Jean Reinhardt's Blog, page 15
August 15, 2019
Thursday Doors – Ice Cream With a View
I might have used this image for a Thursday Doors post in the past, so forgive me if it looks familiar. I was in my native village of Blackrock last month and as usual couldn’t resist taking some photos. I like how the old empty house has been dressed up to appear lived in. Much nicer than the usual boarded up windows and doors we often see on vacant premises. The building across the street is far from empty, having been repainted and reopened as an artisan ice cream parlour. In the old days it served as the village post office/grocery/sweet shop.
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This is the latest of three Storm in a Teacup artisan ice cream parlours to have opened along the east coast region. Here’s some info on this family business straight from their website:
‘Storm in a Teacup was a little family idea, that began in May 2010. The concept started as a tiny ice cream hut, selling beautiful ice cream concoctions from the pier, on Skerries Harbour. Since then, each family member has taken on specific responsibility for a new aspect of the ice cream business, to help it flourish & grow (all the while keeping things close to home & personal). One of the first projects, after opening, was to restore beautiful vintage ice cream vans. These vans have attended many festivals, weddings, parties etc. Following that, in 2015 the doors opened on a small production facility, based in Stamullen, Co. Meath. This facility makes beautiful handmade artisan ice cream, and for its efforts won an award.’ *
The rest of the building has been nicely painted, too. I managed to capture a reflection of the sky in the pane of glass over the side door but the weather wasn’t as dull as it appears there.
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You’ll see from the following shots that it was actually a beautiful day, perfect for an ice cream feast sitting on the sea wall watching the birds.
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Speaking of our feathered friends, Blackrock is a great place for bird-lovers.
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Thanks for stopping by. I’ll have a few more photographs from Blackrock next week but in the meantime, if you’d like to see some lovely Thursday Doors from around the world, have a look at Norm’s blog.
August 8, 2019
Thursday Doors – Goodbye Dublin
I’ve a mixed bag of goodies for this week’s Thursday Doors and they’re all in various locations around the city of Dublin. Of course, I had to start with a red door, followed by a fabulous old bridge.
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This next bridge was worth including, too.
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I would be doing a great injustice not to include one of the many monuments and fountains to be found dotted around the capitol.
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The Chariot of Life is a copper-bronze sculpture which is said to depict ‘reason controlling the emotions’. It is the work of Oisín Kelly (1915-1981) and was unveiled a year after his death.
There are quite a lot of unusual pieces of art on the streets of Dublin and some even have doorways included.
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There is also a pleasant mix of old and new buildings. Dublin is definitely not a city of skyscrapers.
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But most of all Dublin is known for it’s doors, so I think I should leave you now with a small sample to finish off this week’s Thursday Doors post.
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As always, thanks so much for stopping by. Norm has a great selection of Thursday Doors over on his blog this week, too.
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August 1, 2019
Thursday Doors – Still in Dublin
More photos from Dublin in this week’s Thursday Doors. The General Post Office or GPO is the headquarters of An Post, the state-owned provider of Ireland’s postal service. The foundation stone was laid in 1814 and took three years to build. A century later the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising used it as their headquarters and it was almost entirely destroyed in the rebellion, except for its granite facade. A fact I didn’t know till I did some research was that ground rent for the GPO continued to be paid to English and American landlords right up to the 1980s. Let’s take a look inside.
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Thanks for visiting this week. There are lots more Thursday Doors to be found on Norm’s blog.
July 26, 2019
Thursday Doors – Dublin
It’s been a few weeks since I last posted anything on my blog and I have to say I’ve missed not participating in Thursday Doors. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t on the hunt for them – you can take the woman out of Thursday Doors but you can’t take Thursday Doors out of the woman. While on a daytrip to meet up with some family in Dublin I took shots of various doors and buildings from around the city. The first one is of St. Thomas (Church of Ireland previously but now used by Anglican congregations). The original structure was destroyed in the Civil War of 1922 and this new church was built in 1931. Winner of the RIAI Gold Medal for Architecture 1932-34.
