Day Two continuing in Dublin

On our second day of travels in Ireland we enjoyed our first Irish breakfast at our hotel, The Gresham.An Irish breakfast will definitely put one onto the right track for the day....love the rashers..... (bacon)!Just about every hotel    breakfast buffet  was   identical to the next....   loved it!  hehehehhe.

Then our fabulous bus driver, John from Cork, picked us up and we toured the city. We, also, had a local historian, a young man named James explain the exciting history of the town and mainly the churches. We just drove past Christ Church Cathedral with its medieval architecture, here seen as usual through the windows of our coach, 

but we had an appointment to keep at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Of Course, Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland  who  according to the Confessio of Patrick, when he was about 16, he was captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain, and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After becoming a cleric, he returned to northern and western Ireland. In later life, he served as an ordained bishop, but little is known about the places where he worked. By the seventh century, he had already come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.   He is revered for   " driving the snakes" out of Ireland,   but  truly, he worked  to     bring  the   pagan Celts  to  Christ.  He is known  for using the    shamrock to demonstrate  the trinity,... God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

There you  can see James  at the bottom of the screen...  Such an engaging young man,  a patriot of Ireland and a  great historian.

One cannot help but think of the many people who have worshiped in such a place... I even remembered 20 years ago when Amanda sang in the National Cathedral in DC with the Roanoke College Children's Choir.. how they were mesmerized by the accoustics of the magnificent hallways and arches and they involuntarily broke out into song during the preliminary tour... they sounded like ancient choristers cloistered behind deeply inset chambers their voices resonating into the highest most recesses and filtered back to earth like the voices of angels.

I was moved by the candles that had been lit in prayer

 and I immediately remembered my dear cousin who has such a short time left and lit a candle for him! 

Suddenly, I needed air and so I left the tour group and wandered outside down the street into a nearby park to take these imposing photos of the structure!

  Some of the stained glass    uses  both  Christian and celtic designs.

  These   original  tile  floors  were   amazing.....   Such craftmanship!

Day One of Shades of Ireland trip

Just two weeks ago I woke up in Belfast, Ireland... what a dream come true... to get to spend 13 days in the land of my forefathers.. it truly was like going home... I have always loved genealogy, and have always known from my earliest age that my Grandma was Irish.. her maiden name being Higgins... I grew up hearing all kinds of tales about her grandfather who was a great teller of tales and was a very jovial fellow.. that he often hosted horse races at his farm on his own personal track... for horse- racing was in his blood... The word was that our branch of the Higgins clan hailed from around the Waterford area. I was sure to to plan a visit there, mind you, for I wanted to see as much of the homeland as I could!
But first, I should start at the beginning!Our first stop
was Dublin, following our red eye flight from Philly,
We had heard that one must jump right in to make the
most of that first day to alleviate the jet lag... so I was
anxious to get out and do some sight-seeing.. I was
interested in, first of all, seeing the Ha'Penny bridge
and walking across the Liffey River...


then winding our way through the Temple Bar District to
Parliament Street and around the corner to a wee place I had found online... very highly rated...a tea room called
Queen of Tarts.


I had read on Trip Advisor about the farm fresh
offerings and knowing it was sort on our way to
Trinity College it seemed like a great choice..


and it was... a great friend who had joined our group of travellers agreed this was such a quaint first stop in fair city of Dublin!



And so I enjoyed my first cup of Irish tea with my lunch!
And you can see the farm fresh goodness on the plate!



That is a potato leek soup, and the sandwich had beets, brie, and a delish onion marmalade with a fresh side salad! I topped my lunch off with a fresh baked strawberry macaroon.


You can see this is a quite small and busy establishment and they had a fine bakery, too I could have lingered, but we had far to go.. So now that we had recharged our batteries we were on to one of Dublin's finest sites.... Trinity College... quite a classical university that draws students from around the world and it contains the monastic writing of the first four books of the New Testament. the Gospels,Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Through the main gate of the campus one is at once enamored with the lovely masonry and stone facades.


There was some construction going on but it was pretty easy to follow the groups who like we were looking for the library!


This library is still in use today at the college... The highest shelves are reached by long ladders... Huh... Id have to ask the librarian for help for sure!


The classics were definitely honored here. but more than that the Book of Kells was cherished.A centuries old copy of the the 4 Gospels written by Benedictine Monks on lambskin.. and painted in gorgeous calligraphy and drawings ...


We walked quite a fair amount that first day.. breaking in my feet and legs for the days to come... rather grisly stuff this...Now our daughter told me, don't take photos of stuff you can find online... take photos of the details to prove you were there.... so here a few detail shots!


I at first noticed the intricacies of the lampposts..
Grafton Street was the fashion district was pedestrian only... I couldnt believe the number of people out everywhere in Dublin!



I preferred Nassau Street.. where you could find genealogical interests, woolen shops, linen and gift shops.



I found I was greatly interested in the rooftops of buildings... the chimneys and the various shapes and sizes!



You'll see more of these as the days progress, for I will share a day of our trip, One day at a time!
As we toured around the city by bus we enjoyed some of the outlying neighborhoods.. the charm of the row houses.



The date was April 14.. Spring was just starting in Dublin...although the weather was mild and mostly sunny for the entire trip!.I enjoyed  the   various
church edifices.. these spires dominated the horizon!



Later that evening our coach took us across Dublin to the Lansdowne Hotel for the Irish House party...
what a thrill.. this was a highlight!
if you love Celtic music and entertainment and food. then you'd love this!
  

Our  group  consisted of 36 half of which were  from  my church and the others     from the general area....  Lansdowne Hotel has a  huge  taven like  bar and steps down to this  gathering  room.

