13th - 30th November 2013. Castle Coole, Enniskillen and Devenish Island. Zone Bowls.

The house at Castle Coole looks quite eerie in the mist.

Autumn colours are certainly here now.

Everyone who visits the boat remarks on the comfort of our chairs. Shannon finds them just the right size for a dog!

On 20th November the water in the River Erne, beside The Puzzler at The Round "O", was quite rough.

However two days later it was like glass. We are looking upstream to Enniskillen from the Portora Boathouse.

Portora Castle looks good in the autumn sunshine. We have been so lucky with the weather recently.

The Puzzler can be seen below us, moored on Devenish Island. It was calm on Thursday, but very windy overnight. We were glad that we had not moored on the west side of the island, where it would have been rough.

James and Teresa were with us and we had a great time, recalling happy memories of our times at craft fairs together in England.

The steps up to the top of the tower are steep.

The classic Round Tower does not look so tall from up here.

Meanwhile, Sally and Shannon explored the lower levels.

We went to the Zone bowls match in the Unionist Hall in Enniskillen to support the Western Team. They were playing against the Lisburn Team.

It turned out to be a needle match, with plenty of work for the umpires. No, Blaney is not asking for spiritual guidance! This was one of the crucial measures to decide which team's bowl was closest to the jack. In this instance, after several minutes of deliberation, using the feeler gauges, it was not possible to separate them. Although Western had a strong lead at half time, Lisburn fought back and the final result was a win to Western, with 60 points to 58.

14th - 28th February. Tree Cutting and Zone bowls.

Sometimes boats go past quite fast on this stretch of the River Erne, ignoring all moored boats. We will certainly know about it when this wash reaches The Puzzler.

More trees are being felled behind the Police Station. Rumour has it that this is all in preparation for the G8 summit.

Another tree going down! Most people feel that this "tidying up" is being overdone, with so many mature trees being felled.

Compare this view, which was taken two weeks later, to the one directly above it, to see the number of trees which have now gone. They used to hide the fence of the Police Barracks.

However, we cannot complain about all this timber, which somehow finds its way on to The Puzzzler!

Short mat bowls is very strong throughout Ireland. Fermanagh forms the main part of the Western Area in the Zone Competitions, and Western has been very successful in the Shield competition this year. Both the Ladies and the Mens Western teams qualified for their respective finals, which were held simultaneously in the Union Hall in Enniskillen. They both won their matches! Janet's team are studying this close head of bowls, during the competition.

We moved back to the Round "O" after dark one night, passing the Police launch, moored outside the Police Station.

The Round "O" looks quite different after dark. Click on this picture to enlarge it and get the full effect!