Scraplift Tuesday

 

Hey everybody, I'm trying out a new feature called (as the title of this post suggests) "Scraplift Tuesday".  This will be when I share a layout I created based on another layout I have seen.

The first awesome layout I found in the Two Peas gallery was created by mmspiker.  Here's some linkage to her blog post about her layout, Cathedral Quilt.

I love how she featured her photos on a paper quilt background.  I knew I wanted to somehow recreate that and ended up going with a number of overlapping scallopped circle punches and this is what I came up with:

Sugar & Spice

Thanks for reading!!

Adventures in Ireland Part Two

So I shared my Top Ten yesterday and really it just didn't cut it as far as all the cool things we got to go, see, and do.  So here are a few more highlights for your viewing pleasure.

Hook Head Lighthouse

We didn't get to venture in, because by the time we got there, they were closed up for the night. But man, the roaring sound of the surf and the gorgeous view made it totally worth our while.

The "Freak Waves" are my favorite part of this sign.

The Kennedy Homestead

Well, we tried, but after 30 minutes of driving down the skinniest little road you've ever seen, we were terribly disappointed to find it was closed for the season.

The Rain

It rained and rained and rained and rained. I think we had 3 sunshiney days the entire 5 weeks. Maybe 4. But the company I kept made it all worthwhile. Plus, we didn't let some measly rain stop us!

We pretty much took these two umbrellas with us everywhere we went and they can be seen in many a photo taken in many a locale.

Nights Out

We went out several different times during my visit. I was introduced to an amazing beverage called Tia Maria. And I drank a lot of wine. Some nights, too much wine.

Our first official night out in Limerick of 2012!

White Russians at the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin.

We're looking a little like we've had one too many nights out here.

 

Meals

I make no bones about it. I love to eat. And we had a lot of amazing meals on this trip. And I took a lot of pictures pretty much anytime we sat down, but rarely seemed to capture pretty pictures of the food itself this trip.

Dublin Lunch Pre-Phoenix Park Florence & the Machine/Snow Patrol

Chinese food in Waterford.

I made this sandwich with some crazy combination of Southwestern cheese, onion chutney, and lettuce.  It actually turned out to be quite tasty, thank you very much!

Brunch in County Wicklow.

Vinegar and Ketchup.  Two chip-eating condiment staples.

Costa Coffee Break in Dublin.

The Beach

If there is one thing Lisa loves, it's the beach. We spent on particularly chilly (for this Texas gal, anyway), but fun afternoon on the beach at Lahinch. We even bought a kite cuz we're cool like that.

Please don't steal our stuff of this rock.

Let's Go Fly a Kite....and it will stay up too if it's not too windy.

...And then she falls in.  Only not really, because she was just pretending.

The Circus

I had not been to a circus in years.  We had a blast!

Fossett's Circus:  Ireland's National Circus

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining me in reliving our Irish adventures! 

Adventures in Ireland Part 1

Hey everybody!  I've been back from Ireland a little over a month now and it's taken some adjusting, in addition to the fact that there was a ton of stuff going on from the moment I got off the plane.

I had a great time with my girlfriend and we did a LOT of sight seeing.  This was my third trip over and it was definitely the busiest.

Please note that all of these photos if not taken by me, were taken by Lisa. 
My TOP TEN list of things we did in Ireland this year*:

*This Top Ten was virtually impossible, so I'll be posting some other highlights tomorrow.  An addendum, if you will...

10.    Guinness Store House.  This was really pretty cool.  Seven floors of Guinness information (how they make it, starting with the farming) and memorabilia.  Plus, I got to try my first pint of Guinness though I'm sorry to say, I just couldn't get through the whole thing.

My first pint of Guinness!  (And probably my last...)

9.  Craggaunowen.    This is a cool archaelogical open air museum in County Clare.  The downside is that it was pouring rain the whole time we were there, but we made the most of it.  I think we particularly liked the Woodlands Walk portion the best.  That's where we got to go on a little walk....through some woodlands.  There was also a reconstruction of an old boat called The Brendan.  The whole boat story is not coming back to me just at this moment...

8.  Dublin Pride.  We were supposed to go the Pride parade, but due to some navigational difficulties, we missed it.  We still got to go hang out a the block party.  And the highlight for me was a happy little boy on his (I presume) uncle's shoulders carrying a handmade sign saying "Gay or Straight, My Uncle Is Great!"  It made me think of my niece.  :)

7.  Hampton's.  This is my FAVORITE restaurant in Limerick.  Being the food lover that I am, I figured this deserved a spot on my top ten list.

6.  National Leprechaun Museum.  This was a fun little touristy stop.  Lisa, being a Leprechaun herself, really enjoyed it. 

 

5.  The Burren.

4.  Dunbrody Famine Ship.

3.  National Irish Heritage Park.  County Wexford.

2.  Cobh.  This is the town that used to be Queenstown and was the last port of call for the Titanic.  It's the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, so they had a coupla interesting things going on.

1.  The Long Room at Trinity College Library - Dublin.  OMG.  I can't even describe how amazing this place is.  Shelves and shelves and shelves of old books.  Bibliophiles like me will find themselves drooling here.  Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed inside the library, so here's a link to an amazing picture. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  And check back tomorrow for some more Ireland Highlights!