"Where Olmsted County News Comes First"
Online Edition
Friday, May 24th, 2013
Volume ∞ Issue ∞
- 5:36:49, May 15th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Though I hated to see you reference Glenn Beck by name [Three Times ... [Read More]
- 11:42:07, May 10th 2013 - yenken - I feel very sorry for those who have commented do far, as when you stand fa ... [Read More]
- 12:10:25, Apr 26th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - Mr. "Cabtrom's" garbage-out[burst]--in response to Ms. Reisner's w ... [Read More]
- 9:51:50, Apr 24th 2013 - jeff pischke - To Jerry Grehl, the number to the fillmore county sheriffs office is 7 ... [Read More]
- 9:27:24, Apr 22nd 2013 - Cabtrom - Blah blah blah, garbage in garbage out! ... [Read More]
- 7:00:49, Apr 11th 2013 - Donald Pierce - Col. Stan Gudmundson hit most of the important nails squarly on the h ... [Read More]
- 12:44:54, Apr 4th 2013 - Frank Hawthorne - My compliments to Ms. Hammer for giving us well-crafted "Rachel Rea ... [Read More]
- 5:09:06, Apr 3rd 2013 - truthiness - I see this is dated April 1. That explains it! ... [Read More]
- 12:04:33, Apr 3rd 2013 - Frank W. Hawthorne - Say WHAT?!? Stan's American-Pie [In SKY] is Falling--Not Again? ... [Read More]
- 12:40:21, Mar 29th 2013 - Jacob - It's a shame that so few people care about making their voices heard. If we ... [Read More]
29
How will you keep your kids busy this summer vacation?
Tink green!
Mon, Mar 4th, 2013
Posted in Commentary
Posted in Commentary
Comment(1)
Tink of St Patrick’s Day...
Tink Green!
Tink of a Leprechaun...
Tink Green!
Tink of Ireland...
Tink Green!
(In Ireland they do not pronounce the “h” in “th” words)
There is a lot of folklore in Ireland even in this day and age. Having visited there this past June, I want to say it was such a delightful place to visit. Ireland is an island which is 302 miles long and 174 miles wide. It is about the size of the state of Indiana.
It was only in the 60 degree range; we all wore layered clothing and it rained some each day. The coolness and rain made you “Tink Green,” as every place you looked was green. The weather man has an easy job. Everyday he says on the radio, “Well, today will be overcast wit(h) a chance of rain,” and if ta (the) sun should shine.... people are delighted “tat” he was wrong. The average low temperature is 45 degrees in the winter and 60-65 in June. Rainfall averages are between 29-39 inches with more near the coast areas and other specific areas.
As we traveled in the southern area of Ireland, from our travel coach we could look into the wooded area. It did look like a fairytale with moss on the ground and a canopy of thick tree branches and leaves. I guess the leprechauns and the unicorn horses hid behind bushes and tree trunks as we didn’t see any that day. At times, the thick vines, bushes and trees grew above and over the two lane narrow road to the other side. It was like a tree/vine tunnel and always neatly trimmed. Sometimes they were a half mile long. We wondered how they kept them so neat looking. One day we saw a highway maintenance truck with what looked like a large upside-down lawnmower on top that went from side to side trimming the top and sides of the drive through tunnel. How interesting, but a traffic hazard on a two-lane road with no shoulders and much traffic.
Down the road were orange poppies and fox glove flowers growing wild in the ditches and the berm. There were also large blooming rhododendron bushes (purple). These are not desirable in your pasture or meadow area as they choke out other plants that are necessary for local wild animals to survive.
Also in the southern area was Blarney Castle. Did you know that the Blarney Stone is at the top of a castle? According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with great eloquence or skill at flattery. The stone was set into a this tower of the castle in 1446. With 121 steps to climb it was an effort to complete. The steps were stone and the staircase was narrow and circular with no railing, only a large rope hanging down the center to use for stability. The rope was bigger than my grip.
The stair steps were shaped like a piece of pie and the rise on each step was about two inches higher than you wish they had been. At the top of the castle was a walkway around the perimeter. The inside of each floor had fallen into the center and down several stories into a rectangle shaped area. On one side of the walkway was the outer stone castle wall, which I could barely see over and on the other side posts and a fence to keep you from falling into the center rectangle. Two men were at the front of the line helping people position themselves to kiss the Blarney Stone. One man grabbed onto your clothing while you laid on your back over an opening (yes, you could see the ground far below) with your arms up to grab onto the two vertical bars with your hands. Your head was tipped back (upside down) to kiss the Blarney Stone. No one wiped it clean between the individual’s kisses!
The second man took your picture which could be bought in the gift shop below. Did I kiss the Blarney Stone? No. My legs were like rubber after the climb and I thought once I was laying down on my back on the floor I probably would need an army to get me back up on my rubber legs. When you are old, you need/want to use a railing and I was not looking forward to going down the 121 steps with rubber legs. When I reached the bottom and walked away, I noticed that the grounds and flower gardens were beautifully kept. There were many trees and even a small river and bridges to cross over.
