Finding the source of a river or two...

(This is not the mountain we hiked but it is pretty.)

For the May bank holiday weekend, Dad and I went on a four-hour hike up the Asbawn Brook and down the Glenreemore Brook. The day was absolutely wonderful - sun splitting the stones wonderful!

We started at the end of a typical Irish farm road and crossed the Glenreemore Brook via stepping stones. There was a bridge for crossing the stream but we think it was pulled down by high water levels during that awful winter a few years ago.
This is what's left...









After climbing up this pretty daunting part of the mountain and admiring the spectacular view, we reached the source of the Asbawn Brook. I don't think I've ever seen the source of a river before so this was quite special. The stream bed was full of pure white quartz too, shining up from the mud and grit. Pretty!



 We saw loads of deer along the route, always running away from us.



The second part of the walk was much nicer with much more gradual inclines. After we found the source of the Glenreemore Brook, we strolled down into the valley and ambled back to the car.





Wicklow is an amazing place for hiking - the terrain is boggy, soft, forgiving and  you get incredible views on a sunny day!

It was tough though, for sure. That steep section was nearly like climbing up a rock wall at parts. I wouldn't recommend anyone does this hike in any type of bad weather - we were lucky and had lots of sun but even so we needed to use a compass regularly. With poor visibility, I imagine you could easily get lost.

After the hike, we had lunch at the Village at Lyons, where I took some photos of my awesome nephew and his awesome grandparents!

A nicely active weekend!

This weekend was pretty awesome.

On Saturday, I ran five kilometres... Finally! I've been wanting to hit this distance for months now. It felt great! I walked home by the beach and snapped some pretty shots of Salthill in the sun.

Nothing beats Salthill in the sun!

And today, which, by the way, wasn't as pretty as yesterday (boo!), myself and a few friends climbed Diamond Hill in the Connemara National Park. It was absolutely incredible! I don't have photos from the drive but it was super pretty... Lots of mountains amid the bogs and grass and a few lakes dotted here and there.

The climb was really nice. The wind was strong on the way up, very strong, but the views really made up for it. This is one climb I'll definitely do again!

Oh, and we met two nice donkeys on the way up.

Hiking in Wicklow!

Last time I was home in Naas, my Dad, a friend and I went hiking in the Wicklow Mountains. Now, I'll add right now that I don't hike. I climbed Croagh Patrick last year and before then... I don't know when I was hiking before then! But it was suggested and I said fuck it!

When we woke up in the morning, the sun was shining. It looked like a perfect day to be up a mountain...
This was our view once we got to the base.

We couldn't see more than a few metres ahead. Even when we reached the top of the mountain, we only realised once we heard voices and the ground leveled out!

We ended up going up the larger of the two adjacent mountains and then down the wrong side. It turned out to be a nice detour. We pushed ourselves that little bit harder to climb an extra 70 m and we got to stroll beside this river to a small forest and some old houses.

See this rain? Yeah...

And this is what the mountain looked like when we got back to the base! Clearer, more inviting...

We were happy though and left triumphantly!

Currently

My awesome nephew is two months old!!!

Thinking about: How I didn't mean to take a two month break from this blog, but it seems to be what I needed. I've been very busy in college and have found myself minimising my life in order to keep my head up. It's been a nice break, to be honest. Now I want to start blogging again, but... nothing much is going on. I've mentioned before that I live a quiet life and often don't have anything of interest to talk about. Conversely, I also feel that I don't share enough about the present moment or about the little things here. So, when things get a bit quiet around here, I might start writing these Currently posts, inspired by Danielle. It'd be different to have a few blog posts populated by text instead of photos around here!

Looking forward to: Lots of things. This St. Patrick's Day long weekend.* A trip to London next week, a trip to Brighton in April. My driving test (!) next month and running a 5k the day after!

Making me happy: Running, yoga, exercise. I'm so glad to be running regularly now and upping my distance every week. I never thought I'd be able to do this and I'm so proud of myself every time I step outside for a run. I live for my Thursday evening yoga classes too. I feel so relaxed and rejuvenated after every class!

Reading: Emma by Jane Austen. Slowly. It's a good book, but I haven't had much time or head-space to read in the last month. I love Jane Austen though and think I'll really like this book once I get into it.

Watching: Speaking of Jane Austen... I've been watching The Lizzie Bennet Diaries religiously for the last nine months... And I love it!! Every Monday and Thursday, I come home and immediately take out my phone to watch the new episodes. It's so interesting to follow the character's conversations through Twitter and speculate about how they'll adapt the book to the modern day. I've been pleasantly surprised quite a few times! It's nearing the end but if you're interested, click here and get watching!

Listening to: The Pitch Perfect soundtrack. I watched the movie a few weeks ago and really liked it! I'm a sucker for musicals and the likes. This song, in particular, really helped me in the last five minutes of my run today. So good!

In other news, I'm sure everyone knows that Google Reader will be no longer in July... It makes me sad. I moved all my subscriptions and RSS feeds to Bloglovin yesterday. I'm not sure if I'm sold on it yet but I'll give it a try. So I'd like to invite all of you to Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Have a great (long) weekend everyone and enjoy St. Patrick's Day!

Fi 

*I know, I know, it's happening right now! But I'm most looking forward to having Monday off.

Crocheting again!

It all started with a hurricane and the prospect of days stranded in a house by myself, possibly without power. I had bought the yarn in August and didn't touch it until the end of October... Then I finally started on a blanket for little Ódhran and just didn't stop.

This beautiful blanket took me about a month to finish and then, because I had some white yarn left over, I made some cute little snowflakes for my housemates' Christmas tree.

I love crocheting!

My happy return!

Being home has been wonderful! More than wonderful, it's been everything I wanted! Family, friends, Christmas, food, laughter, etc, etc.

Christmas was really nice and relaxing. I was so content all the week and the arrival of little Ódhran made it extra special.

It was a week of rest between leaving Princeton and coming back to Galway.

And being back in Galway has been just as fun! It's like I never left. The streets and campus have changed a wee bit and, unfortunately, quite a few awesome people have left, but the feeling and the atmosphere is spot on! I've been enjoying meeting up with my friends for pints in various pubs and catching up in the office. I moved into a lovely house with Paul and our friend Hugh and, though it's been a transition from a large space to a smaller shared one, I'm loving it so far! The house is really interesting, with a fireplace and a stove - such a delight!

So Happy New Year everyone!!!

Have you any resolutions?

Mine is to simply be nicer to myself. Keep on with the running and yoga, which I had pretty much abandoned during December. Cook more at home and stop getting take-aways every week. And spend more time on me! I was volunteering so much last year and, though I love it and think it's super important, I've realised I'm in the last and most crucial year of my PhD and I need to focus on writing an awesome thesis and keeping myself happy and sane throughout.

So that's the plan. Simple.

Have a nice 2013, you lovely people!

P.S. I have some blog posts planned to wrap up my time in Princeton that I'd like to share with everyone, but they'll come in time.