Kylemore Abbey

Posted by WiseMóna    16 Comments    in Kaleidoscope

A little drive out west takes you far away from home

KYLEMORE ABBEY

http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie/

Kylemore, Connemara, Co Galway, Ireland

Stunning scenery…

Come with me to Kylemore Abbey. A daydreamers paradise.

The door is open for visitors…

Yes please. I will stay for lunch…

Words that surround you in the dining room

Buy something nice for someone special

Dessert anyone?

More shopping anyone?

One of the most photographed locations in Ireland. And the most beautiful.

We are lucky to live somewhere so beautiful. Often, when I am stuck for words, I can walk out my door and see something beautiful.

Life is what you make it. Stop waiting for it to happen and get out there and live it.

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Apples (former) CEO Steve Jobs. What a visionary he was.

He changed the world I live in.

May he rest in peace.

WiseMóna

PS – the rest of the photos from Kylemore Abbey are right here on our Facebook Page.

A kaleidoscope of our WiseIrishSummer (2011)

Posted by WiseMóna    16 Comments    in Kaleidoscope

There were blue skies

and gray skies

there was laughter

there was heavy sighs

and there were even tears

My favourite shot of the summer. My niece Gégé asserting herself. She takes after me.

There were cousins

there were friends

there was food

and a lot

of different types of

SALAD!

All washed down with a lot of

different kinds of

DRINKS!

Ok – this was an Apricot Gin & Tonic. I am rather partial to this creation too.

Of course everything was kept ‘kid friendly’

and I have lost count of the number of cupcakes baked over the last few months

but I am pretty sure it was A LOT

Summer has come to an end.

The kids are back to school.

Blood Orange Fizz

I am back at my desk.

What are you up to?

Summer Pizza …………. Rocket ready

Posted by WiseMóna    3 Comments    in Kaleidoscope

Silent Sundaze

Posted by WiseMóna    10 Comments    in Kaleidoscope

Really? If you think for one second there is an iota of silence here with a gaggle of kids piled in on top of each other, then you are mad Ted. Mad!

A lot — and by a lot I mean loads and loads and loads — of bloggers do this cutesy thang called ‘Silent Sunday’ where they post a photo of something cute they found or saw the week previous and they just leave it there on their blog for a few days and let you put the words to the image. Very nice of them. Very artistic. Very rive gauche….

I wanted to share a little photo of something my 8-year-old made in school this week. My little Rory-Belle just turned 8. She wants to be a vet but is conflicted daily with a need to express her self artistically. We put no pressure on her to excel in anyway whatsoever. She is, who is is, and we love her unconditionally.

She got a gorgeous set of pastels and paper from a friend of ours for her birthday and is learning how to make a huge fecking mess with them use them in the most creative ways.

This past week, she struggled with a piece of homework that required ‘pencil drawing’ and in the end threw her hands in the air declaring that she JUST.CANNOT.DRAW.

Oh, the drama of it all. She totally gets this from the Chef.

On Friday, she came home from school with an objet d’art (see photo above). It is a robot. She had been handed a piece of clay and told to make something out of it. I noticed that the texture was still ‘wet paint’ to touch and aired on the side caution when inspecting it.

I admired the richness of the colour and questioned how she managed to have it look like a ceramic glaze finish (because washable paint just soaks into grey clay and the colour is sometimes lost) and she looked at me, in that ‘jeeze Mom, don’t you know anything’ tone and informed me that she had pilfered the teachers crazy glue and used it to ‘top coat’ her piece.

Too many manicures kiddo. But I love you darling.

See, no way, no how, can I do a ‘Silent Sunday’…….

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today, but tomorrow, I am going to post a piece on what it was like hosting 8 kids for the weekend, what we ate, and how we managed to get them all to eat every last bite and indeed ask for more!

That is assuming I actually survive the rest of the weekend……….

WiseMóna

A little sunshine on the island and we all go mad

Posted by WiseMóna    1 Comment     in Kaleidoscope

Not much to be said here this weekend.

Just a few little photos to show what’s going on.

A lot of lazing about with the kids.

A little bit of food

A little bit of drinkies.

And the Chef has a new girlfriend.

AND she likes him a lot.

The End.

Early Summer Sun

Posted by WiseMóna    No Comments    in College life at NUIG, Family life in Ireland, Kaleidoscope