Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Woman posts Ireland pics! Readers faint in disbelief!

Finally, at long last, I'm posting some pics of our pilgrimage to Ireland. I plan to do several posts on this topic because there are quite a few pictures and I don't want you to be overwhelmed and go into Beauty Overload. Seriously, Ireland is a place of unrelenting beauty, and you find yourself almost wishing to see a strip mall or an industrial waste plant simply because after a while it almost hurts to look at it.

So, in no particular order, here's the first batch:

Augnanure Castle, located along the main road from Galway to Clifden (Connemara region). This is a 16th century tower fort, and there are over two hundred remains of these houses in Co. Galway. This was one built by the O’Flahertys, scourge of Galway Town, known for kicking the severed heads of their enemies around like a soccer ball. Don't they just sound precious? I'd just love to invite them to one of my dinner parties.

aughnanure



Me, being attacked by one of the devil watchdogs of Aughnanure! These great watchdogs are known for wandering over and collapsing in unsuspecting visitors' laps, which this one did shortly after this photo was taken.

watchdog



Ruins of a 13th century church, located in the Burren (one of our two favorite regions in Ireland). To this day, local people are still buried in the ruins of churches. It's a bit jarring to see modern tombstones scattered about such old ruins.

burren



Kilmacdaugh, an early Christian monastery complex, the first building of which was built in the 7th century. The complex was in use up until the 16th century. The big round tower is an example of the towers incorporated into these monastery complexes, and they were used by the monks to escape Viking and Irish marauders. The entrances were built 20+ feet up and could only be accessed by rope or ladder, which the monks pulled up behind them. We only knew about this place because Chris had heard of it in one of his Irish history classes. It was one of our favorite experiences.

kilmacdaugh



The Twelve Pins Mountain range of Connemara (our other favorite region). The only word for this place is "breathtaking". The large bushes with the yellow flowers are gorse, and they carry the most incredible smell of coconut-- don't ask me to explain it, because I can't. I wish I could get gorse to grow in Georgia, but I have a feeling that it's impossible.

connemara



A typical example of a western Ireland “highway”. Oh, I prayed, dear readers, how I prayed (wait till you see the picture of the tour bus):

freeway



The Giant's Causeway, close to the northernmost point of Ireland. The geometric shapes were formed by cooling lava. We spent a whole morning here, hiking up to the cliff above and back down to the Causeway itself. It was a gorgeous day, and a really amazing experience.

gintcause



Somewhere in the mountains north of Donegal:

donegal



The grave of W.B. Yeats and his wife George, located in the cemetary of Drumcliffe Church, Co. Sligo.

yeats


Well, I hope that you've enjoyed the first installment. Look for more pictures in the near future!

Kimberley

Sunday, June 22, 2008

I don't sleep much anymore...

so instead of lying down and wearing myself out by trying desperately to sleep, I do what any other normal person would do and take pictures instead ;)

You may have noticed that, while others in Blogland are sharing pictures of their glorious gardens, I am not. That's because I don't have much of a garden, glorious or otherwise, thanks to the stupid drought (but at least we still have drinking water... for the moment). My rose bushes did bloom, beautifully, but I didn't get pictures of them. And then there are my gardenia bushes: they're spindly little things, I suppose because I never prune or feed them. But in spite of my neglect, they're giving me some lovely flowers.

gardenia3


I *love* gardenias-- almost as much as I love peonies and roses. And it's not just the gardenia flowers that I love; their glossy dark green leaves are worthy of center stage in a vase all by themselves.

Here's another shot of the gardenias:

gardenia1

Yes, I was also using this as a camera tutorial, trying out different light settings, the zoom, angles, etc. I was also moving the flowers and some other things around, as well, so don't adjust your screen ;)

I am miserably jealous of those who have mantels especially since we got rid of our old entertainment center, which had a broad top that I used as a seasonal display space. So, in lieu of both mantel and entertainment center, I use the top of the toilet tank (Necessity is the mama of invention!). Here're the gardenias (again), along with a small Homer Laughlin casserole dish (sans lid) that I've filled with soaps:

soap and gardenias

Homer Laughlin's Fluffy Virginia Rose is one of my favorite patterns. I might even say my most favorite, but I don't want all of the other patterns in my house to get their feelings hurt. I was thrilled when I found this casserole dish, and decided that it was just too pretty to sit in the armoire waiting to be used for its original purpose. It also happens that I'm addicted to all-natural, wonderful-smelling soaps, so voila! A perfect pairing.

Ireland picture update: Chris has finished fiddling with a number of pictures, so I'll try and get them posted (along with commentary) this week. All of you who have been waiting for them: thanks for your patience :)

Kimberley

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Ok, so I'm stalling here...

Chris is working on re-sizing the Ireland pictures (and doing other mysterious things to them, apparently), so I STILL don't have any photos to share-- I'm sorry!

