Never a Dull Moment

A lot of people texted me last week asking what adventure I had planned for the weekend. Since I have been on the go every weekend since I got here, I decided to save some money & stick around the house. By no means does that mean it wasn't an adventure!

Cara is the girliest girl you could ever imagine. I can always pick her out in a crowd because she is dressed in pink from head to toe. She loves princesses & dolls. When I realized I was going to be here for her birthday I wanted to make her an extravagant pink princess cake. And by “make” I actually just meant grab a box from the baking section & color the pre-made frosting pink. As the time came closer I decided to challenge myself – I would bake my very first homemade cake! 

Not a bad start. That was until I realized that I would be making my own frosting…. 

I first ran out of icing mix. So I walked to the neighbors to get more. Then I made it too thick. And then too thin. And then I turned it orange. It was a mess to say the least. Luckily Noel came home and helped me save the day. 

Her birthday party was a success!

Saturday I had the house to myself. I woke up and the electricity was out in every room except the kitchen. I took this as some type of sign and baked the day away.

Lorraine is part of a singing production that is a fundraiser for the Mayo Roscommon Hospice. There are about 100 locals involved. In order to be a part of the production, each person must raise at least €200. So, instead of just asking people to donate, Lorraine organized a book sale at the community center. We had 1000’s of books donated. With help from friends we organized them on tables in the center and baked a nice selection of sweets. On Sunday people came in and out, taking as many books as they wanted. People were asked to donate what they wanted. I thought maybe in a small community like this Lorraine would meet her goal of €200. To our surprise the total donation amount was over €900! I couldn't believe the generosity. I give credit to Lorraine for coming up with such a unique way to not only fund-raise, but to bring the community together as well.

Not even a quarter of the books donated!

We were invited to a friend of the family’s house after the book sale for dinner. I have never seen a house quite like this one. It was an old, old home probably built well over a century ago. The ceilings were at least 20ft. high. They still had buzzers in the dining room that would have been used to ring the servants downstairs (not working of course!). As we were eating dinner & I was about to pop from stuffing myself so much, I looked over and saw a peacock in the window. Yes, a real life peacock just hanging out.

I guess it was a pet? Not quite sure. I’d also like you to meet Rocko!

No, this is not a small horse. It is an Irish Wolfhound. I thought about sneaking him into my backpack to bring home but then I realized I don’t even have room for my sneakers…

Another amazing weekend in the books. Organizing this weekend’s adventure now =)