Kinsale

WOW--This is my last post regarding the Ireland portion of our trip! I can't believe I actually am finishing it in the month of March (which was my goal).

So Kinsale was our last stop on the trip around the Emerald Isle.

Pretty buildings in Kinsale

As far as pretty towns go that have shops, art galleries, good restaurants, sights to see, and things to do...this one is pretty much a 10. It is a gorgeous little port town in County Cork. We spent 2 nights here and had some great food, did a little shopping, and enjoyed the sights. I will break down this post into those categories.

First off, where we stayed:

We actually stayed about 10 minutes out of town at a little B&B that overlooked the River Brandon. It was a very nice, clean, modern B&B with a gorgeous river view. The owners were very nice, also. It was called The Rivermount House. Although I would recommend this place, if I ever go to Kinsale again, I would prefer to stay in the town itself. It is just nice to not have to get in a car and drive.

The gorgeous sunset over the River Brandon

Where to eat:
Being in Kinsale 2 nights, did not allow me to try all the options and we left wanting to try several places. The places that we had heard about that were good, but did not try were: Jim Edwards Bar, The Spinnaker Restuarant and Bar,and The Spaniard. However, we did eat at 2 places that were both good. One was better.
The White House was the one that we ate at the first night and it was just OK. We had the mussels to start (which we did almost everywhere we went), and they were good, but not the best. Charlie and I got an Italian dish and a Bailey's cheesecake for dessert, and again good, but not memorable. I only remember what I had because I wrote down everything!
The next night we ate at an OUTSTANDING place! It was called The Fishy Fishy Cafe! Now, I don't know if I enjoyed this meal more because it was sans kids (they stayed back at the B&B with Linda), or because I had lobster, or both! I am guessing both! Don't let the word cafe in the name fool you. This is not a casual walk in type place (at least not for dinner). It is very much fine dining, and I suggest you make reservations a day or two at least before you plan to eat there. We made ours for a group of 14 the day before and we lucked out. We had to sit split up at 2 tables and we had a late time, but worth it!


So what did we eat at Fishy Fishy...I mentioned I got the lobster. Here, as with most all other places in Ireland we ate at, they go to the tank and get the lobster fresh. So our waiter came back with a live lobster to get my approval. When he did, his shirt was soaked! It was so funny. We asked him what happened and he explained to us that he had sat the lobster down on the scale and he jumped into the oyster tank. Poor lobster....I wouldn't want to be eaten either, but you sure were good. Lobster alone is reason enough for me never to go vegetarian for good. We started with the mussels (again) and they were sooo good. Some of the best we had on the trip. We had to order several extra orders of bread to soak up all the wonderful sauce they were cooked in. Charlie got the crab claws and they were outstanding, too! For dessert, the special was a Strawberry Pavlova. I highly recommend that. The strawberries were in season and so good. It was so nice to see desserts on the menu that were not your typical brownie with ice cream, cheesecake, creme brulee, wall of chocolate cake, etc... Places in Ireland had pavlovas, trifles, tarts, etc....Very refreshing for a change!

My lobster

Charlie's crab claws

This was an appetizer. Forget exactly what it was, but what a cool presentation!

As for shopping, the main thing we shopped for was a painting. Charlie and I started a "tradition" or "hobby", not sure what to call it, on our honeymoon. We bought a gorgeous painting in Positano and decided that we would try to buy a painting from each trip we take as a memento. We are not much into buying T-shirts and gift shops knick knacks, but we love looking at the beauty of painting, painted by a local artist, to remember a place by. So far we have not been able to collect one from every country or trip, but we have the one from Positano, one from Venice, one from Paris, a Van Gogh reproduction from Amsterdam, 2 small paintings from Brussels, and some small drawings from Sitges, Spain and Rome. We add to our collection, this painting:


It is called Kerry Cottages. It was painted by an artist from Cork, very near Kinsale. In fact, we were informed when we bought the painting that we had just missed meeting the artist by about a half hour. She had been in the gallery. Coincidentally, many of her paintings were hanging at the Fishy Fishy Cafe when we went there that night for dinner. Her name is Dee Peiters. I love her paintings so much, that I would love to have another.

