An October Sunset, Duncannon Beach, County Wexford, Ireland
A collection of images, all taken on my favorite beach in county Wexford – Duncannon beach, with its fort overlooking one end of the beach and a view down toward hook head at the other. The Sunsets here in October can be amazing and full of Autumn light 🙂 🙂
There are also pictures here of Molly, our much loved golden retriever, she is sadly no longer with us but she is always remembered and missed for moment like these ones. It was always great fun watching her exploring beaches and the sea, she love swimming so much she would spend hours returning sticks and balls from the water 🙂 🙂
Images without words – The life of the County Cork Sheepdog.
The Sheepdog
County Cork
Ireland
Nigel Borrington
Fond memories…..
Fond memory of Molly our very special Golden Retriever
Its exactly one year ago that we lost our much loved friend Molly, she was with us for 12 1/2 year and in that time shared such a great life with us.
The gap she left is just a little smaller than this time last year but as you can imagine she is still very much loved and in our minds all the time, she was special and as lots of dog owners know she made our lives special, in that she was in it….
for the great times we had with her 🙂 🙂
Molly xxxx
My Morning thoughts on Molly
Molly on a walk around the base of Slievenamon on the 20/11/2015
As many friends here know over the last three years I have been using my blog pages to share my Landscape photos, I am not sure if people realize that these posts were always more about shared walks for me and Molly our female golden retriever, deep into the Irish landscape and then using photos to recording these adventures , she was not always in every post or in all the landscape photos but she was always there alongside me.
This leaves a great legacy to Molly who sadly died peacefully last weekend, she was there with me for well over 1000 blog posts going back many years , this is however going to make the next few weeks and months so very hard in many ways, when returning to these places without her and I am a lot worried that as such my life has changed so much overnight.
I had a feeling after my last post yesterday that it could be taken as a goodbye to Molly but that could never be because she was with me for 12 years everyday and as such a goodbye would be simply impossible anyway!!!.
I see these moments and days into the future much more as a transition for her and me – YES!!! its a huge one but it was always going to be !!!.
She will always be with me and I can and have to find a way of embracing that !!!!
I have to grasp what has happened because I have to keep doing all the things we did together, the walks and all the visits to so many if not all the locations that I love around me, just like she did !!!
At the moment I am finding it almost impossible to go to any of these places, so I am house bound, I know sooner rather than later I have to get out and walking again otherwise my entire life has change to much!!
I found this great web page last night on these exact feeling I am having,
“Given the intense bond most of us share with our animals, it’s natural to feel devastated by feelings of grief and sadness when a pet dies. While some people may not understand the depth of feeling you had for your pet, you should never feel guilty or ashamed about grieving for an animal friend. Instead, use these healthy ways to cope with the loss, comfort yourself and others, and begin the process” More….
and gave it a good read, its very good as are so many pages of this topic 🙂
The experience of molly’s death at the weekend was peaceful for her but traumatic to be very honest for us, we were fully involved with her life right to the very last second of it and I am so pleased with this being the case, but OMG it’s hard in these days and hours since then !!!
The picture above was taken only on the 20/11/2015 and as you can see she was very healthy, slower with her age but for her age she was very good.
I do have that fact to hold on to.
I want to share these thoughts here because like I say Molly always had a massive place here over the years and she still does, its going to be very hard to work-out how to deal with her involvement into the future, I do however feel that she has one as I could not step out of the door at the moment with my camera, without feeling she is still here with me !!!
I love the Irish landscape so much though , so this blog does not stop here !!!!!!
A post just For you MOLLY !!!!
To Molly our Pal and great Friend
Molly, So many memories
Over the time of my blog, I have posted many times about Molly our Pal and great Friend for the last twelve and a half years. A great girl and much loved doggy.
Sadly she very peacefully left our sides on Saturday the 5th Dec.
She had a wonderful life with us and we had a very enriched life because of her. She loved and lived every moment sharing and giving so much back to us and to all who met her and those she loved.
While we are heartbroken,we do know that she’s been a real gift. From puppy to old lady, she has been a joy. We miss her already so very much.
We all miss you Molly, and love you too great girl.
County Waterford , Ireland – An October’s walk along the Coast.
