September 21, 2003
Easy Pickings
September has been a glorious month. Every time it seems that the summer has finally gone, another hot sunny day comes along, lifting the spirits of the people and the land itself. Flowers that had begun to fade, rise again, and produce yet another swathe of blooms. In my own little sheltered garden, poppies (both garden and Californian) that began blooming in June are still standing tall, the clusters of sweet peas are still climbing (and the delicate scent still welcomes me home every evening) and the salvia horminum still provide splashes of pink and purple.
Yesterday, I stood on Benchoona overlooking Little Killary Bay - it was a glorious day. You could see InishTurk (Inis Toirc), Cahir Island, Clare Island and the cliffs of Achill from Croghaun down to Achill Head.
The graveyards of Pollatomish - looking across Sruwaddacon Bay, Co. Mayo.
Looking up the Mayo coast, it was hard to believe that the previous night, torrential rain had caused a landslide at Pollatomish, demolishing the road and damaging houses. Mercifully, no-one was injured.
We headed down to Carrickduff beach afterwards to pick mussels for chowder. 
The motherlode - Irish blue mussells on Carrickduff beach, Co. Galway.
The mussel shells are bigger than those on Doorus, where we collected mussels last week, but the mussels were smaller.
The latest in high-tech mussell-picking equipment
When we were on Doorus (the peninsula west of Kinvarra), there was a Dutch lady digging for clams - she had a fair haul but it seemed like hard work. On Carrickduff, there were a few swimmers and plenty of walkers. Most people strolled over to the island (accessibleat low tide) at the end of the beach to look at the 'fortress' (built by a Czech movie company).
Maybe we should get them to 'jazz up' a few of our monuments around the country.
Posted by Monasette at September 21, 2003 11:04 PM | TrackBack