Stone Age To Flying Boats In Ireland

On our second day in Ireland we woke to more light rain, but were determined to show Katherine a little bit more of Ireland, especially of the area in County Limerick. 

After another delicious breakfast at the Old Castle House bed and breakfast, we followed the same road we had taken the day before back almost to Limerick city, then turned south east for the drive to Lough Gur Heritage Center and the Great Stone Circle at Holycross near Bruff. The map above is too small to really help, but we drove from the circle on the far left, all the way over to where the dots end at Lough Gur circle, then to the two smaller circles near it where the church and stone circle were, then back by way of the dashed line, and on to the second circle from the left, at Foynes. After leaving Foynes, we went back to the far left circle, Glin.

Here Katherine and Sweetie stand in front of Lough Gur. The area of Lough Gur is an ancient settlement. They have found signs of human habitation dating back over 6,000 years. At one time one of the kinds of settlements were crannogs; huts build on artificial islands in lakes. This provided the protection of water...same idea as a moat I guess. Lough Gur is a beautiful large lake and there were at least one of this kind of settlement, as well as later settlements on the surrounding hills.

We went to the visitor's center first where I sat in a wonderful carved wooden chair.

The visitor's center was a replica of the thatched hut with dry laid stone walls which (I think) would have been the kind of hut used on the crannog. Sometimes a bridge was used to connect the island to the surrounding land, but sometimes dug-out canoes would be the only way to get to the islands. Today the space between the artificial island and the shore has silted in, so it just looks like part of the land. 

These islands were protected with a timber fence and had thatched houses. Planting ws done on the surrounding land. It was often too wet for crops, so they developed the practice of planting in ridges of land pushed up in long hills...a method still used for potato planting. Typical crops were barley and Emmer and Spelt wheat, plus vegetables. Hunting and gathering were still a major source of food.

We hiked up a fairly steep trail to the top of one of the hills, 

passing painted rocks made to look like fairy dwellings (after all school children often visit educational places like this and the Irish are known for a bit of whimsey now and then) and sites of dwelling from a later time than the crannogs. 

The view from the top was lovely, even though the day was overcast. After we hiked down to lake level, we found a 'wishing chair' 

as well as an interesting sign that apparently shows that the lake has a severe drop off.

I was surprised since, as we were arriving, a class of students had recently passed that area in kayaks and I didn't see them wearing life jackets...but I could have missed those. 

Our next stop was at a nearby church ruin about a mile away. We had a different view of the Lough from there, 

but the real attractions were the headstones, including many very old Irish crosses and similar carved headstones. 

The ruins itself were all in stone. It was hard to imagine it with an altar or stained glass windows or pews. As a country church maybe all it had were rough benches.

A short distance away in Bruff we came to the Great Stone Circle of Holycross, a private property owned by Timothy Casey, but open to the public because he wants to share the immense stone circle of large standing stones. 

There have been archaeological excavations here, but I was mostly impressed with the stones. Here is what the author of Standing Stones website has to say:

"The circle at Grange is quite something. It is banked in that the stones are pressed right up against an outer henge. The diameter of the circle is 47.5m and is perfectly circular. During excavations a post hole in the centre of circle was found from which the circle could have been measured out with a rope. I don’t think I have ever seen a stone circle with such a variation in stone size. Some are barely over 50cm tall while the largest (known as Rannach Croim Duibh) stands at 4m in height. The bank into which the stones are set is ditchless and roughly 1.2m high and 9m wide. Unusually there is a formal entrance to the circle on the E side of the circle. A stone lined entrance has been set out and is still impressive to walk up and into the circle...especially in the fog. A lot of archaeological material was found during excavation and carbon dating indicates a construction date around 2000BC. Beaker ware was found at the site and was found to be very similar to Beaker ware found in Somerset in England and to me that would indicate a close connection between these people.

