MORE IRELAND

Knitting at the seaside.


Grafton Street - one of my favorite places in Dublin. I didn't buy much, but the street was welcoming and vital and a wonderful place to watch people.


This is the best pastry I had in Ireland...an apple tart served -- of all places -- in the tea shop at the Newgrange/Boyne Valley visitors center. I never passed up an opportunity to sit down and have a pot of tea!


I couldn't help but think of my sock knitting comrades back in the States! I now have visions of 75 knitters rushing to the interwebs looking for transparent Converse sneakers/trainers!

Norbert took this picture of me knitting at Malehide Castle. I felt very much at home, knitting there. If anyone has a castle they aren't using, let me know. I'll go and knit there.


Myfanwe and I both fell in love. We both want to go back. Now. And every day away is just a little sad.

WHAT ELSE?

The holidays have snuck up on me. I have four days to plan and prepare Rosh Hashanah dinner. My house looks like we are housing the Jodes for the summer.

How long should a generous rectangular shawl be? Really. I need to know.

[Editor's Note: Norbert fell in love with Ireland as well. I apologize for the omission. In addition, he deserves an award for being a real trouper. He is really quite pleasant to travel with. We are, as ever, eternally grateful that G-d gave us Norbert!]

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

... ABOUT VACATION:

These are just SOME of the pics. In no order. I'll post more if the whim strikes me.

We took a lovely hike on Howth Head. Aside from seeing Dear Sinead and Malachy, this may have been my favorite thing we did. Well, outside of the prison.

The views along the hike are breathtaking. The heather was in bloom. Those yellow flowers you see are orchids. Amazing. And then look at this:


This is Howth from the North. We hiked all the way to the end, around, then up to the summit. SOOOOOOO beautiful.

If you are ever in Sandcove, we highly recommend this pub. The BEST mushroom soup you could ever hope for. Perfect.


Rocks at the seaside at Sandycove.

Newgrange -- a Neolithic passage tomb in the Boyne Valley. Very, very cool.

The Boyne River. The water was high, and the river spirited.

The Hills of Tara. Note: The hills of Tara are active sheep pastures.

A statue of St. Patrick at the Hills of Tara.

And such a lovely view from Tara.

Dublin Castle

The castle garden:

The throne room.

Malahide Castle. (Which was in the Talbot family for over 800 years!)


Christ Church Cathedral:


Myfanwe and Nortbert at the water portion of the Guinness Storehouse tour.

I loved the name of this shop, but never got in to look for knoba for our diningroom sideboard.

This place is only open from 10 am to 1 pm, weekdays. And I was never walking by when it was open. I would have loved a keepsake tin or baking pan!

IRELAND. Part One of Many!

Let’s see. Where should I begin? I guess I should start at the beginning. A very good place to start...

Day 1 – which is really day 1 and 2, but we are just going to call it day 1 .The flight to Dublin was awful. None of us slept for more than 5 minutes. I sat next to an obviously troubled older woman with a jerky husband. He complained loudly that the light above him wouldn’t turn off. He kept complaining, even after they offered to move them to two seats elsewhere in the plane. But no, they stayed where they were. Mrs. JerkyMan divided her time between a) commenting on my knitting and saying – at least 100 times – that she only knit wash clothes and only knit them out of “crochet cotton”, as well as giving me a price history for the price of crochet cotton at Wallmart stores in Virginia over the last 10 years; b) leaning over he tray table and whimpering and/or sobbing; and c) twitching in her sleep – especially when her feet were touching mine. (She twitched so actively, if we’d wrapped her in copper we could have generated electricity.)

