I’ve been pretty good this year. Nobody’s perfect, but I’ve been better than a lot of people, especially those I see on the news. I know it’s too late for this year, but these things are kind of big, so I thought you could use a little advanced notice to start working on them for delivery in 2024.
Come up with a way to make lying painful to the liar – not the “I love your new haircut” kind of lie, but the big ones where people are trying to re-write history, or when they’re doing it for personal gain and to hurt others.
Stop lining billionaires already bulging pockets. There’s plenty to go around, and most of the aforesaid aren’t interested in helping those who could really use a little extra.
More peace, less war.
More love, less hate.
As for me, personally, I could use a bit of help finding the ocean view house on the West Coast of Ireland that was one of my primary goals of moving here in the first place. My creativity really sparks when I’m around the ocean (or it’s inlets). Something affordable. Nothing fancy, something easy to maintain, with good, kind, helpful neighbors like the ones I have now.
And one more thing – do what you can for my family, friends, and neighbors who could use a little extra help. I wish them all the happiness of the holiday season, into the new year, and beyond.
Here’s a little painting I did that I didn’t have time to finish to get into my Christmas cards. I’m no Rembrandt, but I do enjoy exploring different aspects of my creativity.
Beannachtaí na Nollag agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh!
P.S. – thanks to those who sent Christmas cards. Maybe I haven’t noticed before, but the USPS had some festive postmarks. Well done to those who bought forever stamps – you can see several year’s designs here (if only the postal system would be more timely in their deliveries, but that’s a posting for my other blog in the near future).
As a writer, you must train yourself to observe. A word, phrase, gesture, accent, look or incident could inspire a poem or end up in a story or novel. On my recent vacation in Westport, a snippet of conversation at the hotel pub during dinner caught my attention and prompted this piece.
The mother at the next table berated her son for calling an aubergine an eggplant, “Are you American?”, she asked several times in a tone that she might have used to ask if he was a serial killer. Just after this, the waitress appeared to look at me strangely when I suggested a substitution of cucumber for tomato, onion, and avocado in the salad I was ordering (they were out of Caesar).
Had I made an ‘American’ blunder like asking for hash browns with my omelet that morning and receiving a bacon rasher instead? Or forgetting to say courgette for zucchini or gherkin for pickle?
My salad arrived as written on the menu. I started wondering if it was another American mistake, thinking every food establishment allowed you to ‘have it your way’. I ate around the unwanted items. (The waitress did apologize when she took away the remains of the dish and spotted the requested exclusions – she thinks another table may have been surprised by the salad they received.)
The father at the same table ordered an Americano coffee. I found it ironic.
Just prior to dinner, I had been watching a program about Hotel Chocolat’s quest to create a vegan milk chocolate that didn’t evoke a response of ‘it’s not bad for a vegan chocolate’. The version that earned the green light contained hazelnut powder (hopefully it comes with a warning about nuts). It got me thinking about restaurant menus.
Pretty much every restaurant has at least one or two vegetarian and/or vegan (v/v) options these days. I had booked a five-night package including breakfast and dinner. If I were vegetarian or vegan, would I have to check the menu beforehand to see if I could eat the one or two options multiple days in a row? I’m not advocating for restaurants to increase their v/v options; I’m sure there’s people already doing just that, but to merely make an observation that could be used in a story one day (mine or someone else’s).
Even if you’re not a writer, these little tidbits of other people’s lives are a sprinkle of seasoning on our own.
A few photos from Westport including sunset over Croagh Patrick.
Sun setting over Croagh PatrickSunsetTide is outView from my room
My vacations these days are primarily writing escapes. A chance to get outside my four walls, where I don’t have to listen to the chatter of the dust bunnies or the sighing of the dirty dishes in the sink.
Sometimes I rent a self-catering house and other times I book a hotel when I don’t want to cook.
The only drawback to most of these adventures is the furniture. Hotels may have a desk and a chair at said desk, but it is certainly NOT a desk chair. The padded ones have seen a few too many bums and you sink into the wooden frame, while others are rock hard; neither conducive to a comfortable writing space. Homes don’t generally have a desk and the furniture is very hit and miss as to whether you sink to a point where a crane could be required to pull you out, or they sit so low it’s a strain on my aging knees to sit down and get up. But I carry on, as I can always use pen and paper, lying on the bed.
My most recent trip had me arriving at the Radisson Hotel in Sligo. I’d been to this particular hotel over a decade ago, and it was just as nice as I remember. Close to Rosses Point with beaches and ocean views and also near Benbulben mountain.
Sculpture at Rosses PointOcean view – Rosses PointBenbulben mountainWelcome treat at Radisson Sligo
It’s also Yeats Country. When I awoke the first morning and immediately had a poem pop into my brain, I decided to (re-)visit W.B. Yeats’ grave at Drumcliffe church. The last time I was there was on a bus tour and all I really remembered were the swans on the doors to the church.
