Today I Chased After Sheep

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Today I chased after sheep....only to receive angry "Baas" of irritation from the sheep as they fled from me and my camera. My plan to kidnap a sheep met with an epic failure today. I do think a sheep would be a perfect pet. I could let it out in our yard to eat the grass - thus eliminating the need for a lawn service. And, it could produce yarn for me!

We spent most of the day driving around the Dingle Peninsula/Sleahead. Definitely a more traditional part of the country - and most road signs were printed in Gaelic only (I learned that Go MALL means "Go Slow"). Although the driving and navigation is becoming much easier, I am still getting rather tired of driving. I keep trying to convince mom to see the rest of Ireland from horseback.

The Dingle Peninsula or Corca Dhuibhne stretches 30 miles (48 kilometres) into the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland's south-west coast. The peninsula is dominated by the range of mountains that form its spine, running from the Slieve Mish range to Mount Brandon, Ireland's second highest peak. The coastline consists of steep sea-cliffs, broken by sandy beaches, with two large sand spits at Inch in the south and the Maharees to the north. The Blasket Islands lie to the west of the peninsula. (http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/peninsula.html)

One of our longest stops today was at the Blasket Islands heritage center. The Islands were occupied until 1953, when the last 22 people were moved to the mainland. The decline in Island population was due to younger generations migrating away from the Islands (a majority of them actually went to Springfield, Massachusetts).

We also squeezed in time to visit Muckross House, Gardens, Abbey, and (most importantly) craft studio. Muckross is famous for pottery, hand weaving, and book binding.

As with yesterday, I am going to post photos (11 total) rather than try to describe everything we saw.

I would also like to wish my brother a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He is officially an old man (haha!)

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Photos

Killarney Lodge
For some reason, I love the windows at our Lodge.

Dingle Town
View of houses from the harbor

Dingle Peninsula
View from one of the first stops.

Random on Roadside
I somehow think he was placed to watch over the drivers on these insanely narrow, curvy, yet still somehow 100+ km/h roads.

Sleahead
View from a road side stop

Tie
Ties for my favorite picture of the day

Tie #2
Other favorite picture of the day

And the Sheep Retreat
FYI - the spray paint is how the farmers mark their sheep. I've seen sheep with blue, purple, pink, red, and green stripes, dots, dashes, and squares.

And I Win!
Picture with two of them looking at me - before they ran away again!