Ireland feels strangely like home (a book)

Late last year, I went to Ireland for the first time. I was lucky enough to spend eight days there, touring a handful of counties with family. (My sister and I are married to brothers -- long story -- so it was me and my sister, and our husbands, who are also brothers.) Starting in Dublin for a couple days, we took a driving tour and spent a couple days in counties Roscommon, Galway and Kerry (Killarney) before heading back to Dublin to fly home.

Dublin

Our first night in Dublin we took a really early morning walkabout,
suffering from jet lag as we were. We passed by this creepy old church
on our way up the hill to Killiney Hill Park, which boasted of
the best sunrise views.

Killiney Hill Park did not disappoint, with beautiful views
overlooking parts of Dublin

On the other side of the jut were some seriously moody clouds

Then, we hopped in the car and took off for Roscommon County,
and I saw surprisingly little of the countryside...
Ireland really likes to wall off its highways and roads, as shown here,
presumably so the citizens don't have to see ugly cars
tearing through their beautiful pastoral views. :) 

 Roscommon 

We arrived at the Kilronan Castle.
I'll admit it, I totally geeked out and took all the touristy-type
pictures. I even realized I'm a tiny bit of a foodie underneath
it all. I just had to have access to afternoon tea every day.

Please?

Here's a few photos taken during a walk around the grounds
of Kilronan Castle, when I wasn't inside ordering
afternoon tea and chortling over it like a
crazy person.

This was an old entrance into the castle from
the Ha Ha (there are what looked like
horse stalls to the right). I assume this is where
the carriages pulled up and dropped off guests.

Secret passageway?!

Everywhere in Ireland you find roads and walkways
bordered by these walls. Most are extremely old, as
illustrated by this tree's roots burrowing into it.

Afternoon tea at Kilronan Castle.

While the scones were always my favorite part
of afternoon tea, the artistry of all the different
components always induced me to eat.way.too.much.
Every time.

Downstairs bar in Kilronan Castle (a few others
trickled in over the night, but we mostly had it
to ourselves)

This was my first chance to visit Ireland, though my sister and I grew up on stories of our mixed Ireland and Scotland ancestry. Nonetheless, my sister and I were both really taken aback at how comfortable we felt in Ireland, how much we felt like we "fit right in". Of course, the Irish are very welcoming and friendly, without a doubt, so even my mixed husband felt comfortable (which is often not the case in America, from which we hail). But mannerisms, vocal tones and volumes, driving style... such things I wouldn't have expected to be passed along through DNA, half a world away. According to our husbands, though, my sister and I don't fall far from the Irish tree... which was the source of a lot of teasing as we hurtled nilly-willow through the country on those narrow, walled-in roads.

Galway 

In Galway, we stayed at the comparatively modern
G hotel. The cupcakes looked a lot yummier
than they were, but that's probably what I get for
trying to eat every sugary thing I stumbled across.

It was Halloween, and the afternoon tea I ordered
at the G hotel reflected how seriously the Irish
take this important holiday. 

It broke my heart walking away from
this spooky display half-eaten, even with four people.
But doing anything else would have had
serious consequences. (Like, the plane wouldn't
have been able to take off...)

Exploring "old town" in Galway... This tiny corner
pub was my absolute favorite. I took a picture
so I would always remember.

It was a little cramped :) 

Cliffs of Moher

We spent one of our days in Galway driving over to and exploring the Cliffs of Moher. My sister and husband are not fans of heights, so it was fun to be able to turn the teasing elsewhere for one day. Below are a few photos from the trip to the Cliffs.

It was like driving in another century

According to Google, this was Dunguaire Castle that we
happened to drive past. We pulled over for a quick exploration,
but it was closed up. (Probably due to obnoxious tourists.)

When there was a hill to climb, you can expect some
seriously intense switchbacks. 

We pulled over to enjoy the view halfway up this hill, and my
husband played his new Irish whistle for the cows. 