Outside the church’s walled enclosure is a new (to me) sculpture representing the poem He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. The statue had been stolen in 2018 and only replaced in 2022.
Scultpure outside St. Columba’s Church, DrumcliffeDoors to St. Columba’s ChurchMural in St. Columba’s ChurchPulpit in St. Columba’s ChurchWilliam Butler Yeat’s Grave – St. Columba’s Church, Drumcliffe, Sligo
The church and grave are free to visit, though they do have several spots requesting donations. Most were the standard box/barrel for cash donations, but they even had one electronic machine where you could tap your debit/credit card to give a €5 donation to allow for our increasingly cashless society.
A new addition is an audio guide that you can rent which has the history of the area spoken by local people. It contains things like how Yeats came to be buried there, his self-written epitaph, the mural that was less expensive to put in than a stained glass window, and the stables turned tea room.
There’s also a small art gallery where I purchased a print of a felting painting. I had only ever seen felting made into stuffed animals, puppets, or Christmas decorations. This was the first time I’d seen it made into wall art. I would have bought the original, except it had already been sold. The print is clear enough that you can see that the original was 3-D felting. The woman minding the gallery was the artist and she gave me a brief demonstration of the technique.
It was a short stay in Sligo, but in addition to the editing existing work I had brought with me, two new poems came out of it, so these are always worthwhile adventures to help advance my budding writing career (and something to blog about, as well).
It’s the time of eggs and fertility along with rebirth and renewal. Potentially, a time where modern religions have the most in common with the ancient beliefs.
The land begins its cycle of rebirth after its winter slumber, just as Christianity celebrates the resurrection.
In years past I’ve shown all kinds of chocolate Easter eggs that are at the center of Irish Easter candy. There are no pastel-wrapped miniatures, no Peeps (thankfully!), no Easter baskets, and, believe it or not, no jelly beans. It’s all about the Chocolate eggs.
Whether it’s the lingering effects of the pandemic or the economic crisis, the selection of unique Easter eggs has deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t find anything as a real stand-out this year. Butler’s offerings were smaller on the flavor scale than last year, and the shapes and designs very much same old, same old. Other brands fared no better. Even in the novelty area where I once found a Frozen castle in 2016, there was nothing to wow over.
I did pick up one egg from Lir. It had a classy look, but nothing that would really make you sit up and take notice.
Maybe it’s time for chocolatiers to look at their offerings and put their creative caps back on to come up with something more interesting next year.
In the end, the chocolate eggs get smashed into bite sized pieces, so pick your favorite flavor and enjoy!
For more interesting past selections check out my Easter posts from previous years 2013 (part 1 of 2), 2014, 2015, (2016 link above), 2017, 2019.
The year has drawn to a close and it’s been another odd one. Maybe there is no “normal” anymore. But I’ve come to the conclusion that the following are the only ways we’re going to get to the other side of a climate crisis, economic crisis, and put an end to war and strife.
Choose:
Love over hate
Truth over lies
Cooperation over division
I wish you a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!
As part of my staycation I had a room with a sea view. That is my ultimate goal, to finally have a house with a sea view. (Note to readers, sea view could be Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean – both tend to be called sea views.)
I had booked a package deal which included dinner each night in the “formal” dining room instead of the pub, where I usually eat.
The first night when I went down to dinner I had to chuckle as it seemed to be primarily women of a certain age (of which I’m a card carrying member). That dynamic did change over the course of my stay, but it was just another interesting observation.
From my sea view room, I not only watched the tides and the waves come and go, but was astounded at the number of people who took a dip in the water – in late October!
Granted, most of them weren’t in for more than about 5 minutes or so, but others stayed in for quite a bit longer. One woman went for a jog, up and down the sandy beach, after her dip, likely to warm up.
It wasn’t just one day or a certain time each day, people were going in an out all day long. There were a few windsurfers as well – at least they had wet suits.
It reminded me of one of my first Christmases in Ireland. In Salt Hill (near Galway), they have a Christmas Swim on Christmas Day every year. I had every intention of walking down to see the event (too chicken to participate). However, it was farther than I originally thought and about half way there a squall came in and I knew I wouldn’t make it in time, so I ended up turning around and going back to my apartment (nearly wet enough as if I had taken the plunge).
The streets were so quiet, it was eerie – not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
I never did make it down to see the event, as I never had a car when I lived in Galway (except for the odd rental when a visitor came). Everything is closed at Christmas in Ireland, the buses don’t run and even the airport is closed. But I did get a taste of it watching people dip in and out of the ocean in late October.
I think everyone should travel. You get to meet so many amazing people and have some of the best (and ok, occasionally the worst) experiences of your life. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, and others leave you in awe. This is one the first variety.