Lauren running around the art gallery.

The gallery we bought the painting at.

As a tourist, Kinsale is a great town because it has all the great places to stay, eat, and shop, but it also has some history. There are 2 forts that sit at the mouth of the river, Charles Fort and James Fort. Charles Fort dates back to the 1670's. It is a star fort, meant that it is in the shape of a star. It was designed this way to be able to resist attack by cannon. There used to be a large chain that connected to both James and Charles fort that was raised across the harbour to prevent enemies from invading. Since 1971, Charles Fort has become a National Monument. We decided that we would go out and have a picnic at the fort and then get a tour. We had such a lovely day sitting on the hillside with our ham and baguettes and wine. It was so interesting to tour the fort and walk the expansive grounds. It was such a pretty place and overlooked the town Kinsale.

Picnic at Charles Fort

Our group of weary travellers!

View out to sea from Charles Fort.

Sarah & Lauren with Papa

The last morning in Kinsale we headed out to Rosslare to take the overnight ferry across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France.

SO there ends the blog posts about Ireland. I might have a few more from time to time as we had some fun adventures and laughs along the way. I took so many pictures and each one of them tells its own story.

My Little Artist

One of Sarah's favorite activities is art. Of all of them that she does, art is the one I hope she stays with the longest and would even secretly love for her to make a career out of it. I think Sarah has the talent and the love for it, so we will see. We have been very blessed that in our own backyard is a wonderful little art studio where she takes classes and camps. You may remember THIS POST from last year's Paris themed camp! I LOVE Studio Art House in Southlake. Sarah's teacher, Sarah, is so nice and I think Sarah loves that they share the same first name!

Last week they had a little art gallery showing. This what Sarah painted for the show.

Title: Flutterfly

She did it all herself and I only helped her brainstorm a title!


Here is Sarah with her teacher, Miss Sarah!

This semester they have been learning about several different artists. I would like to share some of her work with you that has been inspired by two wonderful artists she has been learning about; Frida Kahlo and Joan Miro.

First is Frida Kahlo, artist from Mexico: You can go to her website HERE! These are the 2 paintings that inspired Sarah to draw this one. They were learning about the painting where Frida was thinking/pondering something (death).

I think you can tell by the title of Sarah's painting what she was thinking about!

Title: I Can't Wait Until My Loose Tooth Falls Out

Second is Joan Miro, artist from Spain: You can go to his website HERE! Here are the two paintings that Sarah's class was inspired by. They learned about painting/drawing using lines and shapes.

Title: Nature

Title: Woman and Dog in the Sun

Here are Sarah's creations that were inspired by Joan Miro.

Titles: Circles in the Grass & Eye World

Title: Tower of Shapes

Here a couple of other pieces of artwork she has created lately. Two of my favorites!

Title: I Like Pink Poodles in Paris

Untitled

Full Valentine's Mode

That is what we are in at my house! It all started today. Sarah and I hand-made Valentine's for each child in her class and for her teacher. I have been dreaming of this day since I new I was going to have babies. I was just waiting for her to get old enough to really be able to make them herself. Store bought valentines can be cute, but can also be boring. They also don't capture the spirit of making something and doing it with love. So this year I vowed would be the year that we made them from scratch. What fun we had!

It took us about 2 hours to make 22 valentines.
What do you think?

Can you tell which is mine and which belongs to my six year-old?
I am not sure if she is really pretty craft for 6, or if I am not-really that crafty for 33.
They were not Martha, that is for sure, but we both liked them!

I love these with the "vintage" Holly Hobby valentines and paper doll valentines form the 50's. Thanks mom for saving all those!

Sarah loves doing arts and crafts and we both got inspiration from each other. What a fun afternoon.

The Valentine fun is just beginning. We still have a Valentine Bingo game and heart-shaped cookies to make for her party at school. I am in charge of her party at school being the room mom. They will decorate cookies, make visors, play a bingo game, and exchange their valentine's. Thankfully Lauren's daycare party is low-key and I am just taking apple slices for that. Our Valentine's week will be capped off with going to see Texas Ballet Theatre's rendition of Romeo and Juliet! Oh yeah..... and I will make the girls heart-shaped pancakes Sunday morning!