Our first day in Dublin was exciting, but exhausting. Our hotel – the Ballsbridge Towers, one of the D4 hotels -- was lovely, and our accommodations were definitely first class. Both Myfanwe and I have live in (several) apartments that were smaller! Our suite had a living room and a dining room! (That sat 8, no less!) And a kitchenette. And 3 – count ‘em – THREE flat-screen televisions! We even had a television in the master bath! We LOVED the bathrooms. Norbert had his own, and ours had a great shower and a spectacular soaking tub (with said television). I didn't think we'd use the tub at first, but you'd be surprised how many times we used it. (Our feet hurt a LOT over the week!) The pics don’t really do the hotel room justice, as we always seemed to explode crap all over the room the minute we walked in, but it we certainly couldn’t have asked for more or better or more comfortable. (Myfanwe loved the duvet so much, I think she will miss it most of all!)

Sunday night we were supposed to meet my friend Sinead and her partner, Malachy, for a pint a bite, but along about 4:00 I called and asked if we could reschedule for the next night. I only did this when Myfanwe and I had both fallen asleep at the National Museum of Decorative Arts. (An excellent museum, BTW. Norbert loved the arms and armor exhibit.) We both fell asleep so soundly that, when we woke up, neither of us had a good idea of how long we’d been asleep. Sinead was kind enough to reschedule, and we went home to the hotel where we had every intention of ordering a pizza from D4Pizza in the hotel. Instead, we all passed out. Norbert with his clothes on. End of Day 1.

Knitting. Let's see. This isn't limited to Day 1, but I'll cover my knitting stuff all at once. I took three projects, and I knit on all three. On the way there I mostly knit on the Koigu scarf I'm knitting for myself. Stockinette can be terribly boring, after a while. But I put about 2.5 feet behind me. I also got half a repeat or so knit on the Lace Dream shawl. And I -- drum roll please -- finished the Ishbel I was knitting for Myfanwe. (Only just barely. I finished casting off in the air somewhere east of Wawa, Ontario on the flight home.) I went to a lovely shop, This is Knit, while in Dublin. -- see the pic, above . I didn't purchase anything, but I had a lovely time looking and talking to the staff.

Places I knit: Dublin Castle, Malaheide Castle, Kilmainom Gaol, on the train, on the bus, at the Guiness Storehouse, a couple of museums, a cemetary, Trinity College, seaside at Dun Laoghaire and at Sandycove.

FINALLY!

We leave for Ireland tomorrow!

Our bags are packed -- for the most part. I still have to decide which knitting project to take with me. I have the Lace Dream shawl on the needles, the Ishbel I'm knitting for Myfanwe, and a scarf I'm knitting for myself out of Koigu KPPPM in #P710. (I loved the yarn in a skein, bought it, then hated it once it was wound into a ball. But now that it is on the needles, knitting up, I'm completely in love with it.) I don't normally knit for myself, but I really do love the way this looks knit.

Anyway, in the morning we will do some last minute tidying -- Lil Myfanwe and Gale are staying with the kitty -- and then leave for synagogue for a bat mitzvah. We'll leave the bat mitzvah 15 minutes early to meet our ride to the airport. And from there? Dublin, Ireland!

I'll post pictures when I can. Until them, here is a topic to discuss in the comments: I wish President Obama would say the following in public: "Sarah Palin is a liar. If you believe her, you deserve to be lied to. Don't ask me to comment on Sarah Palin again. I don't have time for lightweights -- we have serious problems and we need serious minds. And that ain't Sarah."

Omaha!

IT'S NOT JUST FOR STEAKS ANYMORE!

Norbert's best friend from camp, Woodrow, was called to the Torah as a bar mitvah this morning, and Norbert was invited. While I love a good bar mitzvah luncheon as much as anyone, normally this wouldn't be anything to blog about. Except that Woodrow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, which is several blocks from beautiful Hyde Park, Chicago.

I want to have something to counter with when Norbert comes home from therapy and says I never cared for him. So I immediately said, "Great! I'd love to drive to Omaha! This will be fun!"

Mapquest says that Omaha is 7 hours, 52 minutes from our doorstep. And it is. As long as you can hold your water for 7:52, it might even be a minute or two more than you need. But no more. If you are middle-aged, have had a child, or worry about deep tissue thrombosis, it takes 9 hours.

