Tag Archives: Dublin 2023

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hodgepodge

It’s another week with fresh questions for Hodgepodge Wednesday. Thank you, Joyce!

1. Do you make an effort to see/hear live music? Last time you went somewhere for the live music? 

We enjoy live music every Sunday at church.

We haven’t made an effort to enjoy live music elsewhere lately except for attending evensong while in Great Britain, Scotland or Ireland and our Church’s Children’s Musicals at Christmas.

We are looking into attending a live performance of The Messiah this year.

2.According to HGTV the colors of the year for 2026 are mostly decided. Top paint companies declare a color of the year, and decorators will incorporate that into their new year home and room designs. Here’s what’s on tap in terms of paint trends for 2026 (check out the link here to see photos)

  • Sherwin Williams-universal khaki (inspired by heavy canvas and outdoor gear)
  • Behr-hidden gem (a confident shade of teal)
  • Valspar-warm eucylyptus (a warm sliver tinted green)
  • Dutch Boy-melodious ivory (a honey tinted beige)
  • Glidden-warm mahogany (a classic brick red)
  • Krylon-matte coffee bean
  • Clark and Kensington -Hazelnut Crunch (warm reddish-brown)
  • Graham and Brown-Divine Damson (cherry red with a subtle violet undertone)
  • Dunn and Edwards-midnight garden (the green that works everywhere) 

First question-did you know there were so many different paint manufacturers?

Yes, I’m married to a former painter and his first job was with his father in a painting business.

Which color on the list most appeals to you in terms of your own decorating style?

Decorating style is not a term that I would use for me or my home. 🙂 The base color in our home is Khaki Shadow with white trim.

Do you have plans to do any painting in your home in the coming year, and if so might you choose a color from this list? 

The only plan is to complete some areas that were started awhile back. Just a little trim here and there.

Now, forget painting walls, which color name appeals to you most? 

Hidden gem is appealing.

3. What’s something in your life you have to do-watch-or participate in that’s about as exciting as ‘watching paint dry’? 

For this one, I’m going with drying my hair.

4 . Tuesday, October 14th is/was National Dessert day…did you/will you celebrate? Tell us how? What’s your absolute favorite dessert. Yes, just one. I know!! 

I would pick roolyete. A traditional nut roll our mom made and we have now duplicated. I like pastries that have a soft chew to them. Here’s the recipe.

5. Perhaps today is the day I will…

Sort through my clothes and purge.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Tuesday October 14th was also Charlie Kirk Day. It was a day to wear red in remembrance of this young man who would have been 32 on that day and I was happy to participate.

We also watched the White House ceremony to honor Charlie Kirk’s memory with President Trump awarding him the Medal of Freedom, posthumously.

Dublin Finale

Our travel journal will come to an end with this post, our last several hours in Dublin on Monday, September 25th.

 

Our tour guide was great and the tour at Jameson was well done and we all enjoyed it.

After our Jameson Tour it was a straight shot along Mary’s Lane to the Church Cafe. We had a great table for the 6 of us right up front in the balcony with the Irish music and dancing right below us.

We had a lovely view of the Stained glass window.

Saint Mary’s (former) Church of Ireland was begun c.1700 to the design of Sir William Robinson and was completed by his successor, Thomas Burgh. It was the first classical parish church in the city and was the site of Arthur Guinness’s marriage in 1761. Wolfe Tone was baptized here and the church also witnessed John Wesley’s first Irish sermon.

The triumphal east window was designed at least in part by Robinson and has a grace and vivacity unusual in a city largely bypassed by Baroque influences. The style is supported by the tracery windows and represents the only extant exterior Baroque flourish in Dublin city. The plan form adds further to the site’s unique identity, with the convex quadrants being a departure from the usual rectilinear shapes found in similar churches, contributing a distinctive design and striking presence.

Lord how I love the habitation of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord

Holiness becometh thy house O Lord forever.

I felt torn that this church didn’t survive for whatever reason but am pleased that it wasn’t torn down. The Stained glass window still echoes some of God’s truth for those with eyes to see.

We all enjoyed our dinner here and when it came to dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding was on our minds. The Church Cafe did not have it on the menu so Andrew googled and found a restaurant in the Temple Bar area of Dublin that had it on the menu. We decided we would enjoy that to top off our last full day in Dublin so we walked across the river to the Temple Bar area.

