My visit to the Aran islands (see last week’s blog) was all about knitting, but there were two more island groups I had to see while I was in Ireland. This time it was all about language and literature and puffins with light sabres. Both islands are uninhabited, but both have stories to tell. It…
Any knitter who goes to Ireland knows what is waiting for them… Aran sweaters, Aran scarves, Aran blankets. Aran knitting of all shapes and sizes and colours. It is probably no surprise therefore that while on my Irish holiday, I found my way to the Aran islands– and I was immediately struck by two things.…
As regular readers will know – I am a big fan of ruins. Give me a crumbling castle to explore, or an abandoned abbey, and I’m set for hours of enjoyment. I love the history of such places and like to wonder about the people who lived there. What I normally don’t expect is to…
When I first heard of the Wild Atlantic Way – the very name sounded exciting. So I googled it, and then last week I drove along it. Or at least, a small part of the southern section of it. The Wild Atlantic Ways refers to the roads that run up the west coast of Ireland…
There’s been a bit of excitement in my house this week…. and a very warm and fuzzy feeling for the US state of Colorado. The reason – The Wild One is a finalist in the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence. Excellence! What a truly… um… excellent word that is. I’m having a bit of…
I never throw away anything I write. Even if it’s terrible. It’s not just because I am a pack rat and have trouble throwing anything away (although I am and I do- as testified to by my messy office). It’s because there’s no such thing as a bad idea. A bad idea is just an…
I’ve just spent a few days in Doha, a city renowned for fabulous architecture but not so much for public art. The public art tends to be along the lines of a giant clam shell with equally giant pearl in the middle of a roundabout. At least it used to. I spent one evening in…
As part of my ongoing love affair with museums, I recently lost myself for a few hours in the fabulous Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar. The building is a work of art in itself – a beautiful collection of lines and shapes and angles on the outside and modern bright spaces on…