Why Do I?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Many a person has asked what my fascination with Ireland came from and I can never rightly say! 

Was it the Ireland coffee table book filled with amazing pictures I got from a Pastors wife?

Was it the fact that I love faeries and legends and what place is more steeped with those things then Ireland??

Or maybe that they are deeply religious (Catholic and proud of it!) and still see the magic all around them?

The castles?

The cottages?

I most often tell people it was reading the book Scarlet, the sequel to Gone With the Wind. She spends about half the book in Ireland and while I was already fascinated by Ireland this book really jump started the obsession!

Whatever the reason I am wholeheartedly obsessed with the Emerald Isle and will hopefully one day get to experience this magical, fascinating land for myself!

Some of my favorite books on Ireland.....

This is my FAVORITE Irish author I would highly recommend all of her books! (and there are quite a few!)

Favorite Irish movies.....

A Shine of Rainbows

This being St. Patrick's week (What? You didn't think someone as obsessed with Ireland as I am would only celebrate St. Patrick's Day for one day, did you?) I decided to go ahead and watch this movie that had been lingering in my Netflix queue for awhile now! Added mostly because it took place in Ireland and I knew it even if the story was meh the scenery and accents would be worth it! No need to worry here though, the story was incredibly sweet! In addition, the costumes (and accents, but that goes without saying!) were AMAZING, especially Marie's, I loved her layering and use of color! =)

Here is a synopsis of the movie (stolen from Netflix because as my teachers (Mom and otherwise) will tell you, my book reports tended to be longer then the actual books, summarizing is not a strong suit of mine!)

Ostracized 8-year-old orphan Tomás (John Bell) finds his colorless life transformed after spirited Maire (Connie Nielsen) adopts him and instills in him the confidence to make friends -- and magic -- in this inspirational Irish tale of self-discovery. But the boy's hopes for a bright future are in danger of fading when Maire's husband, Alec (Aidan Quinn), has trouble accepting the withdrawn Tomás.

Her knit wear was fabulous and in such wonderful colors!

At first I though this was a skirt, but then when her coat came off I realized it was a dress with an over-skirt? Would love to know! 

Here is another shot of this outfit before her (splendid) coat comes off, see the high-low hem? Love it!

The petticoat just peeking out the bottom is a sure way to make me love on outfit!

The other costumes were just as wonderful!

How could you not love a guy in a fishermen sweater smoking a pipe? I ask you, who could resist? ;-)

Tar don pháirtí Blag!!

.....Or come to the blog party for those of you who can't read Gaelic! (Not that I can, sad day, I just am handy with Google translate!)* squeal* How could I pass up an Irish themed blog party? Click on the picture above to get more info and I will be seeing you me lassies at the party! ;-)

No, I do not Think Climbing South Sister Sounds Fun!!

I have always thought of myself as an outdoorsy person, but when I say this and shudder at the mention of climbing mountains, flinging myself down snowy mountains, dragging myself up sheer cliffs with nothing but a rope and my fingers and toes, swimming long ways across lakes (with only God knows what touching me) and daring to ride the rapids in a blowup raft, the others who classify themselves as outdoorsy appear confused and shake their heads at this pretend "lover" of the outdoors and leave me to my supposed life of indoor seclusion.

The definition of outdoorsy is liking to do outdoor activities, so just because mine don't look like this.....



And do look more like this.....

(More about this lovely piece of heaven a little later in the post!)

This is my sister, hi Megan!

Obviously not me and my older sister, but it does BEAR a striking resemblance to how we used play together!

.....does not make me a non outdoors loving person! I love being outside and doing outdoor activities, just not in a-let's risk life and limb and push ourselves to the limit's-sort of way. So, I still have no idea what to classify myself as....maybe casual outdoorsy?