How great it was to see this particular bar that was one of the jigsaw puzzles I completed before we traveled to Dublin.

The restaurant that was serving Sticky Toffee Pudding was packed and getting a seat for six didn’t look promising. With some gentlemanly coaxing, Andrew convinced the staff to fix up two servings for us to enjoy outside around a bench along the way with promises that we would certainly return the plates and utensils. It was a nice way to end our time before we ordered the last Uber of the day to take us back to our hotel for the night. Slainte!

This wraps up my travel journal for our time in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Dublin and England. On Tuesday the 26th of September we had our buffet breakfast in the hotel, checked out and traveled by Uber to the Dublin Airport for our 9-10 hour flight home. We went through customs in Dublin so we did not have to be delayed at all after landing in Seattle. Andrew and Katie drove straight home from the airport in Seattle and we drove back to Josh and Laura’s for the night with a stop for dinner at their local Mexican Restaurant. We settled in for the night to try to sleep before our next day departure by car over the mountains to our home.  When we woke up earlier than expected due to Jet Lag we loaded up and drove home. Thankful for God’s providence in reaching our driveway safe and sound or half sound. Jet Lag is real!

Thank you for coming along on our journey.

Back to Dublin ~Day 11

Day eleven of our trip to Ireland and England was Monday September 25th. We walked across the road to the John Lennon Airport from our hotel early for our 9:20 AM flight back to Dublin. We didn’t realize how important adding the extras on our reservation were for this flight. We purchased priority boarding and it was money well spent as they divided everyone up into the ‘goats’ and ‘sheep’ at the gate. Our seats were guaranteed while others had to wait and see if there would be room for them. YIKES. Thankful again for the providence of the Lord we encountered all through our trip.

Another taxi ride from the Dublin airport to our last hotel on this trip, The Ashling. Andrew and Katie were already at this hotel and we were excited to meet up with them for our last day in Dublin. True to form the day was packed full with adventures.

After checking into the hotel and dropping our bags Josh ordered another Uber to take us across the river to our lunch destination, The Stag’s Head.

Our hunger satisfied we checked our GPS and walked to Trinity College.

No tours were available for us so we booked entry into the Book of Kells and strolled around the campus waiting for our entry time. The campus was packed solid with students and parents.

It was finally time for our tour and we lined up in the queue.

Welcome to the Old Library and the Book of Kells – a “must see” on the itinerary of all visitors to Dublin. Located in the heart of Dublin City, a walk through the cobbled stones of Trinity College Dublin will bring visitors back to the 18th century, when the magnificent Old Library building was constructed. Inside is housed the Book of Kells – a 9th-century gospel manuscript famous throughout the world.

The Book of Kells “Turning Darkness into Light” exhibition has displays of large screens showing copies of the pages from the Book of Kells. The actual volume of the Book of Kells is housed in the Treasury inside a glass case opened to a page that is turned every so often. No photographs permitted.

When we were on the Isle of Iona back in 2006 we were able to read about and see a copy of a page of the book of Kells which is most likely the location where the Book of Kells was created. Here’s a link with some good information.

These next four photos are needlepoint kneelers from St. Mary Magdalene church in Woodstock that we visited in 2022.

From the Book of Kells exhibit you proceed upstairs to the magnificent Long Room which usually houses 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books in its oak bookcases.

We were disappointed that all but 10% of the books were removed for cleaning and restoration from this magnificent library during our time in Dublin.

The Trinity College Harp (also known as ‘The Brian Boru Harp‘), dating from around 1400 AD, is an extraordinary instrument. Anywhere you look in Ireland, you cannot avoid the Trinity College Harp. It is used as the official emblem of Ireland.

 

From our time here we did some walking and shopping before we ordered another Uber to take us to Jameson Distillery where we had reserved a tour. The rest of day eleven will have to wait for another day.

Back to the Present: Our company over the last several days left on Monday morning. These last few days of November and into the beginning of December are very busy days for us. We have several events this week that require planning and thinking and organizing.  We are starting our Christmas decorating slowly. I’ll have to wait for the majority of that decorating until next week. Choosing joy in the midst of busy! Hope all is well in your corner.

