First Three Days in Ireland

Our travel on May 5th got off to a rough start--we got up at 1:30 AM, out the door at 3:30, and onto the plane in Sacramento as scheduled.

Only to sit on the tarmack. Then the captain announced they were having a mechanical issue and everyone would be getting back off the plane. It was a race to be one of the first people to the ticket counter, to try to get another flight. We were probably about #30 in line, and it took us an hour to get to the front of the queue and be told that they could get us to Chicago, but no guarantees that we'd make our existing connecting flight.

Given the choice between staying overnight in an airport hotel in Chicago or our own bed, I voted for going back home and doing the entire thing all over again the next day. I went to bed at 5 PM that night (hubby didn't, which may be why I was ready to go in Ireland and he slept 18 hours straight of our first day there, ha) and was up at 1:30 on the 6th all over again.

And I discovered that airports are possibly the worse place in creation to try to eat with food allergies; fortunately, I'd come prepared with all kinds of bars to eat. I slept maybe 2 hours out of 24, but was mostly just bored. By the time we landed, I was feeling a bit queasy from hunger, so our first stop was kind of a blur. But thank goodness for pictures!

Bunratty Castle is quite near the Shannon airport so an easy way to kill some time since we couldn't check into our cottage in Kenmare (a few hours drive) until that afternoon. Bunratty has a folk museum, a collection of examples of cottages and homes taken from several counties, as well as a small village and pub. It rained on us off and on, but that's how we knew we were really in Ireland!

We arrived at our cottage that afternoon and so began the Great Sleep. It wasn't until late the next day that I was able to drag my husband out for a walk, and we discovered the neighborhood was full of newer holiday homes--but very tastefully done to blend in with old places like this one.

The next few days were spent shopping (groceries, yay!) and exploring the town. Love the paint on the buildings, and they even have an ancient stone circle outside of town.

And since we spent a fair amount of time in the cottage (had some really nasty storms in our time in Ireland), it's only fair to show you the view from Bar Cillatha (the holiday cottage we rented).

More to come from Ireland next week--if I don't get too bogged down with other projects, lol

Crow Dreams

So as you might guess from the title, my book Crow's Rest features crows. (And some not-crows, too, but you'd have to read the book to get that reference).

In early October, I happened to be in Target, lured by their ad with a motion-activated crow Halloween decoration. They were out of those, but they did have this cool stuff:

I love the lanterns (with LED flickering candles) and will probably use those year round. And the  tablecloths!

The plan was to buy more plates, napkins, and serving bowls on clearance after Halloween, but they were out of a lot of that stuff by the time I got there (15 minutes after they opened on Nov. 1). I did find some really cool wall decals that I hadn't seen before, and I nabbed some of the crow's feet servers and snack bowls.

In my opinion, those crow decals were just what this wall needed:

Too bad they didn't like sticking to the textured wall and started to peel off almost immediately. But I do have mirrored closet doors in my office and I think they'll stick nicely there.

Even though I will get use out of these items in my home, what I really have in mind for them is to use at a book launch or book signing for Crow's Rest. Especially those tablecloths--so different! And even though an event is in the unknown future, I love feeling like the possibility is real by stockpiling this kind of stuff.

What about you? Do you have any "must-have" items in mind for when you do an in-person event for your book(s)? 

Bonus photo: My mom collects owls, and I have long since given in to enabling her addiction. This is the stuff I found for her while shopping the clearance aisles: