Craig and Alison welcomed Isla Buchanan (that’s pronounced eye-lah), a 8lbs 11oz, happy, healthy little girl on Saturday, July 28th. I was lucky enough to be a ferry ride away and was able to go and visit her. She’s sooooo sweet. Congratulations to you guys! Can’t wait to see you again in November. More photos of Newmill Farm on the way….

Nickie had her baby!
Mercier Sophia Campbell
7lbs 6oz & 19 1/2 in
Mother and baby are both well….

On Sunday, we went up to “The Sliding Pools.” These are a series of waterfall that are up in the mountains behind Carnlough. Apparently, it’s lots of fun to jump off the waterfalls into the pools below. Considering I was wearing a sweatshirt (because it was COLD), I opted out. No one could understand why and I think they all thought me a wet blanket. But seriously, no thanks! It’s cold. I’m from Texas. Can we build a fire? Which we did, by the way. You know, because it was COLD. Anyway, everyone had a great time jumping off the waterfalls and into the pools. Yelping each time. You know, because it was COLD! After everyone got out, there was a quick rain shower (which we managed to BBQ in anyway), everyone dried out and went from shivering blue to pink again, we decided it would be a fantastic idea to camp. This was tons of fun until it came to actually sleeping with 4 people in a 3 person tent, on the cold ground, me at the bottom of a downward slope, rock in my hip (ouch) and a throw blanket for warmth. Oh well, it was a really good time up until that point.

To get to the Pools you go to the top of Waterfall Road (seen in a previous post), go through 3 gates, jump over 4 fences, duck into a break in the bushes, shimmey down a wet slope aided only by hanging tree branches, shimmey down ANOTHER wet slope aided only by tree branches, jump across the rocks on top of one of the waterfalls and there you are. No, it appears that it’s not a public area. I thought it was pretty difficult to do all that jumping and shimmeying until the next morning. You know shimmeying UP a couple of wet slopes aided only by hanging tree branches and hiking back up to the road. Oh goodness. It was far too athletic for me at 5:30am. But I recommend it anyway.

New website is up:

ashleygarmonphoto.com

Pass it on….

It’s just a rainbow and a sunset. But the light is beautiful, so I had to post it. This kind of light happens a lot here.

To work off all of the bacon, sausage, meat, champ, chips and chocolate, there is a beautiful waterfall in Carnlough that is a decent walk. Some might call it a light hike. Unfortunately, I think we’d probably have to walk it three or four times a day to really balance out the consumption. Oh well. The walk up provides some lovely views. We are particularly fond of this amazing modern house the looks completely out of place. I guess it’s the starkness of it that I love and the giant windows that face the view of the sea. Must be nice…

Hey folks. I’ve been up the east coast this week and haven’t had a chance post yet. But I’m back in Belfast and happily enjoying wireless internet in the apartment. The weather here is glorious. Although, everyone that live here keeps apologizing about the rain. It has rained a lot. But in between, there are glorious bits of sunshine and a breeze that reminds me of Colorado in the summertime. Ahhhhhh….coming from the oppresive heat of Austin’s summer, this feels like a gift everyday. The photos posted are a veiw of Belfast from Conor’s apartment (obviously between the showers). More to come….

I’m leaving in 4 days and the pups totally know. They keep giving me these looks. Which isn’t really different than other days. There’s just a bit more pacing and lurking than normal. Jude has a habit of licking her leg (raw) when she’s nervous and this has increased as well. You can see this in the third photo. Awww…the pups. Gotta love their guts.

I was the last person off the plane and the flight attendant said “hey watch this.” Then she proceeded to flip herself over and close the overhead bins with her feet. That’s not a bad trick at all.

Gary found a smiley face in his sausage at brunch today. It’s not Jesus, but it is SOMETHING noteworthy. So, there you go. Happy Sunday Funday.