Peat

Weekly Photo Challenge: Danger!

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From County Cork, Ireland.

 

One of the interesting features of the grounds around Blarney Castle is the Poison Garden.  As the name implies, the plants here are various poisons, including wolfsbane, mandrake, and ricin.  There are signs basically warning you to enter at your own risk, and not touch anything!

Pictured here is common juniper, Juniperus communis, a very common ornamental shrub (especially common in Ireland, too).  The berries are edible, but bitter.  They have some medicinal uses, even possibly acting as a contraceptive or abortifacient.  They are also thought to be toxic to dogs.

Remember, the poison is always in the dose!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Danger!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust

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From Dingle Peninsula.

This trip that I have been documenting in my Weekly Photo Challenges was an eight-day trip around Ireland that I took with my mom in 2015.  This particular morning, we had been scheduled to walk on the beach in Dingle, but our tour guide had a better idea: a hike up a little hillside through some farmer’s fields to find some old ruins and a Famine graveyard for unbaptized babies.

We wandered past some ornery goats, some picturesque cows, and through tall, wet fields, all the while getting such lovely views as this one.  I’ve often found that just doing some wandering is the best way to see and understand a place.  I certainly came away with a great appreciation for Ireland!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wanderlust

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

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From Dublin, Ireland.

These big, beautiful maple trees stand stately in the courtyard of Trinity College.  This is apparently an Oregon maple, Acer macrophyllum–the scientific name means “big leaf maple.”  They are not native to Ireland.  The story is that they were planted to help support the marshy ground; the big roots would stabilize and drain the earth so the nearby library would stop flooding and crumbling.

I found this fascinating booklet about Trinity’s trees in a Google search.  This tree is A5 in the legend.

We’ve definitely done this theme before, so I had to come up with something new this time!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

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From Connemara, Ireland.

A peat bog is a common sight in this part of Ireland.  The peat (also called “turf”) is cut up into bricks and dried to be used as a fuel source.  You can see a pile of the bricks in the midground.

There are also white tufts of bog cotton, which has various uses.  The Earth provides so much for us in many ways.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Earth

Weekly Photo Challenge: Optimistic

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From Connemara, Ireland.

A peek at the blue sky between the grey clouds—typical Irish weather!  This is a peat bog in the beautiful Connemara region.  The turf is cut into bricks and left out to dry; it is a traditional fuel source.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Optimistic