On the loose in Dublin town...

I have to say that my dad is one hell of a trooper! After nearly getting killed riding a bike and almost falling off a 300 foot cliff, I must say I was a bit concerned on how the rest of the trip was going to go. Needless to say by the end of our tour, I will tell you this: I never met anyone who had never been overseas who fit in like a comfy pair of jeans and who let everything that came his way gently flow over him. Anyway after tripping around on the Aran Islands, we were aboard the train from Galway back to Dublin. Train travel in Ireland is so civilized! Relaxing, comfortable seats, friendly folk all around and of course a bar on board for your afternoon Guiness. After a few days of rest we headed into the city centre of Dublin like kids in awe and amazement at this great town. We decided to be gorby tourists and did the hop on hop off bus thing which is actually a pretty good way to get about and lets face it, who's going to see you that you know anyway! The tour bus trundled about and gave us a good little history of the place and our first hop off was the Kilmainham Gaol. An intense Victorian jail which housed many men, women and children, mostly poor and their only crime mostly being Irish Catholic and fighting for independence from the British rule. So after some hardcore stories of the uprisings, we decided the next hop off would be the Guiness factory. Imagine 500 acres in the middle of the city belonging to a brewery! Ahh the Irish know their historical monuments and how to preserve them alright...The highlight is the 360 degree pub at the top with grand views of the city and of course a big free pint of FRESH Guiness. Did I mention that the Guiness does taste better in Ireland? After a lovely meal in the cafe there we started out for a good walk and wander around the Liffey river, Ha Penny Bridge and eventually into the Temple Bar district where we found a great pub and our first taste of traditional Irish music. By that time our fresh Guiness had worn off and it was time to replenish our iron levels as they were quite low by now...and you know whats good for that? You guessed it...the G word...I think around 10 pm we decided to stagger off to find the bus...got a bit lost and got friendly with a local who pointed us in the right direction (while telling his life story...) and arrived safe in Balleycullen. My daughter and her lad were a bit concerned but relieved when we showed up giggling and singing Dublins praise..."dirty old town...dirty old town.." To be continued...

Irish times...

So I've been looking back at some of my photos from my recent trip to Ireland and thought I would post some of my 

favorites...but first a quick history of the trip. My dad and I arrived in Dublin which was to be our base since my daughter Aja and her lad Robert were living there at the time. Our first trip was dad, Aja and I off to the Aran Islands. These are a group of 3 remote island off the west coast and very much locked in a time gone by. Many of the people there are 7th and 8th generation Islanders who rarely get off the island..one man we met last went to the mainland in 2004. Most of them only make one or two trips to the mainland each year. A gracious and friendly sort who mainly speak Irish gaelic and live simple lives with tourism being one of the major ways to make a living. Aran sweaters are known the world over but I think most of the wool comes from the mainland now and sheep farming has dwindled. The most obvious thing that you notice once you begin the bike trip from the ferry is the rock walls. They are everywhere and are amazing pieces of functional art. What else are you going to make your fences out of when you have millions of rocks and no trees? The other thing you will see are the thatched roof cottages of which we stayed in for the 2 nights we were there. The movie 'Man of Aran' made in 1939 was filmed in and around our B&B which goes by the same name. The movie is supposed to depict life on the Arans and although does give the basic gist, it was a bit more enhanced than the locals liked to think.Anyway a beautiful, rugged place with ancient history dating back to prehistoric times. One of the forts, Dun Aonghasa, is believed to be older than the pyramids of Egypt. Anyway I will continue these short photo journeys in coming blogs.

aahhh summer...

I am just getting used to the quiet after having my daughter Aja and her lad Robert here for two weeks. They have moved to Toronto via Dublin and came to spend the last few weeks of June here while they waited for their apartment to be vacated. There was much fun and exploring to be had such as our trip out to Parkinson Creek on the Jaun De Fuca trail west of here. The day was a bit drizzly but turned out rather sunny in the end especially after our big harvest of mussels from the shore. When it was finally time to leave, Robert was as hard to get away from the beach as the mussels that we just plucked from the rocks...like a kid in a candy store...happy as a clam...or should I say mussel! Anyway much scrubbing and steaming later, with a gorgeous white wine tarragon sauce, new potatoes and salad from the garden, the feast began...a successful 50 mile diet dinner...You gotta love the summer with its abundance of free food, good wine, friends, family and of course good wine to move it all along...To top off the incredible edibles I also found a tiny pearl in one of the mussels...apparently one in ten thousand...and me the lucky girl to find it!

Back from a dream..

Well, I will make a short but very sweet entry about my trip to Ireland. What a place! I think it has been well documented about how green Ireland is and it does seem cliche but the truth is there really are about 300 shades of the emerald tone there and until you actually see it you just can't imagine how gorgeous it really is. Definitely a photographers dream! My dad and I had an amazing time from the minute we landed and heard the first lilt of the language to the last pint of Guiness in the Merry Ploughboy...maybe one too many but thats another story.Oh and by the way... the Guiness really does taste better there!

Far and away...

Well I am gearing up for my voyage to Ireland with my Dad on Tuesday..except for this damn cold I caught from Tom, I can barely stand myself I'm so excited.Imagine..me...in the land of wool and Guiness...sounds like a slice of heaven don't it? I think one of the biggest thrills is making it happen with my Dad...for him to finally go to the country he's been hearing about his whole life from all of those relatives with the soft Irish lilt in their voices, must be overwhelming...but I know he will feel right at home and fit in just right with his story telling ability and great sense of humor...Of course I will miss Griffin on all of those wonderful walks we will do and Toms broad smile in the pubs enjoying a pint...but alas we will toast all of those who can't be with us and will return with many stories to tell....until next time...

macro fun

Well I finally got a new camera...its been a gas playing with the macro lens and the panorama picture maker...can't wait to try it out in Ireland...10 more days till we leave! I'm getting pretty excited and won't settle down until we actually get on the plane..hopefully I will be bringing home quite a selection of photos to create a separate blog about our adventure...that it will be!!

beauty in a box

In my last post I talked about how much I love the covers on old books and I wanted to talk about another collection I keep, that of old suitcases...I had this old thing I had found in the Sally Ann that I loved and when I started traveling to craft fairs I decided to show off the old beauty and bring her along as luggage...It never got confused with all the other black suitcases and once I started adding vintage travel stickers she became quite a character...I often wondered where else the old girl had been and what stories lay in her lining...On my 40th birthday a dear friend gave me his moms sturdy little cream number with kelly green trim which dates from the 40's...well I got hooked and have since adopted a few more. They sit in my studio containing art supplies and are ready and willing to come along on short trips...my first beauty is a bit too fragile in her elder years to go on any airplane trips but comes along camping in the van or on girly weekends...They definitely DON'T make these like they use to..