slowly she turned

Living the Slow life in North Carolina

recent posts

about

About Me

  • Mulranny, July 27, 2026

    We had had wonderful weather for most of our week, and finally it rained toward the end of our stay. I kind of liked the change. Our taxi bus driver had to stop for all these sheep in the road. I started filming about halfway through! Colum, our tour guide, told us that every day, sheep were looking for ways to die.

    Monday was our last day in the studio. We worked on finishing our projects from the week before, especially the hanging book pages that we planned to give to Lora that night after the final dinner. I finally abandoned my cards and and concentrated on my canvas book. I have two slideshows below. The first shows the group book and one side of a page from each artist. The second shows a few pages from my book.

    When I showed Lora my book cover and the flat heart shaped rock I planned to sew to the top, I told her that I didn’t remember where on Achill Island I had picked it up. “You picked it up at the graveyard. That’s the only place you can find them,” she said. “This sounds awful, but the type of stone is called ‘Folk Schist’ (sp?). It brings luck and intuition.” She gave me some gold metallic thread that was perfect for attaching it to the cover.

    The covers have pockets that I have filled with ephemera from the trip, such as coasters and business cards.

    That afternoon we looked at everyone’s work from the week and talked about it and took photos and cleaned up and packed our stuff. I was sad to be leaving this place but the experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. I learned a lot about intuitive art, mixed media techniques, and myself.

    Sandra gave everyone a bookmark in which she wrote each of us a note and gave us a grade. On mine she said that I was “brave.” That means a lot to me because of my past as with panic disorder, and as a recovering agoraphobic I have to periodically push myself to do things that I fear in order to live my life as I wish. Since I’ve been traveling by myself, I have a lot more trust in my ability to figure things out.

    She also told me that I was an intuitive artist like herself. It’s funny because tapestry is not really an intuitive art…it generally has to be planned out ahead of time because you have to build it line by line (or shape). To change something you have to unweave, and that’s a slow and frustrating process. In painting you can paint or collage over something you don’t like. It’s easy to change. Tapestry styles are becoming much more fluid with artists pushing the form into 3D and using textures and unwoven areas. I’m considering pushing myself in this direction, but there is something I like about a flat 2D tapestry.

    But when it comes to collage, stitching, and painting, yeah, I’m usually following my nose and letting one idea lead to the next as I go and changing course often. So maybe I need both of these ways of composing and thinking for balance. My life has been ruled by a need for logic and order and “the most efficient way,” but in recent years the world around me is in chaos. I’m changing with it.

    That night, after the usual outstanding “goodbye” meal, we celebrated and thanked Lora, Lars, and her staff for taking such good care of us and making our stay so inspirational.

    Sandra and Lora

  • Mulranny and Westport, July 25-26, 2026

    Saturday was a full studio day, which I welcomed after such an inspiring day on Achill Island. Sandra handed out pieces of a light canvas fabric for us to paint and collage on. One piece was to make a personal book and the other was to create a long piece to go as a page in a group book we would leave as a gift to the studio.

    I got excited about making the fabric book. It was hard for me to stop for lunch or at the end of the day! Here’s my workspace and auditioning ideas for the book pages and cover.

    Sometimes the paper beneath your workspace is art!

    I knew that I wanted pockets in the covers and some kind of woven motif on the front. I found a strong rough forked stick in the parking lot and decided to use some of the yarn I had bought from Mr. Doherty in Ardara with it as part of the binding.

    That night we went into Mulranny to have dinner at Doherty’s. SO MUCH FOOD ALL THE TIME!!!

    We spent the morning in the studio and then our tour guide, Colum, took us by Grace O’Malley’s second castle tower (no photo) and to 15th century Burrishoole Priory to explore around those ruins and graveyard. The cemetery is still in service.

    “gargoyles”

    Then we went into Westport and were turned loose. The only issue was that the finals of the GAA (Gaelic football) were being played that afternoon, so a lot of the shops were closed and all of the pubs and restaurants were jammed with people watching the game. I still enjoyed poking around a few shops. I bought a few stones at the local pagan shop and a few art supplies at one of the bookshops. The game was being broadcast in the streets and we could sort of follow the direction of the game from the cheers and shrieks. Toward the end of our time, Jill and I had Bailey’s coffees waiting for the bus to pick us all up, looking out at the circle with the statue of St. Patrick.

    Matt Molloy of the Chieftains has a pub here.

    Mayo had not won in 75 years and they were cursed by a priest after their last win. The requirements for the curse to be lifted had happened (the last man who played on that team has died), so everyone was excited here, even though they were not expected to win.

    On the way back to Mulranny, we found out that County Mayo won! There was celebration everywhere. And on the way back to Currane, a rainbow appeared over the bay.

