Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Still lashing, there's some amount of rain falling. It's a saturated Saturday!

The Wagnerian majesty of it all, eh, Ard?

Yeah, it's something like out of the Valkyrie Slim Buddha!

I heard. It seems there is a lot of flooding and some show in Tullamore at which our esteemed Taoiseach was expected was cancelled due to the inclement weather. It sounds bad. What's today like?

Eh....tentatively drier is all I can say. There are loads of clouds in the air, rain has already made an entrance today, more is expected for the rest of the day and the week ahead is to be very wet. Oh, it's a great "Summer" we're having. They really should move the school's Summer holidays to May/June. July and August are just too wet.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Still lashing, there's some amount of rain falling. It's a saturated Saturday!

The Wagnerian majesty of it all, eh, Ard?

Yeah, it's something like out of the Valkyrie Slim Buddha!

I heard. It seems there is a lot of flooding and some show in Tullamore at which our esteemed Taoiseach was expected was cancelled due to the inclement weather. It sounds bad. What's today like?

Eh....tentatively drier is all I can say. There are loads of clouds in the air, rain has already made an entrance today, more is expected for the rest of the day and the week ahead is to be very wet. Oh, it's a great "Summer" we're having. They really should move the school's Summer holidays to May/June. July and August are just too wet.

Well, I hope it dries out for you for a while. There seems to have been little respite from the monsoon-like weather. Despite the good weather here, I have a lot to prepare for next week and can't enjoy it. I just hope it's here still next weekend.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Still lashing, there's some amount of rain falling. It's a saturated Saturday!

The Wagnerian majesty of it all, eh, Ard?

Yeah, it's something like out of the Valkyrie Slim Buddha!

I heard. It seems there is a lot of flooding and some show in Tullamore at which our esteemed Taoiseach was expected was cancelled due to the inclement weather. It sounds bad. What's today like?

Eh....tentatively drier is all I can say. There are loads of clouds in the air, rain has already made an entrance today, more is expected for the rest of the day and the week ahead is to be very wet. Oh, it's a great "Summer" we're having. They really should move the school's Summer holidays to May/June. July and August are just too wet.

Well, I hope it dries out for you for a while. There seems to have been little respite from the monsoon-like weather. Despite the good weather here, I have a lot to prepare for next week and can't enjoy it. I just hope it's here still next weekend.

Yeah, we'll deal with it. We're made of tough stuff and cah weather the current storms. A little bit of rain won't kill us.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Still lashing, there's some amount of rain falling. It's a saturated Saturday!

The Wagnerian majesty of it all, eh, Ard?

Yeah, it's something like out of the Valkyrie Slim Buddha!

I heard. It seems there is a lot of flooding and some show in Tullamore at which our esteemed Taoiseach was expected was cancelled due to the inclement weather. It sounds bad. What's today like?

Eh....tentatively drier is all I can say. There are loads of clouds in the air, rain has already made an entrance today, more is expected for the rest of the day and the week ahead is to be very wet. Oh, it's a great "Summer" we're having. They really should move the school's Summer holidays to May/June. July and August are just too wet.

Well, I hope it dries out for you for a while. There seems to have been little respite from the monsoon-like weather. Despite the good weather here, I have a lot to prepare for next week and can't enjoy it. I just hope it's here still next weekend.

Yeah, we'll deal with it. We're made of tough stuff and cah weather the current storms. A little bit of rain won't kill us.

A project on which I have been working for some time is coming to an end next weekend and I will be glad to see the back of it. I will begin a new energy-related project in September, so in between I will pause for a battery recharge. This will be done within Switzerland and will take the form of a concentrated bout of gastronomic indulgence in the Suisse Romande and Ticino, the Italian speaking canton. Famous for alfresco dining, Ticino has some great places to eat and drink, not only in Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno but in places off the beaten track also. So I am hoping for good weather. There is, as a matter of interest, a marked difference in the weather south of the Alps. It is possible to get sun in Lugano and snow in Zürich at the same time. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for decent weather for the second half of the month.

Once you get into late September you really start to notice the difference crossing the Alps! Switzerland is my favourite European country. Clean and orderly, good public transport, varied climate and the scenery! It is great to sit out on a June evening with a meal nestling below the Jungfrau.

Doing a little light furniture restoration (sanding of table top) in the courtyard and the rain started spilling - I managed to edge it back in through the kitchen door single handed and the rain immediately stopped. To take it out again, or not to take it out again ?

cactus flower wrote:

Doing a little light furniture restoration (sanding of table top) in the courtyard and the rain started spilling - I managed to edge it back in through the kitchen door single handed and the rain immediately stopped. To take it out again, or not to take it out again ?

Think of the WTO , cf, and I bet you take it out again!

Squire wrote:

Once you get into late September you really start to notice the difference crossing the Alps! Switzerland is my favourite European country. Clean and orderly, good public transport, varied climate and the scenery! It is great to sit out on a June evening with a meal nestling below the Jungfrau.

The weather is warmer and somewhat more dependable. So it is easier to organise outdoor eating than it is in Ireland. You are on the nail with the "clean, orderly, good public transport, varied climate" stuff and the scenery is marvellous. I have to go to Lausanne on Wednesday and I always look forward to the train journey. About 20 minutes before getting into Lausanne, the train goes through a long tunnel , emerging at a height of around 1500 metres and below one gets a panoramic view of Lake Geneva from Montreux on the left past Vevey and arcing off togeneva in the distance with france on the other side of the lake. then the train meanders down through vineyards for about 15 minutes before getting into Lausanne. Beautiful.

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Still lashing, there's some amount of rain falling. It's a saturated Saturday!

The Wagnerian majesty of it all, eh, Ard?

