Shirley :D

My friend Shirley came over on holiday this week :) We hadn't seen each other since the last time she came over (two years this September) as the last couple of times we've gone to the UK we've been stretched time-wise.

So it's easier for her to come and visit us! She flew into Kerry airport - our local one - so it was only just over an hour til she was down here with us.

 As you can see, we did some bits and pieces of sight-seeing -- there is just SO much to see and do here, especially when the weather cooperates. We had some really glorious days - at least one wet one too but we just sat on the sofa and knitted/crocheted and chatted away happily. I love it when you feel that comfortable with someone that you don't have to be 'doing' stuff all the time to be happy with them.

 One of the places we did go to was Ballycarberry Castle, just outside Cahirciveen (we call it 'over the water' to be specific as you have to drive over a long bridge to get there.

I hadn't been there in years and years and years - definitely not since I moved back home (over ten years ago) - I must go back again, Peter would love it too.  It's well sign posted nowadays and gets a few tourists but it wasn't exactly busy when we went and we were able to go climbing and exploring.

After that we carried on down the road to Cahergal fort for a quick visit! It was a pretty windy day but the sun was shining and it was great to get some fresh air.

 Then later that afternoon I'd a text from a friend to say that she'd found a whale and a dolphin while she was walking on the beaches over the water - so we had our second trip there in the same day..

Apologies for the pretty sad (and graphic) photo but this is my first ever dead Risso's dolphin. I'd seen a pod of them once years and years ago when we were on the way to the Skelligs but this was the closest I've ever been to one.

 Following on from that, I thought I'd take us home the scenic route, only to get us lost up a little bothrín - I thought I'd seen a ruined church in the distance so I kept going - but it turns out that it was a 'peat works' back in the 1850s

 I never even knew that such a thing existed back then, let alone there be one locally.

You can see below how stunning it is there - I'm hoping to go back some time in the warm weather (on a not so windy day) now that I know where it is, and to go exploring! 

 Shirley went back home to Stroud yesterday but her flight wasn't until the afternoon, so we went for a walk along Rinnrua beach in the morning -- yes, it was yet another perfect day.

Over a couple of days I taught Shirley how to crochet! She already had a good grasp of the basics really, just needed help with finding the best way to hold the hook and the yarn so that she could do it comfortably and get a reasonable tension.

This is her finished pair of wrist warmers....I'm so pleased with how they turned out and I'm sure they won't be the last pair that she ever makes..

 On the way to the airport we went my most favourite route - taking the Bealach Óisín rather than the well-travelled Ring of Kerry. It does take you away from the sea, but the view is still amazing and there is so little traffic that it's a lovely drive.