  • Achill Island, July 24, 2026, part two

    Just down the road from the cemetery was the ruins of one of the castles of Grace O’Malley, the pirate queen.

    This was most of our group^

    Then we stopped at one of the most spectacular views of my entire trip. Again, the video is showing in landscape view, which is not how I filmed it and I hope to figure out how to correct it later because it is skewed horizontally. Here is a link to it on my Facebook page.

    We broke for a late lunch at the Beehive Restaurant in Keel where I had fish cakes and a local stout and a lovely rhubarb crumble for dessert.

    Then our guide used a bit of his connections to manage to get a parking spot at Keem Bay beach. This is at the far western edge of the island. The arched bridge that we had begun our art exercises with was here, and running out to the water on the beach was a stream that reportedly carried raw amethysts down from an old amethyst quarry. We didn’t have much time to spend here, and I spent most of it searching for amethysts. I didn’t find any, but I enjoyed it.

    Then we turned around and went to another beach at Dookinelly, near Keel. There was a labyrinth there in the grassy area just above the beach. And for some reason, maybe tiredness, I forgot to either walk it or take a photo.

    You know that I wanted to sit down and pick through these rocks all day. I was good and only took one with me.

    The holy well and the cliffs behind the beach were equally compelling, and the sheep were climbing these steep inclines with no concerns whatsover.

    I couldn’t quite make it to St. Fintan’s well. It was steeper than it looks here. I was concerned about falling down the hill.

    I suppose it is the sheep that make this interesting texture on the hillsides.

    We then cut across the island to the village of Dugort where we visited Red Fox Press, a sweet wee artist shop with hand printed books and prints and a Polaroid museum.

    There were too many people inside for me to get a good photo inside, and it was dark, but the outside was fun.

    ^All of this is mint.

    By the end of this day, I was totally exhausted and stumbling. On this night, I planned to skip breakfast and sleep another hour in the morning. I slept really well for the first time in four nights!

  • Achill Island, July 24, 2026, part one

    Wow, what a day this was, exploring one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The photos hardly do it justice, and there are a LOT of them, so I’m dividing this post in two.

    First, a wonderful and sad and hopeful cemetery next to the bay. Kildavnet Cemetery is still being used, but many of the gravestones are so old that they are mere stones with lichen marking the resting places. There is a ruined chapel, and a holy well down by the water. Most of the newer gravesites are on the other side of the road.

    An old custom was that the men at a wake and a funeral procession to the graveyard would smoke pipes and then when they reached the burial place they would break the pipes and leave them. These were in a secret spot and replaced once we were shown them.

    Inside the ruins

    The holy well

    The guys skipped stones across the water here. I chose a flat heart shaped stone to take with me. They had a touch of sparkle (mica?) and our guide said that they were called fairy stones.

    A gravestone across the road

    Kathleen Kilbane is said to be considered for sainthood. People leave offerings and prayers for their sick children to be healed here.

    I realize this was probably done out of poverty, but I prefer these hand chiseled stones so much more than the new ones with stamped lettering on shiny black stone.

  • Currane House, July 24, 2026

    Before I move on to our day on Achill Island, I want to devote a post to Currane and Currane House, of which I’ve posted several photos already, but it deserves a post with this video taken in its garden next to the bay.

    If you know me, you know how badly I wanted to get down on these rocks!

    We were told that this once led to a garden.

    The sitting room, with a great selection of books, record albums, and games. This used to be the pub in a former life.

    It wouldn’t be a complete trip if I didn’t include at least one photo of my spirit animal.

  • Mulranny and Currane, July 23, 2026

    Another beautiful day began, as usual, at Currane House with breakfast and a view.

    We randomly chose from this deck of cards that was at the studio. I had chosen a Tarot card on the plane, “Death,” which quite frankly scared the crap out of me even though I knew it was not necessarily a bad card. So it was nice that I chose “Life” out of this deck.

    Today was a studio day and the view was spectacular from the studio window!

    One of our art exercises had to do with personal symbols. We were to consider what they might be and then use them in our art. I immediately thought of the spiral and the broken circle, but then I realized that the broken circle has passed its expiration point in my life story, even though I still love it. Once I opened my mind to it, I realized that triangles keep showing up in my art and I am attracted to them when I pick up stones and fragments of shells. I also use a lot of lines and dots when I doodle. So when I thought about it, I worked with those symbols. However, I had loosened up a lot since I had arrived and found that I was working intuitively now, if you can call it working. It was more like freely playing.

    This spiral popped off the page in the center.