And finally, once we were at the actual Cliffs I was too busy to take many photos...

The Cliffs were magnificent.

My husband and sister couldn't stay far enough from
the edge as we climbed up to the clifftop.
Eventually, we came across this sign and they
just couldn't contain themselves any longer.

Once the wall between us and the edge of the cliff ended and I wanted to keep going, I had a ugly rebellion on my hands. Being dragged away from "certain death", I was gifted with the chance to drive us back to Galway, like candy dangled in front of a baby to distract them. "Driving while in Ireland" should be classified in some subcategory of thrill-seeking sports. Any one of the following things could be intimidating to a driver, but throw them all together and I'm surprised I could pry my aching hands off the steering wheel when I finally pulled into the hotel parking lot that night:

Cows grazing on the narrow strips
between the switchback road heading
up the hill... Think about their cute,
bovine eyes and don't take your eyes
off that road!

1. Crazy high speed limits on a strange route
2. Driving on the wrong side of the road with road signs you don't recognize (American, remember?)
3. Narrow roads enforced by ancient walls on both sides of the road, with ancient trees growing out of them and encroaching into the road
4. Switchbacks (with cows)

It was a thrill I'll always remember. And even better, we had comprehensive insurance coverage on our rental car. Regardless, any missing paint from said encroaching tree branches are totally not my fault. Ancient trees should know better, they've seen humanity at its worst.

Kerry 

We only had one night in Kerry, but we toured the beautiful town of Killarney before we had to hop in the car for a long drive back toward Dublin.

We walked to this glade not far from our hotel (before afternoon tea)

Walking through certain parts of Killarney was a transportive experience.

And of course, even though it makes me feel
bloated, I had to have at least one delicious Guinness. 

Tipperary (unofficial stop)

On the long drive back toward Dublin, we stopped for some coffee and expected adventure at Tipperary. 

As we walked the streets of Tipperary in search
caffeine, we stumbled across Cahir Castle.

Cahir Castle has an interesting history

Maybe 15 minutes later, as we finally located our caffeine fix,
the sky abruptly clouded over

Thirty seconds later, double rainbow wow aside,
it was looking rather ominous... 

As we started walking back toward our car, the sky with the funny double rainbow suddenly opened up and began pouring down the fattest raindrops I've ever experienced. As someone who's lived in Los Angeles and Seattle, I thought I knew rain like no-ones business. Turns out Seattle rain is a joke. We were instantly drenched all the way through, freezing, so we gripped our coffees tight and ran. We drove the rest of the way to the Dublin airport steaming slightly as we slowly dried out under the care of our rental car's heating vents, on blast. Brrrrrrr!

Ireland wins. In so many ways.

red bullx4 squared

I woke up this lazy morning and surfed around looking at the latest kdrama's available (I'm obsessed with City Hunter at the moment). Then mother dropped by and we chatted over coffee about how fun it is not to be allergic to everything but meat and half of the vegetables on this planet (the less plentiful half). Then we puttered around in my wanna-be garden, picking the just-ripened crop of red, sweet strawberries, clucked our tongue over the thirsty rhubarb and harvested peppermint for tea. Whereupon mother metaphorically raised her middle finger at her elimination diet by popping a few strawberries in her mouth -- yeah, that's not one of the vegetables she's allowed to eat. (Sucks to be denied all sugars!)

A delicious treat by Johnny, "Omurice"

When mother left, I jumped in the shower to head off some sort of stinging nettle-type reaction we'd stirred up in the garden (which is why it's a wanna-be garden -- our strawberries fight hard for their survival against weeds of all kinds, because we have no idea what's legitimate or not.)  While soaping up, surrounded by the smell of summer coming in the open window, I realized I was grinning at nothing at all, and then... that I was happy, perfectly happy, right this moment.  My hip is healing wonderfully. I am day two into my four-day holiday for the 4th of July. The kids are off having fun at their grandma's, and Johnny and I are spending lazy days basking in each other's uninterrupted presence -- getting special treats to enjoy, making scrumptious meals, watching dramas into the night, having BBQs with beloved family and just spoiling each other. It's been heavenly.