[image error]The Spire, taken from Henry Street.
The Spire of Dublin, also called The Monument of Light – An Túr Solais in Irish – is a very tall, stainless steel structure 120m (390 ft) high. It’s located on the site of the former Nelson’s Pillar on O’Connell Street in Ireland’s capitol city. Dubliners can be very witty and quickly ‘renamed’ it The Stiletto in the Ghetto. Here’s a closer shot of the Spire, designed by Ian Ritchie Architects, who sought an “Elegant and dynamic simplicity bridging art and technology”.
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At dusk, the base of the monument is lit and the top 10m (33 ft) is illuminated by light-emitting diodes shining through 11,884. I’m glad I wasn’t given the job of counting them. There’s a selection of doors of all shapes and sizes in the following gallery. Often it’s the upper levels that are more interesting when the ground floor is occupied by a retail store.
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If you’ve ever been to Dublin you can’t have missed Moore Street Market, one of the oldest of all the markets in the city to have survived. I’ll put a link at the end of the post for a short but interesting history. *
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It was first established in the 18th century and you’ll hear it before you see it. My mother used to bring me there on shopping trips to the city when I was a child and in my teens I spent every second Saturday roaming the streets of the capitol, absorbing the Seventies atmosphere in The Dandelion Market at the top of Stephen’s Green. Any of you readers of a ‘certain age’ who were living in Ireland at the time will remember The Dandelion.
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A store my mother-in-law loved to visit was Guineys, still trading, having first opened in 1971 and I just had to pop in and have a look around. Another well known Dublin store is Arnotts on Henry Street.
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It is Ireland’s oldest and largest department store, which opened for business in 1843 and is still going strong today. I’ll leave you with some random shots of doors and buildings that caught my eye as we left the city. Of course, there’s a red one included.
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Thanks for coming along with me on this short tour of Dublin City. If you would like to see some lovely doors from around the world, have a look at the links in the comments on Norm’s latest Thursday Doors post.
July 4, 2019
Thursday Doors
The first of my Thursday Doors images this week is edited to look like a painting. Lately, most of my captures have been from a moving car and this one was quite blurred but I love that rusty old patchwork roof and couldn’t bring myself to delete it. Hopefully, these next few won’t have you thinking you need to book an eye test.
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A few innocent bystanders were shot in the drive-by.
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Thankfully, they lived to tell the tale.
Thanks so much for coming along on yet another road trip with me. For a lovely international selection of Thursday Doors, carry on over to Norm’s blog.
June 27, 2019
Thursday Doors – Antrim
This first Thursday Doors features a lovely iron gate with the symbol of a blacksmith in its center. That’s a clue to where this week’s post comes from in County Antrim.
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The scenery surrounding Glenview Farm is so beautiful, I was already feeling relaxed by the time I arrived there. It wasn’t me going horse riding but one of my grandchildren. What’s the difference between a pony and a horse? A horse is usually at least 14.2 hands tall (four feet ten inches). Whereas a pony is less than 14.2 hands. This lovely animal being groomed by my grandson is the latter.
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Did you spot the old building in one of those shots? To my delight it even had red doors.
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The return journey was just as relaxing as the one there, especially as I wasn’t driving. Here’s a wee taste of the Antrim countryside we drove through but the camera doesn’t do it justice. A longer trip through the glens of Antrim is definitely called for.
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Click the link if you would like to find out more about Glenview Farm.
Thanks so much for joining me on this week’s journey. For lots of interesting Thursday Doors, have a look at Norm’s blog, you’ll find the links in the comments.
June 20, 2019
Thursday Doors – Red
All of these Thursday Doors were taken from a moving car and I concentrated on capturing as many red doors as possible on a two hour journey. Only a handful were clear enough to post (sorry but it was raining and we were in a hurry).
