Kinsale Art's Week

A couple of weeks ago Josh and I enjoyed our first Kinsale Arts Week (KAW).  We attended concerts and plays, watched street performers, dabbled in learning to draw, indulged in wine tasting, hosted my own event, and volunteered as a venue manger.  This week was truly unforgettable as the streets were alive with music and bursting with activity.

Waterloo - an Abba tribute band kicked off the Arts Week.  There is nothing like rocking out to great music in the historical Charles Fort.

A little Dancing Queen to get the crowd going.

Ending our evening at the Bulman, listed in the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.

Thomas enjoying the evening with Peter Barry, the man who dedicated his life to the arts and put Kinsale on the map.

Belly Dancers

They were quite impressive!

Vibrant colors of the town.

Stations were set up around town to teach people how to draw.  I admit that I have a long way to go to be considered even an amateur:)

The set of one of the artsy-ist shows I have ever seen - Horse.  A one man show highlighting the day in the life of a horse.

Dining with Dali was one of the events I managed.  Crackpots, a local restaurant, made exotic recipes from Salvador Dali's cookbook.  The restaurant transformed to represent the surrealist's artwork. 

Many of you know that after instructing children in the ways of writing, I have been inspired to write a book.  I attended a workshop given by the famous Babette Cole, in attempts to learn from an established author.

There she is - the one and only!

My friend, Orla, and I attended a blind taste testing.  The food was delicious... although I couldn't honestly tell you what it was.

Josh and I went on the Ship of Seven Murders cruise.  It was a boat ride sharing the story of a captain who went mad and killed seven of the sailors.  It was quite a gruesome tale, but it was narrated live by the author.

My event!  I taught kids all about plants, their parts and functions.  Here are the planters I made for them.

Josh painted this pot that one very lucky kid won!

I demonstrated how the stem acts as a straw, by placing this white rose in blue dye.

Sensory station for kids!  They loved the Venus Fly Traps!

Potting station.

We also made bagel bird feeders!

Kids hard at work!

Josh doing a sorting activity with the little guys.

The start of a very delicious food trail at Lemon Leaf!

Yum!

A night of wine tasting!

With great friends!

Whew!  After all of that I needed to take time off to recover!  We had such a great time and can't wait to do it all again next year!!

Cork Taste Fest

Recently Josh and I, along with our friends, enjoyed some of the finest food Cork has to offer.  Cork Taste Fest was held in the beautiful Fitzgerald Park, which is located by the river.  We indulged in "bite-sized" tastings of Crab salad on a crustini and guacamole, prawns with a sweet chili sauce, prawn risotto, mini burgers, and loads of delicious desserts.  Among the feasting festivities, we also enjoyed live music.

Fitzgerald Park

My handsome man!

Various Vendors

Yum

Yum

Yum

Yum, yum, yum!

 

A Day In the Life Of... Me

Now that we have been out here for a while, the main question people want to know is what I am doing with my time now that I am no longer teaching.  There are quite a few activities that I have involved myself in to keep occupied.  Once a week I volunteer at a private school in Douglas, I help my neighbor at her shop in town (Hello Again), meet up with friends for coffee and lunches, play with the dogs and have play dates with other doggies, cooking, and roll and sell sushi at Mahon Market with friends I met in Kinsale.  I also have been reading a ton.  While teaching I only had time for teacher related book studies, but now I have been reading "just for fun" books, such as the entire Sookie Stackhouse series and Water for Elephants.  I have tried my hand unsuccessfully at crafting (knitting didn't go well and my homemade cards look like something out of a Kindergarteners classroom), although I have been having fun making earring holders out of picture frames.

I went on a school tour to Bunratty Castle with the students with whom I had been working.

Students excited for their learning experience:)

Pure Sushi!  Yum!

This was my first roll for the market.  Pure Sushi adjusts their recipes to suit Irish taste, many are hesitant about raw fish.   My roll was a pesto chicken with cucumbers.

Obviously proud to be apart of the Pure Sushi team.  I love working the Markets, people are so friendly and always willing to chat!

A new found favorite of mine is to sit in the back and read while Dax and Callie play in the sun.

Callie loves when we invite this guy over for a play date!

Buster and Dax love to fetch toys.

Mary's gorgeous shop!  I have sold a few items, but I prefer to browse her shop myself.

Side of Mary's shop.  Her very talented friend Colin Kerr created this master piece.

Earring holders!

I also have been working out and going on scenic walks around Kinsale.  I have many big projects on the horizon.  Such as my workshop in the Kinsale Arts Week, taking a drawing and pottery class, learning to sew, taking a course on integrating technology in the classroom, and starting my masters.