    Interlocking spirals. Both of these were a bit damaged in the transit home, but I can fix them. I love the background technique here with different acrylic mediums and gesso spread loosely with a palette knife to create texture.

    Then I worked on my set of cards, although I don’t think now that they will actually become a deck of cards. However, it was a good idea to keep my brain from locking down. On some I left space for writing on later. Some I cut up and reused in other collages.

    Finally, I chose a crow from a set of images and papers Sandra provided and collaged it over a poem by Edgar Allen Poe. You know the one. I like these colors.

    I had a hard time stopping to eat dinner, although I always looked forward to it. The selection of dishes were always amazing. Something for everyone.

    When we got home that evening, I decided that it might be the best night to visit the local pub, The Compass Bar, for a Smithwick’s. I sat at the bar and talked and listened to the bartender and the couple next to me. This is perhaps my favorite thing to do in Ireland. As the sun finally started going down, I noticed a large number of older men filing in, sitting at tables, and playing cards. I was told that it was a weekly game on Thursdays and that the women came in on Monday nights and played whist.

    (Update after posting: for some reason the video is not showing in portrait format the way I filmed it. I’ll leave it, but it looks funky in landscape.) Click on the video below for my walk to the pub from our house. If you’ve wondered what I sound like, I talk about what I see along the way, mostly about the plants and the upcoming big game. Most of the houses have gated drives and the lots are fenced in an effort to keep the sheep out.

  • Mulranny, June 22, 2026

    Every morning, the three of us were picked up at our house and whisked around the corner to Currane House, where the views and the breakfasts were outstanding. I am not much of a breakfast eater and even I could not resist. Usually I had scrambled eggs and sauteed mushrooms, although I had local smoked salmon and cream cheese and that wonderful Irish butter and brown bread a couple of times. This inn had been a pub at one time, and it was renovated beautifully. A movie was made on this location: “My Sailor, My Love,” which I found on Kanopy and another of my classmates found on Amazon Prime. A beautiful, sad movie about aging, love, and family trauma.

    Then a local taxi bus picked us all up and we were transported to the Essence of Mulranny art studios for our mixed media workshop with Sandra Duran Wilson.

    Note: This was my third try at going to Essence of Mulranny for a workshop. The first was canceled in Summer 2020 when the world shut down. I canceled the second try when I broke my foot a few weeks before the trip.

    The class had eight people and we had a second floor room with a wonderful view of Clew Bay and Mulranny Beach and Croagh Patrick. Sheep wandered in the salt marshes and we were told that they often stood in the water when the tide came in.

    Sandra led us in some art exercises and then, since the weather was beautiful (as it mostly had been the whole time I was in Ireland!) most of us decided to walk up the road and descend the staircase that led down to the causeway and the bay at low tide.

    I’m not very photogenic here, but the blue building in the background in the Mulranny Arts Center where our class is.

    On the way back up the stairs, there was a side “Fern Trail” that had a lot of fairies living there.

    ^One of the fast art exercises we did that morning. I used pages from the Irish textbook I bought at a used book sale the week before as well as other book pages provided. This is the view of Croagh Patrick. I’ll probably work on it some more when I have more time.

    ^Another exercise had all of us using the same photo of a bridge with a rocky stream flowing under it on a background we made earlier in the day. Then we integrated the photo with the background. Again, I never finished mine, but that’s typical for me! Later we would all see this scene in real life. All of our depictions of the same scene were very different.

    Lunches and dinners were cooked on site for us and they were so delicious. Lars, Lora’s Danish spouse, was the chef and every night had a different country theme. This was a photo of the Greek dinner. And I am not kidding when I say that I would choose the way he cooked cabbage over dessert any time.

    When we returned to the house that evening, Jill and I tried very hard to get photos of the sunset. The bugs were biting so we kept going in and out. But the view from the living room was stunning.

  • Donegal Town to Mulranny, July 20-21, 2026

    In the morning in Ardara, I had breakfast in Charlie’s West End Cafe, then Geraldine picked me up and took me to Donegal Town. She even brought me a large suitcase on wheels to give to me! It was really too big for what I needed, though, and I was still thinking about doing only carry-on on the flight back. Once I got to Donegal Town, I realized that my small backpack was so stuffed that it was coming apart at the seams, so I bought a small carry-on with wheels at the store next to my hotel. And friends, that is the LAST time I will attempt to travel for that long with two backpacks. It was so worth it to get the wheeled suitcase!

    Another lesson in my limits.

    In one version of this trip, I had reserved an e-bike in Carrick and was planning to ride some roads and trails to some of the places too far for me to walk. Fortunately, I decided to cancel that reservation. I can’t really imagine doing that now that I’ve been there. Margaret took me to one of the places I had planned to ride to, and the other places I missed I’ll just have to visit when I go back one day.