Years ago Belfast was famous worldwide for Irish linen and linen shirt factories. At that time a lot of flax was produced for the factories. The factories made thousands and thousands of linen shirts for the armies of England and Ireland. All the bed linen used on the Titanic was produced here. Because the ship had no laundry facilities, extra linens were also on board the ship. Once polyester and other man made fabrics became popular, the linen shirts went out of style worldwide and the factories closed.
When you think of Ireland you think of Irish wool sweaters. We saw several closed woolen mills. I bought a wool sweater with the label “Quill Woolen Market.” When I inquired as to the location of this woolen mill, I was told it did not exist and that individual persons contracted with the retail store to hand knit a specific pattern for their store. Sure enough, my sweater had a tag on it giving the hand written signature (first and last name) of the person who knit my sweater at her home. The sweaters sold for $40, so the person knitting did not make much money for all the hours of work.
The “Titanic” was built in Belfast, North Ireland. Because the jobs building ships and making linen shirts no longer exist, the Irish now use the shipyard’s giant cranes to build wind generators. (We saw few in use.) Belfast has also built a very large Titanic Museum which opened the day we were in Belfast. It was well attended on its opening day and so interesting to see and hear about the shipbuilding history.
Our tour group all wanted to see a typical Irish Pub. We all spent an evening at a Celli (a Gaelic word for a get together in a traditional Irish pub). We enjoyed a home made Irish Stew and local entertainment. There were singers with guitars and two teenage girls dancing to the well-known River Dance type of music.
Guinness is their beer of choice in Ireland. Their logo is everywhere, on billboards, t-shirts, baseball hats, magazines and advertising in the pub. Guinness was a family name of the people who founded this beer business. I would suppose they serve “green beer” on St Patrick’s Day, just like in the U.S. This pub had a thatched roof. There are less than 2,000 thatched roofs that exist. Because the Irish government wants them preserved they will subsidize the $24,000 cost to replace the thatched roof. (They only last eight years.)
There were tours of Dublin, the Waterford Crystal factory, Belleek China, a Victorian Country Mansion, City of Cork, Flying Boat Museum, Cliffs of Moher, boat ride on the famous River Shannon, and the Giant’s Causeway. My favorite was the Causeway which was located on the north shore of the country of Northern Ireland, where you can see Scotland. (The legend is that a bridge was being built by giants across the water to Scotland) It gives the appearance of a bridge foundation in ruins, but what you actually see is a remarkable arrangement of stones. The peculiar columnar formation was caused by slow and irregular cooling of lava which produced hexagonal cracks. Although the columns are mainly six sided there are some 3,5,7 and 8 sided. The basalt columns rose from the ocean shoreline 60 million years ago. There are 40,000 columns. Some tall and some short and some in-between. This same thing is happening now, in Iceland, after the volcano explosion near Reykjavik in 2011. That explosion caused air travel delays in Ireland at the time.
It was a very enjoyable and busy vacation. We saw much, the people were hard working and friendly and the country of Ireland is realizing the benefits of tourism to their country. I keep thinking of how they must enjoy their holiday at this time of year and celebrating it with gusto. Wishing the Irish people and YOU a very Happy St Patrick’s Day! Don’t forget to go hear the bagpipe music and eat some corned-beef and cabbage. Yum-m-m. Don’t forget to wear the GREEN and TINK GREEN!
Tink Green!
Tink of a Leprechaun...
Tink Green!
Tink of Ireland...
Tink Green!
(In Ireland they do not pronounce the “h” in “th” words)
There is a lot of folklore in Ireland even in this day and age. Having visited there this past June, I want to say it was such a delightful place to visit. Ireland is an island which is 302 miles long and 174 miles wide. It is about the size of the state of Indiana.
It was only in the 60 degree range; we all wore layered clothing and it rained some each day. The coolness and rain made you “Tink Green,” as every place you looked was green. The weather man has an easy job. Everyday he says on the radio, “Well, today will be overcast wit(h) a chance of rain,” and if ta (the) sun should shine.... people are delighted “tat” he was wrong. The average low temperature is 45 degrees in the winter and 60-65 in June. Rainfall averages are between 29-39 inches with more near the coast areas and other specific areas.
As we traveled in the southern area of Ireland, from our travel coach we could look into the wooded area. It did look like a fairytale with moss on the ground and a canopy of thick tree branches and leaves. I guess the leprechauns and the unicorn horses hid behind bushes and tree trunks as we didn’t see any that day. At times, the thick vines, bushes and trees grew above and over the two lane narrow road to the other side. It was like a tree/vine tunnel and always neatly trimmed. Sometimes they were a half mile long. We wondered how they kept them so neat looking. One day we saw a highway maintenance truck with what looked like a large upside-down lawnmower on top that went from side to side trimming the top and sides of the drive through tunnel. How interesting, but a traffic hazard on a two-lane road with no shoulders and much traffic.
Down the road were orange poppies and fox glove flowers growing wild in the ditches and the berm. There were also large blooming rhododendron bushes (purple). These are not desirable in your pasture or meadow area as they choke out other plants that are necessary for local wild animals to survive.