I took an Irish staycation and stayed at a hotel that offered some free child and adult activities as part of the package. I decided to sign up for the wine tasting. I’m no sommelier, and these days, prefer a fruity cider to wine, but it was something interesting to do and I thought I might learn something new about choosing wine. I have been to vineyards in Napa as well as Oregon, so I know what a typical wine tasting session should look like.
This, however, was, what I call, a totally Irish version.
There were only about half a dozen people to start, though people dribbled in to nearly double the size over the course of about half an hour. Instead of a formal presentation, we were given the chance to sample two house wines, both Chilean, a red and a white.
They young man doing the serving did a nice job of describing the wines. We then had to choose which to try. I chose the white, which was a Sauvignon Blanc. I tend to avoid Sauvignon Blancs because I find them on the dry side, but this one was quite nice. We were given the equivalent of a little over half a normal glass of wine.
Lo and behold, dear wine tasters, that was the end of the show. Really!
I had been sitting close to the bar and ended up striking up a conversation with the young man doing the serving. We talked about rental prices (more outrageous and harder to come by than when I was renting), the weather (a required topic with any Irish person), and to tip or not to tip (it’s becoming more common in Ireland).
Having finished my glass, he offered me a taste of the red wine. Why not, I thought, that’s what wine tasting is supposed to be about. It was on the dry side, so not really something I would order, but that didn’t stop me from finishing the (half) glass.
A few other people inquired and were offered a sample of the opposite of their first choice, but it’s wasn’t a given that you would receive both. Interestingly, I found that more people were choosing white over red. After emptying about two bottles of red and three of white, the lad departed and that was the end.
It may not have been your typical wine tasting event, but it was worth the entertainment value.
When you think of Irish Crystal, the vast majority of people will think of Waterford Crystal. It’s one of the oldest in the country and has been through many closures, restarts, and changes.
There used to be many other crystal factories in Ireland, many of them spin-offs from Waterford. Some still survive today, though not all of the actual crystal is manufactured in Ireland, including Waterford who only make specialized, high-end pieces in the country.
Galway Crystal started around 1967 and, like Waterford, has had it’s fits and starts. It was purchased by Belleek (the pottery people) in 1997. Another well known name around Ireland is Tipperary Crystal who are also still in businesses after forty years.
Tyrone was a contemporary of Waterford, back in the early days, and went through a number of transitions, but sadly closed in 2010.
Cavan crystal is another company that has fallen by the wayside. I recently stayed at the Cavan Crystal Hotel which incorporates the former crystal showroom. It’s a lovely hotel with amazing staff. I booked a suite so I could do some concentrated writing without feeling claustrophobic and was treated to a gorgeous four-poster bed with separate dining area. One of the things I found most interesting was the thickness of the outer walls – over 3 feet thick (one 10 ½” notebook, 2 sheets of A4 lengthwise and a piece of A4 width-wise). It would be quite the challenge to open those windows!
People no longer have display cabinets full of treasures like crystal and China, so companies have had to adapt their product lines to stay in business.
Most of these company keep it very tight lipped when it comes to stating where their pieces are actually produced. It certainly isn’t broadcast on their websites. Waterford does admit the practice during the factory tour.
If you’re looking for crystal actually made in Ireland, I did find a few companies, Connemara Celtic Crystal, Cork Crystal, and Dingle Crystal who actually make most or all of their pieces on the island. They don’t have massive stock or selection, but they are hand crafted pieces made in Ireland.
I own two pieces of Waterford Crystal, both were gifts. I also own Galway Crystal as well as a gorgeous vase from Connemara Celtic Crystal that I bought as my “welcome to Ireland” gift when I moved here.
When possible and practical, I like to give gifts from Irish companies and have given gifts of Galway and Tipperary crystal to friends and family. Based on my research for this post, I now have a few more places I can look for Irish made gifts.
After being cooped up for over a year I was keen to look at someone else’s four walls for a change. Hospitality finally re-opened in August, the same month I received my vaccines. It was still a little early in the year for me to travel – I prefer it when the kids have gone back to school. Plus, with hotels and accommodation just reopening, there was bound to be a rush to book as many people were feeling the same need to get away. International travel was still somewhat of a risky venture so more and more Irish were doing staycations.
Countless hours were spent searching for a place as everything I was interested in was already booked, even though I was looking at mid-September dates. I finally settled on a cottage in Killala, Co Mayo with a view of an inlet from the sea.
Killala
A self-catering house appealed more than a hotel as I would have fewer people to interact with and wouldn’t feel cooped up in a hotel room.
