June July and August

Hmmmm, from 9-5, Monday to Friday, from Oxegen to Switzerland, from Carlow to Lahinch, not having two minutes to myself- here's a few pic's that make up June, July and August.

Main stage in Oxegen

Ben Folds at the O2 stage on Friday eve of Oxegen

Andy bouldering in Cresciano, Switzerland

Beautiful butterfly I saw on the way to Leighlinbridge along the Barrow, whilst walking with Mum

This weird foam on the beach in Lahinch this weekend, kids playing in it - it reminded me of the foam on top of a creamy Latte

Radiohead

Went to see Radiohead in Malahide Castle last weekend and they were brilliant. The concert went off to a great start - with rain in the interval. But this only enhanced the day - as the sun came out as Radiohead took the stage - and a full arc rainbow framed the crowd. How fitting ??

Myself, Andy and John

Siurana / Rodellar

I've just put some climbing, scenic and people shots on my flickr website.

Watching the rain in Rodellar

8 of us left Ireland on Saturday 24th May aiming to climb for 10 days in Rodellar, where we met Al and Aoife. We left blissful sunshine in Ireland and arrived to much the same in Reus. This didn't last long, not long onto the road, the rain came tumbling down and stayed that way for the next 3 days. So much so that we opted out of the seaping tufas in Rodellar in favour of the blank fast drying faces of Siurana and Margalef.

Al falling in Siurana


Sean on ?? in Alquezar

Barry on 7b+ in Margalef, Eoin belaying

Rain and Roses

Much as we complain about the rain - it brings out the beauty in nature!

Dublin Dockland's at Sunset

Dinasaur Jnr

A week ago I'd never heard of them, last weekend I was listening to their CD and on Tuesday I ventured to their concert :) Great concert - but oh my God it was loud, my ears were still ringing when I went to bed on Wednesday night!!



Crappy camera phone photo - if only I'd brought my nikon - next time :)

Life is like a Box of Chocs

What with my not so new job (anymore) and a few other new things I have been staying away from my laptop in the evenings.. but I have been attempting to keep active since Montenejos. Most of which have been divided between trips to the Burren and trips to Wicklow!!

Viv bouldering at the back of Big Jim, Glendalough


The Girls - bouldering in Doolin (photo by Andrew Speer)


Andy bouldering in Doolin


Bouldering in Doolin, Andy climbing, Beth ahem - spotting :)

Montanejos

I am just back from 10 days of Spanish sports climbing. Great trip - good company, good food & good climbs - what more could a girl ask for :)

Myself, Eoin, Andy and Claire headed to Valencia to make the most of the Paddy / Easter break - 3 days holidays for 10 days climbing. Paul & Beth came out to join us mid way. Kev Moroney joined us from Toulouse and we met up with Pierre and Katya for a couple of days. As the time got closer to the trip - we turned in typical cheapo climbers. With a lot of googling, I managed to find the cheapest car rental - rental from the Denia butterfly company. On arriving in the airport, we headed off in search of the rental agency - none to be found. Back the the info sheet and we realised that it came with directions. Top story of the car park - look for parking spot 496 - there you should find a portable office. Low and behold - they were right - a caravan... deguised as an office. We picked up our little Seat Leon and headed on our merry way - naturally getting lost and circling the airport two or three times, not to mention circling other roundabout - finding ourselves on road parallel to those we actually wanted - but with no way of getting onto them.. Hmmm - yes I was driving and no I still don't know my left from my right.

Montanejos is a little village about 150 KM northwest (I think) of Valencia. The climbing is scattered around a couple of little gorges, most of which is within walking distance from the refugio where we stayed.

When we weren't climbing we were chilling,

getting wet,

playing,

eating good food,

and of course climbing :)

Surprise Surprise !!

Thanks to Maeve's fantastic and secret organisational skills, last weekend I had a surprise birthday celebration. As I headed into town to meet a few people for a quiet dinne - boy, did I get a surprise to walk into the restaurant - to see about 13 or 14 of my friends sitting around the table. It was fantastic - thanks guys you really made my birthday special...

Learning about Filters .... the digital way :)

The Original Image


Using PS filter I generated these images :) My favourite is the infraread one!!



Left: Green Filter, Center: Infrared Filter and Right: Yellow Filter

Family Reunion

The weekend before last I went to Norfolk for a family reunion, my uncle's 60th birthday - it was the first time in 8 years since the entire family got together - some photos from the festivities in true McGloughlin, Cumming & Goodbody style :)



The whole clan - brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, cousins, grandparents, nieces, nephews, 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations :) The question is: who belongs to who and do we all look alike ?



The cousins and new additions


The cousins in order of height, i'm the littlest now..


The cousins in order of age



As it was in 2000, now if only I could find the one from 1995 :) See I wasn't quite the smallest then!!

Snowboarding, Les Gets

Just back from a long weekend snowboarding in Les Gets. What a great little (or not so little resort). After last winter in New Zealand - I had become accustomed to short runs & minimum lifts - but what a surprise to be back in the European Alps, long long long long runs and bucket loads of lift - I was in heaven.. well not quite, it hasn't snowed in a couple of weeks and there was no powder - so were were restricted to the pistes, which was a pity - there was so much potential.



As with all good trips - small disasters must occur - sure ya need a story to tell :) Snapped binding, ripped boot, salopettes and board bag (all mine) & a pulled muscle (not mine)!!



Photo & piste map from Les Gets official website

Beauty in Dublin !?!

Yesterday, the sun came out. I got up early to reap the benefits the day had to offer. Sunrise on Sandymount beach served as a little reminder, don't have to look very far to see the beauty in the world. You can find it anywhere, you just have to look.

Like old times ...

... and so it was "the Glendo Club Trip "

Thinking about old times and getting to know the new folk - it was a night of chit chat, drunken banter and lots of laughter. I think the photos speak for themselves - have a look :)

Night Shots

I do like little challenges and I was lucky enough to recieve a tripod for Christmas. So on Sunday evening, me, my tripod & camera, piled ourselves onto my bike and headed for the river to photograph the Custom's House.

What do you think?

Active Times

I feel revitalised after my active weekend. I got out of Dublin briefly on both Saturday and Sunday :) Up to Ballinastoe on Saturday for some mountainbiking on the tracks and a hill run on Sunday - a couple of laps of Howth head. I am happy to say on both days I came home head to toe covered in muck :) It was great !!

Silent Things

I've been hibernating a bit over the last few weeks - time to chill out. New Year's was nice and chilled a few of us for dinner and drinks at Barry's & Eoin's.





Then much to my dismay, wires were crossed and my start date with my new job got pushed forward a week and a half :( but its all good. These things happen. Unforutnately though I did have to cancel my snowboarding trip to Briancon - I figured better to make a good impression. So my new job is Performance Engineer for Sun Microsystems. Its a steep learning curve but so far so good.