Over the past few years, I personally have become more and more conscious of how much waste we produce.  Over the years we have tried to do our fair share in recycling all glass, plastic, paper and aluminium, for over 10 years now (we rarely fill up our garbage wheely-bin but frequency fill up our recycle one) - this has been partly for economics, but I have really started to realize what impact each of us has on our environment.

Living in Ireland, however, really made me aware of how much waste is present in everyday life, beyond just what we can recycle.  A small fridge made me buy fresh, and only what we needed.  We really reduced the amount of things we used or threw away.   We also didn't have curb-side recycle, so we made the commitment to save all our recyclables and once a month take a half-day trip to the "bring center" - a small price to pay for being a consumer, in my opinion. 

Also, because no grocery store or DIY or many other stores provide bags in Ireland, I just got used to always having my reusable bags in the car as well as carrying at least one with me when I didn't take my car somewhere.  Now, it is just part of life.  I have to say I was really taken aback when a nice older gentleman stopped me in Safeway last week and thanked me for bringing my own bags!! 

I have also tried to keep using Ziploc bags to the bare minimum, use cloth napkins and use paper-towels rarely, and if I do, use the "half-sheets" they now have.  My groceries are also becoming more and more organic, which I have to say I really enjoyed going to the farmers markets on the weekends as they were so atmospheric, they were an "event". Whole Foods is very convenient, but not as much fun as a 250 year old square. :)   

Owning our own home again, I am becoming acutely aware of all the chemicals we use everyday.  While we have started using organic/biodegradable/environmentally friendly products, I have challenged us to try and reduce all chemicals to a very minimum.  It is not necessarily always easy, but is totally worth it I believe.

While the things we do may not be everything we can, we are trying to change our ways and do our part.

So, as the add campaign in Ireland says it is "the Power of One" .....so what are you doing to made a difference????

Now that we have been in our new house about 6 weeks, we are finally getting to really enjoy some of the wonderful "luxuries" which, in many cases, we didn't remember we really missed or never had before to know what we were missing!!

Here is a quick list of a few of my favorite things about the house:

1) The kitchen!!!  I love it all...but I really missed a sink disposal, large sink, ice-maker and filtered water from the fridge. New things we are enjoying: the 6 burner gas cook top, the double drawer dishwasher, the open shelves - SO convenient I didn't realize how much I would like them, and the "instant-hot" water spigot - this is one of those things I didn't think I would use, but has really come in handy.

2) The backyard - it is so wonderful to look out and see all the beautiful plants and new flowers which keep popping up every day.  A couple weekends ago we bought a seed bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder and I have spent much time with the binoculars distinguishing all the birds which are new to me. It is also fun to watch the squirrels become so frustrated trying to figure out why, when they jump on the feeder they can't get the seed! (it is a special feeder which is pressure sensitive and closes off the seed holes when too much weight is placed on the perch ring - genius!)

3) Our bathroom, specifically the shower seat and drawers!! It has been a long time since I have had drawers in the bathroom - seems like a simple thing, but it is such a luxury!  Also, we have a seat in the shower!! I feel so decadent when I take a second to sit while luxuriating under TWO shower heads - pure heaven!!!  One smart thing, however, about the shower is you can control the water volume independent of temperature - great for saving water and not freezing while shaving your legs.

4) Room in our bedroom!! While we really enjoyed our precious little Dublin home, I do not miss shimmying by the side of the bed to get in - I had less than a foot between the wall and the bed, yikes! We now even have room for 2 sitting chairs and a dresser - what a treat!!

5) A Garage!!  After having only one car for 1 1/2 years and parking it outside, it is so wonderful to have two cars again and to be able to park them under-cover! Well, sort of, at least I have gotten to since we moved in - we have had two issues, one being too many empty boxes to fit in a second car and two, the second side of the garage doesn't have a garage door opener. This problem, however, will be remedied soon as we are having new garage doors (replacing the large, flat ones original to the 1976 home) and getting garage door openers for both. 

6) Not one, but two gas fireplaces!  I didn't know how much I would use these but they are wonderful.  We have had such crazy weather this spring - in fact, right now it is in the 30s and snow/hailing - basically, coming out of the sky are tiny little snowball-looking things!