An October walk along the Waterford coast
Irish Landscape Photography
Nigel Borrington
Molly is our 12 and 1/2 year old Golden retriever and she loves nothing more than being in and around water – as often as she can !!! Rivers, Lakes, and the Sea. I often think that if it was not for her I would not have visited as many wonderful places here in Ireland, just trying to keep her walked and fit!!!, but being over 12 years old now, she has slowed down a little but still loves her swimming and coastal visits.
I also love visiting the Irish coastline, our nearest locations are along the county Waterford coast, with its rocky small coves and caves its just a perfect and dramatic coastline in many ways.
October is a great month for these visits as the mornings bring rolling in sea mists and dramatic waves as the temperatures slide slowly into the winter months …..
A walk along the Waterford coast line : Gallery
Ode to the Coast , Poem By : John Cooper Clarke
Ode to the Coast
By : John Cooper Clarke
A big fat sky and a thousand shrieks
The tide arrives and the timber creaks
A world away from the working week
Ou est la vie nautique?
That’s where the sea comes in…
Dishevelled shells and shovelled sands,
Architecture all unplanned
A spade n bucket wonderland
A golden space, a Frisbee and
The kids and dogs can run and run
And not run in to anyone
Way out! Real gone!
That’s where the sea comes in
Impervious to human speech, idle time and tidal reach
Some memories you can’t impeach
A nice cuppa splosh and a round of toast
A cursory glance at the morning post
A pointless walk along the coast
That’s what floats my boat the most
That’s where the sea comes in….
That’s where the sea comes in
Mornings and Coffee, Poem By : Gabryela Speaks
Morning Coffee
Image : Nigel Borrington
Mornings and Coffee
By : Gabryela Speaks
Feb 2 2015
Cold mornings, warm coffee
The aroma comforts me
Pushing the freezing moment
of having to recall you.
You used to sit with me.
You would look into my eyes,
flash a beautiful smile
and I always wonder
what you see
But one day,
you stopped being you.
Four feet Friday !!! , “Four Feet”, by Rudyard Kipling
Four Feet Friday
Molly our Golden retriever
This is Molly our somewhat aging but much loved Golden Retriever, Aging very well I am happy to say 🙂
I took these images while on a walk with her yesterday in some local woodlands and was reminded of this Kipling Poem.
I think he captured so well the love and loyalty that pets bring to our lives and in the last, the memories that they leave when they are no longer able to be with us on their daily walks, of which I don’t think Molly has every mist a day. Mainly because I only need to go near the back door and there she is looking up and sitting down ready !!
I have enjoyed every walk with her four paws – in front and sometimes behind 🙂
Four Feet
by Rudyard Kipling
I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can’t forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.
Day after day, the whole day through —
Wherever my road inclined —
Four-Feet said, “I am coming with you!”
And trotted along behind.
.
Now I must go by some other round, —
Which I shall never find —
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.
by Rudyard Kipling
Views from the Old Bridge , Landscape Gallery
Views from the old Bridge
GlenPatrick, County Waterford.
Irish Landscapes : Nigel Borrington
One of the walks I always love doing with Molly our Golden retriever is through the woods at Glenpatrick, County Waterford and up into the mountains above. There are some great old mountain paths here that wind their way through the Comeragh Mountains and the landscape views are just wonderful.
One place I love to stop and rest and let Molly swim for a while is at an old bridge, the images posted here are takes from this bridge, its a great spot on a sunny morning but wild on a stormy winters day.
Images from the Bridge : Gallery
Keeping cool in the rocky river.
Molly after a river swim,
Glenmorgan, clonmel
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Yesterday evening myself and Molly went for a walk in the woodlands above Clonmel, county Tipperary.
It been warm this week and keeping a retriever cool is a task these summer days. The river at Glenmorgan however is in a deep narrow cutting and its always shaded and cool, with deep pools of cold water for her to swim in.
This is one of our best local walks and a true escape of a warm July evening.
Glenmorgan, River : Gallery
Keeping a golden retriever cool , an afternoon summers swim
Our golden retriever , Molly Swimming, June 2014
Keeping our golden retriever Molly cool on these hot summer days is a puzzle , however she loves a summers swim and really makes the most or our local rivers.
She loves retrieving sticks and stones from the river bed and finding her some shade and cold water is a great way to cool her down.