I would venture, though, that it was well worth the drive.

In addition to two synagogue services -- no camera allowed -- a dinner last night and a luncheon this afternoon, we took a little walk on the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. See below.


The Kerry Bridge spans the Missouri River between Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. It's a pretty cool bridge. I don't know that I have ever seen a curved suspension bridge.

We walked to Iowa and back.


After the bridge, we went looking for a Starbucks on the way back to the hotel. Myfanwe was feeling a need. And we came upon a Starbucks in a lovely retail development -- lots of lovely shops clustered together. Myfanwe, bless her, suggested I drive around the shops to see if there was a yarn shop. And there was.

The shop is called String of Purls. And it might well be the most beautiful, comfortable, spacious yarn shop I have ever set foot into. This is just one room.


The owners and staff are incredibly nice women. They obviously love what they do, and they do it well. The shop, for lack of a better description, is sort of a Palace of Yarn. I could easily have spent an entire afternoon there. Everyone was so genuinely nice. If you are ever in Omaha, do yourself a favor and put String of Purl on your itinerary. You won't be sorry.

Don't ask me why I photographed this scarf. The best reason I can come up with is that I loved the whimsy. And I wondered how they made the i-cord off the edge of the scarf. It was pretty cool. I think I'd put some bells at the ends.

I have had a really good week at work. I feel like I'm getting back to my normal work again. (Which I really, really like.) My office no longer looks like the place used paper goes to die.

Blogging may be a rarity the next two weeks. Monday through Friday will, I imagine, be working hard at work, then coming home to get packed for Ireland. (And we will need to tidy up the house -- Li'l Myfanwe and Gale are house sitting for us.) I'll try to blog from Ireland, but I don't know how good the connection to the interwebs will be at the hotel. If the connection isn't good, or if we are having such a wickedly good time that I can't pause for a mo to block, I promise lots of pictures and a travelogue when we return.

On & Off

I finished the Candle Flame Shawl last night after Shabbat Dinner. (Don't write and tell me that it isn't shabbasdik to knit on the Sabbath. Knitting is not work. It is relaxing and recharging and revitalizing and I don't care.)

I knit a few rows (20) on the Lace Dream Shawl, but made a mistake and didn't feel much like tinking back a couple of rows while watching a Harry Potter film with the family, so I cast on an Ishbel in Malabrigo Lace -- color, Glazed Carrot. Tomorrow morning I will tink back the Lace Dream and knit a few more rows. I don't know why a modified Feather & Fan pattern would give me so much trouble.

I would like to take one of these on the plane with me to Ireland. And I plan to cast on a simple scarf for me -- double stranded lace yarn. That should be good for mobile knitting.

I had a bad week at work. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I spent the evening at Loopy Yarns, and I had a perfectly lovely time. Loopy celebrated Christmas in July -- Santa was there and passed out gifties to all the good little knitters. (Santa had an elf with him. I thought elves were short and looked like Jeane Kirkpatrick, but this one was tall, thin, and -- I don't think my wife will feel threatened by this observation -- he was more than a little bit hunky. Who knew?)

Anyway, I bought a bit of yarn. Possibly enough to keep me in stitches for the remainder of 2009. I bought:

3 skeins of Cascade Alpaca Lace in color 1407, Amethyst Heather;
2 skeins of Cascade Alpaca Lace in color 1411, Turtle;
3 skeins of Cascade Alpaca Lace in color 1409, Caribbean Heather; and
2 skeins of Malabrigo Lace in Glazed Carrot.

Technically the Turtle doesn't count as yarn for ME, as I bought it as a gift for someone.

My plan is to knit the Amethyst Heather next. (The Ostrich Plume -- which is also known as the Lace Dream Shawl) And although it is probably not the best color to be working on while in Ireland, I think I will start an Ishbel in the orange Malabrigo just before we leave for Dublin. That way I'll have several inches of mindless stockinette to knit on the plane.

