Ireland

 October.  Pretty fall color and a long-awaited trip to Ireland. We stayed in Dublin at the beautiful Shelbourne Hotel (The Shelbourne, Autograph Collection) while enjoying sites in the city, the numerous tourist offerings, great restaurants, and took day trips to Northern Ireland, and to the western coast of the Republic of Ireland. 

The Shelbourne is so lovely, and I think it’s one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in and fully enjoyed. It’s truly perfect, with its traditional architecture and furnishings, and plush and comfortable rooms; the restaurants are wonderful, attentive staff, plentiful bars, and a spa that offers an expansive relaxation experience. I highly recommend this wonderful hotel.

If you’re looking to travel outside of Dublin, whether on day trips or multiple day excursions, please consider booking them with Little Gem Private Tours (littlegemtours.com). Our tour guide, Richard Ball, was highly experienced and knowledgeable. He went above and beyond in ensuring our travel itinerary was memorable, positive, flexible, full of historical anecdotes, and fun; the tour days we took with him were the highlights of our visit. 

In fact, if you aren’t making Dublin your vacation base, Richard and his wife, Barbara, offer lodging accommodations and tours via their family farm about an hour outside of the city. Known as Johnsfort House and built in the late 1700s, the property is located in the village of Clonmellon in the Boyne Valley.  For more information on lodging availability and tour offerings, check out their website at Ireland at Your Leisure.

I’m still going through photographs and probably will be doing so for quite some time. Below are just a few. Please check out my website of photographs at veronica-batterson.pixels.com.

Appalachian Hands

 "They think it's strange to see a woman carve. A woman can do most anything she wants to...puts her mind to."  ~  Polly Page, in 2013, at age 94.

Aunt Polly (in her studio) with Dolly Parton 

My aunt, Polly (Pauline) Randolph Page, passed away in 2020. She was 101 years old. She was a well-known folk artist, whose wood carvings were in the Smithsonian Museum and in Folk Art Museums around the globe. In 2013, she was awarded the Tennessee Folklife Heritage Governor's Arts Award at the age of 93. I own some of her wonderful wood carvings.

She was a pioneer...independent, talented, opinionated, and (in my opinion) a feminist for her time. She believed that women could do anything they wanted if they worked for it. 

Sharing a poem that I wrote with her in mind. As always, copyright applies. 

Appalachian Hands

By Veronica Randolph Batterson 

©2022 Veronica Batterson

The hands speak volumes

As they cradle the wood

Gnarled and misshapen

Skin chapped, stained with blood.

The wood is their infant

Molded and created

Delicately balanced

Shaped between arthritic fingers.

The knife moves swiftly

Cedar shavings cover the floor

The slightest miss

Bears testament to scars she’s worn.

As life emerges

Directly from her palms,

Fingers move as if caressing

Breath from shapes appearing.

An artist carves her creation

With tenderness, with love

Never hesitating.

The knife and wood are one

Under nimble fingers they work,

Peeling layers away, skilled

Twisting, turning until

Forms of beauty are birthed.

The life of this master

Molding wood like clay,

Deftly she moves

Never flinching or pausing.

She works until finished

And carves shavings away,

Then as if releasing, a whisper

Touches graceful artistry in Appalachian hands.