Another stone circle and two standing stones can be seen from this site, when it is not foggy, and there is a possible megalithic tomb on the other side of the road that would be visible from the circle is it wasn’t for the modern road. This is truly a fantastic site at an amazing place. Even if you only have a passing interest in these places you will certainly be impressed by this place."
 From website The Standing Stone - http://www.thestandingstone.ie

We walked all around the circle after visiting a bit with Timothy. It is a magical place somehow.  On the summer solstice apparently the sun rises so that it sits for a short while directly over the tallest stone, throwing a shadow into the clear area within the circle. In the photo above Katherine stands near the tallest stone. Maybe we can go back to experience the solstice one day.

Having had our historical fun, we stopped nearby for a quick (and late) lunch, then headed back to Glin. 

On the way we stopped at Foynes. Our hope had been to visit the Flying Boat museum, but we arrived too late for the full experience. We did have the opportunity to go to the top of the control tower, recently reconstructed, where we could see the Shannon river and the area where the planes would have landed during the 40's when Foynes was the European terminus for the trans-Atlantic flying boats service. The tower had old photos, including this one of the original tower from the 1940s.

The bottom photo is an artists representation of how it probably looked when there was regular flying boat service at Foynes prior to the opening of Shannon Airport, which was built to accommodate the newer jet airlines. 

 Since Irish Coffee was invented here it seemed only right to have some, although I decided to have some nice hot tea myself.

We had dinner that night with Shayne and Barbara in the nearby town of Tarbert, which is also one end of the ferry between Co. Clare and Co. Kerry. More great food and conversation. It was hard to leave knowing that our time with them was over for a while again. So, during our all too brief stay in Ireland we traversed a bit of County Clare (Shannon Airport), County Limerick (Lough Gur, Foynes, Glin) and a tiny bit of County Kerry (Tarbert). One day we'll have to make it to Dublin I guess.

Another good night's sleep, followed by another great breakfast and we made our way early Tuesday morning to Shannon airport for our flight to Marseille, France, via Heathrow airport.

Irish Whole Wheat Flour Sourdough and Insulation

Life keeps on keeping on. One of the things that is going is the sourdough starter. It is still a baby, so needs some help with the heavy lifting when used for bread baking. For Friday dinner I took the 'toss off' from the feeding schedule, added some water and some Irish whole meal flour from King Arthur Flour and about a 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast, stirred it all up and let it sit for a couple of hours.
Later in the day I added more flour and did some kneading. I like the texture and taste that the Irish whole wheat gives...it has flecks of bran in it that add to the flavor. It was a slack dough, so I put it in a pan for the final rise. Very tasty with turkey soup for dinner. No recipe, which might be why I forgot to add salt. Ooops. Guess I better start making more bread to get back in the groove. I also need to allow more time for the baking part of bread making. It always seems to come out of the oven about an hour after I need it. Back to the drawing board, right?

Another area of interest is my art studio. We have been working on adding insulation to the ceiling and two of the walls. The other walls were insulated years ago. Then we'll add a door between the studio and the storage area so that the storage will be uninsulated. We never get extremely hot or cold here, so that is not a problem.

Eventually the ceiling will get dry wall and paint added and I can set it up for painting again. It has been a combination second kitchen, art space, gardening space, and storage space for a while, so having it be almost all for art will be wonderful. I have about ten scenes from our trip that I want to paint in either water color or acrylics so I have to keep the enthusiasm for that going until the studio is ready. Right now it is a construction zone with batts of insulation, lots of tools, scrap wood,  levels and screws, tape measures, etc. Hope to be painting by December.

Today Katherine came up and helped with installing the insulation in the ceiling, which was wonderful. She is tall, which helps, plus very focused and hardworking when the job is at hand. Tonight we'll have neighbors over for dinner and card playing. A nice balance of work and play.

Hope your weekend is a good one!

Travel Is Not For Wimps!

This trip to Ireland and France has been a big trip for us with very few problems overall, but it is clear to me that travel these days is very difficult for anyone with disabilities, weaknesses, or illnesses.

I have a dairy allergy, but that ended up being no problem because I took a bookmark I created with me. It had illustrations of cheese, cream, milk, butter and beef, all labeled with the French name. Each illustration had a red circle and line across it. The waiter would take the bookmark to the chef and they brought me food with no dairy or beef. Worked like a charm!

