Last Minute

Passing the delightful gate lodge into the Powerscourt Estate near Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, it's time for some last minute Christmas shopping at the Garden Pavilion and maybe a hot toddy in the adjoining Ritz-Carlton.

Branching Out

Today we see The Happy Pear, Natural Food Market, Greystones, Co Wicklow branching out for the season to dispense Christmas trees to a discerning populace.

Pigeon Fancying

Passing Direct Pigeon Supplies, which is a fairly large shop in Arklow, Co Wicklow prompted me to check out the state of pigeon racing in Ireland today. An extremely well organised sport which had it's origins in Belgium in the early 1800's, by 1870 there were approximately 10,000 lofts in Belgium, but previous to this pigeons were used as message carriers.  Homing Pigeons are today raced in Belgium, Holland, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, South Africa, United States, India, Argentina, Hungary and Mainland China.

Pigeon Fanciers in Ireland race between April and September from a number of different locations within Ireland itself, including Arklow, Waterford and Cork on a weekly basis. However, there are certain races each year from the United Kingdom, and as far as France.

A great source of information is to be found at the home of racing pigeons in Ireland, www.racingpigeon.ie

Here's Maisy!

So, here's Maisy Mouse at Bridge Street Books in Wicklow Town greeting visitors to the bookshop on Saturday. The main event was the arrival of Niamh Sharkey, award-winning author and illustrator of children’s picture books, including The Ravenous Beast and I'm A Happy Hugglewug, who was in town to sign copies of her new book On The Road With Mavis And Marge.

And The Winner Is?

Yes, there can be only one winner in the Wicklow Daily Photo Halloween shop display competition - did you not know that there was a competition?  Well, of course there was a competition! 

Now those with a keen eye will remember that, yesterday, we showed a picture of Stan & Tony's shop front, but the shop was closed so we couldn't really see what they had to offer apart from a small display in the window.  But today, they pulled out all the stops and fairly blew their rivals away with this incredible display and so now, all that remains is for me to declare that the winner is Stan & Tony's Discount Store.

More Halloween-dows

 

 Continuing our little stroll around Wicklow Town while snapping the Halloween themed shop windows, we are struck by the enthusiasm and imagination of all those taking part.  

Our main picture above shows a detail from Earl's Newsagents brilliant display.

Left, is Stan & Tony's where I suspect a lot of kids will get their Trick-or-Treat costumes.

And let's not forget a worthy cause:

Now, below, you probably won't get spooked if you enter here, more like fleeced!

The Halloween-dows

It's just a couple of days to Halloween and we're downtown in Wicklow Town where most of the local shops have made a big effort with their Halloween displays and so today we take a look at the first of a random selection.

On the left is part of an elaborate dislplay in Earls Newsagents.

Man, It's Organic!

There's always a buzz in the air when you pass The Happy Pear, natural food market, in the seaside town of Greystones, Co Wicklow, weather permitting that is. 

Today, actually, a couple of weeks ago, we're serenaded by this jazz player as we down our wheatgrass shots and comtemplate their upcoming Happy Heart Program.

Below left is The Happy Pear's next door neighbour, A Caviston, fishmonger, delicatessen and café.

Shopping Gaze - Greystones

Continuing our occasional shop front series, we are back in Greystones where we find numerous examples of good design mixed with quaint old traditional style.

Don't you just love the delivery bicycle above?  The fading blackboard script refers to the number of days their beef is hung!

And the name of this shop, left?

One of my favourires is this quaint old uphostery shop:

Pretty Purlllllease!

Is this the prettiest shop in Ashford, Co Wicklow?  Probably, but just ignore the reflective snapper/blogger!
 

This is the first post of an occasional series featuring interesting/pretty shop fronts found on our wanderings around the county.