A wee bit of fun

I've been a little bit lax keeping up with

the blogging posts.  I do have more  trip

photos to show.  I hope you aren't

getting tired of them...

Let's start with more Monet...

Don't you want to stroll the path...

sit with a sketchbook and watercolors?

I'm a sucker for stone walls and pretty flowers.

"At the end of his life, Monet hardly set foot out

of Giverny.  It became his sole source of inspiration."

Monet - The Ultimate Impressionist

 Waiting peacefully for its passenger.

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A wee bit of the Irish....

St. Mary's in Killarney...

One spectacular view after another at

Killarney's National Park.  We only had to go across

the street to get there.

We happened upon several fine Irish chaps 

that gave us our bearings in the park.

The weather was sunny and pleasant the whole

time of our visit.

Lovely stone walls...

 

 Celtic crosses...

 A stop at the Teahouse before walking into town.

Another view of the church...

 

One of many chapels in St. Mary's...

Striking stained glass...

Hitting the shops...

Who can resist a store with this name?

Or the jokester who had a go at this sign....

I hope it wasn't Boofle...

You can see he's doffed a pint of Smithwicks...

Oh...maybe that was Chris's pint..

He met up this cheery couple at a pub celebrating their

50th Wedding Anniversary while I was

away at the bookshop.

 

We didn't take advantage of the horse and buggy rides..

choosing to earn our meals by walking.

Not all paths lead to our destination...

The locals out enjoying the weather...

better than average we hear.

This is where we're headed...Ross Castle.

 

I'll leave you with this beautiful shot of Ross Castle.

Taken on a moody weather day while hiking trails

in Killarney National Park.

So Thankful

For me this has been a year of drastic lows..

and unbelievable highs. I lost my mother to

a brutal bout with ALS.  Our lovey tuxedo cat,

Maddie followed soon after.  

But then...here we are on the top level of a
double decker bus in England with the wind
blowing in our hair.

I have so much to be thankful for!
Thank you to everyone who supported
me through all the difficulties and
celebrated the better moments too.
If you want to share in more of the highlights
go to Chris's Flickr site at:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/livelens/

And remember...
 When life plops you on the crapper..

 

Climb up on the lid..
Remember to flush..
keep looking up...
It's bound to get better!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

Aimless Love and the Bucket List

Not many people know that I am a bit of

a poetry nut.  I've also raised a few eyebrows

with my taste for country music.

Keith Urban?  Isn't he a country artist?

Who knew!

 

Anyway...I'm a huge fan of the poet Billy Collins.

In fact he has been on my bucket list for quite

some time.  He recently released a new book...

"Aimless Love - New and Selected Poems"...

and along with it...a book tour.

 

 

Lucky for me...he made a stop in Eugene

and my man snapped up a couple of fourth row

seats at the Library reading...standing room only

with one hour to the reading.

 

 

Of course I stood in line to get my book signed...

 

 

Billy Collins is the only person to hold two terms as

Poet Laureate.  My friend Bill sums up Billy as

"the Bob Newhart of Poetry."  I love it!

He is all over You Tube...so go check it out.

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Are you ready to do some early Christmas shopping and

help out a worthy cause?

 

 

Check out the ultra cool stuff on my friend Emily 

Proudfoot's brand new Etsy site.

Go visit Orange Sweater Design to see what shes'

up to and then hop over to look at her infectious,

collectable jewelry and paintings.

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I'm hoping to get to some of my own artwork soon.

But until I have something to show...

have a look at some of the goodies I brought

back from my Europe trip...

I picked these out from a street artist on

the way to The Pompidou....

 

 

Eiffel Tower...

 

Monmarte street scene...

 

Bistro with kitty....

Boulanger and shops....

The Moulin Rouge

Paintings like the one above are mass produced

on canvas and sell for 10 - 15 euros.

Same as the next three....

 

 

These two were purchased during a rain

downpour in an artist square in Monmartre...

Here is the painter....

 

Artists on every corner.....

Don't you want to dip a brush in and start painting?

Until next time.....