Full Circle

Another halcyon day in lovely Listowel.

We spent the day at Olive's house.  Now you've heard me describe Listowel as a magical place.  But until yesterday, I had no idea how TRULY magical it is for the people who live here.  Olive lives out in the country, where tree stands border waving fields, butterflies congregate in flying parties of color, and a certain dog named Holly keeps every living creature under control and off her land.

If there was a Disney princess who was an artist, then Olive is the princess and her home is the enchanted castle!  Filled with art and beauty, surrounded by her incredible garden and flowers, with a gorgeous, sun-filled studio right outside the back door.  We painted for hours outside in the sunshine, lost in the peace and beauty of it all.

"Blissful Bog" - watercolor on paper, 6" x 6"

Around 3:30, it was time for the big match - Kerry v Dublin in the Irish football semi-finals.  If you're a regular reader of this blog (and yahoo!  thanks if you are!!) you know I don't ever write about sports.  My understanding of most sports is summarized in a t-shirt that reads: "Go sports!  Move the thing to the other thing!"  I don't know if it was the incredible fast pace of the game, Olive's enthusiasm and near panic from moment to moment, its combination of football-soccer-basketball-volleyball moves or the Kerry banners waving from windows and cars around town, but I am hopelessly hooked on the Irish football.  Kerry made a good showing and the game was neck and neck.  Dublin won, but if there had been one more minute in the game, it surely would have been a tie.

​There were brave young folks on the beach below the cliffs, some jumping off rocks into the chilly waters as gulls screeched and soared above .

We spent the late afternoon back on the cliffs of Ballybunion, where we spent our very first day a month ago.  While Olive sketched the soaring cliffs and Diane painted the shadows and light, I had a lovely photo session with some local cows.   They offered to be my life models for some sketching, and posed for nearly 30 minutes, calmly watching me watching them, my pencil scratching on paper in time with their gentle chewing.  Needless to say, I had chicken for dinner. :)

At 7:30, just as the sun dropped behind the horizon and the light began to fade, starlings gathered at the cliff's edge, swirling and dancing in the sky.  The flock grew and grew, thousands appearing from all reaches of the horizon, then they dropped into the Nine Daughters' Hole, the sound of their wings filling our ears before they disappeared from sight.  Read more about this natural wonder here:  Nine Daughters' Hole.

We ended our enchanted day with dinner in Ballybunion, where we stumbled upon our favorite musician, Mickey MacConnell, playing a set as we walked into the room.  Serendipity?  No, the magic of Listowel and of Ireland.  Well, and perhaps a wave of the wand from our favorite Irish princess, Olive Stack.