Have I mentioned that I am terrified of flying...because I can't stand the thought of 12 hours without my Signature Arts needles? I knit lace on 7", stilleto-tipped needles, and I have heard conflicting stories about whether or not I will be able to take them on the plant. If anyone has flown Aer Lingus with pointy needles since the cowardly acts of September 11th, would you please drop me a line and let me know what your experience was like?

G'night!

Any Suggestions?

The Lovely Myfanwe, Norbert and I usually take a vacation in August. We put back a little bit every month and, every other year, we take an "off budget" vacation paid for out of the vacation account. On the alternate years we tend to do something a little more restrained -- say 5 days at a friend's house in Michigan -- that can be paid for "on budget".

Last year we took an "off budget vacation" which, through frugality and good planning, we managed to pay for "on budget". So instead of $2,400 to spend on a vacation this year, we already have $3,600. With our usual frugality and good planning, we can have a good bit of fun with this budget.

If my bonus had been more like last years, I had wanted to supplement our savings and spend a week in Ireland. But this years bonus was NOT like last years -- I'm not complaining...I'm happy, happy, happy to have a job -- so I don't think Ireland is going to be in the offing.

But I don't know where to go!

We all like places steeped in history. We like seafood. We like to walk a lot. We like bakeries. We like museums. We like to eat. We like to take leisurely bike rides. And we like ice cream. Our recent vacations have included Boston, Baltimore, New York, Washington D.C., and New Orleans.

Norbert has complicated things by making life goals. "Before he dies" he wants to do the following things:

1. Go to a foreign country. Preferably one where they speak a different language.
2. See a whale in the ocean.
3. Ride an elephant.

Does anyone happen to know of somewhere we could go the 3rd week of August where we can see a whale or ride an elephant? If we can do that in the company of people speaking a language other than English, I think I might plotz!

Or is there somewhere else that you suggest? I've never been particularly drawn to the American Southwest, not the Northwest, for that matter, though I think I might like the Pacific Northwest far more than, say, San Diego. (I am not a hot-weather animal!) I love New York and would love to go back, but wonder if that's a surrendering to indecision.

Please advise.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY!

I'm sorry I haven't posted. The last month has been a bit busy. The highlights:

• The kitchen was completed. Unpacked. Broken in. Loved.


• Norbert went to camp for 4 weeks. Leaving the Lovely Myfanwe and I to our own devises. 'Nuff said.


• One weekend we went to a campground between Topeka, Illinois and Havana, Illinois, where my MIL and FIL marked their 25th wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows. I spend the weekend wishing I was dead.


• The Lovely Myfanwe and I did have this smashing picture taken at the reception, though.

• Dennis is doing quite well. He actually took 5 days off after his open heart surgery before going to work and resuming set-building for a musical his wife is directing at their (really impressive) community theater. He is nuttier 'n squirrel poo if you ask me.

Now, for the Bhutan Death March Schedule:

