Greetings friends and family! It's been quite a while, my apologies. I was being a fill in house mother as the real one was in Switzerland and I had to fill in. So for a full two weeks I was under some stress to keep a house of farmers together. Thankfully my darling house mother returned a week ago and I promptly got to go on holiday myself to London England for a week to see a darling friend Kathryn and spend time with her family. Such a fun treat.
Kathryn is on the short list I would say for our adopted daughters, as she is one of my few friends who feels comfortable to be in my house with out me. I have found that that is the case with a lot of my friends, and I couldn't be happier so I thought a trade would be nice so I spent the past weekend with her Mum and sister in Somerset. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The first part of the week I spent with Kathryn in London. She's recently moved in with some of the most delightful people I've met in a long tim. Keep in mind this is my first vacation in seven months. My first time out of the friendly bubble that I have come to know in Dingle. So it was much more of a culture shock for me as I am used to people waving and being friendly where ever I go, and of course a city environment is very different. But so nice to be surrounded by such a fast environment again, I forgot how much I love cities. My first night me, kathryn and her three house mates all had a great evening, where I got to see what a great group of people live in this flat, they had competitions for who can make the weirdest noises while washing up and playing blind basketball in the sitting room. Funnily this behavior is so normal for me at this rate, but it was so nice to see so many people that are so content with who they are and not afraid to make fools of themselves and laugh about it, so we just spent the first night all laughing and being goofy together. So this introduction was such a great first day of my holiday. The following couple days we watched films, went thrift store shopping, and drank coffee in the coolest cafes. We also had a very romantic/cold picnic with pasta and individual plastic wine glasses filled with wine. Amazing afternoon, then we went and tried to bother the queen but no luck.
After London I made the journey to Somerset to see Kathryn's mum and spent a relaxing weekend getting to know her and Kathryn's sister Anna. Such a lovely home, reminds me of my home and my grandmother's house combined, filled with pictures, and memories everywhere. Lovely, to sit by the fire for hours reading and just relaxing in a proper home. Nice change from the madness that I am normally surrounded by. We went to an amazing concert at Wells Cathedral which is by far the most incredible cathedral I've ever been to and if any of your are ever in Wells you must go. Fun fact about Wells is also that Hot Fuzz was partially filmed in this quant village (Graham and Wes that was for you).
I also got to spend the day in Glastonbury which was a great little town, VERY hippesque, reminded me of Johnson Vermont. Filled with lovely charity shops, and cute cafes. I went to the Glastonbury Abbey and saw the ruins that were left behind, they were incredible. Also met up with Kathryn on Sunday and we hiked up to the Torr which is a tower on top of a hill in Glastonbury with an amazing view at the top.
After my return to London we had an amazing dinner party, filled with kitchen dancing and good friends. Such a nice way to end an amazing week. Upon my return to Ireland I straight away met up with two lovely girls who I started in Camphill with. The time way back in September when I started was some of the happiest times of my life, and it was just filled with tons of laughter and goofyness, which is just where we picked up now. A lot has changed since they have been gone but that hasn't stopped us from having a great time. One of the girls is here with her family and we all went to the cinema and then to the pub to see a friend play music. Now this pub evening really made me realize the magic of the town where I am living. I'm going to try and paint an image of what was there.....
You walk into a huge open room, bar on your left and around the room are tables and benches. Every seat is filled and the pub is completely silent. Off to the right next to the fire is a group of five musicians in a circle, playing everything from the banjo to the flute and mandolin. We got our seats and then your only job is to listen, but what's so amazing about Irish musicians is they have file cabinets in there brains filled with Irish songs, so someone would suggest a song and the musicians would know it and then everyone in the bar who would know it would just start to sing, clap or hum. It was such a special moment to sit in a pub that is dead silent and all you hear is amazing music and all you see are faces entranced by the moment. I think this has such an impact on me because you would rarely find this in a bar in the states. I am basically saying that anybody that likes music should seriously come to Dingle because it is honestly some of the best undiscovered musicians in the world.
This weekend is of course Easter which is very exciting, it has been holy week in Camphill and I will rejoin tomorrow where we beach clean, turn off all technology until Sunday. On Saturday evening (weather permitting) we will have a bonfire that we will all keep going all night by each staying up with the fire for an hour, looking at like a meditation, each person who wants will stay with the fire for an hour. Pretty special, followed by Sunday morning outdoor mass at 6 am. Then an egg hunt in the afternoon. So a lot is happening. I hope you all an amazing Easter, it will be my first one away from home and has come to be one of my favorites, really sad to miss it. Anyway, mine here will still be very special!!!
xxElsie
After London I made the journey to Somerset to see Kathryn's mum and spent a relaxing weekend getting to know her and Kathryn's sister Anna. Such a lovely home, reminds me of my home and my grandmother's house combined, filled with pictures, and memories everywhere. Lovely, to sit by the fire for hours reading and just relaxing in a proper home. Nice change from the madness that I am normally surrounded by. We went to an amazing concert at Wells Cathedral which is by far the most incredible cathedral I've ever been to and if any of your are ever in Wells you must go. Fun fact about Wells is also that Hot Fuzz was partially filmed in this quant village (Graham and Wes that was for you).
I also got to spend the day in Glastonbury which was a great little town, VERY hippesque, reminded me of Johnson Vermont. Filled with lovely charity shops, and cute cafes. I went to the Glastonbury Abbey and saw the ruins that were left behind, they were incredible. Also met up with Kathryn on Sunday and we hiked up to the Torr which is a tower on top of a hill in Glastonbury with an amazing view at the top.
After my return to London we had an amazing dinner party, filled with kitchen dancing and good friends. Such a nice way to end an amazing week. Upon my return to Ireland I straight away met up with two lovely girls who I started in Camphill with. The time way back in September when I started was some of the happiest times of my life, and it was just filled with tons of laughter and goofyness, which is just where we picked up now. A lot has changed since they have been gone but that hasn't stopped us from having a great time. One of the girls is here with her family and we all went to the cinema and then to the pub to see a friend play music. Now this pub evening really made me realize the magic of the town where I am living. I'm going to try and paint an image of what was there.....
You walk into a huge open room, bar on your left and around the room are tables and benches. Every seat is filled and the pub is completely silent. Off to the right next to the fire is a group of five musicians in a circle, playing everything from the banjo to the flute and mandolin. We got our seats and then your only job is to listen, but what's so amazing about Irish musicians is they have file cabinets in there brains filled with Irish songs, so someone would suggest a song and the musicians would know it and then everyone in the bar who would know it would just start to sing, clap or hum. It was such a special moment to sit in a pub that is dead silent and all you hear is amazing music and all you see are faces entranced by the moment. I think this has such an impact on me because you would rarely find this in a bar in the states. I am basically saying that anybody that likes music should seriously come to Dingle because it is honestly some of the best undiscovered musicians in the world. 
This weekend is of course Easter which is very exciting, it has been holy week in Camphill and I will rejoin tomorrow where we beach clean, turn off all technology until Sunday. On Saturday evening (weather permitting) we will have a bonfire that we will all keep going all night by each staying up with the fire for an hour, looking at like a meditation, each person who wants will stay with the fire for an hour. Pretty special, followed by Sunday morning outdoor mass at 6 am. Then an egg hunt in the afternoon. So a lot is happening. I hope you all an amazing Easter, it will be my first one away from home and has come to be one of my favorites, really sad to miss it. Anyway, mine here will still be very special!!!
xxElsie
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