Tag Archives: fun
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Shoes and Feet
This week’s Fun Fotos are all about shoes and feet
See Cee’s Feet and other’s shoes at
http://ceenphotography.com/2014/10/28/cees-fun-foto-challenge-bare-feet-andor-shoes/
Here are mine!
My feet over Cork.
My feet at Longwood Gardens
My feet in the Netherlands
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The Bussers Missed the Blarney Stone
We left The River Lee behind sometime shortly after sunrise on the fourth day and headed up through the busy winding streets of Cork towards Blarney Castle. The tour bus was pulling into the castle lot just ahead of us making Amanda and me groan a bit as we looked at the long lines we would have to stand in just to get onto the grounds. We groaned, that is, until we heard the tour guide tell the bussers that they had just one hour on the grounds before the bus pulled out. It was not the first nor the last time I was glad to be on a self-guided tour. Amanda and I may not have seen as many hot spots on this trip to Ireland as the bussers did, but what we did see we actually had time to process.
The road out of Cork. Towards Blarney
Blarney Castle was built some 600 years ago by Cormac MacCarthy one of the great Munster Chieftains
I don’t care how fast you walk, you cannot see the grounds of Blarney Castle in an hour. It takes almost that to climb up and down the ruin never mind the time it takes to spin around the beautiful grounds.
A view from below the poison garden
Poison Gardens were a common part of many medieval castles.
Because we could spend four or five hours at Blarney we were able to inspect the caves as well as the gardens. Here is Amanda at the entrance to the Badger’s cave, an ancient escape route out of Blarney Castle. The way is sealed though, you may not pass.
Of course if you are going to Blarney Castle you have to at least see the Blarney stone. You may not feel like kissing the thing but just seeing it launches you into the story of the Blarney Witch
We took some time in the rock close, the domain of the Blarney Witch.
The Witch’s Stone is said to be the ancient cage in which the Blarney Witch was trapped.
The falls in the rock close
The falls leading to the Witch’s Kitchen
Amanda walks the wishing steps.
A bird’s eye view from the top of Blarney Castle
A walk through the meadow gardens brings you to the foot of Blarney House the current home of the Lord Colthurst
We spent four hours at Blarney and could still go back to see more. All in all we felt bad for the people on the bus tour. They didn’t so much kiss the Blarney stone but miss the Blarney stone and so much more. My sister commented on the fate of the bussers when we were explaining it to her. She told us in Europe they call it seeing the world as an American, which means you go to a place, step out of the vehicle, snap a picture, get back in the vehicle, drive away and then tell the world you’ve seen it.”
I have been thinking this is how I often do life and maybe just maybe that has to change.
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Share Your World- 2014 Week 43
Week 43! Can you believe it? That means at this point we have all answered 215 questions about ourselves here on Cee’s forum!
Check out the sharing at:
http://ceenphotography.com/2014/10/27/share-your-world-2014-week-43/
Now here are this week’s questions…
What is your favorite time of day?
My favorite time of day is early morning. I think I shared last week that it has been years since I have had the luxury of sleeping until noon. The truth is it has been years since I have slept much past dawn. I kind of like those dark quiet hours of the morning when the world is just waking up. It is so peaceful.
What’s your favorite charitable cause and why?
The church is my favorite charitable cause for a couple of reasons: 1. It is a charity that has stood the test of time and will stand through to the end of time. God will always have His church.
2. The church has done so much for me and my family. It is a part of my family.
How do you like to spend a rainy day?
Usually I work through the rainy days but if I should happen to have a rainy day free of work, then I love to sit and read or nap or maybe catch up on some TV watching (which I haven’t had ANY time for at all lately).
When writing by hand do you prefer to use a pencil or pen?
Pen definitely! I am always afraid pencil is going to eventually fade to nothing and my words will cease to exist.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am grateful for a successful art show this last weekend. Crowds were a little down but sales were up for our artists so that was good. This week I am looking forward to buying the new suit for my daughter’s wedding. It’s coming up fast!!!!
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Caddo’s Seven Word Sunday 10-25-2014
I really enjoyed our art show weekend!
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Share Your World 2014 Week 42
I am so glad to be getting back into the swing of things now that I am home from vacation! It is once again time to do one of my favorite things which is to share my world with Cee! Each week Cee asks her reader’s four questions and a bonus. Our answers go out into the blogosphere and tell the world out there a little bit more about who we are (or aren’t in some cases).
Do me a favor and when you have finished here head on over to Cee’s blog and see what her other contributors have written. I’ll meet you there!
Share Your World – 2014 Week 42
Here are this week’s questions and my answers:
What would be your preference, awake before dawn or awake before noon?
It has been something like thirty years since I have slept until noon. I am pretty sure I couldn’t do it anymore even if I wanted to, at least not with this forty-seven year old bladder; So I would say awake before dawn and throw in an afternoon nap! 🙂
If you could choose between Wisdom and Luck, which one would you pick?
Wisdom is more precious than rubies according to the Bible and in obtaining it there is life that lasts. Meanwhile luck… well it doesn’t last forever even when it comes in good long strings. I’ll take the everlasting quality in healthy doses.Wisdom if you please!
If you were given the opportunity for free skydiving lessons would you take them? Why or why not?
I think I would probably not for the same reason I don’t ride horses. I have a little too much weight on the frame and I am afraid the horse or in this case the parachute would not support me. If I am afraid to fall off a horse and hurt myself because I am too heavy for the horse why on earth would I not be afraid to fall out of a plane held aloft by what amount to an oversized diaper?
