Category: Other bits and bobs


Raining on the Parade

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April 20, 2014

Today is Easter Sunday and I came across an Easter procession, quite by chance, in Fuengirola today.

Fuengirola, if you are not familiar with it, is a town of similar size to Marbella and located just a little further along the coast. It lacks Marbella´s pretention and snob appeal and has an altogether earthier feel. It is a little rough around the edges but that is something I like about it. It certainly seems to have a greater appeal to those who are looking for a cheap and cheerful holiday.  If you are an English speaker and want a bit of sunshine without everything being ruined by “foreigners” you will find that you are well catered for here. There is premiership football in the seafront bars and fish and chips if you are nervous of seeing something on your plate which is unfamiliar. Continue reading →

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Farting Cows

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April 6, 2014

My A level Biology students get to use the word “fart” in exams which is something I feel they should be excited about. What other subject would let you get away with that? The farts in question are emitted from the rear ends of cows and are said to contain significant amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas. Technically, the gas is much more abundant in cow burps but the word “burp” doesn´t quite have the same appeal. This methane is a by-product of the complex process of cellulose digestion and is actually produced by microorganisms residing in the cow´s intestines rather than the cow itself.

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Waiting for the bee eaters

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April 5, 2014

In Southern Andalucia we are spared the worst extremes of seasonal change. The cold does not hit us as hard as further north in Europe, and even Spain. But the changes of the seasons are evident from the passage of birds in the skies overhead as they make their way from Africa into Europe in the spring and summer and returning once again in the autumn.

There is one bird which is due to make an appearance soon and which, to me at least, signals the change of season as clearly as a leaf fall in the autumn. This is the bee eater… Continue reading →

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Vultures in Spain

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March 26, 2014

Vultures are in trouble. In India their numbers have crashed by some 75% and the cause of this appears to be drugs used to treat cattle but which prove lethal to the vultures which feed on their carcasses.

One of these, a drug called diclofenac, has been licensed to be manufactured and used in Spain. It is estimated that populations of vultures could crash if even one percent of the carcasses on which the vultures feed are contaminated with the drug.

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Viagra Falls

Filed under: Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — 1 Comment
March 19, 2014

Sometimes being Irish can be a bit of a drag. For one thing your political overlords are an inept bunch, the economy is teetering, the cutbacks are digging in everywhere. And, of course, the weather is always crap. Continue reading →

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Trout Paintings

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March 1, 2014

For some time now I have been painting trout in watercolours and, slowly, after many failures and abandoned efforts, they are beginning to take shape. Continue reading →

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A trout from the mountain lough

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February 8, 2014

For some time I had been hoping to make a painting of the lovely brown trout my pal Mark McCann caught up in the Lough in Leitrim that we simply call the “Mountain Lough.” And, finally, I have completed it after several false starts and the usual distractions. Continue reading →

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The Giant Trout of Gore

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February 3, 2014

There is a brown trout in Gore, on Southland´s famous Mataura river, that must be fifteen feet long at the very least. Maybe more. I have often stood in awe beside it. If you don´t believe me you just need to look at the photo Harry sent me. I´m hardly going to make up something like that! Continue reading →

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Annoying little bastards: Part 2 – midges

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February 1, 2014

Midges don´t have many friends, particularly up in Scotland, where the little devils devour everyone in sight and can make a hell of a nuisance of themselves. The real villian is one of the biting midges, a nasty little son of a bitch known as the highland biting midge, Culicoides impunctatus. As with mosquitos,it is the female who sucks blood, and for the same reason, to be able to produce a batch of eggs. Continue reading →

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Some photographs from Lake Onslow

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January 25, 2014

Murray Thompson was kind enough to send me some pictures of Lake Onslow, and of his fishing hut where I had the pleasure of staying with friends on several occasions many years ago. Onslow is a wonderful lake and it is full of fine trout. I know I have a tendency to bang on about things and so I will shut up and let the pictures speak for themselves. Continue reading →

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