From the archives...

May you always have...

Walls for the wind

A roof for the rain

Tea beside the fire

Laughter to cheer you

Those you love near you

And all your heart might desire

-Irish Blessing-

Top o' the mornin' to ye...a song for Monday

Well today is the day that half the world takes claim to their Irish heritage.

I am fortunate to make this claim honestly as my grandparents

are from the Emerald Isle and the land is a place close to my heart.

(Antrim Coastline)

(Dingle Peninsula)

As I traveled Ireland's lovely roads and green hills a few years back with

my dad and daughter, I became even more involved with

my love affair with The Motherland.

(Aran Islands)
So today I send a tribute out to the land, the music, the people,

and the cultural heritage of which travels far and wide

and leaves many trails behind.

(music shop, Killarney)
Yesterday I went to a fantastic live show at Cherry Point Vinyards
to see Ruth Moody and her band. If you've never seen her, have a look and listen.
She has the voice of an angel and the writings of a poet.
As a tribute to St Patricks Day, she did a rendition of this song.
So here is the original version for you now.

Happy St Patricks Day all!

Bits and bobs of green...

Happy St Patrick's Day to you all!

It's a half sun half cloud day here on the coast

 and the spring is coming on with many shades of green.

The weather is typically March changing every five minutes but

it's this climate that I love, I can't complain.

Must be in my blood.

Speaking of green...

I thought today I would share some of my favorite green things...

Some pretty little pieces of Irish porcelain found in the thrift shop.

 I can't resist those sweet little shamrocks!...

 Another thrift store find was this travel book published in 1939...

 It's full of stories and pictures from a time long vanished.

The inside cover has a lovely vintage map to gaze upon and dream of another trip someday...

My favorite green velvet scarf and the one decent thing I ever knitted, a hat, with wool from Ireland...

A green Irish linen blouse...from the thrift store as well!

A few postcards sent home from the Motherland...

...this was attached to a sweater I bought on the Aran Islands...

Did you know that each family had their own stitch so that if a fisherman

drowned, they could identify him by the stitches on his sweater?

These are but a few of my favorite photos I took in Ireland.

( I've probably posted a few of these before so pardon my love of these times.)

The first is my dad's hand near his pint in a pub in Dingle.

One of those priceless nights we had on our travels...

One of the most beautiful places on earth, The lakes of Killarney...

 Galway at dawn on a Sunday morning...

 My daughter Aja and my dad strolling in the rain on the Aran Islands...

 The amazing Atrim coast of Northern Ireland

A card a friend sent to me once with an Irish blessing to pass on to you all...

...and what St Patrick's Day wouldn't be complete without a wee jig ...

Ladies and Gents...

The Pogues.  

 

If I should fall from grace with god
Where no doctor can relieve me
If I'm buried 'neath the sod
But the angels won't receive me

Let me go, boys
Let me go, boys
Let me go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrBLqp-s__o

Song for Friday...for the Irish in all of us

 

Seems like on March 17th nearly everyone lays claim to

have some sort of Irish blood flowing through their viens.

And if you do...be proud!

It's a grand thing to know that some of your ancestors are of

this brave and ancient heritage.

Although this song may have Scottish origins, I heard it

featured in a movie the other night called "Agnes Browne".

A funny, tender movie set in Dublin in the '60's

 staring Angelica Houston (with her well put on Irish accent)

who plays a widow with 7 children.

She barely earns enough money with her market stall but still

manages to keep the family afloat all the

while dreaming of seeing Tom Jones in concert and dodging the local loan shark.

This song is played during a tender moment between

her best friend Mary and herself.

I love this rendition by Canadian singer Laura Smith.

Who would know better on how to sing this song

but a lady who married a lighthouse keeper and moved to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia?

So enjoy being green this Sunday and enjoy this lovely song...

Have a great weekend all!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2sCagV6Ayw&list=AL94UKMTqg-9AvbK8EhMq0rGIofTjiw1AE&feature=endscreen&NR=1

 



Wordless Wednesday...

A lovely poem for the day...

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade. 

 

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings. 

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

 William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939

Lucky me!

Photographs have a way of preserving life.

How incredible is it that we can bring back a time, a place, a person,
just by looking at a piece of paper or a screen!

  These are some of the myriad of images that dance through my dreams, both sleeping and while awake.

They remind me of a place where my heart lies.

Of a journey with my dad and a visit to be with my daughter.

Luck has kissed me more than once.

This was one of those times.

 During these days of chaos and devastation all around the world,
it's the deep
and meaningful,
priceless memories of times and places,
with people I love, that bring me comfort.

  Gives me a sense of peace.

  Reminding me how blessed I am.

Happy St Patrick's Day, all.

Sláinte!

  "To Your Health!"