Fleur de Aleta

Before we left Ireland, I knew I wanted to create a painting for our trip, but the painting didn’t speak to me right away.  It was always there, though, a whisper not to be forgotten.  A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about the lovely Irish music that welcomed us to the Cliffs of Mohor.     A lady was singing in that beautiful lilt at the start of our walk to the cliffs.  She had red hair and wore a white and green dress.  We listened for a while, enchanted.  Wanting to place something in the hat on the ground, but having no change, I gave what I had in my purse.  I knew we wouldn’t be buying much, as our days in this second home was coming to an end, so why not share the euros.  It was a 10 dollar bill.  I handed it to the singer, so it wouldn’t blow away in the wind.  She broke out into a smile and as her song ended, she thanked me much.  My husband, on the other hand, was livid for the amount that I gave her.  But I knew it meant a lot to her and what she gave to us, as I conti

Our trip to Venice - Part 3   When I read about Venice, I learned that there are separate islands that consist of the Venestian Lagoon.  Venice is the largest and the next largest after that is Murano.  There used to be many handmade glass makers.  The glass work throughout Venice is incredible.  Our hotel recommended a tour/store to visit and even booked a private boat to bring us there.   When we arrived, we were given a brief lesson about glass and the trade, then allowed to visit their store.  Oh my gosh - the works of art there AMAZING.  It was so beautiful and my fingers itched to take a picture, but there were signs everywhere not to AND they had employees in every room watching you!  (Though my husband did manage to get a quick video at one point, the rebel!)     My husband found the winged lion he really liked that has flecks of gold in it.  We decided to buy it... the owner of the store put the lion on a pedestal... and the window behind it lit up the lion.. and through the w