In the meantime, I thought that I would update you on the baby bedding issue-- it's not Ireland, but it is something ;)

So, some of you may remember my cry for help in regard to this issue: Let's talk baby bedding...
What I didn't mention in that post was that the whole issue was further complicated by the fact that all of the bedding had to be organic. Yeeee-eeeesssss. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find organic bedding that isn't "natural" color? I'm here to tell you that it's pretty challenging. Ok, well, so I made it even harder with my determination to not buy a matching set, mostly due to cost and because it seemed that, for boys, the only color was blue and the bedding had trucks all over it. But enough of my self-inflicted nuttiness!

The walls in what was once my sitting room and is now the nursery are a lovely pale green: Rejuvenation from Benjamin Moore. I decided that chocolate was just the color to set that off (didn't want to paint again and go through finding paint with no VOC's), and began looking... and looking... and looking. After over a month of this, here's what I've ordered:

The blanket (which won't actually see any real use for a while, since babies aren't supposed to have blankets), which I found on Etsy. It's all organic, with cotton and bamboo-- not only do I love that and the funky pattern, but I'm glad I could support an independent craftsperson.

babyblanket


The sheet (I'm also ordering a set in "natural"), which I found on Amazon:

chocolatesheet


The bumper cover, from Kee-Ka (I know, the picture reads "crib sheet", but there's a bumper cover with the same pattern):

monkeysheet


The crib skirt, which I found at Carousel Designs. It's the only piece that isn't organic, but I figure Liam isn't going to be breathing into it, as he will the other things:

browncribskirt

I'm also on the hunt for chocolate valances to go over the cream curtains (which will be tied in the middle with chocolate ribbon) that are already there. I found some that are perfect on Target.com (not available in the store, of course), but they want to charge me almost $16.00 for shipping and I just won't pay that.

Oh, and when Chris and I were at Babies R Us the other day, he found a cute monkey for the wall. Is that our theme, then, monkeys? :)

So, what do you think?
Kimberley

Monday, June 9, 2008

We interrupt the Ireland reports...

to bring you some random photos :)

Aren't these gorgeous?

rose1

Whole Foods had a most excellent deal on 2 dozen roses so I scooped them up.

Here's an aerial view:

rose2

I am so pleased to be back in my little Tallulah House, surrounded by my pets, vintage dishes, linens, and candles. I just had to have some flowers to make it all complete. Am I a shallow creature? Well, probably, but I prefer to think of myself as being "hobbit-like" :)

Speaking of pets, one of our cats has a problem with pot:

aoife

(I am very sure that I'll be getting a phone call from my mom, telling me that that joke was in poor taste. She really did try to raise me right, folks.) Don't you love that reproachful/disdainful look on her face? It's like she's saying to Chris, "Dude, will you PLEASE leave me alone? Do I go around photographing you when you're sitting around relaxing? DO I??"

Ahh, well. Next post I'm back with photos and favorite moments from Ireland.

Hope that you have a great day,
Kimberley

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Ireland: An overview of what we saw and did there

Is that a pompous enough title? :)

We were given two weeks in Ireland, for which we were both thankful. Having never been there, our list of "must-sees" was ambitious and lengthy and our days were full. I'm not complaining (much) but it did make for some long days-- not to mention the fact that, because: a) I cannot read a map, and b) my husband is the reincarnation of St. Brendan the Navigator, I did all of the driving and was therefore on edge for the first several days. Ok, so I was a nervous wreck and spent a lot of quality time with the Lord, invoking not only His protection but that of the Holy Family, and that of every other saint whose name I could remember.

So, here's an overview of our two weeks:

Day 1: Arrived blinking and stumbling at the Shannon airport. Picked up rental car. Drove like it was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to our very nice B&B. Rested for an hour. Went to the Bunratty Folk Park. Ate dinner at Durty Nelly's-- failed to see what the guidebook raved about, but the bartender was nice. Returned to b&b and slept like the dead.

Day 2: Drove in the direction of Gort, stopping for a glorious while at Coole Park (amazing grounds, and excellent exhibits); stopped at Thor Ballylee (it was closed until the end of the month, but I paid homage to Yeats in my own quiet way); visited Aughnanure Castle (tower fort, built in the 15th century-- met some nice dogs); drove to Clifden; went to Dan O' Hara's Farm (disappointment-- no ponies!); spent the night at Abbyglen Castle.

Day 3: Driving day. From Clifden we drove to Lisdoonvarna and on to Doolin. Saw the Cliffs of Moher (absolutely incredible); ate a horrible dinner at a pub where the Eurovision song contest was on the tv and were completely bewildered by Ireland's entry for the contest: Dustin the Turkey (they're druids, no wait! They're Las Vegas showgirls-- nope, Native American dancers... errr, no. Can-can girls?? Oh, and is that REALLY an animatronic turkey??). Stayed in a horrible b&b. These experiences (excepting the Cliffs) caused us to adopt a new phrase, "Can anything good come from Doolin?".

Day 4: Visited Ailwee Cave ("Ireland's premier show cave!"-- it was fascinating, though I did keep expecting to see bears dancing around in tutus each time I saw that phrase); stumbled onto the ruins of a 12th century church and explored it in the mist (totally amazing); visited the ruins of a ringfort; went to Poul na Brane (portal tomb-- awesome); visited the Burren Perfumery and had lunch in the tearoom (I decided that I'm going to live there-- in the Perfumery, specifically); spent the night in Kinvarra.

