Find These Great Photographic Gifts In A Zazzle Store
Find These Great Photographic Gifts In A Zazzle Store
Solving Jigsaw Puzzles and enjoying the games that can be played with Playing Cards are great pastimes.
I have a Zazzle Print on Demand store dedicated to picturesque Jigsaw Puzzles and Playing Cards.
In this blog post I give a little background information about some of the photographs depicted on the items.
Busy Docks
This shows a view of some boats, mostly yachts, tied up in Galway Docks.
In this photo it looks like the entire docks is cluttered with these boats, which is not the reality.
Actually this is just one section of the docks, while most if free for cargo ships, which are constantly here.
In 2009 a major ocean yacht race visited here, and before that the area didn’t look very well.
There was a great effort made to brighten up and smarten the area, and it’s been kept that way since.
Check out Busy Docks Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Busy Docks Playing Cards
Thatch Cottage
This image, available like the others on both products, shows an Irish thatched cottage in a rural location.
Cottages like this one were very common in rural Ireland through to the latter stages of the twentieth century.
There were some in urban areas as well, but they didn’t dominate things there.
Now in the twenty first century there are some left, but very few, and very much allude to the past.
I’ve used this design on both products and made them available in the Zazzle shop.
Check out Thatch Cottage Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Thatch Cottage Playing Cards
North Connemara
Mountains and lakes are always beautiful to look at, and Connemara has a lot of both.
This photograph was taken on the road between Leenane and Clifden, in the North West of Connemara.
Slightly to the North of here is Killary Fjord, the only fjord anywhere in Ireland’
Check out North Connemara Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out North Connemara Playing Cards
Clifden Town
The second photograph shows the town of Clifden, the biggest of the towns of Connemara.
In 1919 the first ever transatlantic flight came to an end just outside Clifden.
It’s not where John Alcock and Arthur Brown meant to land, they had intended to go to London.
However they didn’t get that far and had to settle for Derrygilmlagh Bog, just outside Clifden.
Beside that Clifden is a very nice town to visit and is surrounded by some wonderful scenery.
Check out Clifden Town Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Clifden Town Playing Cards
River Corrib, Woodquay
This photo was taken in Woodquay, Galway and shows the River Corrib and the Corrib Rowing and Yachting Club.
Rowing is very popular on the Corrib, and while yachting is well loved on the sea around Galway.
Yachting is not so popular on the river where it’s a novelty to see a yacht.
There’s several rowing clubs based within yards of this club and crews are constantly visible training almost every day.
This is where the rivers enters Galway City before breaking into several different waterways to flow to the sea.
The Eglinton Canal and several rivers flow back together before it enters the sea at the Claddagh.
Check out River Corrib, Woodquay Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out River Corrib, Woodquay Playing Cards
Galway Bay from Spiddal
Spiddal is a town North of Galway City along the West Coast in the area known as Connemara.
This photo was taken beside the beach and shows a section of Galway Bay.
s you probably know, Galway Bay has been written about in several songs bearing its name.
The best known of those was made famous by the much loved American crooner, Bing Crosby.
Again Spiddal is situated along the Wild Atlantic Way, the fantastically scenic drive along the West Coast.
Check out Galway Bay from Spiddal Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Galway Bay from Spiddal Playing Cards
Rusty Gate Entrance
This is a simple photograph of an entrance to a property with a rusty old gate in a n open position.
It caught my eye while passing by, basically the colours which work well together.
The path in beside the gate is another shade of a similar colour, making it mainly a two colour photo.
If the gate was a different colour it probably wouldn’t make anything as interesting a photograph.
It should make a good jigsaw puzzle subject, few colours, but no expansive area of a flat colour.
Check out Rusty Gate Entrance Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Rusty Gate Entrance Playing Cards
Ballindooley
Ballindooley is also North of Galway City, but on the Eastern side of Lough Corrib.
As of now this is a rural area but it’s only about two miles from the suburbs of Galway.
The castle in the photograph was restored in the 1980’s, but not as originally built.
The restoration was modern and as a result it looks rather odd, neither one thing or another.
It’s a pity because with care it could have become something special.
In the foreground is Ballindooley Lake, which is very small, but reputed to be quite deep.
Check out Ballindooley Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Ballindooley Playing Cards
Ewe and Lamb
This is a simple photograph of a ewe with her lamb, standing in a field.
They’re both looking into the distance, and seem to be very curious about whatever is there.
I like using animal photographs like these on photographic products like these.
Check out Ewe and Lamb Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Ewe and Lamb Playing Cards
Hidden Waterway
I took this photo in a North Tipperary town, probably Borrisokane, but I can’t remember for sure.
At the time I noted it in software which I used for storing information like that.
However, after updating the computer OS, that software was wiped out, because it was a few years old.
I think we’re being short changed by computer manufacturers who don’t support older documents.
They decide that any work that’s more than a certain age should be disregarded.
Sometimes I wonder if Shakespeare, Dickens or Joyce had used computers, what classic work would have been lost.
Actually, I suppose many worthwhile projects have been lost due to lack of backwards compatible software.
The photo shows a river in front of a house which appears to end at a wall.
I expect it goes underground there, either naturally or with some intervention.
Check out Hidden Waterway Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Hidden Waterway Playing Cards
Inchagoill Island, Lough Corrib
There are hundreds of islands in Lough Corrib but this is the only one accessible by foot or vehicle.
It’s also one of the biggest and probably the only one with people living on it.
The road onto the island starts from the village of Ower, which is in the Headford area.
It’s in the northern part of the lake, just off the eastern shore.
Check out Inchagoill Island, Lough Corrib Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Inchagoill Island, Lough Corrib Playing Cards
Owenriff River, Oughterard
Oughterard is north of Galway City, on the western shore of Lough Corrib, and on the eastern part of Connemara.
The Owenriff River flows south through part of Connemara and enters Lough Corrib right in the town of Oughterard.
This photograph was taken just at it reaches the town, in a small but lovely park.
Check out Owenriff River, Oughterard Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Owenriff River, Oughterard Playing Cards
Reflection in River Corrib
A century ago a railway line existed between Galway City and Clifden, right through the Connemara region.
The railway crossed the River Corrib over bridge built on three pillars, of which this was the middle one.
In 1935 the railway service was discontinued and the bridge dismantled a decade later.
Apart from the pillars, there is little evidence left that such a railway track ever existed.
Check out Reflection in River Corrib Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Reflection in River Corrib Playing Cards
Newport Co. Mayo
Newport is a picturesque little town in west Co. Mayo, on the eastern shore of Clew Bay.
The road west from the town brings you to Achill Island which you can drive onto over a bridge.
The view in the photograph is the one entering the town from the south, with the Blackoak River in front.
Check out Newport Co. Mayo Jigsaw Puzzle
Check out Newport Co. Mayo Playing Cards