Some things there was no help for, like tight spaces on airplanes. For example, the plane to Shannon from Boston had such a narrow aisle that getting to the restrooms involved sort of climbing over people who had just used the facilities. Someone needing to use, for example, a cane, would have a lot of trouble staying on their feet. I had a bum ankle on the way home, but on the Shannon to Boston flight I was right next to a restroom and on the Boston to SF flight they I was seated right behind first class and they let me hobble up and use the first class restrooms, which, by the way, are not any nicer than the coach class bathrooms. Who knew?

I'm glad that we lift weights twice a week at the gym. We also hoisted our bags overhead on the planes, into high bins on the train and the airport shuttles and dragged them over cobblestones and up and down lots of steps in Avignon and Paris. Pack light!

Another fact of life are the lines...lines to check your bag or get a boarding pass, lines for security and for passport control, lines to board and to leave the airplane, to wait for luggage, to rent a car. The passport control line at Charles de Gaulle in Paris took over an hour and then there was security after that, so these are long, slow lines.

Once you get to your destination, be prepared, sometimes, for lots of steps (especially at tourist attractions) and no elevators (and the occasional elevator is usually tiny), and for plenty of uneven surfaces.

This photo has an example of my nemesis...the inch or so tall 'step' right behind us that sometimes just looks like part of the pavement...until your foot finds that you need to step up or down. Apparently my cataract surgery messed with my depth perception, so I had to really look for the shadow that indicated that it was a step and not just a different color of pavement...because sometimes it was just a different color and at the same level as the darker or lighter pavement.

All of this is offset by the wonderful people you will likely meet, the beauty and history around every corner if you go to Europe, and the memories you will make that have nothing to do with lines or tight spaces.

Our own experience on the way home was a trip in itself. Our delightful cab driver, Tony, got us to Charles de Gaulle airport plenty early. Strangely, there was no one at the Aer Lingus check in desk until 45 minutes later. After a slow moving line, we checked our bags and headed to the next slow moving line at Passport Control. For non-EU folks that took well over an hour, inching forward a little at a time. It looked like the lines at Disneyland, but moved much slower. Unfortunately our flight was cancelled, so there was another long line to exit to baggage claim, a wait for the baggage, another very long line to reschedule a flight...a six hours long line...and no flights out that day by then. We did get a place to sleep that night at the airport and free dinner and breakfast the next morning, but then the lines began again. A good sense of humor helps in these situations. We ended up spending most of three days either in an airport or an airplane, in a terminal or in an airport bus (which might explain why we caught the flu...another travel challenge is staying healthy).

Of course I would go back again in a heartbeat, but this time I would bring an Ace bandage and maybe even a folding cane. The essential thing that I had this time was my wonderful Sweetie. He was endlessly patient, pointed out the places I might trip so I didn't, helped me up when I did, and negotiated all the car rental desks and airport desks with a wonderful attitude. He drove on the left side of the road (the wrong side for us) in Ireland and, having just gotten used to it, switched gears and drove on the right side of the road in France. The roundabouts took the two of us, plus Katherine, plus our GPS, (we named her Beatrice), to figure out. Narrow roads and tiny parking spaces were two more challenges, but he managed it all.

All of these things are do-able, but tiring. Perhaps it's just because we are older, but time that might have been spent sight seeing 10 or 20 years ago was spent resting. We still had a great time, but are very glad that most of the time we are in good health, so we started the trip in good shape.

So be prepared for a workout next time you travel but don't let that keep you home!

Across the Pond in Ireland

Ireland is a magical place. It can also pluck your every nerve if you have flown for six hours in the middle of the night and then, at 6:30 am Ireland time (and God only knows what time it would be in Boston...or San Francisco!),  have to negotiate not only driving on the left side of the road when the right side is the usual side to be on, but you also have to go around a number of roundabouts just to get out of the airport.

