The Haunting Soldier, and a great weekend in Dublin

Wow, what an impressive and moving tribute to the fallen of 'The Great War'
I had no idea about this remarkable statue before we went to Dublin recently; or right up to the minute I saw it.
This statue was created from rusted scrap metal at Dorset Forge near Sherborne to mark the centenary of the end of the war.
It's about 20feet high, but looks a lot taller when you're right up close to it, as you can see by the way it dwarfs my dad and myself
Although you can clearly see the individual bits of scrap, including spanners, car jacks, brake discs knives, horseshoes, and the cogs and gear wheels (visible here at the top of the left leg), it all fits together seamlessly and beautifully
This is a tremendous work of art and engineering, and drew a tremendous crowd in the time we were there to see it
I must admit that due to the scale and wonder of the statue, the throng of people, and all else going on that the whole purpose of it was lost on me at the time.
I do hope that the people who flocked to see it did take a moment to remember and pay tribute to those who sacrificwd so much
And I hope that you can please do so right now
If you want to read more about itI've included a link to an article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-38516957
Sadly I've just found out that some plebs vandalised the statue by throwing red paint over it. No punishment can be great enough for pondlife like that:https://www.iradio.ie/ww1-haunting-soldier-sculpture-vandalised-with-red-paint-in-dublin/

Minor Panic Averted

I'd just opened a new tab to search for an image then accidentally closed this one in the middle of creating the post, so thought I'd have to redo it all again from the start
Imagine my panic
Fortunately I managed to find it intact, but my hands are still shaking a little as I type this. Phew!

Congratulations Fell On Deaf Ears

We watched Ireland defeat the mighty All Blacks at a bar near the B&B we were staying at

Picture (not from the game) found here: https://pixabay.com/en/rugby-football-sport-game-teams-673461/

After the game I went to the bar for another pint, and said to a bloke in a green shirt, "congratulations on beating the All Blacks."
He responded, "what the hell are you on about? This is a football jersey, you lunatic. Away with you and speak to those rugby fools
So I did, and they all laughed, and obviously knew him
Still; you can't let things like that spoil a good time.
We'd gone over with my sister to see relations Brendon and Mary, and it was great to see them looking so well, and to catch up with things
I don't know when I'll be going back because it's such an expensive city, but Ireland is such a beautiful place and the people are wonderful

We were glad to leave those threatening clouds behind

The weather wasn't great when we got back home, but I certainly enjoyed the warm welcome we received in The Emerald Isle, and have some happy memories
P.S. I should say that uncle Gerard used to take myself, brother Pat (who sadly passed away at the age of 59 in 2016), and my sister Cath on Holiday to Ireland, In Ballymena I believe, when we were school kids, and we used to love playing in the fields, and swimming in the rivers and pools near the farm house we stayed in
Oh, those fun carefree days