Guinness Storehouse ~Day Three

Looking back at our travel days makes me marvel at how much we packed into each day. Our last event on Sunday the 17th of September was our tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Our Uber driver dropped us off at St. James Gate for our tour slot of 4:45. It was still raining. There is so much history that surrounds Guinness in Dublin that we didn’t want to miss this opportunity to learn more.

We bought the basic experience tickets which was a self-guided tour. There are 6 floors to the Storehouse Experience.

Escalators, elevators, ramps and stairs took you around and upward to all the displays and history.

I will share some history with you and if you’d like to read more follow this link.

Arthur Guinness was born in 1725 near Celbridge, County Kildare. His father, Richard Guinness, was land steward for the Rev. Dr. Arthur Price, Archbishop of Cashel.

Arthur was named for the archbishop and was handsomely remembered in his will. Arthur used his £100 bequest to establish a small local brewery in nearby Leixlip with his brother. Arthur set his sights on the capital city of Dublin four years later, signing the now-legendary lease for a former brewery at St. James’s Gate.

Arthur Guinness was just 34 when he signed the iconic 9,000-year Guinness lease, on a then-disused brewery site on 31 December 1759 for an annual rent of £45. It was here on this four-acre site where Arthur would hone his craft and build the global brand that Guinness is today.

Josh took in the stories and history surrounding the handmade casks.

The sixth floor offers panoramic views of the city of Dublin and it has the circular bar with lots of seating. You can hand in your ticket stub for a pint of Guinness and watch the classic Guinness pour.

If you aren’t a beer drinker there are other options for your ticket on the 5th floor at Arthur’s! This is where we camped out for a while enjoying our drinks and having some good food, too.

Sláinte!

And that was the end to our Sunday. It was pouring as we tried to leave the Storehouse. Josh ordered our last Uber of the day and it was back to our hotel to pack up and turn in. Monday we’d be traveling from Dublin across to England to continue our adventures.

This Guinness with the shamrock was served at Martin’s Tavern in Washington D.C. several years ago when I traveled along with Greg for a medical conference.

Dublin Day Three ~ Sunday

Sunday the 17th of September was our third day in Dublin. We were in for rain most of this day so it was good that we had several indoor experiences planned. We met up in the lobby of our hotel to walk to Lemon Jelly Cafe for our breakfast. We timed things well for getting seated quickly before the crowds started showing up.

We all enjoyed our choices and were happy with this little spot tucked away from the main roads.

We had ordered a taxi to pick us up at 10:00 so that we could make it to a 10:30 AM church service. The taxi came after ten and we drove to the south of downtown Dublin to Grosvenor Road Baptist Church. The taxi had some mechanical issues but we made it to church on time.

The rain continued.

The sermon was taken from I Corinthians 1:18-2:5, True Spirituality, A Cross Centered Church.

The points covered were, The Message of the Cross, The People of the Cross and The Preacher of the Cross. Some points taken; “True wisdom of the cross does not meet the world’s expectations.” “Boast in the Lord-because all we have is because of Him.” “Simply preach the Word of God.” This service was also a Communion service so we ‘broke bread together’. The last song we sang together was ‘My Worth is Not in What I Own’.

It was good to be with fellow believers in Ireland.

After church our son arranged for an Uber to pick us up and take us to our Sunday Roast destination, The Old Spot east of downtown Dublin. We were early and ended up having a little walk around this neighborhood and the rain had died down for our stroll.

We all had our fill of food and we added two desserts to share. I know one was Sticky Toffee Pudding with the most lovely of sauces but I forgot what the second dessert was. Hmmm. From The Old Spot Josh ordered another Uber to take us to St. Patrick’s Cathedral where we would attend Evensong which would begin at 3:30pm.

The rain was coming down again so it was not easy to get some good photos of the outside of the cathedral.

The Choral Evensong was beautiful and moving in song with a special commemoration of the Battle of Britain (1940).

Shout out and thanks again to Laura who took so many great photos and put together collages on our stops each and every day!

We had one more indoor stop on this day with reservations for entry at 4:45. Another Uber transported us from St. Patrick’s Cathedral to The Guinness Storehouse. That will be another post.

Dublin ~ Day One

This will be the start of a several post travelogue of our time in Dublin, Northern Ireland and England. There will be many photos to accompany the many posts. You have had your fair warning, dear readers.

The six of us parked and shuttled to the Seattle Tacoma Airport for our check-in and wait for our flight on Aer Lingus to Dublin on Thursday evening September 14th. The security line was especially long but we were at our gate with time to spare.

