Dark Chocolate Jameson Whiskey Truffle Bar

I remember these.  Butler chocolates from Ireland.
Flavored with Jameson Whiskey. 

I have a snotty cold (or allergies, or reaction to medicine to help heal my gut).

I can't read because my eyes are alternately weeping or itchy.

I feel crappy.  Probably because I am watching crappy tv. Some old movie with Julia Roberts and the Mystic Pizza Company. I don't even know the title but I sat through the entire movie-- I think, because it had Julia Roberts in it. But if this was the only Julia Roberts movie you ever saw, you wouldn't be keen to see another.

Back to the computer - another hit on the horn for Mousehunt (facebook).

I wanted something to eat but the turkey we are having for dinner won't be ready for another couple of hours. The dark chocolate truffle bar zipped into my head and my computer says it's possible to order them online. Amazing.

No - what's really amazing? I came up with a 'code' that worked and I received free shipping.

I put in 'april10' but the code window zapped it in as A7700.

Now, I won't get these chocolate bars for a week or two (ships from the first ever  Butler's chocolate cafe in New Jersey. Why not Oregon? Why put a stinkin' chocolate cafe in Paramas,  New Jersey?).

They also make these hot chocolate treats that melt in hot water. A very lovely cup of hot chocolate.

For locations - I've been to five of them: This is on Liffey St. (next to the Liffey River - so similar to our Willamette River splitting the city of Portland).

No Butler's Chocolates at the cliffs of Mohr but you can find them inside in the gift shop - to the right.

Flavored with Jameson whiskey, this chocolate would surely ease my cold?

The Brazen Head

Eating in Ireland

I keep running into this conversation where the person I am talking to knows this other person who is so vegan, so allergic, so *insert trendy food disease* , that the afflicted person cannot travel out of their comfort zone.
Despite my dietary restrictions, I am choosing not to be so constrained.
Because of my job that often requires me to work over the course of 12 hours, I have found several foods that are always with me - just in case. Those are the foods I took with me to Ireland for the week. Fresh Cameo Apples, fruit roll-ups,  fruit & nut bars and my dairy-free, soy free chocolate.
I chose to think of the food I was bringing not only as insurance but to create a empty space in my bag to bring home treasures and souvenirs.
Bear in mind that it's not easy. My goals to try and eat 1000 cal. every day and to work on identifying when I am hungry are very serious. Food made me sick for so long that I have lost the ability to tell when I am hungry.

I had such a day when we traveled to Galway on the west coast of Ireland. We had probably walked over 20 miles each of the previous two days in Dublin -looking around and being tourists. We got distracted finding a place to eat breakfast. When we did, the only protein they had was yogurt. We then met up with my daughter and friend and got more distracted, then we hopped a 2.5hr. bus to Galway. Getting there with about an hour or two left of daylight, we decided to explore the town. I let myself get tired and I did not watch my protein intake. I was stopping and looking for somewhere to eat but my sister wasn't hungry yet. I was too tired to insist on eating and then it went too far. I shut down, going back into survival mode. I was only able to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. No street signs in Galway meant we didn't quite have our bearings - where was the hotel? I finally got what my brother-in-law had said about my sister making little bee stings.

But I have been to survival camp before. Albeit, its been over 10 months. Am I really that close to being there again? Have I not made progress? All-in-all, a somewhat frightening concept.
Looking around and finally being able to vocalize that I needed food, now the irrational part took over and rejected this place at 25 euro as too expensive, this place - nothing I could eat, this place - yet another salad. I needed protein and preferably warm.

Finally eating (warm mediterranean salad (chicken)), we were just a few blocks from our room. I went straight to bed and could remember those survival times when I was so tired I would go straight to bed without eating anything. I did get some serious sleep. Luckily, the hotel included breakfast and they cooked to order so I had some bacon (like our Canadian Bacon) and scrambled eggs. I felt better immediately and we were able to continue on our way - taking the great tour with Desmond to the Cliffs of Moher.

Lessons learned: I have to pay attention to eating on a schedule. I am not well enough to get distracted.
It is possible to travel easily to another country where the fish & chips (breaded and potatoes) are everywhere. One can also travel and not go on and on about your particular health maladies.
Get out of your rut - test the waters. 

One evening (in Ireland) with my daughter's friends, we ate at the Brazen Head - the oldest pub in Dublin. Here's my meal - roast of the day. It looked to be the most edible for me. I had already tried the fish &chips and a half-glass of guinness earlier in the trip and was terribly bloated the next day. I stuck with whiskey as the distillery process takes out more lectins than the guinness process. All that guinness barley is -sad. Really. :(
Here were the vegetables - peas with all of their starchy lectins and carrots which are more moderate for me.
The pork was good. I left the gravy and potatoes.

Ireland slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Why we didn't drive in Ireland

Stunning. Amazing. Wow.
There are signposts everywhere in Ireland - at every intersection. 

God help you if the post has fallen down.

It's only 2 1/2 hours to drive west from Dublin over to Galway. If I had driven, maybe 7 hours. The bus started out on a toll road, switched to road construction detours and went through numerous round-a-bouts. All with signposts leaning every which way.
This particular bus went straight through - no stops.

Such a small distance compared to Oregon. 2.5 hours, for me, is just past Eugene, not quite all the way to Bend. From Dublin north, past Belfast to Derry is only about 3 hours. That's it. Small country, easy to get around, lovely people and, of course, I want to go back.

I had wanted to rent a car - just to say I did. Driving on the wrong side with the stick shift in my left hand. All the guide books tell you to do so, but parking is expensive, fuel is expensive and it was only 10euro to get across the country - even cheaper booking on-line. I can see getting one of those new small laptops just to travel with - to make reservations, to find out about sights suggested by the locals - to deal with mechanical problems with the plane at Schiphol Airport - Amsterdam.

Internet access was easy to find most places and we even uploaded photos from our camera at one stop to send home.

And street signs? Occasionally spotted on Dublin streets high up on the second story (1st floor). No street signs in Galway.

PASSPORT WALLETS

My sister and I are traveling to Ireland in about THREE WEEKS.

We still have no place to stay but we have passport wallets!

These are so stinking cool!

I saw some passport wallet  ideas at Sew Mama Sew and narrowed it down to this Fabulous Tutorial by Lara Cameron.

The layering of the outside fabric, the pockets and the lining turned out perfectly.

It was truly an easy sew project.

Easy sew - unless you are me - I needed to add the credit card and ID pockets.  I had to add the button and loop closure.  I decided to add a cute pocket on the right hand side for  - I don't know - ticket stubs - maybe?  

Easy smeezey.