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The sun came out in Ireland today for the first time in two weeks... A great start to the year!

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A habit, even one as ill-formed as mine, once broken even for a few days takes a long time to re-establish. Is it a cliché to say that "blogging more" is a new year's resolution? Ah well, I can only try.

So what of 2010? There are so many aspects of the year's end that I want to remember... the last-minute crafts and presents, the time spent running around Ireland to spend time with friends and family. But something I'll never forget is the weather. Ireland experienced the coldest December on record, and during the week preceding Christmas day, it seemed that the temperature never rose above 0 Celsius. There was travel chaos for many - we were lucky we had taken early holidays and made it home before the craziness began. The snow and ice made for some amazing photographs though - with everything appearing frozen solid, and a steaming-warm sea (so (relatively) warm that I even could take a dip on Christmas Day!).

The windscreen, early in the morning.

Barnesmore and Donegal Bay.

Benbulben.

A hungry robin. My mum kept the birds well-fed!

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Assaroe Lake, frozen (almost) solid.

Béal Átha Seanaidh.

A very cold Rory Gallagher.

A steamy sea, Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day Dip!

Urgh.. what another long break from posting that was. Life and work were just really busy recently and left no time for anything else. But now I'm home in Ireland for Christmas, and hoping to have lots of time to blog! Which may be the case if the weather turns wintery again and we get more snow. I was gobsmacked when I saw the picture below - taken from a satellite on the 2nd of December... I have my fingers crossed for a white Christmas!

er.... what was I saying?

I feel like I just popped out for a litre of milk, but disappeared off on a two-month fugue. I have a hundred (bad) excuses for my disappearance... the interminable summer heat that literally sucked the life from me, the marathon training, and of course, work. But now the autumn is here and I have lots of things to show and tell! Starting with a summer summary. Tonight, June! Be prepared, it's a long post!

June started with a brief visit home to Donegal and Dublin, where we spent a lovely afternoon in Stoneybatter...

...had some great coffee in Lilliput, thanks to Sherlyn & Joe...

...and spent a wonderful evening drinking Guinness with friends.

Then...