valeriesbookofme

Richard has been experimenting with different art forms this week :) This is his rendering of a photo of a carving in Boyle Abbey in Roscommon. I really like it! When we were in Wexford on Monday, I noticed an advertisement for a production of "An Inspector Calls" at the Wexford Opera House. I love live theatre, used to go all of the time when I lived in Toronto and in Vancouver. I haven't been for years--the last time I went, I think, was to see "Wicked" in Scottsdale and that was in 2009. Richard wasn't interested but said why didn't I go if I wanted to see it? I looked up bus timetables and a new friend at church who lives in Wexford nicely offered that I could stay the night with her and ride to church this morning with her. As I set off yesterday I felt a  bit nervous. Which was odd because I travel by myself so much. I guess  partly it was to do with leaving the dog overnight with Richard for the first time here in Ireland. No doggie do...

It was a beautiful morning. I tend to stay in bed until 7:30-8:00 in the morning. It's cozy and it doesn't get to be light until after 8:00. This is much to Mitzi's disgust as she paces up and down the bedroom, wanting me to get up. Once I am up, I pull on slacks and a warm top, socks and pad downstairs to the lounge (aka sitting room) to build the fire in the stove. No, not a cooking stove, a heating stove. We figured out last week's gas heating bill--aaghhh! Need to re-think this heating thing. There is no thermostat here, heat is either on or off. But there is a time switch so we have decided to heat the house from 5:00 am to 9:00 am (makes getting up and washing more pleasant) and then from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Thus reading or watching my iPad in bed is de rigeur after 9:00. We shall see how that goes. However, the solid fuel stove in the lounge warms the room up quite nicely and we stay there for most of the day.  Whe...

I had my first solo adventure today. Took the local bus into Waterford, got my hair cut and then taught an ESL class at Waterford Library. I have taken buses all around various cities in my life. Sometimes I get lost, sometimes I don't. I have no innate sense of direction. Really, you ask? Really. It really does exist you know--not having a sense of direction. As I typed this I asked myself whether not having a sense of direction was physical. So of course I Google'd it and came up with this interesting article:  http://www.medicaldaily.com/sense-direction-where-am-i-get-lost-378977 . Yep, something is definitely lacking in my hippocampus, always has been. When I was a little girl I could walk out of Eaton's on Ste Catherine and turn the wrong way, even though I had been going out that door for years. And heaven forbid I go out the wrong door! I did learn, though, to watch for landmarks--is that church on the wrong side of the street for the direction I want to go? Did I se...

A gorgeous day on Monday. Can't waste a sunny day!! We looked over the map of Wexford and tried to choose between seeing Hook Lighthouse, Tintern Abbey, Wexford Town and Johnstown Castle. We decided on the latter two and I am glad we didn't try to rush through and see more. It was so beautiful wandering around Johnstown Castle for a few hours with Mitzi and then taking a quick walk around Wexford Town. That is what is so special about living here--it's not like we have to rush around, we fully expect we will be back. Taking the Passage East car ferry across the River Suir Johnstown Castle--our favorite place so far! We actually liked it better than Powerscourt although both are beautiful. It was a perfect day for walking around the grounds. It was also so nice to be able to bring Mitzi along. Dogs must stay on the leash of course but she was very happy to sniff along the walkways. Peacock walked past a very intrigued Mitzi looking ...

Ah yes, how could I not feel good when I had this view present itself as Mitzi and I went for our walk this morning? I love this little village. The thatched cottages Lovely cottages period Pretty coves And a Church of Ireland with a cemetery and headstones :) The Catholic Church is 1.5 miles away; I plan to walk to it one day next week. As long as it isn't raining. There are other reasons for feeling at home, and so grateful for being away from the not-great housing situation in Ballitore. We are so much more comfortable in this cottage! It's warm and cozy, the shops are a five-minute walk away and are open from 7:30-10:00 every day, the walks are wonderful. Still haven't sorted out the WiFi situation; the installation company says they still haven't received a signal from the phone line. Sigh. The customer service person assures me it isn't unusual to take a few days but honestly, I don't trust them. We are doing...

Monday morning and we started off in our usual way--breakfast out. We went to The Bay Cafe for the first time. The owner (yet another Dave) was super talkative and of course asked the question that all Irish ask "So what do you think of Donald Trump?" The answer is we don't think, we moved to Ireland not to think. Another Irish-ism: I asked Dave where the Waterford bus stop was. "Oh out there in the street." I asked whether there was a sign for the bus stop. "Oh, no sign, this is Dunmore East you know." By which I assume he meant that everyone just knows where the bus stops. I did find out later that the bus stop is directly across from the cafe so I will learn to flag it down I guess. We then went to the Post Office to get an Irish passport application. On reading it, I realized I need to have a PSC (Public Services Card) before I can apply for my passport. Well that fits with what we were planning to do because the same office that issues PSC car...