A walk along the beach , Images and a Poem
A walk along the beach at Tramore, County Waterford
Landscape photography : Nigel Borrington
A walk along the beach at Tramore
The sight of sunlight shining on the water just dazzling,
The sound of waves breaking delicately on the sand,
The feeling of the suns warming my skin,
The cool wetness of the sand between my toes.
Fellow dog walkers passing by,
Saying hello and talking for a while,
Their dogs swim and bring back sticks,
The marks they level in the sand,
Smoothed again by the waves.
.
The fresh breeze moving through me,
Slipping across the water a sea bird gliding silently,
The salty sea air carrying her to deeper waters.
Above me seagulls friends swirl singing their daily song,
Before diving down into the sea to snatch a fish.
The breeze and warming sun feeding my soul,
The enchanting pleasures of sight and sounds,
I breathe in the wonderful scent of salt water that fills the air,
The intoxicating aroma of wildflowers thick along the dunes,
A feeling of contentment fills every corner of my being,
As I walk along the beach I realise… Life has true beauty…
Images from a field of blue bells – Poem : ‘The Bright Field’ by R. S. Thomas
Our dog Molly, In the Blue bells field, Slievenamon, County Tipperary
Landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Located on the west slopes of Slievenamon , County Tipperary, is a small yet wonderful little field .
To reach it you have to walk some thirty minutes through wood-lands and up a mountain track, finally reaching a gate. The site that welcomes you in May is that of a field full of blue bells and an old derelict farm cottage. This cottage would be able to tell some amazing stories and if it only could!
Above the field are the mountain slopes that I am much more use to seeing, with mountain heather and scrub lands, streams and baths.
I have visited this field many times, its a great location during the summer and a wonderful escape and resting place after a walk to the top of the mountain.
I just wanted to share one of my most loved local locations here and also one of my most loved Poems by R. S. Thomas, which I feel is perfect for this post ….
The Bright Field
by R. S. Thomas
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realise now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
The field a Gallery
Life between the Storms .
Life between the Storms
Today here in Ireland we are experiencing our eighth storm in eight weeks, with winds up to 160 kmph, the rivers are still flooded and we are are due two more storms before the weekend.
Yet life goes on, I took these two images of people going about their lives one getting his new paper and the other walking his dog.
As always life goes on but when its raining and the weather is very bad the doors get shut the fire is set, the newspaper is read and the dog is in his basket….
A swim at Glenveagh national park.
A swim at Glenveagh National Park
Irish landscape Photography : Nigel Borrington
Molly is our ten year old Golden Retriever and she just loves the water, here are some images of her as she was taking a swim the the lake at the Glenveagh National Park, Co. Donegal.
Glenveagh National Park
Glenveagh National Park is one of six national parks in Ireland. Situated in the Northwest of Co. Donegal, Glenveagh encompasses some 16,000 hectares in the heart of the Derryveagh Mountains. Such a great wilderness is the haunt of many interesting plants and animals. These lands were managed as a private deer forest before becoming a national park in 1975. With the completion of public facilities Glenveagh National Park was officially opened to the public in 1986.
Gallery
Photo restoration
Restoring the past
During last week I was working on some only Family albums and wanted to share this image of two family dogs taken way back in the 1920’s in America.
The first image is of the photograph in its current condition and the second after I have spend some time restoring it to the best possible condition I can achieve while keeping the image looking very natural for its age.
Nigel Borrington 
January and some thoughts about Molly
January , Thoughts on Molly
Molly was our much loved friend and companion for over twelve years, she featured many times here and visited most if not all of the locations that I have posted about.
She sadly passed away at the start of December but she had a great life with a walk everyday and she must have visited Ireland from the top to the bottom of the island during her time.
The places she loved the most always had water for her to swim in, as she loved fetching stones and sticks from the bottom of rivers, bringing them back as a present> she could stay doing this all day if we at some point did not want to move on.
Here I just wanted to share two of the many images I have of her , looking very please with the moments she was enjoying 🙂
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January 28, 2016 | Categories: Comment, dogs, Molly and me, Story telling gallery | Tags: Dog walks, dogs swimming, Golden retriever, Memories, Molly, Nigel Borrington, pets | 17 Comments