Anyway, needless to say, we feel very fortunate to be here and looking forward to creating many happy memories in the years to come!

A few pictures from our move-in day...

  The moving van pulling up in front of our house

Reeves standing in our empty living room (well, with the new vacuum and the rug the other owners left for us at least)

A view of the dining/living room, back deck and hallway to the master bedroom from about where Reeves is standing in the above picture

Me in the kitchen after day one - the movers helped me unwrap all the kitchen stuff, now I just have to put it all away!!

   A frosty morning for moving in!! (our backyard)

Not a great pictures, but it is the view of downtown Seattle from our bedroom!

This trip, however, is not for a holiday, but a much more unfortunate occasion, the funeral of my friend Amy's Mother, Edith or "Dee Dee".  She had been battling breast cancer, and associated problems related to the disease, for the past several years, after being in remission for around 20 years previously.  On Tuesday, however, she passed away peacefully in her home with her husband and Amy by her side.

Yesterday we had the very beautiful funeral services and then a gathering at the Mendel's home in Great Neck, NY.  This is the home in which they have lived for the past 32 years and where Amy grew up.  Dee Dee was an artist and her work is such a beautiful addition to the home's warm and cozy charm.  We were there into the evening hours sharing stories and memories.  While it was a sad event which brought us all together, Amy's extended network of friends and family were so happy to finally meet each other and put the faces with the names we have all heard so much about.

Amy is an only child like myself and I know how important my friends are to me, so I am really glad there was such a nice gathering of her friends for support and encouragement. 

Today we will gather again at their house to visit and allow more people who were unable to attend yesterday's services to stop by and say hello. 

I have to say that I have been avoiding all things digital for the past few weeks as they represent a whole set of "to dos" that I just haven't had the energy to accomplish.  As much as I have wanted to return e-mails, post blogs, etc. it has just been that straw that would break this camels back.  Since I am now able to see my desk above the piles of stuff, I am trying to slowing return to the digital world.  So, please forgive me if I haven't been the best pen pal, I truly will return to the normally scheduled program very soon!

It is about 6 pm and after a pretty lovely day of sunshine and 50-something temperatures, it started clouding over around 4pm and then started sprinkling just the littlest bit.  Well, the temperature has dropped and it is now snowing AND thundering outside - what a crazy mix, but I have to say I LOVE the thunder and am really excited about our new home's climate!

After moving into our house, spending many copious hours unpacking almost all our boxes, getting a sinus/lung infection and then a stomach bug on top of it all, we are finally in Mexico!  It is our annual Little family holiday and 14 of our clan are here at the El Cid resort, located just south of Cancun on the Riviera Maya.  This is the first time in 10 years we have stayed at a hotel vs. a private house and it has its up and downsides. 

We are on the "all-inclusive" plan so I am still getting used to the fact that every time a nice little wait-person comes by asking me for a drink, it is already paid for and I don't need to automatically say "no" to an overpriced cocktail. Also, there is a huge pool with a huge faux stone grotto that the kids love with a huge slide and 10 foot jumping pool.  There is more food than we can possibly eat at the various buffets and tonight we are having a sit-down dinner at one of the five restaurants. On the beach they have lovely palapas under which to lounge on the nice loungers and there are kayaks, boogie boards and paddle boats to use on the ocean.  All of these are lovely amenities.

On the other hand, there are lots of people here and although the hotel stipulates they don't take "spring breakers", there is still a bit of that mentality with the daily pool aerobics and various other activities all done to loud music.  Since none of us are into the group thing, and really like the privacy and intimacy of a private house, this atmosphere is a big change. 

However, it is really fun to catch up with the family in a warm and beautiful place and we are all having a wonerderful time in the sun, sand and surf!!

El Cid Resort - the view from our room

We got the keys to our house yesterday!!  I was in there today cleaning a little bit before the movers come tomorrow & the next day - thankfully the old owners really cleaned up nicely and had the kitchens and bathrooms professionally cleaned.  We will just need to do some touch up painting, but other than that, it is ready to move in!

