Loose Change

A day that started off with loose change, and ended with Loose Change. Peadar had his first day off in over 6 weeks last Sunday, so we decided to make a day of it. Taking the idea of "saving for a rainy day" literally, we raided our New Tractor Fund jar full of change (after filtering out the American and British coinage) and went for a day out on the town.

The first thing Peadar wanted to do was see the Phil Lynott (lead singer from Thin Lizzy) exhibition in St. Stephens Green. Phil was a (half) black signer from Dublin in the 70's, a true novelty of the era. He was raised by his single mum, who kept all of his letters and notebooks and photos from when we was younger, which were available for viewing. It was an interesting display of Rock 'N Roll.

The next stop was Saba for Thai food and Saki. They had a good selection of gluten-free offerings, which was great for me. I have decided to start another blog that will cover places to eat GF in Dublin, for all of my fellow Coeliacs/ Celiacs out there. It's almost ready to be launched, so I'll keep you updated. 

For dessert we went to Fallon & Byrne, which is kind of like a Whole Foods. There is a wine bar, gourmet deli, grocery store, and even a fancy restaurant upstairs. Pad and I got glasses of port, Eton Mess (my new favorite dessert, besides pavlova, that I have been introduced to in Ireland), and the Sunday Independent. We then spent an hour discussing: why everyone is going topless (Rosanna Davidson, Kate Middleton), why how much people leave in their wills get published in the paper, about how teachers now have to work 40 hours a week (the horror!), and what is the story with government employees viewing copious amounts of porn at work! 

 

Then things got extra touristy when we hit-up Gogarty's for some live Irish music and whiskey. This is probably the most tourist-centric pub in Dublin, and is full of non-Irish people, but is nevertheless a must see on your tour of Dublin. Located in Temple Bar.

I get asked a lot how Peadar and I met. I was studying abroad at Dublin City University in Ireland in 2008, and my American friends and I wanted to watch the Superbowl. It is on really late on a Sunday, so only a few pubs show it, and the pub pictured below, Buskers in Temple Bar, happened to be one of them. Pad's football team also went there for a night out, and the rest is history. Check out an authentic picture of the actual night Peadar and I met. And then 4.5 years later, our 3rd time being back.

 In 2008, with Ciaran, Pad's bro...

UPDATE: New pic of Pad and I the night we met:

...and in 2012, all in love and shiz.

After that, believe it or not the party continued on the train back to Malahide, and into our local pub Gibney's for one more cheeky pint. The band "Loose Change" was playing their usual Sunday night gig, a perfect ending to our grand day out. 

I have lined myself up a very busy fall, as I am a new volunteer coach for the Special Olympics swim team, the NAC Sharks! I have also joined the St.Vincents water polo team (shouts out to K8 the G8, Snorkel, & Moni Babi from WVHS). It remains to be seen whether I will actually survive the training sessions and play in actual matches, especially since I am still swimming with the NAC Masters team, but I'm trying.

And everyone... don't forget, It's Friday. 

Lots of Love.

Keato

'Tis the Season

....no, not holiday season yet! It's only September!! Although, Brown Thomas, the biggest department store in Dublin, has already put up Christmas trees.

The season I am talking about is the Harvest. I know I mentioned this in my last post, but this goes much more into detail. The girls at swimming this week we asking me if Peadar was done planting potatoes. I corrected them saying, no "harvest is about cutting the wheat (also known as 'drawing corn') and then gathering straw, planting more wheat, then digging the potatoes. Potatoes don't get planted until spring."

The looks I got were priceless. Ask me to explain that a year ago and I would have laughed. So harvest is here, and Peadar leaves before I wake up in the morning and I'm often asleep before he gets home. He is working so hard to get everything done while the weather is good, because when it's bad, well, you'll see below.

Peadar, his "harvest beard", and his nephew Joseph in the tractor

There is a condition going around the farm right now, something I like to refer to as "harvest beard" which is caused by having no time to shave. Stop by The Yard, which is home to all the machinery and grain stores on the farm, and you well see plenty of "harvest beards" walking around the place. 

Have you ever been lucky enough to play Giant Jenga at a bar? (It's a great time).

Well Peadar and his colleagues (farmer pals? co-workers?) fellow crew members play Gargantuan Jenga every day with straw bales. Remember when I mentioned how poor weather can make things go very badly on the farm? Well check out what the rain did to these bales of straw. It caused them to get wet and heavy and eventually the whole mess toppled like Jericho. 

A whole morning's work, ruined. But straw stacker extraordinaire Daithi (pronounced dah-hee) was able to make it right again. He is Peadar's cousin and also works on the farm. 

On Saturday, I decided it would be nice to see my boyfriend in the daylight, so I went and joined him on the tractor for a few rounds. Check out the video below:

Heavy Machinery Action

Gorgeous shot of some straw that has not been bailed yet. The Irish countryside is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

This machine is a bale-chaser. It collects bales (8 at a time) like in the video above. 

Those of you who know anything about farming are probably wondering where the picture of the sweet machines, the harvesters, are. Well Pad was on straw duty the day I joined him in the fields, so that is why I am focusing on this part of the action.

Giant shed full of grain. 

