P is for Pádraic Pearse

Pádraic Pearse is one of my favorite Irish poets.  

He was involved in the Easter Rising of 1916 and was executed as a rebel.

Here is my favorite poem by Pádraic.  I used to have it memorized, many years ago.

"The Wayfarer"

The beauty of the world hath made me sad, 

This beauty that will pass; 

Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy 

To see a leaping squirrel in a tree 

Or a red lady-bird upon a stalk, 

Or little rabbits in a field at evening, 

Lit by a slanting sun, 

Or some green hill where shadows drifted by 

Some quiet hill where mountainy man hath sown 

And soon would reap; near to the gate of Heaven; 

Or children with bare feet upon the sands 

Of some ebbed sea, or playing on the streets 

Of little towns in Connacht, 

Things young and happy. 

And then my heart hath told me: 

These will pass, 

Will pass and change, will die and be no more, 

Things bright and green, things young and happy; 

And I have gone upon my way 

Sorrowful.

For more information about Pádraic Pearse, visit http://www.eirefirst.com/archive/pearse2.htm

O is for Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite Irish authors.

Picture from Wikipedia.org

I remember reading The Portrait of Dorian Gray for the first time.  I was instantly interested.  Then I saw pictures, and I think I fell in love :)  

And he said some great things:

"It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But... it is better to be good than to be ugly."

"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is."

"I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go."

"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much."

( http://www.brainyquote.com/) 

N is for Nest

I have always found it interesting how birds return to the same nest or nesting area year after year.  A couple of years ago, we had a green heron pair nesting in our back yard.  They are cute birds, but they make a weird barking sound and they poop a lot!  Here's a pic.

The following year, the herons returned and nested on our block again, although not in our backyard.  This time, there were more adult birds because the two juveniles from the year before returned too.
We also have bald eagles that return to nearby nests every year.  There are some rural areas around here, and the eagles love the little lambs.  Today we went for a bike ride, and I noticed that the eagles have returned again.  I heard a lot of chirping.  They may have some chicks.  I couldn't find the pictures of our local nesting eagles, but I did find this picture of one we saw eating a little lamb on our way to work two years ago.

They love the little lambs.
So, do birds value their homes as much as we humans do? What makes a nest special?

M is for Me Time

I love my me time.  I guess that's part of the reason that my husband and I like to have lots of room in our living space.  We both want to be able to escape and have me-time every so often.  Recently I have been having a hard time getting the me-time I feel I deserve.
I have a craft room, all to myself.  The big problem was that I did not have a good work surface in the room.   But that all changed this weekend.   We moved a little furniture around yesterday.  The small, ineffective desk that I had in my craft room is not residing in our office area.  The dining table that acted as storage in the office area is not happily sitting in my craft room.
I have spent a lot of time in my craft room over the last two days.  I even started a new jewelry project.  My me-time has been returned, and I couldn't be happier :)

L is for Laughing Rats?

I heard about this on Radio Lab on NPR.  Love that show!

So cute!

K is for Kill

Kill is the name of the village where I grew up.
Kill is actually an Anglicization of the Irish language name for the village. 
An Chill, the Irish name for the town, means the church.
Ironic, huh?

J is for Jokes

What is red and smells like blue paint?

     A:  Red paint.


Here's a few of my childhood favorites.....

What goes ha ha ha ha bonk?

     A:  A man laughing his head off.

What goes 99 bonk?

     A:  A centipede with a wooden leg.

What goes black white black white black white?

     A:  A nun rolling down a hill.