A very quick update to the rest of what has been going on -  I just got back from NYC and visiting my friend Amy. It was a last minute trip, but it was a great way for me to get my mind off everything that is going to happen this week.  While there we drove down, with our friend January, to D.C. to stay with another friend, Sara, and attend the "D.C. Big Flea". This is my second time, but the rest are all experienced flea-ers and we made it through two HUGE warehouse-like buildings in one day. I found a few treasures and can't wait to see what they will look like in our new house.

This week is going to be crazy but I will try and post some new pictures soon of the new house!

Yesterday I caught the Oprah show and it made my design encounter with Nate Burkas make sense!  The show was on a whole house make-over for a deserving family in none other than Kirkland, Washington!! This is the community just North of Bellevue, so Nate & friend must have been looking for a few accessories to go with all the Pottery Barn furniture which was featured in the show.

Interesting to think that was just a couple weeks ago and the show just aired yesterday - that is some quick production!

I was running errands and I threw my handbag onto the seat next to me, like I do everyday. This time, however, my car started dinging at me.

I was unsure at first what my car was trying to tell me since it is a new car, but then I noticed the "passenger airbag light" was illuminate - so being the math genius I am, put two and two together and lifted my bag off the seat. 

Needless to say it stopped dinging at me and I start laughing at myself. 

Guess I need to stop carrying around all those errands with me!

This past Sunday, as Reeves and I were browsing around the local Bellevue Crate & Barrel for furniture ideas for our new home, I heard this voice behind saying something innocuous like "what about this one" or "no, that one over there" - turning around, as I am always curious what other people are shopping for, I first saw this tall stylish man (obviously gay as few straight men dress that well, especially on a Sunday morning) then I heard the voice again from the other man who was with him, but had his back to me, which sounded strangely familiar. Since it had to be a couple, I though hmmmm....I want to know what they are buying so I can get ideas on what they think is worth viewing. 

I heard the voice again and in that instant, the shorter of two men turned around. If it wasn't for hearing the voice first, I don't think I would have recognized him as he had a knit cap pulled down, was in a bit of a scruffy coat and had about a weeks worth of stubble going on. It was Nate Burkus the interior designer made famous by Oprah!! 

We made eye contact (and he has great eyes) as I almost ran into him since he tuned around about 3 feet in front of me. Not wanting to do an obvious double take, I walked past him trying to pretend to look at more furniture, whispering to Reeves who he was - from which Reeves said "who???" :) 

I really wanted to subtly follow him around to get some free design direction, but they soon went down the escalator and I am sure kept moving so not to be recognized. 

I was really impressed I actually recognized him as I am really bad about celebrity sightings - usually I am too into getting done what ever it is I need to get done to worry about who is around me!

I also am wondering what Nate was doing in Washington?!?!

For the past two months we have spent WAY too much time on Redfin looking at houses.  Being in Ireland and having no way of "looking" at homes till last week, it was our lifeline in starting to determine what we wanted out of a house. 

Since Redfin aggregates home listing, using the MLS as its database source, it is the best way for the average home buyer to see basically everything that real estate agents can see. (including the $36 million property on Mercer Island overlooking Lake Washington!)

Needless to say Redfin has been a daily obsession seeing what is new on the market, what prices are changed, and if the status of the house has changed from being "active" to "Subject to Inspection" - basically this means the house is under contract and unless something extraordinary happens, it if off the market.

Well, just in the past few hours our house went "subject to inspection" - YAY!!!!!  One more sign we are on the way there! :)

After a very busy and stressful week, we had a nice and relaxing weekend recuperating.  I can't believe it is only week two!

Today I started getting into the swing of things and went to Whole Foods for the first time in a year and a half and I have to say I really had missed it!!  We are so spoiled here by all the wonderful selection of foods - from the bounty of fresh fruit and veggies to the vast selection of every boxed product you can imagine. 

In Ireland, it was not unusual, in fact it was usually the norm, for me to not find several items on my list because they were out of stock.  To qualify this, it was not that I was just picky about brand, many products only have one brand stocked - for example, I wanted to buy yeast to make some pizza dough - they were out and wouldn't be getting any in for two weeks! (and this is at Tesco - equivalent size to a Safeway)

I am excited to settle in again and start a routine and get into life, including even the grocery shopping!

