St. Patrick's Day -

 

ERIN GO BRAGH

All photos taken in Co. Kerry ~ 2016 and 2019

I would love to be back in Ireland today, or any day

 come to that!  

Traveling across that emerald isle, stopping in a

 friendly pub for a drink while listening to real

 Irish musicians singing and playing their

 melodious instruments. Talking, always talking,

 to the locals, learning the history, feeling welcome,

 feeling safe. . . . . . and loving life!

Ireland will always remain near the top of the "where to

 travel next" list, even though I've been there twice.

Being married to a wonderful man of Irish descent

 on his father's side has a lot to do with it. 

There's just something special about the Irish and

 Ireland. . . . . and that's coming from an English woman, haha!

If you celebrate, enjoy the day ~ this year especially, 

we owe it to ourselves.

Thinking and healing with movies. . . . .

Sometimes I think I think too much. Even Bob tells me "stop thinking and worrying so much, it's too stressful for you." I'm healing now from the miserable cold. Coughing still but feeling much better. I've passed the cold along to Bob, sorry dear.  I went grocery shopping yesterday as it was the first day I really felt I could handle public scrutiny - less coughing and nose wiping, more clean and shiny, blown-out hair, red lipstick, earrings and sandals. . . . . as it's back in the nineties here. It rained cats and dogs last evening.

I'm in green and pleasant Ireland in my mind. 
I'm still in slow motion.

I've viewed two amazing movies whilst housebound.  Second time around for the now old, but still wonderful, full of raw Italian post-World War II life. . . . . . Cinema Paradiso. The sub-titles keep you on your toes, eyes wide open, the actors hardly appear to be acting, it's all so captivating, funny, and often so sad.

The textures of life, rough, smooth, coarse, delicate and sturdy, all at once - Irish daisies on the train tracks.

The other movie was The City of Your Final Destination from 2009.  A wonderful James Ivory directed film full of beauty, longing, family, and breathtaking scenery of places not all of us are familiar with. Let's face it, families are different. I don''t think any are perfect. Observing them helps makes one understand more about one's own. Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Omar Metwally, Charlotte Gainsbourg and supporting cast were excellent.  After the first half hour Bob commented it was "slow moving" . . . . I didn't reply because I was loving it so much and did not want my bubble burst. At the end, his first surprising words as the credits rolled were, "that was really great." Yes, he actually loved it.
I said we should do that . . . . . . . pack up, sell up, move to a beautiful place totally distant and new, enjoy the remaining years without ties and tribulations. Ridiculous I know, but escapism is something film has always given us - it makes us see life differently. 
Makes us think!

Being Welcomed Home. . . . . . . . .

We flew in from Dublin to Philadelphia Wednesday evening - a smooth 71/2 hour
crossing of the pond, done so many times now I've lost count - then a short flight
 to Raleigh.
It started to rain as we made our way home by taxi, but rain is what we are so used
 to after almost daily showers and the somewhat foreboding low cloud cover daily.
Ireland's weather is not for lovers of warmth, balmy sunshine, dry days and
 clear blue skies. Here it is halfway through June and no sign of days when one
 can leave off the hooded rain jacket and not stuff the collapsible umbrella into
 bag or pocket.

Ireland is beautiful, greener than any other place on earth perhaps.
 More on all that and the loveliness of the countryside, the towns, even
 the cities of Dublin and Belfast, soon. The trip was certainly a busy one
and we saw/did so much as always. 

So this is front porch, as usual a surprising little space. Arriving home to noisy
 squawking as we unlocked the front door, we realized the House wrens were
 back with a second brood of young in the same hanging box!

You know how much I love our garden birds, gosh sometimes I feel we spend
 more money feeding them than ourselves! We have never encouraged this particular 
tiny bird as they can be very mean to other nesting birds - pecking their eggs
 to destroy them, even flinging newly-hatched babies out of a nest and taking over
 their space.

The above photos I took this morning (pardon my dirty dining room windows) as the
 parents were back and forth feeding their new brood.
Note the long twig protruding from the entrance hole. The parent is apparently
 using it for balance. I read that this particular bird does often leave one twig
like this after building its nest, so I guess that's the reason why.

These earlier photos were taken the morning we were leaving for Ireland and this

 is actually a baby wren, one of five, we saw fledge all within a few minutes - great

 timing and really quite exciting to view.

Certainly didn't expect them to return to the same place even though it's usual

for them to have two broods each spring. Guess they liked their accommodation!

This decorative box has actually hung here at least three years and this is first time 

it has been used by any bird.

Not to be mistaken for the quieter, better behaved Carolina wren, the House wren 

though similar in size and coloring, does not have the white stripe over the eye so

is easy to identify. Their brash chirping is quite annoying and nowhere near as 

sweet as the songs of the Carolina wren.

Once again I've arrived home feeling under the weather - a miserable cold/cough

which hopefully is not another bout of what we now call "the European travel bug",

that one which hangs on for weeks and drags one down. Last day in Dublin I felt

 something was going on so started taking meds which obviously didn't work.  

At least I can't blame the recycled air on the plane this time.

Hope to catch up with everyone soon. . . . . good to be home.

Galway to Dublin. . . . . .

Another leg of our wander around Northern Ireland and Ireland brought us back

 to Dublin. The trip from Galway was enjoyable, more lovely green countryside
 to view from the train windows, and a slightly drier day with clouds and touches
 of blue. It has been quite wet and rather chilly much of the trip.