Fortunately there were three of us in the car; myself, Sweetie and our amazing daughter Kate. Among us we handled it all (although they handled it better than I did), tried to find sunglasses (since I had left mine in Boston by mistake!), struggled to find the road to Glin once we were near Limerick, and eventually sped through a light rain, often parallel to the Shannon river, to the beautiful and comfortable Old Castle House B & B in Glin where we were staying. 

Below is a photo of the ruins of a part of the castle, which is right near the driveway of the bed and breakfast.

Glin is a village on the Shannon River not terribly far east from where it joins the Atlantic Ocean. The Shannon is the biggest river in Ireland and large ships head up it past Glin at least as far as Foynes, which has a deep water port.

Main Street in Glin is perpendicular to the river and heads uphill. At the end of the street are the Catholic Church on the right and the Protestant Church on the left. Go a little further and you drive into the demesne of the Knight of Glin. That property is currently for sale for about 4 million.

Our innkeeper, Ester, graciously allowed us to check in early and she cooked a magnificent full Irish breakfast for us, too. In case you are unfamiliar with that, it includes eggs, bacon (which is more like ham), sausage, blood sausage, broiled tomato (and sometimes mushrooms, too), juice, fruit, coffee, tea, and lots of delicious home made brown bread and good Irish butter. I skipped the butter but otherwise enjoyed it all. Never took a photo, but this is sort of what it looks like.

We had about an hour to rest and freshen up and then drove the few blocks to Glin's Main Street to O'Shaughnessy's Pub, where we met Cousins Shayne and Barbara. They are cousins from my Mother's side of the family. Her Dad used to live in Glin as a boy. Here is a photo of my Mom, her Dad, my daughter Kate and me from more than a few years ago.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We were delighted to meet some of Shayne and Barbara's good friends and there was lots of talk and laughter and a few drinks taken. O'Shaughnessy's, just outside the castle walls, is really old, one of the finest pubs in Ireland according to those who go there, now in it's sixth generation of family ownership and there is a nice outdoor section that might be a bit younger than the interior. It was too chilly to enjoy the outside part on the day we were there but I took a picture anyway since it looked so inviting. Have to come back when the weather is warmer.

After the pub we were invited back to our cousin's lovely home for dinner. Their beautiful daughter Sonya was there and she added to the fun. Kate really enjoyed the time with the cousins! Sweetie and I had met them a few years ago when we first visited Ireland, but this time we were able to spend quality time with them and were honored by the beautiful and delicious meal that Barbara made. Joan, Ann and Tom were delightful and we hope to see them next time we are in Glin.

I would love the recipe for Barbara's plum cake. She served it with a pitcher of heavy cream mixed with pastry cream and at that point I so wished that I could consume dairy.

That night we really slept well and Sweetie loved that you could hear the water rushing in the stream that ran right by the B&B, down to the Shannon river a short distance away.

Peanut Butter, Bananas, Pecans and Pound Cake...Delicious!

Today was the annual silent auction for the P.E.O. Scholarships chapter that I belong to. We try to raise a couple thousand a year which goes towards scholarships for women both locally and at the state and international level. The auction is a good money raiser and so I usually donate some baked goods. There is almost always a bidding war for them which means more money for women scholars!

One of the cakes I donated (well, actually two) ended up being a pair of small Bundt cakes using the Maida Heatter recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Pecan Pound Cake that was one of the October Cake Slice Bakers recipes. I dolled them up with a crunchy peanut butter, butter, half and half and powdered sugar icing, but they would be fine plain, too.

Without the icing you can see that the crunchy peanut butter left some gaps in the pan design clarity. The recipe calls for smooth peanut butter which would solve most of that problem, but I like crunchy peanut butter, so no smooth in the house.

 To make the recipe as it was written, use one large Bundt cake pan. Also, remember to add the baking soda. I forgot to and so my cake was very dense. Sweetie ate the tiny loaf pan of batter that I baked up for him from the batter that didn't fit into the two small Bundt pans and he said that you didn't miss it and that it was a great cake if you like peanut butter.

Pecan-Peanut Butter-Banana Bread

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed 
• 2 eggs
• 2 to 3 large fully ripened bananas (to make one cup, mashed)
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) pecan halves or large pieces, toasted (I used 1 cup)
  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  
  Butter a large Bundt pan or two small cake loaf pans. Set aside.
  