After a week, where we didn't think we could possibly fit in any more life changes, we ended up going under contract on a house we are totally excited about moving into! 

As of last night about 11:30 pm (we LOVE our real estate agent - let us know if you need one as he is so great) we accepted the counter offer and we were under contact.  Due to the extra-ordinary ability of Ken (and his partner, aka, wife, Lauren) we were able to get the paperwork back into the other agent last night and be under contract by this morning, with an inspection scheduled for 9 am today. 

We met with the inspector (he was also the best with which we have ever dealt - go Steve of Home & Building Services, Inc.!) and he had nothing but a glowing report of the house - in fact, he said it was in the top 10% of homes he has inspected in a while (in regards to quality). And this is the same inspector which flat out told our real estate agent to not buy a house he really wanted.  So, needless to say, we are really stoked about the house, the location (which does have some nice views of downtown Seattle) and the quality of the fittings. 

While we don't want to count our ducks till the fat lady sings, we are ecstatic about our choice and looking forward to moving in on March 3rd!

Here are a few pictures of the house:

The Living room (the kitchen is to the left)

The beautiful kitchen - living room is to the right

  Not so good exterior shot taken through the windshields of our car

After a very arduous journey to Seattle (29 hours of travel from Dublin - OYE!) we are safe and sound and getting our lives in order.  I really can't believe how much we have fit into the past six days.

On Saturday morning (after getting to bed at 2 am since our plane was so late) we started looking at houses - almost 30 over two days all across the greater Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland/Sammamish areas.  We have narrowed it down to two at this point and the next few days will be telling as to what happens and what we decide...stay posted.

We also ended up with two new (used) cars as of last night! We had only stopped by the Audi dealership on Tuesday for Reeves to look at the color of a car - well, there was this beautiful, shiny A4 sedan on the showroom floor that I fell in love with - I wasn't even looking to get an Audi, but after two previous days of snow and ice, the all-wheel drive was looking very good.  So, we went back yesterday and I test drove the car and by the end of the evening we were signing contracts for my new car and a new car for Reeves, specifically their Avant wagon.  We are now an Audi family!

We are still, however, waiting to pick up our cars since we are still waiting to have our funds transfer here - a whole other series of events I don't need to repeat anytime soon.  While we are so happy to be back in the land of customer service (and we have had some great people working to help us) it is amazing how much paper work, phone calls, faxes and snail-mail it takes just to move our own money from one place to another!

I will be very happy when we can slow down enough to reflect on the fact we are in a brand new city.  We are, however, very much looking forward to enjoying all the Pacific Northwest has to offer, maybe after we can get a full night sleep first! :)

We have been doing a round of "lasts" here in Dublin. Last Thursday night we met up with all the Microsoft people, plus spouses and friends, to have "last pints" at McSorley's in Ranelagh (closest little village to our house).  We had a grand time and we will really miss the friends we have made here - thankfully several are transplants from the greater Seattle area so we hope they will move back in the future!

This week we have had the movers come and once again pack up all our worldly possessions. Our cute little Dublin "semi" is now an empty shell waiting for its next set of memories to impart on another family.  Today we finished cleaning and tomorrow we will be handing our keys over to the landlord, the final step in our Dublin house adventure.

On Monday evening we met our Irish friend, Seamus, for some fun food and chat - we will miss his funny and witty banter!

Wednesday evening, we were graciously hosted for dinner by Ben & Chistiana - Reeves worked with Ben here in Dublin and since they are from the greater Redmond, we are looking to them for lots of great info on the place we are about to move.

Today, our last day in Dublin, we started the day with a latte and pastry at our local Cafe Inna, after which we met our landlord at the house to finalize all the details. We then went downtown to a wonderful last lunch at Elephant & Castle which has some of the best spicy wings we have ever eaten. 