Is the glass half empty or half full? What is in the glass?
The glass is half full. It has ambrosia in it (the nectar of the gods). Sometimes that nectar is sweet, sometimes it’s sour but it all works out tasty in the end according to Romans 8:28. I have drunk almost half the glass by this point in life but the good news is that when I finish with this glass I get another full one according to John 3:16
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am grateful to have been involved in performing a wedding service with my lead pastor Barry Risto in Swampscott MA last weekend. The groom was a young man I have worked with as a minister since he was 11 years old. What a privilege! This weekend I am excited to be hosting, along with the other C.cada artists, our fourth annual art show. This year we will display close to two hundred pieces.
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A Sunday Drive On the Emerald Isle
My fellow Americans, there are three things you should know if you plan a driving tour of Ireland. Well there are probably more than three things but let’s start there Okay?
1. Think small! I don’t care if you are from Texas, bigger is not better in Ireland no matter what Hertz rent a car might tell you. Starve yourself, practice yoga, do whatever you have to do to get into a small car because the roads are TINY!!!!!And the parking garages at hotels are even TINIER!!!!
Amanda and I named our car “Little Me”. It was an Mii and I praised God everday for that car as I watched other self-driving tourists curse their mid-sized sedans.
Amanda and Little Me
2.For goodness sake don’t be bold and order a standard from the rental car company. Driving on the left and having to drive backwards on rotaries is hard enough without having to remember that you are shifting with your left hand and backwards.
3. Rent a GPS from the rental company or order maps of Ireland for your GPS. One of the advantages of taking a self-drive tour over a bus tour is that you can drive into places where buses cannot go. Driving the little mountain pathways or heading out into farm country is half the fun but unless you are a cartographer and can read directions from the position of the stars or the incline of the sun in the sky a map will be of little help. It becomes even less helpful when you have to read it while driving corkscrew turns down mountain roads at 80 KM an hour. Oh and if you happen to rent maps for Ireland from the Garmin do not use the elf. He couldn’t direct you out of the North Pole. Use the woman voice. She seems to know her way around (not even kidding here).
This is not really point four but I am very thankful that I did not have to start driving until Sunday morning. It seems the whole island sleeps in until about 1 P.M. so I had about five hours with the road all to myself. It was a perfect transition to driving on the left and going backwards on rotaries. I am not sure if I have the touring company or God to thank for that wonderful transition so I guess I will thank them both here and leave a word to the wise. Sunday is a great day to cut your teeth on Irish roads!
Amanda and I left the tour buses behind and headed off the beaten path through Killkenny and down through Port Laois into Tipperary so we could see the Rock of Cashel.
The rock of Cashel was once the ancient seat of the kings of Munster. Around the year 1100 they gave the rock to the church and it became the seat of the bishop for hundreds of years after that. The Rock today is a ruin of the once great cathedral that overlooked the countryside.
Me on the pathway up to the rock
Ancient Monastery seen from the Rock Of Cashel near Tipperary
A Celtic Cross in the cemetery atop the Rock of Cashel
The song this day’s drive inspired came as we drove into the region.
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green
This week’s Fun Fotos all have to be about being: GREEN
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: The Color Green
“It’s not easy being green” as Kermit D. Frog says, unless of course you have just been to the Emerald Isle.
Actually I don’t think green was as hard as blue now that I think of it!
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On the Banks Of the Liffey
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- The jaunting carts of Dublin are another way to see the city.
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- St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, is Church of Ireland a Prfotestant denomination. T
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- The Giant’s Pint at the Guiness factory… and no we did not sample the wears.
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- On the banks of the Liffey
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- Christ Church Dublin
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- Dublin in the glass
People many times before and since my return from Ireland have asked, “Did you go because you have family ties to Ireland?”
The answer is no. As far as I know noone in my blood-line is of Irish descent. I don’t know how I managed to come from Massachusetts and miss out on Irish blood but there you have it. I am not Irish. But I have long been a fan of Irish music and if there is any reason for going to Ireland beyond my daughter’s desire to go then that is it. The music inspired me to the act. And I found it a profound thing that just about everywhere I went on the island reminded me of a song.
Dublin brought up this tune from my childhood:
We spent the day touring Dublin along the banks of the Liffey. At this point in the trip I was sleeping in short bursts as my arms were continually waking me up in the night, or maybe it was just jet lag manifesting. At any rate our touring was done by about three. Amanda napped. I soaked my arms and by six we were eating in the hotel restauraunt. I had a lamb burger. Yummy!
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Share Your World 2014 Week 41
Share Your World – 2014 Week 41
We are almost through another year of sharing. If you have fallen behind in learning and sharing you can catch up by following the link above. Come on give it a try! It’s a whole lot of fun!
Here are this week’s sharing questions from Cee….
Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures?
Since I just got back from a two-week trip to Ireland and took 850 pictures of which I am in exactly two I would have to say I like taking pictures (although I did have my daughter take pictures of me with her camera to prove I was really there).
Us on the way to Ireland.
What did you most enjoy doing this past week?
I think finishing up our tour of the Emerald Isle and flying back to resume working life.
What is your greatest extravagance?
I would have to say my greatest extravagance is books. I love to buy and read books.
Which letter of the alphabet describes you best?
M for “ME”
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am really grateful that I got to go to Ireland with my daughter Amanda. This week I am so looking forward to beginning two services at our church and the C.cada art show this next week being held at our church. Come and visit us if you have the notion.
Lillie-Put 