Hey
Welcome to this little corner of the internet. Not completely sure what this blog is going to turn into. There may be a few photos, maybe a book review or two and possibly a few rants or thoughts. Who knows, but I do hope you decide to stick around for a while
🙂
Lizzie
In Killarney national park there is a well known attraction known as Torc Waterfall. Most people walk from the horse carts or the small carpark, up the 5 minute journey to the stunning Waterfall at the base of a mountain hike. The waterfall deserves a post of its own, plus I’ve already got a ton of photos in this post.
On the journey up, which we’ve done numerous times, we went slightly off the main path. We went down on the bank of the river and photographed it as it tumbled over stones and in one area you could even see how the river diverted its path around a fallen tree.
I visit these same places so often, but I love trying to find new photo opportunities and observing as the landscape or the river change over the years.
I love exploring and discovering new spots in some of my old Favourite locations. On this trip back in August, we spent quite a while walking around the perimeter of one of the lakes in Killarney national Park. We were taking photos through the trees and shrubs, where we eventually discovered a narrow path that led to a beach. What was interesting about that beach is that you could still see evidence of a fire that happened at the other side of Killarney park over a year prior. The waves slowly picking up charred bits of timber or soot from the other side of the lake, and carrying it here.
Over the summer while exploring a few of my Favourite locations we visit every year, I set myself the challenge of looking for the photos that others might not necessarily think of or see. Where as someone else may take photos of the surrounding Mountains or buildings, I already had some variation of those photos.
So I thought outside of the box. I changed angle, I got down lower, I zoomed in on some fallen petals or the bark of a tree and I looked at the beauty in the smaller details. Bellow are a selection of photos from various locations.
Back in August, I was given the opportunity to accompany my best friend and her aunt on a trip to Allihies in west cork. Allihies is an old mining town, located at the end of the Beara Peninsula and sits in a beautiful location with mountains on 3 sides and a stunning ocean view on the 4th side.
Back in 1812, a large copper deposit was discovered in the hills and mountains surrounding the town. The Puxley family then established a company to operate the bereheven copper mines at allihies, resulting in the biggest copper mining enterprise in ireland and transporting this remote village into the industrial revolution. These Mines eventually closed in 1884.
Evidence of this mining past is still visible around Allihies, with the ruins of three Large Cornish Engine Houses visible around the mountains. At the height of its operation, the mines employed almost 1500 people.
More information on the history can be found here
Allihies is a stunning little town, consisting of:
A collection of my Favourite photos taken in and around Allihies and surrounding areas over the space of 3 days.
I randomly decided to set up a Separate blog for displaying my cards, feel free to go check it out (even though there’s not much there yet.)
After a week or so of reorganising my craft space in the hopes of finding some inspiration, I finally decided to go back to basics and make cards for events that I new would be coming up soon. First up, is a cousins wedding next month. We won’t be attending due to restrictions but still […]
Wedding card — Elizabeth Fitzgerald Cards
Here in Ireland, we are currently in the middle of our 3rd lockdown which has been extended for a further 4 weeks. All non essential retail has been closed, along with restaurants, hairdressers etc. and we can’t travel beyond 5km from home unless it is for essential reasons. I live In a pretty large town on the outskirts of a city, with one busy riverside park running the length of the town that connects the local river to the historic gunpowder mills. That Park is always packed with joggers, dog walkers, and kids burning energy in the playground or skatepark. Not really the most peaceful or relaxing area.
Being in various stages of lockdown for most of the last year, and restricted in how far we can travel has made me realize how much I loved just being out in nature. As a photographer, and someone with an Anxiety disorder, I find that there is just something very calming and relaxing about hiking to the top of a mountain and looking down at the stunning landscape, or walking through the ancient glacier lakes of the Gap of Dunloe in Co.Kerry. I miss the quiet. I miss the scenery. I miss the Beauty of Ireland and the last few weeks I have found myself just wanting to get into the car and drive to the coast or to the nearest mountain range.
I want to be able to visit some of my favourite scenery again, or maybe even discover something new.
I know that I will get there again, and I know that it will be worth the wait…
But until then, I’ll have to make do with photos of the garden birds or that riverside park and wait not-so-Patiently…
Hello
I haven’t posted here in the last few months for a couple of reasons.
The first being almost non-stop lockdowns and restrictions due to the virus limiting the amount of photo opportunities I have had. At the moment here in Ireland, we are stuck with a 5km radius and there isn’t really anything scenic locally since I live pretty close to a city. There is one park but it is always extremely busy, especially on weekends.
I also have been concentrating on my mental health lately. We’re into our 3rd lockdown in Ireland and I’m finding this one the toughest of them all. It almost seems never-ending at times. Back in April or May, around the first lockdown, I was officially Diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder after dealing with anxiety for over 10 years.
Lockdowns and various restrictions have put most of the traditional methods for dealing with Social Anxiety on Hold so me and my team have had to use our imagination a small bit and alter our plan. My goal is to a get to a point where Anxiety is no longer in the driving seat, Where I am in control.
My Anxiety tends to get in the way of something as simple as posting on Facebook or Instagram so I find running a blog quite difficult. At least with photos, I don’t need to do the talking.
I hope to get better at posting here over time…
Until then, or until I can find a photo opportunity, this will have to do…
Below are some more Christmas cards that I made recently using the free kit from Issue 151 of Papercrafter magazine.
I haven’t been able to post any more photos here recently for a few reasons. First the hard drive I store my photos on started to die, resulting in some of the files for the more recent photos becoming corrupted. Then after that, my laptop started to die and I had to replace that. I still havent gotten any photo editing software for my new laptop. So that’s on hold for the moment.. But another one of my hobbies is card making.
There’s something about card making that I find very relaxing. It’s good for stress relief. I used to enjoy arts and crafts when I was younger but I only just started getting back into it in the last year. And that’s when I discovered card making. These cards below are some I made using the free kit that came with Issue 150 of Papercrafter magazine.
I’m still pretty new to this card making stuff so not very confident in my work yet. If anyone has any tips or advice let me know. 🙂
Now that the travel restrictions between counties in Ireland have started to ease we have started to go back exploring some of our favourite parts of west Cork and Kerry.
And given the gorgeous 25+ degree weather that we’ve been having lately we decided to head back out to the Gap of Dunloe near Killarney, co. Kerry, Ireland. For those who dont know, I already have a previous post on the Gap of Dunloe which can be found here.
The last time we visited the Gap of Dunloe back in the summer of 2019, it was your average Irish summer day. Warm but raining, and there was a layer of mist clinging to everything so it was nice to see the Gap of Dunloe on a clear, sunny day. (although I did have a bit of trouble with my camera lens fogging up due to the temperature so please ignore the slight hazy look to the photos..)
Lizzies Life 