I can't believe I am actually putting a picture of this in my blog, but another part of the harvest season means the critters, aka: effing spiders, are out in force looking for warm and dry places to shack up. And unfortunately, they have decided that every entrance way into my building should be infested.  I am a Stage 5 arachnophobe, and the thing about us, is that we actually like to feed our fear. Like when I Google Iraqi Camel Spiders.  For example, Peadar called me to warn me not to go out the particular entrance this guy was chilling at, and what do I do? Go and take a picture of him and have nightmares for weeks! 

We even found one inside our apartment, which made me have a panic attack. And several times I have not been able to actually enter our building until Peadar comes down with a golf club and kills a few. I just stand there crying until he gives me the all clear. Peadar, and Google, assure me that there are no poisonous spiders in Ireland. However, just the fact that these are called "Wolf Spiders" makes me want to die. 

Lastly, I was hanging out a Peadar's house over the weekend when a crane/stork wandered into the yard, causing the dogs to go ballistic. Eddie (Peadar's Dad, pictured above) caught the birdie before any damage was done, and walked him up the lane way to marshier ground. I actually think Brandy (their Irish Setter) was scared of the bird, but Max (the well-trained chocolate lab) would have gone in for the kill. So genius that I am, decide to take the dogs for a walk not too long after this happened. Can you just imagine the dogs finding the bird, the bird pecking at them with his beak, me fighting the dogs off with the stick yelling "you do not hurt the birdie?" Well, yes, that happened. And in case you were wondering, the bird lived.

 I think. 

I hope.

Love,

Amanda

Remember 9/11

A Laborious Day!

Happy Labor Day to all Americans back home! 

A day to celebrate the working class, the start of the NFL season, the end of summer and back-to-school! Unfortunately it will be a labor-filled working day for me, since it is not a holiday in Dublin, however the sun is shining (finally) and the harvest is in full swing, much to Peadar's delight that they can finally get working. Unlike the USA, which has drought conditions, we have been swamped with rain here in Ireland.

The morning paper recently had a front page article about a Matchmaking Festival in Lisdoonvarna, where people go to find love. I kid you not, this is an actual quote from the story, "But Mr. Daly, who still uses a tatty 100-year old diary to conjure up love matches, said he expects there to be more rich pickings for bachelor farmers than ever before at the 200-year-old singles fest. He explained that farmers are more in vogue than ever: 'A few years ago a fella's looks were important. Now since the recession, even if a fella has missing teeth, but has a house and his mortgage paid off, he could still attract a good bit of interest.' " Hilarious!


Dublin has played host to some great outdoor events in the past few days, including the Emerald Isle Classic football game Notre Dame vs. Navy, and the Tall Ships Festival.

The Emerald Isle Classic was held in the Aviva Stadium, and was the most fun I have ever had at a sporting event! There were so many Americans there, a girl who graduated from University of Illinois one year after me was sitting right behind us! Ciaran (Pad's bro, in the Cutler jersey) and his friend Doug were loving on all the funny traditions the fans were participating in, and especially the theatrics from the Notre Dame Marching Band, who were sitting right next to us.

Summer in Dublin has been close to non-existent weather-wise, the rain and cold has been pretty abysmal. However before I left for my 5 week long biz trip, I was able to get one sea swim in on a decently warm day at Windsurfer's Pier. The water was freezing and I came in almost dead last (but was on a heavy handicap- I couldn't start until 7 minutes, 30 seconds after the race began) but it was great to get in the ocean and work on my open-water training!

Peadar and I also recently hiked out to our future home, Westown House in the Naul (Pad's hometown village). It is completely derelict, but has amazing views of the countryside. We want to buy this place and do it up. A girl can dream, right?! :)

I was back home in Chicago on my birthday (July 27th) for my friend Andrea's wedding. I was a bridesmaid  along with my friend Kristen (see picture below) and 4 others. Check out the bride and her beer on the party bus after the ceremony. I love that picture! Congratulations to Andrea and Shawn Shotts!

I know I have been neglectful about updating the Dublin Connection since the Spring, but I blame work and my world travels! I just arrived back 2 weeks ago from being gone for almost 6 weeks. Hitting up San Francisco, Sonoma, Seattle, Chicago, Michigan, Aspen, Dallas, NYC, and Germany on the way! After the wedding in Chicago, which Peadar flew out for, we were able to do a few days in Silver Lake boating, tubing, and off-roading on the dunes. We then escaped to the Double JJ Ranch for some R&R. If Peadar weren't a tillage farmer he could definitely be a rancher. 

   

The funniest part of the whole trip was getting Peadar on a horse. He has no affinity for them whatsoever, so after some convincing, I got him to come with me on a private trail ride. It was the funniest 30 minutes of my life. Especially because his horse was named Dumbo, and cantered sideways. 

I was also able to get away for a few days to my sanctuary, Aspen, Colorado, to see my aunt, Nancy Lovendahl and uncle, Scott Keating. 

This is the view from their backyard in Old Snowmass. Sabe is their beautiful rescue dog. The property is called Hey Dude Ranch.  

We also got to stay in an amazing private cabin on the back of AJAX for a night.  

Private lake at the cabin.

Hiking on AJAX

 

The most interesting part of the Aspen trip was mushrooming (and not in the way you are thinking right now!) I didn't think I would be that into it but I was like Sherlock Holmes up there on the mountatin hunting these bad boys.

That's all for now folks! I will keep you updated more consistently this fall...

Happy Labor Day and Happy Harvesting. 

Lots of Love,

Amanda