For the most part, I stayed put, taking the time to work on writing projects, catch up on some of my personal development courses, and just relax. I did sign up for a weaving workshop as I’ve always found weaving a fascinating process. Due to the off-season, it was just me and the instructor. We worked on table-top hand looms that were just a bit larger than an A4 (legal) size piece of paper. I learned about warp and weft and we worked not only on different techniques but with different thicknesses of yarn to get different effects. The end result was a wall hanging. As this was all experimental for me, the colours weren’t exactly what I would have chosen, had I been planning the piece in advance, but I think it turned out quite well for my first attempt. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Dining out, like traveling, was still regulated. My first restaurant visit in a year was to a pub in Killala. Masks are required to enter as well as proof of vaccinations. Fortunately, we have an app in Ireland for our certification so we don’t have to worry about losing a small piece of paper. Servers wore masks the whole time.
I cooked simple fare for the most part, as the cottage had a fully equipped kitchen, so the only other restaurant I visited was on the way home at one of those petrol/food/convenience store service stations. To eat inside the fast food restaurant also required proof of vaccination.
While I was in line at the checkout of the convenience store I noticed boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts. I did a double take as I wasn’t sure if it was a knock-off or whether the company had really come to Ireland, since I hadn’t heard anything on the news. In the spirit of research, I did purchase a box and when I was home, did a web search. It turns out it is the same company as in America, but they don’t have any formal shops – they just sell the boxes at certain shops. If only I could find a company that makes old fashioned (sour cream) donuts (with chocolate frosting) – I do miss those the most.
The next wave of Covid seemed to be picking up pace, so I decided to get in another break in case there was another lockdown.
This time I chose a hotel, partly because they were having a double loyalty points promotion, and partly because I didn’t want to have to cook. In November I booked a suite, hoping to have extra room so it didn’t feel so claustrophobic as some hotel rooms can be. It also had a view of the River Shannon, and I love being near water.
Athlone
Although billed as a two room suite, the second “room” was really an entry closet/dressing area and not really functional as a work area. Fortunately, the main room was bigger than a standard room so I didn’t feel quite so hemmed in. Masks and vaccine certificates were still required for dinning.
Sightseeing wasn’t really part of either trip as I have been limiting my contacts. I’m probably more cautious than some people, but I also have underlying health issues that could make a bout of Covid more serious. My main goals were change of scenery, relaxation, and some quality writing time.
As the new variant blossoms like a aggressive weed, further travels are unlikely until Spring.
Another St. Patrick’s Day rolls around and the pubs are still closed. There will be no masses gathered for parades or empty beer bottles clogging the gutters of Temple Bar.
Who would have thought one year later we’d still be in lockdown. Except for a brief period in summer and a couple weeks in December, Ireland continues to be in high level lockdown. We don’t have the medical facilities to cope with the huge numbers of sick people that Covid-19 has wrought.
Am I sick of not being able to travel more than 5 km and spend my days staring at the same four walls? You betcha! However, I’m grateful to live in a 3 bedroom home instead of a studio or one bedroom apartments, so I can change the scenery a bit more than some. I’m grateful I still have a job and can work from home. I’m grateful that I, my family, and closest friends have avoided the worst of Covid-19. I’m grateful the vaccines are out and more and more people are being vaccinated every day (though more slowly in Ireland than places like the UK or US).
Am I anxious to finally get this behind me? Of course, as I’m sure many of you are as well. But it’s not over yet, not even if you’ve been vaccinated (you may not get sick but there is still a chance you can pass it along to others).
If I have to put up with restrictions for another 6 months or even a year, I will. Too many people are still dying around the world, around the country, and possibly even around your neighborhood. I don’t want someone’s death on my conscience, so I will continue to follow the rules, wear my (uncomfortable) mask, and limit where I go. With the vaccines, it does appear the end is in sight, but there is no need to rush.
It’s been challenging being creative during this time, mostly because I work all day in the same room where I write and craft, so when I’m finished working for the day, I want out of that room. The odd poem still pops into my head and I’ve been editing some short stories and recently, after a four year hiatus, started another round of editing on my first novel. I’ve painted a few pictures and have a few in the works. In a world still being ravaged by Covid-19, I whipped up these little Covid Clovers to send a little good luck around the world. One rough and ready, the other more refined. The leaves close, but not touching, yet the heart still beats.
Stay safe, stay well, and remember those who are in serious circumstances than most of us are, even with the restrictions.
In deference to one of my readers who pointed out these aren’t Shamrocks because they have 4 leaves, I didn’t actually call them Shamrocks. However, I did link them with St. Patrick’s Day which should, in theory, be a Shamrock (reference between the paintings and the holiday have been corrected), but then again, if you really want to get technical (and I’m not looking to start an international incident), St. Patrick was Welsh by birth and I’m a Pagan. So let’s keep things light and go with the spirit of goodwill in which they were intended.
PS – here’s an update on the state of my keyboard one year on, too – four letters totally gone and many fading fast.
Mdmusings Ireland Blog 