Photo was taken last evening at Tooreenbawn, Millstreet, Co.Cork (Irl)

It was the barking of our dogs at home that alerted me to this nest. They had come across the scent of the little hedgehogs and were barking with excitement. After taking away the dogs I took this quick picture and left nature to look after it’s own. As you can see from the photo their defense of rolling into a ball had worked!

Thought on Friday – July – 06/07/2012

‘There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.’ ~Orison Swett Marden

I had to smile during the week when reading a motoring column. A new car just out on the market was mentioned to be as reliable as the Angelus! There were also some tips on how to save costs with motoring. It gave some handy tips, especially in fuel consumption as it costs so much today. Tips like driving more smoothly could save you 10%. If you lower your cruising speed to 80km (50mph) you will also make big savings. Watching the use of heaters and air conditioning makes further saving on fuel but the biggest saving is surprisingly tyre pressure. So many run tyres on low pressure and this requires the vehicle to use much more fuel. If you are not convinced there is a simple test, cycle a bicycle for a short distance on low pressure, then repeat but pump the wheels up and it feels as if you are floating. The same goes with the tyres on a car, keep them at the right pressure and the savings are big.

There are also comparisons with our spiritual lives. So often we run on low pressure trying to cope with everything. But if we simply invite God into our lives, it’s like a well working tyre with maximum pressure. It doesn’t mean we will avoid the potholes of life but it does mean we are able to cope and deal with the challenges, difficulties and the surprises that life throws our way each day.