Also in the southern area was Blarney Castle. Did you know that the Blarney Stone is at the top of a castle? According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with great eloquence or skill at flattery. The stone was set into a this tower of the castle in 1446. With 121 steps to climb it was an effort to complete. The steps were stone and the staircase was narrow and circular with no railing, only a large rope hanging down the center to use for stability. The rope was bigger than my grip.
The stair steps were shaped like a piece of pie and the rise on each step was about two inches higher than you wish they had been. At the top of the castle was a walkway around the perimeter. The inside of each floor had fallen into the center and down several stories into a rectangle shaped area. On one side of the walkway was the outer stone castle wall, which I could barely see over and on the other side posts and a fence to keep you from falling into the center rectangle. Two men were at the front of the line helping people position themselves to kiss the Blarney Stone. One man grabbed onto your clothing while you laid on your back over an opening (yes, you could see the ground far below) with your arms up to grab onto the two vertical bars with your hands. Your head was tipped back (upside down) to kiss the Blarney Stone. No one wiped it clean between the individual’s kisses!
The second man took your picture which could be bought in the gift shop below. Did I kiss the Blarney Stone? No. My legs were like rubber after the climb and I thought once I was laying down on my back on the floor I probably would need an army to get me back up on my rubber legs. When you are old, you need/want to use a railing and I was not looking forward to going down the 121 steps with rubber legs. When I reached the bottom and walked away, I noticed that the grounds and flower gardens were beautifully kept. There were many trees and even a small river and bridges to cross over.
Years ago Belfast was famous worldwide for Irish linen and linen shirt factories. At that time a lot of flax was produced for the factories. The factories made thousands and thousands of linen shirts for the armies of England and Ireland. All the bed linen used on the Titanic was produced here. Because the ship had no laundry facilities, extra linens were also on board the ship. Once polyester and other man made fabrics became popular, the linen shirts went out of style worldwide and the factories closed.
When you think of Ireland you think of Irish wool sweaters. We saw several closed woolen mills. I bought a wool sweater with the label “Quill Woolen Market.” When I inquired as to the location of this woolen mill, I was told it did not exist and that individual persons contracted with the retail store to hand knit a specific pattern for their store. Sure enough, my sweater had a tag on it giving the hand written signature (first and last name) of the person who knit my sweater at her home. The sweaters sold for $40, so the person knitting did not make much money for all the hours of work.
The “Titanic” was built in Belfast, North Ireland. Because the jobs building ships and making linen shirts no longer exist, the Irish now use the shipyard’s giant cranes to build wind generators. (We saw few in use.) Belfast has also built a very large Titanic Museum which opened the day we were in Belfast. It was well attended on its opening day and so interesting to see and hear about the shipbuilding history.
Our tour group all wanted to see a typical Irish Pub. We all spent an evening at a Celli (a Gaelic word for a get together in a traditional Irish pub). We enjoyed a home made Irish Stew and local entertainment. There were singers with guitars and two teenage girls dancing to the well-known River Dance type of music.
Guinness is their beer of choice in Ireland. Their logo is everywhere, on billboards, t-shirts, baseball hats, magazines and advertising in the pub. Guinness was a family name of the people who founded this beer business. I would suppose they serve “green beer” on St Patrick’s Day, just like in the U.S. This pub had a thatched roof. There are less than 2,000 thatched roofs that exist. Because the Irish government wants them preserved they will subsidize the $24,000 cost to replace the thatched roof. (They only last eight years.)
There were tours of Dublin, the Waterford Crystal factory, Belleek China, a Victorian Country Mansion, City of Cork, Flying Boat Museum, Cliffs of Moher, boat ride on the famous River Shannon, and the Giant’s Causeway. My favorite was the Causeway which was located on the north shore of the country of Northern Ireland, where you can see Scotland. (The legend is that a bridge was being built by giants across the water to Scotland) It gives the appearance of a bridge foundation in ruins, but what you actually see is a remarkable arrangement of stones. The peculiar columnar formation was caused by slow and irregular cooling of lava which produced hexagonal cracks. Although the columns are mainly six sided there are some 3,5,7 and 8 sided. The basalt columns rose from the ocean shoreline 60 million years ago. There are 40,000 columns. Some tall and some short and some in-between. This same thing is happening now, in Iceland, after the volcano explosion near Reykjavik in 2011. That explosion caused air travel delays in Ireland at the time.
It was a very enjoyable and busy vacation. We saw much, the people were hard working and friendly and the country of Ireland is realizing the benefits of tourism to their country. I keep thinking of how they must enjoy their holiday at this time of year and celebrating it with gusto. Wishing the Irish people and YOU a very Happy St Patrick’s Day! Don’t forget to go hear the bagpipe music and eat some corned-beef and cabbage. Yum-m-m. Don’t forget to wear the GREEN and TINK GREEN!
Comments:
2792
3:37:13, Mar 9th 2013
Frank Hawthorne says: