Dreaming of Donegal

Last year at this time my man, my kids, and I had just returned to Dublin from a two-day trip to the Isle of Man and were starting a seven-day bus tour of the southern half of Ireland. Both places stole our hearts and we'd all love to go back. We'd live there if we could. The yellow bush is Gorse and it grows everywhere in the Isle of Man and Ireland. It's so pretty against all that green, but it's nasty stuff up close: full of large thorns. There were lambs everywhere.

As I approach the end of the Kilcar sweater, and as I gaze out at the X#@%!!*#$! snow outside, sigh, I'm especially nostalgic for Donegal, Ireland. This is the view from the window of the bed and breakfast we stayed in there.

That's Lough Eske and the Bluestack Mountains. This bed and breakfast is called "Ardeeven" and by some freaky magic of a loving Universe, out of a book advertising thousands of Irish b&bs, I picked one that's owned by Sean and Mary, who also own a lovely little wool shop in Donegal. This was the first real lys (local yarn store) I encountered in Ireland, and I went crazy buying up all the wool I could possibly cram in my suitcases and then a few kilos more for good measure, sending my husband into apoplexy, and causing my children to wonder if, now, for sure, Mom had lost it. This is where the deep purple Donegal Tweed found me and pushed me over the wool-buying edge.

I wistfully daydream of owning that little yarn shop. My husband could run the online store and I could spend my days in the shop, buying and selling wool and roving, chatting with the locals, spinning and knitting when I was able. The kids could run the shop every other weekend while hubby and I tour the island on our motorcycle, seeking ever more yarn stores and wool mills. After closing the shop at 6:00 every day we'd all hoist a pint of Guinness in a nearby pub...

Ah, well, daydreams are wonderful little escapes, aren't they? On these snowy days in April, who can help daydreaming of lovelier places and warmer climes. This is a great day for staying in and playing with sticks and strings. Maybe I'll finish the Kilcar today...