And as soon as I realized I was happy, I wanted to post about it. I haven't really wanted, or had the energy, to post about something in quite a while (who wants to showcase their endless stress?)  But this morning, climbing from the shower, Savarna was the first thing I thought of. Does that mean blogging here makes me happy? :)

Those moments are nothing to sneeze at. Despite all the shit life throws at you, I hope everyone has those soft moments where you realize that you're perfectly happy right this second, even if it is gone the next. It keeps you going. Like Red Bullx4 squared.  And for me, it's all about family. (Which I find somewhat ironic, to be sure.)

damily rants

I'm not posting about the big Thanksgiving we had on Saturday with the whole family, because it was just too traumatic, and the last thing I want to do is rehash it when everyone else is so busy rehashing it over dinner anyway.  I'm going to stick to my assertion that this damily (Freudian-typo slip that I am just going to leave in, because though he's mostly full of shit, this amused me) is just not prepared to deal with, or ready to face, Tiffy's death.  And I for one resent feeling pressured to do so. In fact, I'm doing a lot of resenting of family drama and obligations these days, which only convinces me further that I'm not operating within normal parameters. I've become an emotional zombie, and I'm just leaving it at that.

Still un-browned/steamed

The crab pot stickers were a huge hit, though; check them out, I finally uploaded all the pictures from my camera. We got pretty quick baggin' those suckers by the end of the first package of wraps.

I hear that someone might be bringing baggies of already-shelled crab (smart move) to make more of them this Friday night at the jamming session.  Unfortunately, I will miss it due to my Holiday Party at work, but I hope they make lots and lots so I can sneak into the kitchen late at night and wallow and filch until my fingers are dripping with the delicious sauce Johnny makes, mmmm!

Speaking of my work Holiday party:  because of the economic meltdown, my employer hasn't hosted a holiday party for the last two years following my transfer up to Washington State from the Los Angeles office; rather, they donated the money to charities.  So I don't really know how they throw a holiday party in this office, being so much smaller, and so... well, Seattle-like. :D  Is it staid? Is it boring? Is it tense and snobby?  Am I snobby?!  Anyway, I hadn't decided whether to go or not until Sarah, my fellow Korean-drama-watching-friend at work, invited me to be her date since her husband wouldn't be able to make it.  Which sounded like just the thing, since I fatalistically will not bother asking and being turned down again by John. Crowds make him anxious.  (That man of mine... he'll spend hours watching Asian dramas with me, and play his guitar and sing me to sleep when I need it. He'll also spend hours making the perfect homemade pot sticker and real ramen, but he won't take me out for all the free wining and dining that we could possibly want.  Sigh. /rant)

So that's what I'm going to do. Have a party. Without Johnny or Mary. :(

happy thanksgiving

Because the snow has made Johnny's oldest brother's house unassailable, our traditional -- okay, I didn't know it was a tradition, but have since learned that two years a tradition makes! -- Thanksgiving house for the my husband's family and my family has been cut off until Saturday. "Oh, yay!" I thought. "Two more days to drag myself to the grocery store by bus to buy supplies for whatever dish I haven't yet decided to make!" Two days hence, we will have Thanksgiv-----

Eeeeeeeeeehhhh!!??

Apparently, the unanimous response of the family members who aren't stuck up in the hilly Eastside frost caves was to turn hard and bright eyes to the next oldest brother, Johnny. And hence I learn, last night, that I am having Thanksgiving for a dozen or more family members at my house today. With a table that doesn't begin to fit a dozen people, and not enough bowls. And food?

