Today's photo - turf, or peat, logs, stacked to dry. Yep, they still burn peat blocks in Ireland. Some of the B&Bs use it as a selling point. It's got a smoky sort of smell, a bit like bacon or something. It's hard to describe. We saw this field of stacked peat somewhere as we were driving along. Ireland is 1/6th peat bog, and has both raised bogs and blanket bogs. Peat cutting has actually increased since the 1980s, but with the increased cutting, as well as bogland being reclaimed for grazing and for tree-planting, the government has started to set aside some of the bogs as a preservation measure. One of the historical sites had a display of peat cutting tools, as well as some well-preserved artifacts that were found in the bogs. The acidic environment in the bogs slows decay, and occaionally tools, bits of wood, and evenwell-preserved "bog bodies" are found.
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