We then proceeded to do our last retail experience at Avoca, picking up a beautiful Irish woven throw and cookbook from their restaurant. Reeves then surprised me by stopping by a jewelry store and buying me a "History of Ireland" bracelet- it is a hand made line of jewelry which depicts, in little pict-o-grams, the major point of Irish history.  We had seen these awhile ago and it is a fun reminder of our Irish adventure.  We also picked up a "traditional cap" for Reeves which really makes him look like a little Irish man!

For the afternoon, we tried to keep ourselves awake, since we had both had a rough night's sleep worrying about all the final details. So, after spending 1 1/2 hours in the business center finalizing the last of our bills, we had some lovely cocktails in the sitting room. We have been staying at the Four Seasons here in Dublin which I have to say has been the best customer service experience in our 1 1/2 years living in Dublin.  We have had a lovely stay and after relaxing in the suite and room service we are ready for our last night as residents of Dublin.

Here is to our new American adventure which starts tomorrow!

One of the restaurants which we had been wanting to visit since we have moved to Dublin was the restaurant was Patrick Guilbaud. We finally were able to experience this place last evening. On a last whim, I called to see if there were reservations and we were able to get in for a Saturday evening.

After an unexpected day of packers at the house all day, having an evening out was a nice respite from the insanity.  we started the evening with drinks at the newly refurbished Shelborne Hotel which was closed for a couple years for a total redo. The No. 27 Bar is a lovely cozy and elegant place and quite busy, which we were lucky to get to stools strategically placed for people watching. 

The Shelborne No. 27 Bar

After an hour of cocktails and conversation we headed to the Merrion Hotel which houses the restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, only about a block away.  We were the first seated in the dining room, although we had the opportunity to have a cocktail in their antechamber - we passed since "we" had been drinking already for the past hour.  :)

The dining room has been recently redone and we had a nice table against the wall looking out toward the dining room and the courtyard.  For an upscale place, they had an extensive menu and Reeves choose the West Cork King Scallop -
Roast King Scallops, Light Garlic Emulsion, Parsley Cubes, Pine Kernels, Xeres Reduction and I chose the Lobster Ravioli - Clogher Head Lobster coated in a Coconut Scented Lobster Cream,  Handmade Free Range Egg Pasta, Toasted Almonds, Arbequina Oliva Virgen Extra Flavoured with "Kari" paired with a delicious glass of Pinot Blanc "Vieilles Vignes" (Meyer Fonnë) 2005. All was divine with a wonderfully delicate yet complex series of flavours. 

For Reeves entree he had Black Sole - Butter Roast Troncôn of Black Sole, Ratte Potato, Leek and Hazelnut, Xeres and Cockles Jus and I had the Wicklow Venison - Venison Fillet in Spiced Mulled Wine, Apple Polenta, Crisp Muesli, Balsamic and Cacao Grue Reduction.  I have to say my venison was perfectly prepared - rare but not raw and warm all the way through, which is difficult without overcooking.  I also had another great glass of wine with my entree - Chateau Clarke Bordeaux 2001.  I hope I can find both of these wines again as they were the perfect parings. 

We finished off with a vanilla Creme Brule and Red Wine Figs - Roast Figs with Red Wined Fromage Blanc, Star Anis, Almond Praline. I quite enjoyed mine but by this time we were both so full we both left about half our desert. 

It was a great evening and the service was top notch, what you would expect from a two star Michelin, but don't always get - a very memorable experience all around.  

The "removers", as they are called here, have begun our pack.  They are very good and have gotten through the kitchen, front room with all my 1300 books, the bathroom (which has some store cabinets for other things) the back hall & under stairs storage and have just started on my office - it is about 4pm on Friday and they are going to be here tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday.  They are here so many days because we do have quite a bit of stuff, but also because the place is so small, there is no room to put the boxes after they are packed, so they need to remove them after the pack them to be able to do the rest. 

It is such a luxury to have people pack for you, especially after you see how hard they are working!

..and this New Year's that is ever so true!  Only 11 days and we will have a whole new life in the greater Seattle area! We just got back on Friday morning from a really nice trip to the states for the holiday and have been recovering the past couple days from jet lag and Reeves from a cold. We took a little time out of the craziness of our "to do" list to see the movie I am Legend  yesterday (good movie, but a little scary and depressing) as well as picking up our rental car to use for the final few days. 

