Close Taggart, our current accommodation, continues to be an absolute delight.

For the last three mornings, we've done walks that start right here in our long and winding drive.


On Wednesday (26), we walked to the Killane shore, our nearest bit of beach:








Yesterday (Thursday 27), we headed into the Ballaugh Curragh. This Ramsar-recognized wetland is the last remnant of an ancient lake that formed between the little hills round Bride and the big hills that rise up dramatically to the south. (Curragh is a Manx word meaning marsh or wetland.)

By way of narrow boardwalks, an old road (now grassed over), and paths that run along the tops of the ancient hedges created in the mid-to-late 1800s to divide the long-gone meadow system, you can experience in this little area a world of texture and colour (particularly striking on a dull day). The combination of moss, fern, lichen, and dark, peaty water is all somehow reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings...











There is a wild population of wallabies here (escapees from the nearby Wildlife Park back in the 1960s). But they're shy animals, and we saw nothing except paw prints in the soft ground (which may or may not have been those of wallabies). Never mind. We'll just have to go again...

This morning our circuit on the quiet lanes that link up with our own single-track road took us as far as Sandygate:










I can't describe how idyllic this all is... The birds are full of beans; the hedgerows are awash with all kinds of wildflowers; there are lambs in the fields; there's still plenty of blossom about. It's just beautiful...