Monthly Archives: December 2017

Goodbye 2017

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So we find ourselves at the end of 2017. It has certainly been a mixed year in so many ways.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading. To those of you who took time to comment I really appreciate all your kind words, encouragement and interest.

And finally, I hope 2018 will bring much love and sunshine to all your lives.

crab apple in snow

crab apple in snow

Christmas Butterfly

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Look what decided to pop onto our lunch table on Saint Stephens Days (Boxing Day).

Butterfly

Butterfly

Poor thing much have pupated somewhere in the house and the warm temperatures made it emerge too early. We tried to give it some sugar water. It was about till yesterday but haven’t seen it today.

2017 – The Environmental Year

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I thought I would have a brief look at some environmental topics that were hitting the headlines both here in Ireland and wider afield in 2017.

  • Wild native Irish honey bees are still here.  A good news story for a change.
  • Melting ice, read more about the melting of the Larsen C iceshelf here.
  • Fracking. Thankfully onshore fracking was banned in Ireland earlier in the year, though it is still possible to do off-shore fracking. Still a huge step in the right direction.
  • Wildfires – California saw it’s largest ever wildfires in 2017. Over 40 people were killed in wildfires in Portugal and Spain. Canada, Greenland, Chile and southern Europe all experienced devastating wildfires during 2017. It has been one of the worst years for wildfires globally and many link the fires to climate change.
  • Hurricanes – both national and international hit the headlines. Hurricanes Irma, was the most powerful recorded Atlantic hurricane in written history. Hurricane Ophelia had been down-graded to a storm by the time she made landfall in Ireland. However, she was the most easterly Atlantic major hurricane on record. 2017 is classed as the fifth most active on record, with 17 named storms.
  • Other weather events – there was torrential rainfall the the NW of Ireland in August causing substantial flooding and property damage particularly in County Donegal.
  • Neonicotinoids are know to be harmful to bees and other insects including aquatic insects and there is increasing evidence that they affect other animals (e.g. songbirds) too. Research from England has found that 88% of tested rivers showed contamination by neonics. Of these eight rivers exceeded recommended chronic pollution limits, and two were found to be acutely polluted.
  • The Great Barrier Reef appears to be dying at a much a faster rate than scientists thought. Again climate change is a factor, as the reef suffers sever bleaching due to rising water temperatures.
  • Plastic in our oceans. This has been a growing problem for many years but this year it seems to have hot the headlines more. We produce over 270 million tonnes of plastic every year, half of which is simple use. over 7 million tonnes end up in our oceans. To learned more click here.
  • USA leaving Paris Climate Accord Agreement. This can only be bad news. Climate change is a global issue and we need to work together.

Let us hope that in 2018 the world will start to take note. Climate change and pollution are some of the greatest threats we face as a human race. We cannot keep abusing this place we call home, because if we do there will be no home left for us.

 

 

Almost there…..

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We are almost there,  and for any of you that are celebrating Christmas and have children in the house, the excitement, may be mounting exponentially.

In a time, when in Ireland, our homeless crisis is huge, currently over 8800 people living in hotel rooms or on the street, it makes me stop and think how lucky I am to have a house over my head (and no bank breathing down my back).

In a time when 767 million people live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day, I wonder at the excesses of Christmas? Like many, there will be more than enough gifts under our Christmas tree.

For the children, I try to include useful and practical presents like books and clothes. My daughter loves fairies so we’ve all being working on some presents for her. I gave my son the job of building a miniature fairy garden. My husband has made a fairy door and I have made her two fairies adapted from these tutorials by Untidy Artist.

fairy2

 

We’ve also made simple gifts for relatives. Being creative makes me feel a little better about the consumerism of Christmas, probably because I am as guilty as the next person!

Where ever you are this Christmas, whatever your circumstances, I hope that you find happiness and peace, and I hope you have time to enjoy the company of family and friends.

 

Windows

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I did have a few Irish window photographs but thought I would just post some of my Welsh windows for this week’s one a week photo challenge –window. Though perhaps some of them are taking the definition of window slightly too far!

Beaumaris, Wales
Dinefwr, Wales
Beaumaris castle, Wales
Llansteffan, Wales
Welsh castle
Llansteffan Castle, Wales
Caernafron Castles Wales

I would like to thank nanacathy and wild daffodil for hosting the one-a-week photo challenge this year. It has been fun to contribute when I could.