Last night we dragged our asses through the snow to the grocery store (and by the way, the bus in snow chains in freezing weather is four kind of loud hell!) and bought:

• Raspberry Chipotle dip, cream cheese & club crackers. 
• Half-n-half for coffee... and maybe mashed potatoes if I can find a recipe.  (Yes, I said it. Find a recipe for mashed potatoes.)  

That's right. Dip and mashed potatoes, if they're lucky. I have announced, through email and with suitably frantic adjectives, that anything resembling a turkey dinner will be on the heads of those who come!   >.<  They've been warned.

But Johnny's sister, O, bought the stuff for Green Bean Casserole, so I think I should stop puttering around on the computer avoiding the kitchen, and go help her make it.  Since that's one thing I can't seem to forget how to make.  (Even though I've tried. <3  The problem is Johnny isn't a fan, so I can't trust him to learn how to make it. So if I want it, I'll have to make it, mer. :( Ah, the sad life of a working mother!)

Wish me luck.

john mocks me with biscuits i won't be having

What kind of man sends pictures of the nummy-ness he makes while you're:

a.) at work

b.) starving, and 

c.) cannot partake?

A perverse one.

ramen is the gweeeed

The latest Japanese dish tackled in our home was ramen (which originally came from China, of course, but Japanese have welcomed it in enthusiastically). It was a rousing success!

Because I don't eat meat other than fish, he used a fish stock base rather than beef or chicken, but I couldn't tell a difference, and ate altogether too much. (Look at those bowls! They were huge.)

My husband is the king. (Oh, didn't I mention that he made it all while I lazed around? >.<)

friends of new orleans

Friends of New Orleans Music and Art Benefit event
Saturday, July 18th, 2009
3 - 9 pm
$10 entry donation, kids free

Burley Washington Community Center
14853 Burley Ave SE,
Burley Washington 98322

Live music
Art show/sale by local artists, including originals by Jenna Colby
Free Gumbo and other foods with entry
Cake walk and sweet tea

All proceeds will go to support Friends of New Orleans. Musical performances from local artists, including God Made Flesh (going on stage @ 7 pm), the Lindsey Jams and Emily Lindsey. Performers get in free, plus one guest. If you're interested in supporting Friends of New Orleans, please comment and I will put you in touch with the coordinator.

Friends of New Orleans is a private, non-profit, non-partisan, membership organization for people in the U.S. and abroad who care about the region. Our mission is to advocate for New Orleans and its surrounding parishes, inform people of those key issues that are shaping the national debate and decision making of the rebuilding effort, link individuals who want to help with the communities in the devastated areas and motivate people to take part in the rebuilding effort.

itadakimasu

I'm getting older.

That's one of the reasons for a sudden interest in healthier foods. Another is:

I adore Japanese food.

-and-

I'm tired of junk food.

The latter's inevitable. My mom raised me right, with regards to healthy eating habits, but when I got married at 18, we went nuts and threw all our healthy habits out the door, HO HO HO, we were free and making all those fun decisions for ourselves now! ...But now it's old, and I want something that tastes like something besides sugar and bland pasta from a box.

Lucky for me my husband loves the Japanese cooking style, and is hard at work expanding his repertoire. *glee*

my bento box

Rice balls

Mmmm, my bento this afternoon, packed by my amazing husband, contains not just homemade chow mein, but rice balls stuffed with home-BBQ salmon soaked in teriyaki sauce. >.< And olives, because hell, it's gotta look nice, too. <3

Food to brighten my overcast day

My husband made me a beautiful bento box this morning; especially sweet because he's been so tired. We're doing upkeep on the house; door jams cemented, painting old cupboards, replacing light switches and deck stairs of abnormal dimensions [according to Home De(s)pot. Is 11 x 3 1/4th x 41" really an obscene amount of wood 'in this day and age'?]

So much for spring. Wind storms, white overcast, stormy mulch. All the flower petals I tread on walking to the bus in the morning used to adorn the trees over my head, but now are all beaten down. I hold hope for the (apparently) rugged Dogwood; they're still blooming, and holding on.