A Canadian Thanksgiving!

Hello...only me! Once again, the time of year for stuffing your tummys full of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and pumpkin pie was here. Ireland doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving...but that wasn't about to stop me from celebrating one of the greatest holidays! I am proud to say I hosted my very first Thanksgiving dinner, and it went off with a bang! I invited 3 girls from County Tipperary. Caitlin is from Ontario, Katie from B.C, and Nancy is from Flordia so of course we 4 HAD to have our turkey fix!!

Here was my menu: Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmellows, green beans, carrots with breadcrumbs, cornmeal casserole, beets, red jell-o and of course...REAL pumpkin pie!! mmmm everything was so tasty and we were stuffed to the brim! At least now I know I am capable of hosting a giant meal and I wasn't even stressed -whoop!!!!!

Next up, Halloween!!!! Myself, Elena, Carmen, Sally and Ishai all went to see the movie Saw 7 3D at Midleton Cinema. It wasn't scary..but really gory. I couldn't watch some scenes..so.much.blood. Guh...I don't really like seeing people sawed in half or having their eyes scoped out! No thanks! Anyways we then headed over to Lukes house where we all had some drinks where we all then went to the nearby abandoned cemetary! It was super dark and all we had was a single torch and my cellphone light..which ended up being brighter than the torch! haha! I was really spooked at first..walking thru the fields in pitch darkness and climbing over gates...the tombstones had all shifted in the ground (from trying to get out obviously) and concrete was crumbling was the stones. Honestly, you get used to it! Still spooky, especially on Halloween but not as scary as one might think!

Thats all for now, next up- LONDON!!!
check back soon

Missing you all in Ireland...
XOXO
K

Were in catch up mode!

Looks like I fell off the wagon again (no surprise there) so I am in major catch up mode here! I have sooo much to get ya'll up on that I will need to be very disciplined in order to get caught up! Some big news is that I've also created my own website!! This blog will still be updated regularly...err I'll try to anyways but with this website I can add in a photo gallery, video archive, info, etc so that I can share more photos with everyone! Trust me...I have ALOT of photos!! Im really glad I bought myself two new cameras this past year..first the SLR and then a smaller compact for my purse. At one point I owned 4 cameras..now its down to 3 which may seem ridiculous but I think I have gotten good use out of them so far! ;)

Looking back..it looks like I forgot to tell you that I went to Blarney Castle with my friend Andy and kissed the Blarney Stone! How this slipped my mind I don't know..tho my memory has been slipping since my trek over here...must be the Irish weather..or beer! The castle is actually just a 20min drive from Midleton so its nice and close. The surrounding gardens of the castle are stunning..so lush and green...beautiful!

Andy and I explored the entire castle trying to imagine the life that the family would have lived back in the 1400's. The girls bedroom was above the priests room so that they couldn't get up to mischief, and the kitchen was massive with a big fireplace which is where they would do all of the cooking. If you climb all the narrow steps to the top, you can kiss the famous Blarney Stone! Here you lay on your back, dip down about 3ft and hang your head out in order to kiss the stone. Don't worry..there are metal bars to prevent you from falling...thank goodness!!!

After exploring the castle, we then went for a walk thru the gardens. Here we found a large waterfall, and the famous wishing steps. Here you are to walk up the steps, and then walk back down, backwards, and with your eyes closed while making a wish. Cool! There was also this giant boulder that fell hundreds of years ago, and to this day it still rocks slightly all on its own.., creepy!

We also found a certain cave..occupied by a witch! Seriously. The tale goes, that a witch used to occupy this cave back when the family was living in the castle, but to this day if you get there early enough at the break of daylight...you can still see the embers of her fire....sweet!!  

Now I also went back to Ballybranigan Beach lately and I got some shots that I liked. On this particular day, we took the kids and the dogs with us so everyone had a great time! The photo below is of 'lug worms' they appear every fall and they are little worms who burry there way into the sand..sorta gross but sorta neat!!

I ventured up to Mahon Falls that week as well. It is a giant waterfall between two rocks that leads out to the sea. It was nice..but I've seen more impressive ones! :P Anyway, the most exciting part of that adventure was the drive up. To reach waterfall, you need to drive up the side of the mountain -literally. Let me paint you a little picture...imagine a small narrow road..now imagine a sharp drop to the one side, and the edge of the mountain on the other. Now add in that its a two way road...fucccck! Interesting...but I made it up! You then walk about 2miles in order to reach the waterfall itself. On this particular day, there were also a bunch of people on horseback! That would've been wise...a horse is a lot narrower than a car!

Thats about all for now, check back soon for updates on Thanksgiving, Halloween and London! Sounds like I'll be busy! Missing you all in Ireland.... XOXO Kayla