  Sift together flours, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  
  In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until softened, add peanut butter, beat until mixed. Add the sugar, and beat until mixed.
  
  Add eggs one at a time, beat until mixed.
  
  Peel the bananas and smash using a potato smasher or fork. Add the bananas to the mixture and beat until mixed.
  
  On low speed add the dry ingredients, beat only until mixed.
  
  Remove the bowl from mixer and fold in the pecans by hand using a spatula. Pour batter into bundt pan or divide between the two small loaf pans.
  
  Bake at 375 degrees F. for only 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes. Watch your cakes, oven temperatures vary.
  
  Cake will be done after cake tester is inserted and comes out clean.
  
  Remove cake from oven and cool for 15 minutes, then turn out cake onto a cooling rack and finish cooling. 

Day One and Two of the Fall Trip - Off to Boston!

Since we live about a two hour airporter bus away from the SF airport, our journey started in the dark at about 4:30 am when a good friend...and it's a really good friend who will get up that early and is cheerful, too...took us to the airporter bus stop. We each managed to have a carry on that fits under the seat, plus a hard case roller bag that fit in the overhead. Lots of mix and match clothing, plus no fancy dinners to attend helped, plus it wasn't yet cold enough to need heavy clothing. The sun rose as we headed through San Francisco on 19th Avenue.

We flew on our favorite airline, Virgin America, so the terminal is high tech and pretty comfortable for an airport terminal. One of the things we like is that they let you order from your seat, so the beverage cart that blocks the aisle is only out for a short while. They also have the back of the seat personal screen for TV, movies, games, etc. The seats are relatively comfortable and roomy, so for a cross country flight it's a good choice.

Yes, cross country, because our destination is Boston. Turns out that Boston is one of the east coast terminus for Aer Lingus, which is the airline we flew many of our flights on. About 30 years ago we visited Next Sister Down in Newton, near Boston, but the visit to an art museum in Boston that was part of that trip is my only experience with the city of Boston prior to this trip. I liked Boston's energy and style. We were only there for a little less than 24 hours, but I did manage to do some walking around in the waterfront area and into the historic area. There are lots of new buildings going up, lots of people walking, a couple of parks just within the area I was able to cover, and plenty of water views.

It was Saturday when we were out and about since we made it to the hotel at sundown on our first travel day and had dinner at the hotel, then settled in to do some reading and relaxing. Saturday was semi-cloudy, but the sky was bright blue and the breeze was brisk...the perfect fall day.

Saturdays (and Sundays) in September and October turn out to be prime wedding days. On our walk by the old fish pier near our hotel we discovered that the building that used to house the fish exchange has been converted to an event space. The event planner for that afternoon's wedding kindly invited us in and we enjoyed touring the old building and admiring the beautiful woodwork everywhere, plus the light that came in through multiple windows.

 Nice to see such a nice building recycled. There were photos from when it was a fish exchange, too.

Outside we chatted with a fishing boat crew at the dock.

Wholesale fish processing still happens during the week at the fish pier, but not on weekends.

They were there fixing their engine. One of the fishermen was from Co. Cork in Ireland and another from Galway. The Galway man agreed to having his photo taken:

After lunch I headed off towards the historic district. I passed a park where there was a piano sitting out. A woman was playing for her children and they danced around with glee.

As you can see there is a crane and American flag in the distance and a couple of recently build buildings nearby...lots happening on the waterfront in Boston!

Further along on the walk I crossed a bridge that took me closer to the historic district. I saw two bridal groups getting photos taken during the walk, plus another venue being set up for a wedding. Looking for a destination for a wedding in the fall? Boston looks like it does it up right.

There was a fascinating sculpture in a park near the historic area. It used steam as part of the experience.

Here are some other buildings and park areas nearby.

The mix of old and new buildings is dynamic.

After the walk back we had some tea and headed back to Logan airport for the next leg of our journey...soon we will be off to Ireland.