Lunch break ...

... and not a phone or fag in sight!
The weather forecast had been for fog then mizzle. Totally wrong, a cracker of a day. We took to the hills - starting in Boolteenagh - place of the booleys ie little huts where people, usually teenagers it seems, sheltered when they were looking after the cattle in the summer - a sort of transhumance. We walked along the spine of the ridge gasping at Bantry Bay, the water like glass, not a ripple, then down by Loch na Foilla with its enigmatic reediness, along an old green track then up through a small settlement to where we'd started from. We saw:
a gang of sleek young heifers
two ravens soaring on the thermals
lots of little brown birds skimming the scrub - pipits maybe
an abandoned homestead where two bachelor brothers had once live
two fairy trees bent by the wind
recently fleeced sheep with red and blue necks
an array of fungi - one I think might be dog's vomit fungi, I do hope so and that will be a first
and not a single human was encountered - though we did spot the postman far below making his rounds
It was warm and calm and when we returned the tide was high and a swim was taken - a pretty quick one, but good nonetheless.
A good day.