Day 5: Started off the day with a visit to Dungaire Castle; drove to Kilmacduagh, the ruins of a 7th century monastery that Chris had heard about in one of his Irish history classes (awesome); drove into Galway... and drove out again fairly quickly (another of our futile attempts to find a christening gown); drove to Athlone, where we encountered horrible traffic and found that the b&b's were booked up for a wedding. Drove all the way to Roscommon before we found a b&b (super nice family-- one of our best experiences).

Day 6: Drove from Roscommon to Clanmacnoise (monastic city first established in 545 AD by Saint Ciaran-- loved it); went to Strokestown Park, and visited the Famine Museum; drove to Sligo.

Day 7: Visited Drumcliff Church, and the grave of W.B. Yeats; looked at the statue of Countess Markievicz; went on a tour of Parkes Castle; experienced the ruins of Creevelea Friary (this was one of my most favourite things); visited Tobernalt Holy Well (said prayers, lit candles, and tied a scrap of fabric to the rag tree); went to Carrowmore megalithic cemetary (totally cool).

Day 8: Drove to Donegal; visited Dongegal Castle; visited the ruins of Donegal Friary (lots of beer bottles and trash-- made me sad); drove through the Glendowan Mountains and on to Coleraine (stayed in an awesome b&b, met the nicest guy who worked there, and had a Horrible Laundry Experience of Epic Proportions and Duration).

Day 9: Saw the Giant's Causeway (one of the coolest things I've ever seen-- sort of the same feeling I had when I stood on the Great Wall of China); drove to Emyvale (stayed in a lovely b&b, whose owner was equally lovely).

Day 10: Visited the Ulster American Folk Park (this is VERY well done... though they could benefit from the presence of more farm animals-- but the pigs were nice); stopped in Carrickmacross in another failed attempt to find a christening gown (we met Padraic here-- more on him in another post); drove to Navan (stayed in a nice b&b, but the owner only turned the heat on for one hour a day... and even then it didn't get very warm).

Day 11: Went to Trim Castle (largest Norman castle in Ireland); visited the Hill of Tara (a bit overwhelming, not because of what's actually there today, but because of the weight of myth and history); visited Newgrange (one of the most mystical experiences I've ever had).

Day 12: Drove to Dublin (not as simple as it sounds: a horrible accident clogged up everything and it took us three hours to go 30 miles); dropped off the rental car and got a cab to our hotel; dropped off our bags, and went to finish our shopping-- found the christening gown! Ate dinner, returned to hotel. I began passing a kidney stone...

Day 13: Me: agonizing pain and non-stop vomiting; Chris: worry for me and then, when forced, the 1916 Uprising Tour, an exhibit at the National Library, and a visit to the Irish National Museum. We finally ask the hotel to call a doctor, who comes and makes sure that the baby is ok, gives me a shot and some pain pills.

Day 14: Me: more pain (all the vomiting had caused me to pull a muscle in my stomach) and a tad more vomiting; also, extreme weakness due to the fact that I'd not eaten. Chris: a bus tour of Dublin, one stop for which was a destination he'd longed to see for years: Kilmainham Jail.

Day 15: Go to the airport in the cab of an extremely nice man who also gets kidney stones. We commiserate with each other about how awful they are. I feel better about my ordeal ;) Almost collapse in line at the airport and we are rushed through the ticketing line. Head to Immigration, and have no time for the duty free shop. Fly to JFK. Fly to Atlanta. Collapse gratefully into the embrace of Tallulah House.

Here's another picture that Chris took. It's a cross at Drumcliffe Church in Sligo:

sligocross-a[2]

In my next post, I'll go into detail about some of my favourite places/experiences and include pictures.

For now, reliving it all has tired me out, so I'm going to sleep :)
Kimberley

Monday, June 2, 2008

We're home!

Hey, y'all:

We are safely ensconced back in our beloved Tallulah House, with our beloved furry children, and are happy to be here :)

Ireland was absolutely fantastic. I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of the world, and Ireland definitely rates in the top three of the most beautiful places that I've visited. The people are friendly, charming, and full of life. I can't fully explain how strange it was to stand in a country where I've never been, and yet have it feel so much like home. Maybe there truly is such a thing as ancestral memory, who knows?

We learned so much (even Chris, whose brain was already saturated with knowledge about Irish mythology and history), and are incredibly grateful to my school for giving us this opportunity.

Today is all about resting, playing with the dogs, doing laundry, and getting ourselves ready to go to work tomorrow. Over the next few posts I'll be sharing the highlights of our trip, as well as lots of pictures. In the meantime, here's one of my favourites. It's of a Neolithic age portal tomb called Pol na Bron and seeing it is truly a mystical experience. Chris has played around with the colour and this actually does a lot to convey the mood of the tomb and of the place. I hope that you enjoy it.

Pol na Bron

Kimberley