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[image error]This one had a real door but fake windows.
[image error]Red doors and red barns.
[image error]Red door trying to hide from me.
[image error]This one gets the prize for cuteness.
I did manage to snap a few more doors but they weren’t red. Next week I’ll feature a horse of a different colour. (Hint).
Thanks so much for stopping by and for lots of interesting Thursday Doors of all shapes and sizes, head on over to Norm’s blog.
June 13, 2019
Thursday Doors – Up North
I haven’t been to Father Ted’s house (if you’re familiar with the comedy series) but this first Thursday Doors image does remind me of it. I have grandchildren in the north-east and north-west of Ireland, so we spend a lot of time travelling to both destinations and the routes are full of opportunities to capture some interesting shots for my Thursday Doors posts. The one above looks like it was a much bigger property in the past but many of the doors and windows have been blocked up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get close as it was two fields away from the road.
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We went through the town of Augher, in county Tyrone, and I managed to get a shot of the old train station as the car slowed down in traffic. The next photo is of a stone bus stop shelter and I think there should be lots more of these. Much nicer than the perspex ones.
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The following shots were taken of random buildings in the various towns we passed through.
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[image error]Guess the missing letter.
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[image error]There’s a letter missing from this one, too.
Thanks for stopping by for this week’s Thursday Doors and if you’d like to see what other contributors have featured on their blogs this week head on over to Norm’s.
June 6, 2019
Thursday Doors – Facelift
This local building used to be a very popular dance hall back in the day and I’ve featured it before on Thursday Doors. Since then it has been through a fire but has been given a nice, cheerful facelift. Here’s what it used to look like;
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Amazing what a lick of paint and some creative artwork can do.
As for the beauty of nature, in Ireland we have a non-native species called rhododendron. It spreads rampantly by seeds and suckers and has been placed on the list of Invasive Alien species. However, the carpet of colour it creates is spectacular.
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I’m sorry for the blurred shot, this was taken on a recent trip to Donegal, in the extreme north of Ireland – from a moving vehicle. The next two photographs were sent to me this week by a friend who lives in the extreme south of the country, near a place called The Vee in the Knockmealdown mountains, on the borders of counties Tipperary and Waterford. We lived not too far from there many years ago and I had a view of the mountains from my kitchen window.
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This just goes to show how widespread the rhododendron is throughout the whole of Ireland. Here’s a beautiful video of the Vee, put together by Jim Owers. He has uploaded some fabulous aerial footage of Ireland, it’s worth subscribing to his channel if you have an interest in nature.
Thanks for stopping by for a colourful taste of Ireland on this week’s Thursday Doors and if you’d like to continue on this ‘doorscursion’ then check out Norm’s blog for an international cornucopia of doors.
May 30, 2019
Thursday Doors – Donegal
It’s been quite a while since I posted a Thursday Doors from Donegal. This one comes from Inch Island which lies just off the Donegal coast, at the start of the Inishowen peninsula. It covers an area of five square miles and is accessed by a causeway road.
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We passed a traditional Irish cottage on the way, with a red door.
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After a lovely scenic drive we arrived at a small, quiet beach and pier.
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On our journey to Inch Island we passed through a village with an unusual name.
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Burnfoot village, on the Inishowen peninsula in county Donegal, has a population of around 450 people. I have no idea why the name is Burnfoot in English but the Irish name for it is Bun na hAbhann, which means ‘river basin’.
We left the Gaffer with his cousin, Sid, while we took our trip to Inch Island. They get on well but Sid is a few dog-years older, so hasn’t as much energy as the Gaffer and likes to lounge in his bed most of the time.
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But guess what happens every time he leaves it to spend a penny.
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The Gaffer, never one to miss an opportunity, keeps it warm till he returns.
I hope you’ll stop by for another Thursday Doors post next week but in the meantime, Norm has some interesting doors over on his blog, well worth checking out.
