flat out preparing platefuls of them.

Oysters, cockles, muscles with lemon.

                                                      I like collecting the shells though!

You could walk around the gardens of Government House today, it was really peaceful compared to the village centre.

Because of the rain I used my compact Canon camera today, but I missed my new Fujifilm. I would have been able to zoom in on these people with their colourful umbrellas.

There was a Soap Box Derby on. It was a slightly more 'upmarket' affair than the one I went to in Donegal a few weeks ago. Hillsborough had properly constructed vehicles, not half so much fun though as a bath on wheels, or a canoe, or an armchair complete with side table and lamp.

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It was all good fun, despite the rain.

There was a colourful stall of sweets on the main street.

Then the rain tipped down and we decided to head home, even the ducks looked fed up.

 

I never got to see the Oyster Eating Championship after all.

Neither did this pig.

On the beach.

   I was on the beach in Donegal again last week.

                                                                        Dunfanaghy

Bunbeg

shipwreck

                                                                           swimmers

                                     

                                                                              sea

                                     

                                                                          shells  

surfers

                                                                              sandy....

Sweet Cucumber Pickle.

My brother-in-law gave me some home - grown cucumbers.
I love making pickle but my husband can't stand the smell of it cooking.
This time he set up the camping stove and sent me out to the shed.
Funny he says the kitchen is all mine - so how come I'm not allowed to cook in it?!

This is a Katie Stewart recipe for sweet cucumber pickle:

2 medium onions             Fills 3 x 300 ml (1/2 pint) jars
2 large cucumbers
50g sea salt
350ml cider vinegar
350g granulated sugar
1 level tsp ground turmeric
1 level tbsp yellow mustard seed
2 level tsp celery seed or dill seed

The day before you plan to make the pickle, peel and slice the onions. Wash the cucumbers but do not peel them, slice thinly and place in a bowl with the onions and the salt.
Mix together and leave to stand for 24 hours. Pour away the salty liquid that accumulates. Rinse the vegetables in a colander under running cold water and drain very thoroughly.
Put the vinegar, sugar and spices in a large pan then take yourself off to the shed.  
Stir over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.

Add the cucumber and onion mixture and bring to a simmer.

Cook gently for 2 minutes then remove from the heat.
You can even relax in a garden chair while it's cooking!

I moved to the utility room for the bottling.

With a perforated spoon, scoop the vegetables and spices into jars, leaving the syrup in the pan.
Return syrup to the heat and boil for 5 minutes to concentrate flavour.
Pour hot syrup over vegetables - there should be sufficient to cover. Seal with lids while hot.

Good straightaway, but will keep for up to a year.

The smell of the pickle cooking was quite overpowering, so this time I think maybe my husband was right to send me out to the shed. Not sure about Health and Safety though!

Lady Dixon Park again...

Yesterday I was back at one of my favourite parks again. In the walled garden there are four circular beds planted with wild flowers. They are gorgeous.

I was mesmerized.

Festival of Flight, 2013.

Newcastle, County Down, last Saturday. Messing around with my new Fujifilm X20 camera and trying out its features. Still don't understand the half of it. How do you get interesting shots of aircraft when you're miles away from them and without a suitable lens? My husband says I'm more of a street photographer. Leave the aircraft to him!
The crowds gathered.

There was street entertainment while we waited.

Waiting required patience. The children amused themselves by throwing rocks in the water and             sailing their toy boats. Others looked on.

The rescue helicopter began the show.

There were other aircraft too but I left that photography to the expert.

Out of nowhere the Red Arrows appeared and soared high into the sky.

They swished ...

... swooped and swirled ... and then they were gone. As fast as that.

They painted the sky red white and blue.

The clouds were angry after that.