• Norbert's trombone teacher, our friend Libonia, and her partner, Lelani, were married in San Francisco two weeks ago, and to kick off what shall prove to be very festive nuptial celebrations back home, we hosted a wedding shower, complete with a Moroccan feast, in our home last Saturday.
• Cooking in the new kitchen was such a joy. My dear friend, Gale, and I both took Friday off, and we spent the day chopping and cooking. Cleanup was also almost painless. We laid off around 3:00 in the afternoon in great shape.
• After Gale left, I jumped into the shower, dressed respectably, then hied myself up to the law firm of Weare, Stuffier & Smugg for their cocktail hour. Myfanwe was speaking to summer associates at Stuffier, and my friend Nancy is a first year associate there. We all enjoyed their admirable cheese trays. This place plunks down the big bucks...someone on their hospitality staff really knows their cheese.
• Anyway, from there, Nancy, Ben, Myfanwe and I rushed top meet our Rabbi -- the one who just left our former congregation -- and his family for dinner before attending a service he was leading at a congregation nearby that is looking for a Rabbi. We enjoyed the services quite a bit. (And I REALLY enjoyed the oneg afterwards, where they served the most delicious florentines I've ever had the pleasure of eating.)
• After services and the oneg we walked the 2 miles to where I park the car...I have monthly parking, so why pay an extra $30? It was a lovely night, and Myfanwe, Ben, Nancy & I had a lovely walk. By the time Myfanwe and I tumbled into bed, it was almost midnight.
• Saturday morning came quickly, and I fell out of bed and into my preparations for the evening's festivities. The next thing I know, it was 5 o'clock and the first people arrive. I know something happened between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., but it's really all a blur.
• Everything went well, the house looked lovely, the food was spectacular. The last person left, we emptied the dishwasher and loaded it again (I don't use paper or plastic -- china and crystal all the way) and threw in a load of table linens into the washer. Then we dropped into bed around midnight.
• 6 o'clock the next morning came quickly. We tumbled excitedly out of bed, emptied the dishwasher, loaded it for the final time, then jumped into the car for the drive to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where we picked up the happy and joyful Norbert from camp. It sure was good to see him! He was really missed.
• The ride home was filled with traffic snags and a quick stop for a few groceries which ended in a 20 minute wait at the checkout line. We walked into the house 5 minutes before my nephew Sean and his wife Lilly arrived, along with Nancy and Ben, for a Welcome Home dinner (leftovers!) for Norbert and the presentation of Norbert's Thank-You-For-Being-Such-a-Great-Sport-During-Remodeling present...a Wii! (Norbert was, after all, the most discomforted by the remodel, sleeping in the living room and all.)
• Luckily, Sean is well-practiced in Wii installation, and he got it up and running. It really is great fun. Norbert is having a great time with it. Myfanwe and I tumbled into bed a bit later than normal for a school night -- 11 o'clock -- and from there, the next week began.
• I could use a good night's sleep. I'm not likely to get one any time soon.

Our vacation this summer is going to be a trip to Boston. We will be staying in Beacon Hill, and are looking forward to all the sights and tastes the city has to offer. THe city has 2 long bike ways, and I was really excited about riding the 11 mile Minuteman Bike Way, which is only for bikes and has on and off ramps and such, and follows the route taken by Paul Revere. But alas, I looked into renting a tandem bike for the ride...Norbert isn't comfortable riding his own bike, for some reason...and the only place that rents tandem bikes wants $100 a day! Can you believe it? So we'll do something else. That's just ridiculous.

OK. So I've caught everyone up. I'm going to be busy at work the next 10 days, with a lot of overtime, so don't be surprised if I go a while without posting!

Baltimore and more and more...

Today we started off with a visit to Baltimore's Lexington Market. This is a pretty intense place., but if you are hungry, this is definitely the place to go.





I have been working on a sweater for Little Bird, and, having finished the body, was prepared to move on to the sleeves. Unfortunately I hadn't packed the required double pointed needles and I really want to have the sweater finished so I can give it to her on Monday evening. Which meant we had to find a yarn shop. That wasn't hard to do -- we made our way to A Good Yarn in the Fells Point neighborhood. They had the needles I needed, and Norbert picked up a ball of Dale baby cotton to make Little Bird a face cloth. The shop is quite small, and felt even smaller because half of the shop was filled with a very feisty stash of knitters who all seemed to be laughing and talking at once. I wanted to join in, but they couldn't possibly have squeezed in another person.

This is the E.Z. 5HBS. The color is certainly vibrant. I had to stop knitting the sleeve because I only have a little more yarn with me and I want to have something to knit on the flight home. I think I can get a second sleeve done Sunday evening or catch a few minutes on Monday. (We are having dinner with Little Bird and her moms on Monday.)


A visit to Fells Point wouldn't be complete without a walk along the harbor. The fog was so beautiful. Not eerie at all -- sort of comforting.



We saw an able shucker at work.
And then we encountered a mystery. One minute they were there,

And the next minute they were gone. Where'd they go?



We survived Baltimore...whether or not Baltimore survives us is yet to be seen!