Yeah, it's something like out of the Valkyrie Slim Buddha!

I heard. It seems there is a lot of flooding and some show in Tullamore at which our esteemed Taoiseach was expected was cancelled due to the inclement weather. It sounds bad. What's today like?

I was in and around Tullamore for a lot of today and I can tell you that, our esteemed Taoiseach doesn't have an umbrella big and strong enough to keep off some of the rain that fell this afternoon. Bright, hot sunshine in between the showers though - fat lot of good it is...

The clouds belching across my house this evening were so obnoxious they had to be photographed. I took this at about 8PM tonight.



The black puffs were moving very fast, the whiter high up stuff not moving at all. Weird sky.

Fab pic, EVM.

Thanks Kate, but God made it, I was only there to catch it.

I said it was weird because the blavk bits were SO black as to be like plumes of coaldust or the the coffins of oilfields..

Also, they were coming from due west, we don't get that kind of thing around here normally. There was a scary element to it...

Do you not get westerly winds normally? They can be very violent like last night all of a sudden. And the rain was unbelievable - I was driving and couldn't see. It was very wintery today.

Great photo - the lamp got captured very well too in the right - I thought it was the sun first. A little video might have been the job. I'd watch something like that - the clouds are great yokes at times.

Well I live 400M from the sea, so a local weather usually prevails. Thats normally an easterly wind. Unless it meets something bigger like yesterday.

I'm unsure now, so I'll watch closer in future...

There are many days when there is no rain at my house, yet it rains 2 kilometers inland.

Yerrah, I was late in cutting the turf this year as I moved and had to locate a new bank. After the lovely spring in which everyone saved their turf, my poor sods haven't seen a full day of sun and wind for over a fortnight. Could be cold in the homestead this winter. Monagahn = bad weather. Everyday. Just stays nice long enough to cut the poxy grass and then it teems down again. And I was speaking with a Polish fella recently who said he was staying in Ireland because the weather is better here! Wow, they must have some horrid winters in Poland.

We hardly every have a really cold day in Ireland. The problem is lack of sun, which makes people turn to drink.

We had quite a bit of sun this weekend and it was warm, the first weekend that I've worn a summer dress the whole time. Saturday evening pub windows were open onto the streets and good crowds gathered for the parade.

I found it hard to believe the rumours of deluges in Dublin.

No sign of rain in Dublin yet today.

You are absolutely right cactus, it is rarely very cold in Ireland. It is just boring ole overcast most of the time.

johnfás wrote:

No sign of rain in Dublin yet today.

You are absolutely right cactus, it is rarely very cold in Ireland. It is just boring ole overcast most of the time.

The only thing for it johnfás is to get on the wet weather clothes or wet suit and get out into it - plenty of wind for sailing anyway. Once the pain/discouragement/disbelief barrier has been breached, it always feels better to have got some fresh air and exercise, and the little bit of sun that filters through the clouds gives a nice even tan.

Small craft warning in effect around Dublin according to the MET office so no sailing in Dublin Bay for dinghies. I'll have to get my girlfriend's family to buy a mega yacht .

The ones that they sail are more like these:

How about one of these...

A windsurfer? Yea they got one of those, not half as cool as that one though. They're a watersports mad family.

johnfás wrote:

A windsurfer? Yea they got one of those, not half as cool as that one though. They're a watersports mad family.

How about you - do you go green when you see the waves slapping on the quay. or do you like it ?

I've sailed a bit and loved it although it is completely knackering and can be scary.

I do enjoy the activity of sailing, though I'm not particularly skilled at it! I've never been out except with the girlfriend... during which she laughs at me when various things whack me in the head.

What I don't like is the culture that goes with sailing down there in Dun Laoghaire which, in my opinion, specifically and purposely acts in a manner to reinforce the elitism associated with the sport. That is not to say that everyone who sails in Dun Laoghaire is elitist, merely that there is an overriding culture of elitism which I can support with specific examples.

johnfás wrote:

I do enjoy the activity of sailing, though I'm not particularly skilled at it! I've never been out except with the girlfriend... during which she laughs at me when various things whack me in the head.

What I don't like is the culture that goes with sailing down there in Dun Laoghaire which, in my opinion, specifically and purposely acts in a manner to reinforce the elitism associated with the sport. That is not to say that everyone who sails in Dun Laoghaire is elitist, merely that there is an overriding culture of elitism which I can support with specific examples.

Is it a yacht club thing? I've never been involved in one, but I guess such a thing might well attract a good few people with notions about themselves.
The costs of being involved are the issue, are they?

The Mirror Dinghy was an interesting attempt at making yachting something for the people at large - I think it was a Daily Mirror special offer originally and you had to collect tokens. Brilliant idea: the tabloids have gone down a lot since then.

The Mirror was a nice little Dinghy, I know alot of people who have them. My girlfriend's personal boat was a Mirror until she got a Laser for her 21st 18 months ago.

It is not merely the cost but the reinforcing of the cost by the clubs which annoys me. In order for a child to partake in a summer sailing course at one of the main clubs you must have a parent who is a member. Aside from the cost of joining there is a social stumbling block to this as you have to get yourself proposed to the club etc. This contrasts greatly from any other sport such as Tennis, Soccer, Rugby, GAA, Cricket etc which actively seek to have as many youngster play at clubs during the summer regardless of your parents position.

This is then reinforced by the fact that the clubs won't provide you with any equipment on loan. So basically, if you want good sailing coaching you have got to get yourself into a club and then buy your kid a boat, costing several grand, and all the equipment that goes with.

The Irish Sailing Association does its best by running some sailing courses on their own steam but they suffer from the competition of the major yacht clubs which pay alot more for the twenty something year old instructors over the summer.