It is great to see Monart Destination Spa, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, being voted second in the Best Spa in the World Awards hosted by Conde Nast Traveller magazine. Its a remarkable achievement considering Monart is only in business for 4 years and as recently as 10 years ago, the site where Monart is located used to be just an old house outside Enniscorthy town.

So congratulations to Liam Griffin and the Griffin Group for having the vision and ambition to transform the local area into an internationally recognised destination for Spa holidays, while also providing the local area with jobs.

Lately I have been studying the work of Kwaku Alston, his photography and use of light is amazing, as a result I’ve been trying to introduce more colour into my photography. The winter sunlight in Ireland is usually saturated by gray and its seldom that the sunlight really shines through the clouds to illuminate the colours below but last Sunday morning while out walking I saw the sun breaking through the clouds creating this magnificent colour throughout the Wexford countryside. See the images below.

The first morning back in the office since the water cuts, I was welcomed by this colour combination outside our office and had to laugh. It’s not often you see cars of purple and gold – the colours of my home county Wexford – parked beside one another.

While on the topic of Wexford, I’m reading Brooklyn by Enniscorthy man, Colm Tóibín, at the moment and really enjoying it. It’s a book with close links to Enniscorthy town itself. Although it is a sad story of emigration it has some great scenes of self-conscious humour that seem to release the slow build up of tension throughout.  The main character, Eilis Lacey is refreshingly strong minded without the usual sentimental stuff that often goes with stories of emigration. The novel focuses on her interactions with people rather than dwelling upon the obvious contrast between the Brooklyn skyline and the banks of the Slaney. I recommend the book strongly.

Brooklyn has been shortlisted for a Costa Book Award in the Costa Novel Award section, while fellow Enniscorthy man Peter Murphy debut novel John the Revelator has been shortlisted for the best Costa First Novel Award section. I like the sound of John Revelator so will definitely be reading it soon. Best of luck to both of them.

First of all, this post has nothing to do with design but I hope random irrelevant posts like this can sometimes stir the imagination. I quite enjoy walking around in nature and attempt to photograph wildlife at times although I’m certainly no David Attenborough. So it was kind of cool when wildlife landed in on my doorstep while visiting my parents home in Wexford this weekend. A beautiful Robin flew in the window as I worked on the computer. Seeing a wild Robin up close was really cool, he was flying from one room to another ignoring all the windows we left open for him to escape through. Eventually after he flew up a flight of stairs and visited three bedrooms he decided to fly out the window and off into the garden.

It reminded me of a time when I was younger, Dad and his friend Paddy Doyle brought me to Philip Heenan’s Ringroe Stud, Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary to see the famous show jumping stallion Clover Hill. I had never met anyone quite like Philip Heenan before or afterward. When I first met him he was sitting in the stable with two Robins sitting on his shoulder, it was quite extraordinary to see wild birds to flock over to land on his hand or shoulder. You could sense that he was a gentle soul and the wildlife responded to his calm ways. Paddy had told me previously that if Philip didn’t like the look of the mare or owner he wouldn’t allow the mare to be covered by his stallion which I still find a fascinating quirk. Click on the photo of Philip Heenan with Clover Hill here.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera way back when in 1996 but luckily I had one to take a few photographs of the Robin that paid a visit today.

A close up of the Robin's feathers

Various photos of the Robin as he flew from room to room inspecting the house!