Then there were three

So looking back on our last blog post, it’s been about a year and a half. Life in upstate New York has been quite a roller-coaster ride with definitive highs and lows but there’s much to report on. The most wonderful thing that has come out of this time is our daughter Beatrix. She arrived two weeks ago and is just lovely. The three of us will be making our way across the pond in time for Christmas in Ireland. The plan before that is to sell our house here next week, take a cross country train to Colorado to visit grandparents, an aunt, uncle and 3 lovely cousins who are excited to meet Beatrix in person. There’s lots of good stuff to look forward to but in the interim, there’s lots of packing. We’re on the move again but will be checking in soon.

love, carol

Deer Feckin Frolicking

Greetings to all and apologies for our blog silence over this past year. When our travels concluded last March and we arrived in Brooklyn for a year of career exploration and not quite Manhattan living we had no idea that life would lead us to this place, where we now live, which is Hudson Valley, New York. For those who need an explanation beyond that life doesn’t always follow the route you had imagined or discussed with others, we will say that the place we hoped to pop a squat and lay root was indeed Ireland but the farce of a licensing authority and the dire prospects of Emergency medical work made migrating eastward a preposterous plan, the realization of which was hard to swallow. Instead we landed here, in a small town in upstate New York. We’ve purchased a small farmhouse on several acres, own two cars, a small barn with a hornets nest and a small and incomplete collection of license plates, and are casually discussing the adoption of cats, dogs and potentially a chicken or two. In our two weeks here we have seen families of deer frolicking daily, gone to bed to the horrible sound of foxes shagging in the yard, witnessed the slow migration of a baby snapping turtle across the road, had a near collision with a vulture while driving, and have become generally reacquainted with invertebrates. Our adventure continues. We hope all of you are well in your own lives and adventures. Love Nick and Carol

Kinsella’s Kicking A$$ !

Stephen Kinsella is Kicking A$$ and taking names in his recent article titled “What life will be like in 2050 for a middle-class Irish family” published in the Irish Times News Paper. It’s nothing short of brilliant and thoroughly worth the read. This link will bring you to the article.

Subway Surfing

My morning subway into work feels like being in a sardine tin careening through a subterranean roller-coaster. Most people have the affect of a sardine, except for those moments when the train hits a sharp corner at high speed and they are jerked left or right when they generally look disgruntled.

I was slowly becoming a sardine, a blank-faced working stiff on the rush-hour train, but this week I made a glorious discovery; subway surfing It’s phenomenal! and barely detectable, except perhaps to those who are looking out for it.

This morning I made it the whole way to my stop without having to hold onto a rail. I was secretly jumping for joy when I stepped onto the platform having ridden my first subway.

It may seem a little nuts but I had a big smile on my face walking out of the subway station this morning. Hopefully my urban surf training will pay off when we head out to long island to surf in a few weeks time : )

Hope all are well, Carol

Wedding Weekend Fun and Frolicks

Many thanks to Chris and Troy for a brilliant weekend of thrills spills and some outstanding dancing. Congratulations again and enjoy the replay!

Carol

Setting down the hobo stick

Today is our last day in the sublet. Tomorrow, we will set down our backpacks in our new apartment and end our transient ways, at least, for a while ; ) Re-entry has been strange but exciting, we are putting into practice some of the plans and ideas that came about from traveling. Our respective jobs are going well and I start Art College on Monday. Defecting from programing work to design has turned out to be a wonderful thing and I thank all of you who encouraged me to do it, you know who you are : ) It has been an amazing ten month journey but I think we’re ready to settle into a home again. We may be ensconced in boxes and unpacking for the next little while but I will write again soon. Hope all’s well, Carol 

The end is nigh, NYC here we come

Here we are toward the end of our journey, standing at the precipice before the fall into the canyon of routine. We can’t complain. Great ride, good times, and New York ain’t the worst routine to fall into. We’re looking forward to time with Stephen, my brother, and Colleen, our sister in law to be in the East village and beyond. We’re also looking forward to a pint at Bua, and the 11th street tavern, and the cellar, and Zum schneider, and probably a martini at the orchid lounge…then sucking the juice from a scalped coconut to cleanse the humors of all impurity. Then cupcakes, the MoMA, people watching, writing in Tompkins square park, seeking acceptance from local indigents who own the city more than we do, bagels, sushi and the occasional shouting match with strangers.

But before that, Ireland has been fantastic. Rain, sleet, hail punctuating overcast days. We’ve caught up with many friends in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Sligo as well as the local Dublin Folk. Carols done a checklist of all places in Dublin that we feared would be affected by the modern somewhat soulless architectural illness this town has contracted. Grogans – check, coffee shop at the end of Georges street arcade – check, Cafe Irie – check, cheese and olive guy in Georges street arcade – check, windjammer -check (the seashell too, amazing), and the IFC -check. It can’t all change…but it will.

Life is good. Looking forward to the next bit actually; honest work, great city, a kitchen to cook in, a pay check and all that lark. Hope all are well.

Back on Irish soil

Following a weeks worth of jet lag we can finally stay up after 10pm without falling asleep in our pints. It’s been lovely catching up with family, Sara and Pete in Dublin; Jen & Kev in Cork; Steve, Elke, Arran & peanut beta in Limerick. We’re actually babysitting Arran at the moment. Watching mini-me-kinsella impersonating Steve on the mobile phone is hilarious. He’s just started dumping the contents of the bookshelf on to the floor so I’d better sign off. I’ll write again soon. Hope all are well : )

Tas-mania

Hello, Hello.

It is the anniversary of the birth of Carol and we are drinking gin and tonics, watching a torrential downpour, the small plastic statue of a chinese good luck cat waving a toothpick like a dagger in the next room, while Gill and Domhnall, our wonderful hosts, pack their things to escape our company by fleeing to an ice field in New Zealand. All is well.

We have had a relatively complete Tasmanian experience. We have hiked, biked, snorkeled, climbed, camped and run through this wild and relatively unfriendly landscape. It is beautiful here, but places like this make you realize how peaceful and unthreatening places like Ireland are. The ocean here has sharks, the bush snakes, the bathrooms spiders the size of my head, the campgrounds are riddled with small mammals who hiss mockingly at you, and the friends, who are wonderful, expose you to cliff faces and many moments of mortal reckoning that they would call mild at best. It has been excellent.

Domhnall and Gill have been fantastic to us. I highly recommend this establishment to any who haven’t visited. They have an enviable home, good friends, and a healthy lifestyle. We love them both.

We head to Ireland tomorrow for a few weeks to contemplate our return to honest work. We are already planning our next mischief and our next escape. That can’t be a good sign, but New York City, I’m sure, will enthrall us once we get there.</p

Mayhem and mischief down under

We only got to see the north island of New Zealand but thanks to Simon and Georgie, we’ve seen quite a bit of it from Auckland, to Waverly to Taupo. The highlights that come to mind are… tearing around on Waihiki Island with Simon… hanging out a Vicki & Kouba’s while Simon rants… watching Simon and Georgie getting married followed by Nick’s best man speech, much eating, drinking, dancing and the hydrangea massacre… possum hunting on the stag night… whitewater rafting with the Hepburns.. night swimming and barbecuing at lake Taupo… Nick bungee-jumping… and visiting Todd and Lauren in Rotarua. We’re currently in Tasmania visiting Domhnall & Gill and will write again after we get to Ireland in mid-February. Hope all are well, Carol : )