Looking back on 2007 it is hard to imagine how much we were able to fit in and how luck we were to have so many great adventures.  We are now about to embark on another great life adventure to a whole new part of the country - let the fun begin!

It is Christmas evening and we are in Goshen, NY having a wonderful time with the family.  We have enjoyed good food, good fun and above all, good family.  We are very lucky to have a warm and wonderful Christmas and wish everyone as nice of holiday as we are having!!

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

...etc., etc., etc., That song sums it all up!

We have now been in town two full days plus a dinner and we are having a wonderful time.  I have now been to NYC enough times that I feel like it is my second home in many ways, especially since I "know" the upper West side from visiting Amy frequently.  This trip we are staying at a hotel which is right across the street from the Natural History Museum and the view from the hotel is looking that direction  - needless to say the view is great!

We started our stay with a trip to a sushi restaurant with Amy as soon as we arrived which is always our first inclination, especially here in NYC with all the great sushi restaurants.  It was amazing and after we were ready to fall into bed, considering the time difference.

Friday we got up and went to the Met to see their show, The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - what a great show, the paintings being displayed together as they were originally collected in NY.  After the museum we met Leo for some lunch and catching up - he needed to get back to his work, so we walked back up 5th avenue, saw Rockefeller center and back to the upper West side to get Amy for dinner. 

We started at Bemelmans bar and had our celebrity citing thanks to Amy - she is always great at spotting people and this time it was the author, Tom Wolfe (The Right Stuff, Bonfire of the Vanities & The Pained Word) in full regalia of fedora & white pants.  This is the best NY classic bar, complete with crooner-piano player and fabulous cocktails.

We then went to another NY institution, Parma, which serves the most amazing Italian food, including my gnocchi! We had a lovely dinner and where home in bed by 10 pm - divine!

Today, Reeves & I met Amy for breakfast at Lenny's and then we left him for a day of shopping.  While Reeves went and had a massage, Amy and I did the city.  We met up later in the day for some drinks and a very yummy dinner at  Paris Commune. 

We have had such a lovely visit and more is still to come!!

... and I say that since we just sold our car!  We put it up on the Internet about 2 weeks ago, but this is the worst season to sell anything big like houses and cars, so we really were worried.  It is our only real asset here and we needed to get it sold since we are off to NYC in a couple hours and after that we only have 12 days here.

Anyway, back to the story, the cosmic wonders of how things work for us always seems to amaze - we say it very often that we lead a charmed life and this is just a very small example...we put our car up to sell, we had ONE person call us about it, they are a very nice couple with a 6 month old boy, we arranged for them to drive it and that evening they called and said they would like to purchase it - for the asking price! (well, it was about 1500 euro under "blue book" since we HAD to sell it)

It is one of those transactions you just feel good about - they got a really great car for a really good price and we got it sold at just the right time to a very nice family who will take care of it for us!!

I have to say I am in a bit of denial about moving, but in the mean time we are off to New York on Thursday.  I am very excited about our trip - x-mas in NYC is always magical and I highly recommend doing it at least one in your life if you haven't experienced the city at this time of the year.

We are visiting with our friends Amy and having lunch with Leo which makes experiencing the city ever more special when you can experience it with a local.  We are staying in the city for 4 days days to do a little sightseeing and shopping then heading upstate to Goshen to stay with Reeves's sister and family for the holidays.  Reeves's parents will also be joining us, so it will be a full house.

For anyone who might read this, I wish you a very wonderful holidays and hope it is a relaxing, joyous and above all, fun time!

We just got home last evening after a final little adventure in the southwest of Ireland, specifically in a place called Dingle. [actually, this was partially written a week ago but after my computer crashing and losing the majority of the post, I just couldn't bear re-writing the whole thing again til now] Claimed as one of the most picturesque spots in all of Ireland, we weren't quiet sure of this as when we arrived on Saturday night as a huge storm was rolling in and the wind and rain shook the rafters. 

We had a nice drive down, with intermittent bursts of sun and showers, creating dramatic vistas along the way.  We stopped in Limerick for lunch and did a quick driving loop around the town.  Once into Dingle, we checked into Heaton's Guesthouse, run by the Heaton family.  The son, David, was holding down the fort while the rest of the family was in the States.

That evening we ate some extremely yummy dinner at the Half Door, a seafood restaurant which was in this charming old building with low ceilings and chock-a-block with Christmas decorations. We had some of the best scallops ever which just melted in your mouth with barely chewing.  After a big dinner and the blustery evening we retired to our lovely little room overlooking Dingle Harbor.  Our room had a gorgeous Jacuzzi tub so I took a lovely long bubble-bath before a great night sleep.

The wind blew beyond belief that evening and we were happy to be snug in bed, waking to some dramatic sky, still overcast with heavy gray clouds.  After a yummy breakfast, also cooked by David, we were off to Killarney and Muckross House.  On our drive along the south coast of the Dingle Peninsula, we were able to witness the gigantic waves and swells in Dingle Bay, just before Inch Point, from the progressing storm. 

We took some snaps of the impressive show, but all the shades gray do not turn out so well on film, which is a  bit disappointing.

Muckross House, our destination for the day, is just south of Killarney. First built in the in 1840s as a hunting "lodge", this residence is a mansion by any standards, yet electricity did not come to the entire area till the 1960s! We took a guided tour of the house, had lunch at their cafe and purchased a pretty vase made at their traditional pottery workshop. 

We proceeded south on a scenic drive called the "Ring of Kerry" and really enjoyed the passing bursts of sun which moved quickly across the vistas.  Stopping frequently to dash off a few pictures, we didn't make it very far till we had to turn around at Sneem (isn't that a great name!) and start back through the valley with the striking Macgillycuddy's Reeks on our left.

   A view from the Upper Lakes of Lough Leane

A view of the Upper Lakes near Moll's Gap

The weather for the day was actually not too bad with only a few passing showers, but the wind still continued to blow quite strongly. On our drive home, however, it took a turn for the worse and we actually went through a bout of hail and surges of pouring rain.  The drive, along these tiny Irish road, in the dark, with a vast cliff on your left, was quite the adventure!

That evening we relaxed at the Chart House for dinner (no relation to the American chain).  This was another delightful restaurant and just a wee bit more elegant than the previous evening with a very charming French host.  He was the only one working in the dining room that evening, but he was ever so efficient.  It was also very cute, when Reeves responded to him in French a couple times, he was so flustered he didn't know how to respond - guess the locals and the various American tourists don't usually know much French! [as a side note in regards to travelling Americans, we giggled a bit at another couple who, having breakfast at the hotel, the wife asked what "porridge" and "kippers" were - now I know I am not the most sophisticated traveller out there, but how sheltered of a life do you lead to not know these foods, at least on a general category level?]I dined that evening on the most amazing lamb which had a wonderfully wild flavor and Reeves plaice was incredibly delicate and crumbly.

Our last day we woke to filtered sunshine with the sunrise streaking through the clouds just over hills on Dingle Harbor.  Our itinerary for the day was to drive the Dingle Peninsula and the weather didn't disappoint.  With the storm now having passed through, it was a glorious day - mild, sunny and a perfect backdrop to see this picturesque country. 

Near Fahan on the Dingle Pen.

Someone looking for a handout

A view toward Garraun Pt from near Slea Head

We drove clockwise around the Peninsula, taking a multitude of pictures (gotta love digital) and also stopped by the Gallarus Oratory, an 8th or 9th Century stone chapel, one of the oldest existing of its kind. 

The Gallarus Oratory

Out here on the edge of the world it seems, was also a retail experience, the pottery studio of the famous Louis Mulcahy.  They have a shop in Dublin, but I prefer to purchase things from "the source" so we bought four of the most lovely mugs and a small milk pot from their Clogher workshop.  I would love to have one of their 2-3 foot high vases, but it is a little too big without know where it is going to go.

Our drive took us back trough Dingle again and then an uneventful drive home, which is always good.  It was quite a bit of driving for three days, but we really saw a goodly portion of the Southwest of Ireland and will miss this gorgeous country!