noo noo

This is one of the noo noos that patrol the streets of Belfast, in theory cleaning up, but in practice (as far as I can see) mainly stirring the dirt about a bit and leaving a dusty cloud in their wake. Still, at least they're making an effort...!

I took this photo of a traditional market just off Henry Street when I was down in Dublin last week.

Well I can stop wondering now. The cable car I saw last week is in the upper-floor window display of a new fashion shop. (Sorry for the awful photo!)

Dekko

Now, unlike Stephen and Tara, I don't have a brand-new state of the art kitchen, but I do love my kitchen, and cooking, and have a weakness for gorgeous kitchen equipment, like these lovely pink 'headlamp' scales I found today in Dekko.

Dekko is a local interiors store, based very much on the IKEA model. It will be interesting to see how Dekko and other local stores cope when IKEA arrives in Belfast at the end of the year.

The University of Ulster Art College campus - on York Street.

This building, which until very recently was a crumbling mess, has just had a major facelift.

mysterious signs....

Over the last few weeks these spray painted signs have started to appear on the streets of central Belfast - I've particularly noted them in the Fountain Street and Cornmarket areas. I'd no idea what they meant until I saw a van belonging to a firm of 'underground mappers' parked in Fountain Street. I guess it might be something to do with the state of our sewers?

Lecale Way

My husband was out for a walk along the Lecale way near Dundrum and took these pictures. Dundrum is a little village situated on the shores of Murlough Bay.

Rushing through town this morning on my way to work, I saw this small cable car being offloaded from a truck. I didn't have time to stop and ask what was happening, and now I'm really wondering why on earth anyone would need a cable car in the city centre??

I passed these two having a chat in the city centre today, and when I passed again 20 minutes later they were still chatting away. I wonder what they were talking about?

Two more views of Mount Stewart House - from the Spanish Garden and the Sunken Garden.

Dinosaur at the Dodo Terrace.

Titanic town

The Titanic has iconic status in Belfast - it was built here at Harland and Wolff shipyard, and many Belfast families had members who were involved in its construction. There has been an exhibition of Titanic-related memorabilia at the City Hall all this week. This view is from the gallery looking down to the exhibition entrance.

Mount Stewart

Still on Easter break, so we took a trip out to Mount Stewart today. The top photograph is of Mount Stewart House viewed from the Dodo Terrace. This terrace is great fun, with lots of animal statues and a wall with gravestones for obviously much-loved family pets (such as the one for Sorbo the minature dachshund seen in the third photograph).

Once owned by the Londonderry family, the whole estate now belongs to the National Trust. The gardens at Mount Stewart were developed at the behest of Lady Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart (who was clearly not short of a few bob) and are well worth a visit, containing a wide variety of garden styles and amazing range of plants. It is a really beautiful estate, situated in one of the most gorgeous parts of Northern Ireland - just 20 minutes drive out of Belfast, at the side of Strangford Lough.

spring lambs

We didn't eat lamb on Easter Sunday, and after seeing these two, I was glad...

Dry-stone wall under Slemish Mountain. We went for a walk up Slemish this afternoon. I'm afraid I didn't make it to the top - it was just too steep and slippery for me. But the views from even half way up were lovely. The area surrounding Slemish is mainly boggy upland, suitable only for sheep farming and laced with lovely mossy dry-stone walls.

GPO

I took this photograph of the General Post Office in O'Connell Street, when I was down in Dublin earlier this week. I thought I'd post it today because of the Easter connection (the GPO was the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers during 1916's Easter Rising).

I know I've gone slightly overboard with views over Belfast recently, but I couldn't resist posting these photos. The weather has been wonderful over the past few days, with misty early mornings and a lovely golden light.

Eddie Spence's

I love the colour of these painted benches in Eddie Spence's Chip Shop.
Lilian Spence, the wife of the founder of this legendary east Belfast chippie, has recently celebrated her 108th birthday - must be all those pastie suppers!

Dublin Spire

A trip down to Dublin yesterday - this is the Dublin Spire, the fabulous 120 metre high sculpture in O'Connell Street. If you ever visit Dublin it is really worth seeking out - it is a stunning object, and if you stand right at the base, and look up, it is dizzying.

View through the trees to Helen's Bay, taken at Saturday's Lorne Walk.

House in Merville Garden Village

My 100th post, and this one is especially for Pat in Guelph, as she used to live in this house.
(My apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but I snapped it quickly from the car as I didn't want an angry householder to come out and shout at me!)