Good bye, Ireland

We sure hated to leave the Emerald Isle. It was so wonderfully beautiful in the summer array of greens, ochres and yellow. The people were so pleasant and enjoyed talking to us. We spent the whole time in County Cork - the home of my mother's ancestors (Kennedy and Callahan). My birding checklist numbered 66 different species of birds. Carolyn saw so many wonderful fabrics, and just loved the plantlife and gardens. Kinsale was our base and was a perfect place to spend our time - daily excursions to the rest of County Cork were easy and filled with places to stop and visit and get to know the character of the Irish countryside and small towns. OUr forst week was accompanied by the round the world saling craft on their tour. The crews were all over the town and the craft filled the harbor - beautiful sleek sailing craft designed for voyaging and racing. The second week was the beginning of the Kinsale Art Week. We went to gallery openings every night for the week, meeting artists and patrons and art enthusiasts from the South Coast of Ireland. A few of the artists were skilled and talented and stirred my passion to return there to spend a few weeks or months creating my artwork. Even in the rain Ireland was wonderful, but our visit coincided with an incredible string of beautiful days, so I cannot complain.

Rainy Day in Ireland!

The morning started out nicely, but by noon the rain began to fall. A nice slow steady light rain that I considered a blessing (I am coming from he desert, remember), but the folks here disliked. We have had absolutely beautiful weather here in Ireland since we came, but today the luck changed. It was really beautiful, anyway. The fog or low ceiling hanging on the tops of the mountains with the conifer forest hiding scores of hobbits in the deep dark forest shadows was magical as we drove along. Down in the midland pastures dairy cattle (mostly Holstein) continued grazing the lush green grasses in the rain like nothing bothered them. Once around the coast the fog made driving interesting and the views of half visible shorelines across the bays mystical. It was a rather nice day in spite of the rain and fog. West Cork is a wonderful place!