After arriving in Dublin on Friday September 15th, these two split off from us and headed to the train station that would take them to Galway for the start of their Wild West and North Ireland 6 day tour.

The other four of us waited in the taxi queue for our ride into Dublin to our hotel for 3 nights. Edward, our taxi driver, shared a lot of things with us and suggested we try The Celt for a meal before we turned in for the night.

The main section of the Pub was full and hopping but there was room in the back room for us.

Slainte! Our first Guinness in the land of Guinness.

We all enjoyed our meal choices, too.

From the The Celt we made our way to O’Connell street and walked down to the bridge to view the river. We snapped a few photos of our first views in Dublin.

 Sir John Gray (1815-75),  honours his efforts to bring a water supply to Dublin in 1868. 

O’Connell Monument

Freestanding commemorative bronze monument, commissioned by Dublin Corporation, conceived 1866 by John Henry Foley and completed 1883 by Thomas Brock. Located at southern entrance to O’Connell Street comprising numerous bronze figures on large granite plinth surmounted by bronze figure of Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847). Tall bronze cloaked figure of O’Connell standing on tall cylindrical pedestal, encircled below by bronze frieze of people of Ireland in high-relief, having nearly thirty figures symbolizing church, professions, arts, trades and peasantry. Central figure of Erin trampling upon chains, points upwards and holds 1829 Act of Catholic Emancipation in her left hand. Larger limestone-clad drum sits on square granite base, at angles of which are seated four winged victories, grandly scaled bronze figures representing Patriotism, Courage, Eloquence and Fidelity. Evidence of bullet holes on arms and breasts of two victories, legacy of unrest in 1916-22.

The River Liffey with the Ha’penny bridge beyond, a landmark 1800’s pedestrian bridge.

The O’Connell Bridge, historic stone and granite road bridge.

Before we turned back to our hotel we made a final stop at Brannigan’s. Another pub that was full to the brim with room for us upstairs! It was a Friday and raining when we arrived to Dublin so I’m assuming more folk were seeking shelter in a cozy pub.

Back to our hotel for hopefully some good sleep before our 7:20am start to our all day tour on Saturday.

While we were all away we enjoyed updates from our Colville kids and Grands. Miss Addy lost another tooth so is in the right position to be singing “All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth!”

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig!

Our outbound flight from Seattle to Dublin on Aer Lingus on September 14th at 6:50 PM arriving in Dublin on Friday September 15th at 11:45 AM. We are sandwiched in our seats by our youngest and our oldest with their wonderful spouses!

Our homebound flight from Dublin to Seattle on Tuesday September 26th at 3:10 PM arriving in Seattle on the same day at 5:05 PM.

We went through customs in Dublin which made things so easy when we arrived in Seattle. We picked up our luggage and shuttled to our cars and got on our familiar roads driving on the comfortable side of road for us. Our vehicle made it’s way to a familiar Mexican restaurant for a comfort meal before arriving at our son’s home for the night. Our daughter and hubby headed straight home to be reunited with their cats!

We basked in the memories of a most wonderfully blessed trip with so many ‘wow’ moments to remember and share. We thank our God for His special care over all of us every day and for now especially the days we enjoyed in Ireland and England.

On Wednesday morning still working on Dublin time Dear and I packed up our vehicle and started on our 5+ hour journey over the mountains and home again home again jiggety jig. When we arrived in Spokane (an hour and a half south from our home) we did our usual ‘petrol’ stop at Costco ($4.55 per gallon not liters). A quick stop in the warehouse store for a few items and on the road again reaching home at 1 pm. Our Colville kids prepared a welcome home meal for us that waited for us upon our arrival. They made Greg’s famous Tomato Rice Soup and Jamie baked an amazing fresh loaf of bread to accompany the soup. Perfect for us to enjoy after our long journey. Thank you to all our kids who made this trip special from beginning to end.

Funny note: I sent the photo of me sitting and enjoying my soup and bread to our kids and our granddaughter asked why we were eating on the couch! Oops, I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Our Grands are being raised proper.

Now that we are home I’m looking forward to those special hugs from our Grands…soon!!

I’ll need a few days to catch up with Pacific Coast time before I can make my rounds to visit. Happy Autumn to all of you!