There  were several other  groups from all over.. some form Canada and others from Australia...

I enjoyed my  cream of asparagus soup and  brie bundle ...  cant remember   what all it was  but it was tasty!

Lynn had salmon...

And there up front was a smallish stage  where  we focused our attentioin following dinner!

The Irish HOuse Party  concept was  formulated by  our host and guitarist, Gerry Nolan, who was a  great  story teller  and musican  and there was  a  dancer/ harpist of   the  River Dance ilk,  and    a  great piper who also played the bodhran!

The following is a youtube about the IHP.

Happy Mother's Day

If it's Mother's  Day Saturday, then  typically you would see me  at the greenhouse  buying  scads of  annuals  and geraniums  to plant  in momma's garden!

This was   the last Mother's Day  I celebrated with  momma  at  her  house in 2011..  She was  89...
This was  the last time Mom and Dad   ate around our table...  in 2012.

it was    July and we were  celebrating  Dad's and  my  birthdays..Momma  fell and   broke  a vertebra in her back in November that year and   they moved into  assisted living  for a year,  then     on  into nursing homes   the year following...  Dad  passed in December  of  2013,  and  Mother this past December..  at  age  94 and 91  respectively.   It was  a  very difficult 3 years  for  us all.  It is   so difficult to see your loving parents  suffer  for so long....  slip into  such a  devastating  decline.
They celebrated their 70th  wedding anniversary  while  in  the nursing home.  Their's was a match made in heaven,, and to heaven  they have  now  have  returned!  I   love  and miss you, both!
Happy Pink Saturday....   visit  Beverly    at How Sweet the Sound.

Where Did the Time Go?

Wow, I can not believe how long it has been since    I last posted...  it has  been a   wild, rocky,     depressed,   exuberant ride  this first  5 months of 2015...  Many of you know my mother  died   Dec. 27th.    This after  a  very long   trial of seeing her    fail to thrive  the last two  years of her life...  As an only child it took its toll on me.  I actually  became physically  ill  with my  depression.. My   IBS  (Irritable  Bowel Syndrome) that    is  usually a  constant  bane of life   became   unbearable.   I became a slave to   home.  And it threw me into an ever deepening  funk.  finally  I found  hope    for  it  through   administration of tons of advise..  but I    had  quit   choir,   going to church  ,   and  basically  everything  during this time. I  was  also  determined that in my  recovery form  this    malady I  would take myself off of  a longtime  use of  Nexium...   it took me months to  recover  and   I am so glad to  be Nexium free  as  well as IBS  free  now... well, I had a very   good reason to  want to be   free of these two   albatrosses!  My husband and I  were   expectantly  getting ready for a two week  tour of Ireland  leaving on   April 14- April 27th...  I absolutely had to  be  able to go  freely... without bondage to the bathroom!Taking  daily Metamucil and  substituting  Zantac for the Nexium and      created in my a  new    digestive constitution.  And through the many prayers  my friends and family   prayed over me....  Glory!  SO   by mid March I was    feeling up  to actually  trying to put  life back together and    start thinking of  preparing for  our dream trip!   Praise God  he saw me through every  moment of  the  journey...  I had absolutely no    problem     with the long  flights,   layovers,   travelling,, bus touring,    walking,   hiking....   He  saw me through it all gloriously!  I cant wait to    start sharing about  the trip...   but you might ask  why  havent you!  it has  been almost 2 weeks...   Well,  unfortunately,  we  came home to  the worse pollen season in several years....  and   that has knocked me for a loop...  I finally went to the doctor yesterday to just make sure  that  I didnt have  strep....  I dont  but I can barely lift my head off the pillow...   But a new round of  meds  is  working and I shall be  tip top    by Mother's Day!   Please see this  post as    a joyful one  for I am  persuaded that      we  do suffer seasons of  despond   along with the  joys of life....   and my    am looking  expectantly to    much joy in the coming  week and   summer months!

Before and After

Return to the Dedicated House here.

Today I  happen to have a before and after to share.... actually   maybe two....     I inherited  a chair from my mother....  she had it  by her bedside in the nursing facility  for a few years and so it  was getting rather  dingy... I wish I had a photo of   that chair,   but  alas,  I cant find one,  but it  is a fine chair....  my mom actually let me  purchase the chair in 1964  when I was  a freshman in HS and taking Home  Ec...  I  was  very interested n  interior design and  my project was to redo my bedroom...  my room being small, this chair  has  very small lines....  and is the perfect  bedroom  chair!

So when I  received it...   Amanda and I took it straight away to get it reupholstered  to  go in  lil Birdie's room.
The moment Amanda and I saw this Jacobean print.. we knew it was the one....  

  the  pale blue background  perfectly matches the new wall paint.... the  whimsical flowers  so youthful yet  graceful for  our sweet  little   granddaughter...

  I  haven't bought a new chair in  decades....   not when the  lines and    construction of older  chairs   is  so   appropriate to me...  so  we get chairs  redone   over and over again.

 When hubby's  chair  got to looking  sort of sad .

 I took it  to get it redone, as well. I liked this  color combination because it  easily could  be used  either here in the den, or in the parlor....  so I was  desiring to   try to stay in the same palette...   but  I ended  up with    something quite different,  after all...
 I definitely didn't play it safe with a  stripe... but when  all out with  paisley!

Our daughter Amanda  has been asking to see the  finished    product....    so I took this photo without the flash.....  but  once the flash  goes off it  revels in its   bright  tones and  hues...

  but  once the flash  goes off it  revels in its   bright  tones and  hues...

a close-

up of the pattern....
  It is a bit wild...   but   I love the way it  warms up the room!!!