Anyway, now I know your all wondering the reason behind this post, it has everything to do with that first picture I showed you of my kind of outdoor activities. I was watching Samantha Browns show on the English country side(once again, if you don't know who Samantha Brown is look her up, she's my favorite travel show host ever!) and she walked along the Cotswold Way. She only went along a few miles, but mentioned that it was about 100 miles long and it meandered through the countryside and private estates, villages and towns. And that there were walking tours available....

This peaked my interest, what was a walking tour? So, I looked it up and lo and behold, the perfect way to see the English countryside was laid out before me on the computer screen. The tour company books you a room at your starting point and then you walk until you reach your next stop for the night, at another B&B or inn.

You can book anywhere from a 5-14 day tour, the 10 or 11 range seems like a good one to me, about 10 miles a day, leaving lots of time to explore and meander and the best part? They will transfer your luggage from inn to inn for you, so you are not left with just what you can carry on your back for 11 days, cool huh? For someone who likes camping but knows she smells like a wart hog after not showering for a few days and likes fresh clothes this is perfect!

The company's I have looked up all offer walking tours in other European country's as well, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Here are a few links to some of the places I have found offering what looks like the most perfect way to see the European country side!

http://www.celtrail.com/cotswolds/

http://ramblers.com/

http://www.contours.co.uk/index.htm

This last ones my favorite!

http://www.thewalkingholidaycompany.com/

Ps. Dear future husband, this would make the PERFECT honeymoon!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I have a confession to make. I have a tendency to get a little obsessive and exclusive about things. If I get a bee in my bonnet about something or find something that I like I will hop on the bandwagon and not get off until I one day step off almost unknowingly. Like with American Idol, I couldn't miss an episode for years often to the inconvenience of my family. I even watched it on vacation...... but last year and especially this year I just haven't cared.

Sometimes this trait leads to good things, like finding the best price for things on the Internet, gaining a skill because I'm obsessed with recreating an outfit I saw in a movie, or learning all about a specific country, for argument sake lets say.......Ireland!

There it's out, I am obsessed with Ireland. It all started when I, wait, when did it all start? Think...think...think... You know what? I have no idea when or why, it just happened, maybe a leprechaun enchanted me one St. Patrick's Day long ago! What ever the reason, I love all things Irish. The history, the scenery, the food, fauna, people, of course the accents. I love the lyrical language and the faerie tales.

The constant mists in the air, the rugged landscape, the way it's so green, at least in all the pictures I've seen. I would one day love to go there and see for myself this place I've read so much about. I sympathise with the south, of course, the non British catholic part! If you know me at all that should have been obvious! Do you know that up until 1998 divorce was illegal in Ireland? Who couldn't love a country like that?

I've read multitudes of history books, fiction books, picture books and any kind of book about this beautiful and enchanting country. So much so that my parents said that I should stop obsessing and put some effort into learning about another countries, so I checked out some books on Italy, Spain and various other countries. It would be good to be a bit more well rounded, right?

I tried, really I did, but most the books were dry and took forever to get through. Not really especially considering that they were found in the kids non-fiction section so they probably weren't very long or boring at all!! I did find one other country that was almost as fascinating, I'll give you one guess as to which one it is.....Scotland!

I have become almost as enamored with Scotland as I have with Ireland, not exactly the well rounded interests that my parents wanted. Wales is also another one that can keep me interested, but neither one of those holds a candle to The Green Isle. My family finally gave up the goat and let me revel in the Celtic countries in peace. They have even hopped on the band wagon and aided and abetted the obsession.

For my B~Day a couple years ago they gave me the best present ever. They made me a Scottish Lady! That's right, I am a tittled land owner. I am Lady KatySue of the Lochaber Highland Estate. Yes, I may only own a square foot of this estate but I am officially a Lady! Whoever I marry will become a Laird and I can pass this title on to my kids. How cool is that?=)

Maybe one day this fascination will pass away like some of the others have, but I hope not. I truly enjoy and love this country and will one day go to see it for myself. I will stand on the green sea cliffs and look down at the pounding waves below. I will close my eyes, throw my arms out wide embracing the sea breeze. I will let the wind and waves fill my senses and carry my soul away.