Wheres me jumpa

The recent snow in Ireland is the most significant snowfall I can remember since my primary school days. Back then snow fall meant a possible day off school and lots of fun sliding down the steepest hills you could find. Being older now, snowfall now means a safety concern and general hindrance to my day.

However on a Sunday morning, waking up to a fresh snowfall, the type that crunches beneath your feet, the eleven year old kid in me comes rushing back to the fore! Back when I was eleven I gave up all hope on making good snowmen, that tradition continues today and this morning I put together the worst snowman imaginable.

Spending the weekend in Carlow generally means great dinners, all the dessert a man could ever want, cheap pints of Guinness, the occasional donation of food or household items for my place in Dublin, generally its a cheap and relaxing weekend.

I spent last weekend in Rome with Minnie so a wallet recharging weekend in Carlow was required. I was in the county all of 20 minutes when the Moon surface replica that is Carlow roads, struck. One of my Alfa alloys descended into a crevice so deep that molten magma was found at the base. The result was a loud banging noise which did not go away, as I hoped. Buckled rim, burst tyre.

A few phone calls and a friend was able to find me a replacement. But as with most car trouble, once you find one problem, the floodgates open. Turns out my back two tyres would make Kojak look like Chubacka. And I cant just put in a new tyre on the front, so 4 new tyres.

The mechanic I left it with also suggested that my timing belt should be done immediately. It is not due for another 5k but better safe than sorry. Its also due a service. So down a nice few quid.

I have returned to the pothole to take a picture. I have also taken a picture of the damage to the rim. I have also taken a copy of the bill to replace the tyre and rim. I will be submitting it to the local council office.

I came across a website called Panoramio. It allows you to upload photos and assign them to a location on a global map. Users can then search for photos from a particular location. One of the first places I searched for was of course Carlow / Leighlinbridge. Only one photo was found, but a great photo to have representing the county.

It was taken by a Panoramio user called Aubrey. The setting is along the Carlow - Kilkenny road, about two miles from Carlow town. I have been driving past this tree for over 25 years now. However this summer, the fields either side of it were cut in a very picturesque manner.

I saw many people stopping to take photos of it, if I had a decent camera, I would have stopped myself. I certainly would not have done as good a job as this photographer. Im going to search for some more distinctive pictures of Carlow and if I find them, I will post them here.

This was video was posted on the Carlow forum on Boards.ie. It was created by CroppyBoy1798. It is a series of pictures taken from days of yore, compared to modern day pictures. Great watch for Carlow locals.