Traditional Irish music has filled our ears - whenever we could find it - bringing

 on toe tapping and hand clapping, both on the streets and within the low-ceilinged,

dark wood walls, and old planked floors, of historic pubs.

First night in Dublin we were back eating at our favorite Italian down by the

 famous Ha'penny Bridge crossing the River Liffey. 
Being the start of the weekend Dublin was of course crowded beyond
 belief - we felt somewhat like the oldest people on the street, and probably were!
Nights in big cities are definitely for the young.

Saturday we were back on the train heading south to Waterford for the day,
and today again, but not quite as far, leaving the train in Kilkenny.
More stories to come of two interesting and quite different towns,
 as we dodged raindrops, sighed happily when the sun popped out, climbed
 castle steps, found a great Irish silversmith (yes bought a beautiful keepsake!),
and had a lovely chat with an author in one of those enjoyable pub breaks to
quench the thirst.

Back to Galway. . . . . . .

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland. . . . .

. . . . .then maybe at the the closin' of your day

You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh

And see the sun go down on Galway Bay

Three days in Galway. . . . . . . showers continue, yesterday more like non-stop

 downpours, however today was much better with sunshine and a cool wind. 

It doesn't feel like June but actually is quite nice for walking and sightseeing.

So you grab your rain jacket, tuck an umbrella in your bag, and off you go!

There's plenty of traditional Irish music on the streets and in the pubs. 

A warming bowl of seafood chowder with Irish brown bread and butter, 

a couple of glasses of a favorite beverage to quench the thirst after lots of

 chatting with the very friendly locals, and other tourists from around the world,

and the day flies by.

Follow with a great night's sleep in a comfy bed in one of the best run, 

cleanest hotels we've ever stayed in. If you plan a visit here you can't go

 wrong with the Park House Hotel, just about perfect in every way.

Just half a day in lovely Sligo. . . . . . .

Working our way south, we traveled by bus to Sligo from Derry-Londonderry today. 

Rain fell intermittently, washing the windows, blotting the scenery, but gracing
 the overcast skies with rainbows as we began to travel the Wild Atlantic Way.
 This is the outer edge of Europe stretching along the west coast of Ireland starting
 in County Donegal and ending in County Cork. 

We passed through some beautiful scenery - high hills with gushing waterfalls,

 rolling fields, gorse and sheep covered moorland-type land, interspersed with
 huge stands of fir trees, and a castle here and there.

This afternoon we walked the town in sunshine. The Garavogue river winds its
way from Lough Gill through Sligo town, rushing by with water from recent rains.
It gave the town a feeling of France or Germany, small shops, sidewalk cafés, 
restaurants and historic pubs playing traditional music once late evening
 settled in. Some go back even before poet W.B. Yeats lived here. We listened,
and at the same time enjoyed chatting with young people from many countries,
working here or, like us, just visiting.

Tomorrow we move on to Galway. Having visited there before, and
enjoying it, we are really looking forward to our return.

Prayers for Florida. . . . . . . . . .

We watch the news, we check with friends here who have family and

 friends there. . . . . .sadly not everyone was able to 'escape' and move

 to safer places. Hurricane Irma is so huge she will impact just about the

 entire state of Florida today, tonight, and into tomorrow.

Irma continues her path, ravaging the Florida Keys this morning and now

heading toward the heavily populated west coast of the beautiful 'sunshine state.'

We really have no idea as to how devastating the property damage might

 be, but we sincerely hope there will be no loss of life.

Florida, you are in our prayers today.

Photos of calmer ocean moments taken on other shores during my travels.

A beautiful day viewing the Ring of Kerry. . . . . . . . . .

Did I tell you I LOVED Ireland?

Of course I did, and here are some of the beautiful spots we visited 

whilst enjoying a perfect sunny day in the South West. . . . . . . .  

. . . . . . . around the famous Ring of Kerry.

View of the Skellig Islands, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Skellig Michael, the largest island 

Hopefully I'll have a chance to return again some day, there's so much

more to see!

No 'pulling the wool over your eyes' in County Kerry -

Whizzing along on the coach past scenery so beautiful it can make you cry,

 one day in the Ring of Kerry is just not enough to take it all in. . . . . . so of course

 I hope to go back, some day!

Sometimes coach tours stop at tourist traps and you come away knowing you

 wasted money and precious time - not so here at the Kells Sheep Center run by

 sheepdog trainer Brendan Ferris.

Watching Brendan in action with two of his Border Collies, Max and Rick,

was extremely educational. . . . .a feast for the eyes treat for about 45 minutes 

in the fresh air (yes, sheep are smelly but who cares when you have a warm,
 sunny day in Ireland), the cost just a few euros per person.

First we were 'introduced' to a mixed group of well trained sheep, different breeds

 found in this area, and let me tell you, there appear to be millions of sheep

 living in and loving these gorgeous Irish hillsides, who could blame them. 

As Brendan called each name, a sheep would step forward and we gleaned

 many interesting facts about each breed.

Brendan told us it takes 12-18 months to train his dogs in the art of sheep herding then

 they work for 8-9 years. He keeps four dogs trained and two learning at all times.  

Each dog responds only to its own set of whistles and calls. Racing up the slope it

 herds the flock left or right, up or down, then resting on its belly when told as when

 driving sheep over long distances all dogs need to rest.

Watching the sheep being herded was absolutely fascinating - these were

 truly hard working dogs. Once trained they sell for high prices as a shepherd is

 nothing without good dogs.

Oh, and wool, how cold and dreary life would be without beautiful soft and fluffy wool!

All photos from the Ring of Kerry - May 2016