H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N !

the irish weather summarized

before going to all the cemeteries, i never knew kiely was an irish name. to me it sounded east european, especially as in orla kiely. she is a peculiar designer to me, most of the stuff is a bit too wannabe-retro for me, but there is always something in her collections i really love. most of it is way out of my price range, like the wool jacquard dresses from this fall/winter line, but the new water bottle is something i could actually buy. had i not recently purchased a stainless steel version from the scout shop, for which i'm crocheting a cover from my new fave yarn, a blue wool tweed with red and grey flecks.

my dog bite is healing well, as evident from the terrible itching. luckily the scab is not readily available for picking, situated on my upper thigh as it is. homeopathic hypericum and lots of lavender oil helped me survive. someone more comfortable with doctors might have gone for the tetanus shot.

yesterday morning someone was calling out "hello?!" from the stairs. i opened my door to a mass of dark, curly, irish hair and tea mugs: "milk or without?" oh my. i didn't even know anybody was in. this is such a house of surprises. last night someone was playing music downstairs, even though to my knowledge i am the only occupant in town at the moment. but we all know there is a ghost in the house already.

the sea and the sand.  today was warm, warm, warm. i cooked up some freckles on the beach in the morning, kids were running around barefoot but i wasn't as gutsy. i called my mom and she said in finland the air smells of snow already. here it's seaweed and surf.

i love tidal shores. there, i've said it.

later i took a long walk along the coast, turned back when a wall of rain appeared in the horizon and ate salt and vinegar chips from the fish&chips by the bridge. it would have been a perfect day, had not a black dog bitten me on my way out and a black cat done the same when i came back home. at least the black horse i fed grass to along the way didn't bite me. here's hoping i don't get rabies.
 
(the sausage dog pictured above is not related to the events described, just fat.)

it has been stormy. perfect weather for appreciating pretty little things. like pink rowan berries. who knew? (up close that wall-to-wall has nice colours but the overall effect it a bit nauseating. i dream of the wood floor beneath...)

the old irish coins are fascinating and stylish. whoever designed the eurocoins deserves a slap in the face, all values have the same ol' harp on them. having said that, i wouldn't mind having more of 'em... the purse strings are wound tight shut, but i need a fluffy, warm, long cardigan or knit dress. and we all know a shopping trip to cork will not amount to the mere €50 it ought to...

the house is full of people downstairs, but i don't feel like mingling. napping, more like.

a little story, warning about the hazards of sea shores and too much awe... 

...but also the healing powers of common plants!

slipped and fell on the rocks yesterday while gawking at little lobster shells and whatnot. protecting my camera first and foremost instead of, say, my skull. of course. somehow by chance i ended up with only some scratches and one swollen finger. my ring finger, actually. does that make me married to the sea now? i put some lavender oil on the cuts and wrapped a bit of cabbage leaf around the finger for a few hours last night, and that took care of the swelling. this morning i picked a couple of narrowleaf plantain leaves to bandage the raw bits with.

ireland has so many plants that are new to me, especially all kinds of seashore herbs but others as well. i can't walk along the hedges without constantly taking a closer look at some weed that i've never seen before. not to mention all the edible algae. so much to learn. even mushrooms are mostly strangers, but more on those later.

baltimore beacon, west cork

a walk to james' fort via riverbank. one of the best days of my life.

on my current escape i have journeyed a bit farther than usual. can you guess where i am?

if i reveal that my residence is called murphy's farmhouse, you'll know it's ireland. there was a chance to go and even though i wasn't really feeling as excited as i wanted to, i packed my bags and left anyway.

the coach trip from dublin to cork was this incredible pastoral overdose with fields of sheep after cows after horses and even two donkeys at some point. amazing stacked stonewalls everywhere, rooks flying all over the place. and finally, at dusk, these massive black mountains. and a castle of course. i stumbled out of the bus in kinsale, and breathed in, deep, the scent of the sea.

so far it has been lovely and misty outdoors and miserably cold and damp inside the house. once we get the heating going i'm sure it'll improve but it's downright ghastly as it is now. the people are nice, though, and the irish accent is music to my ears.

the best thing about being here is the atlantic ocean. or cadbury's chocolate with the turkish delight filling. could be both.