Treasures from a far-away land

My husband just got back from Afghanistan and brought us back some pretty little treasures. He was over there for a week working on the NFL on FOX pre-game show that aired on Sunday. I will admit I was not too crazy about him going, but I was assured by him and others that he would be totally safe. I cannot imagine actually having a husband that serves in the military. I was a nervous wreck for a week and he wasn't fighting and was not leaving the base. Boy, I am a wimp. So anyway...here are the treasures....

Little "genie" lamps for Sarah and Lauren. Sarah did check to see if one was inside!

An elephant made out of Lapis Lazouli, mined in Afghanistan, for me!

On a related note, and speaking of people in far off lands....a Happy Veterans Day to all our veterans out there. I am especially thinking of my grandfather today, Dunlap Harper, who served in World War II. He thankfully made it back from the war safe. While he was over serving he wrote my grandmother the most wonderful love letters. I am so thankful my mom kept them and that I now have them. They are just absolute treasures!
I am also thinking of my older brother today, Warren Hamilton. He has served over in the Middle East with both the army and marines. I was a nervous wreck when he was serving his tours, as well. He now serves our country out of the military, but still goes overseas a lot. I wish for his safety constantly.
I am sure my husband is thinking of his namesake today. Charlie Barnes was killed in Vietnam and was my Charlie's dad's best friend. He is who my husband is named after. Almost every time Charlie goes to Washington he makes a trip over to the Vietnam Veteran memorial to find his name and take a moment of silence.

There are so many that have given their lives for this great country. I think of them often. Wishing all of them and their families a Happy Veteran's Day.

Kindergarten and a Schultute

Today was Sarah's 1st day of Kindergarten. Whenever she reaches a milestone, my mind immediately clicks back to the day that I found out I was pregnant with her. How my life is so drastically different now and how I would not change a thing. I can't believe we are in real school now and it is amazes me everyday how much more grown up she is getting. I now it is just Kindergarten, but she is just so much a big kid these days. She loves reading and is getting quite good at it. She can add and subtract any group of numbers to 10. She says her favorite number is infinity. (That is also how much she tells daddy and I how much she loves us: infinity times infinity! Melts my heart! She loves to play checkers and she is quite good. She is very much into dressing herself, taking her own sweet time getting ready in the morning and before bed, and she loves to sing and dance to all those teeny bopper tunes from Disney channel. She is definitely 5 going on 15! So this is my sweet baby girl ready for the big day:

This is her little sister very excited as if it was her first day, as well! Also...Lauren is a little jealous of Sarah's schultute! (More on that below)

This is Sarah walking with her daddy to school!

This is Sarah in front of her new school!

This is Sarah in her new class!

This is Sarah with her friend in her new class!

Now...about the schultute....it is a German tradition that on the 1st day of school kids get a cone filled with school supplies and little goodies to celebrate the big day! This was obviously my first attempt at making one. It came out pretty good. She got some new crayons, markers, books, notepads, etc...

I hope she has a great first day! I will be thinking about her all day!

Pretty Papers

I just happened upon these beauties last week while walking through Northpark Mall in Dallas...

I happen to love Paper Source and was so excited to see it. I could live in that store. Everything is so pretty and it just inspires me to want to plan parties, scrapbook, do art (which I wish I was good at) and all other types of crafty things. Since I couldn't resist these wrapping papers (seriously who wraps a gift with something this pretty, only to have it be shredded up?) I bought one of each. I figured the world map would go perfect in the girls play room, the Eiffel Tower and the map of Paris would go perfect in Sarah's room since she is a Paris fanatic, and the Italy map would go to...you guessed it, ME! I will post some pics of the finished projects later, but for now just enjoy these pretty papers!

BTW...there is another store in Dallas called Paper & Chocolate...carries these same ones, but also has a US map, an Ireland map, and a few others...I had to restrain myself to keep from having maps in every room in my house! I love them!