    In Donegal Town, I left my bags at the Abbey Hotel, and walked over to Donegal Castle, the home of the O’Donnells before the Brits took over.

    In the family’s living area on what would have been next to the top floor, there was a large dining table and an old faded tapestry on the wall. The area for storage and servants was on the bottom floor.

    It was clear when you looked up that there had been another floor. This would have been where the children and servants slept.

    The spiral stairway was purposely made uneven (a classmate referred to this as “stumble stairs”) to make it more difficult for raiders to navigate. Keep in mind that it was much darker and there was no stair rail then.

    I know that you want to know how the rich went potty in these times. The “garderobe” allowed you to sit over a hole in a plank and the waste went out a chute into the river. The chute was slanted so that an archer could not surprise you by shooting you in the ass while you did your business. Meadowsweet was strewn on the floor to help with the smell. This was just off the spiral stairs.

    After that, I walked around the center of town, bought a tee shirt (all my warm weather clothes were dirty), and kind of collapsed when my room was ready early. It was directly over the bus stop, and really warm. I went downstairs to the pub, which was modern and very nice, drank a Smithwick’s, and ate a bowl of chowder. But I just could not get it together to do any more than that. Good thing I canceled that e-bike, huh? I relaxed and read and late that night, attempted to take a cool shower so that I could sleep. Even if I could have opened the window more than a crack, the noise from the buses and people on the Diamond would have kept me awake. Well, I could not get the water cold. In fact, I nearly scalded myself trying to rinse off.

    The Abbey Hotel was clean and convenient but I did not enjoy my stay there.

    In the morning, I had coffee and a light breakfast downstairs and then hopped on the bus that would take me to Castletown in County Mayo.

    The two photos above were in Sligo. Just above is the Sligo train station.

    Three above photos: my bus connection in Castletown was just long enough to have a little brunch in Jenny’s Cafe. I was now in County Mayo, where everybody was excited about Mayo being in the Gaelic Football finals.

    I caught another bus to Westport, where Lora and her crew from the Essence of Mulranny Studios picked up my classmates and I at the train station.

    We had a fantastic welcome dinner with champagne at the art center’s dining room, then we ended up all back on a small bus to take us to our lodgings, which turned out to be about a 15 minute drive away out in the country on the Wild Atlantic Way, with amazing views. We were staying in Achill, not on the island (yet), in a village called Currane.

    Five of my classmates stayed in Currane House, where we would have breakfast each morning. The other three of us stayed in a house within walking distance up the hill a little ways. This was the view from our back yard.

  • Ardara-Killybegs-Slieve League Cliffs, July 19, 2026

    On Sunday morning, I had a light breakfast at the Corby Pantry and Tearoom, where I was pleased to see some nice art on the wall. I gathered my luggage and waited at the bus stop for my Uber, which had been confirmed the night before. It canceled at the pick-up time. So the answer to “does Uber works in rural Donegal” is “don’t count on it.” It may work other spots – who knows. We had the same issue in Cornwall when my sister, friend, and I went there in 2024. It wasn’t a big deal since a bus was coming along soon anyway. However, Geraldine, the owner of Diamond House, offered to drive me to Killybegs, about 10-15 minutes away. She would not take any money. She also offered to pick me up in Carrick the following day and take me to Donegal Town. What a kind woman she was!

    When I got to Killybegs, I had time to eat lunch at the Marina Cafe, which was excellent. A goat cheese and beetroot salad and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Mmmmm.

    Then I headed to the marina and got on a sightseeing boat tour to see the Slieve League Cliffs, some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. I am very interested in geology so I was intrigued with the rock formations and swirls in the cliff faces.

    ^Muckross Island

    That tower on the cliff is from the Napoleonic Wars era. There are several on the coast.

    Look at the swoops and wiggles in that igneous rock!

    I think these were the highest cliffs behind me.

    There were dolphins playing around the boat a couple of times and unfortunately my video was not on – user error.

    It was very, very cold on the boat. I was glad that I brought my puffy jacket and I borrowed the cap that I bought for my niece! The children around me had shorts and jackets on and didn’t seem too bothered. Tough kids.

    When I got back on shore, I found out that the trad music session in Carrick that I had planned to sit in on with my new friend Margaret had been canceled because of the World Cup final. Margaret offered to pick me up in Carrick and take me to another one in Teelin, not far away. However, our times didn’t work out. I couldn’t get to Carrick by the time she needed to pick me up. So I did a quick pivot, booked a room in Ardara for that night, and took the bus back to Ardara so that Geraldine wouldn’t have to drive to Carrick to pick me up in the morning.

    To be honest, I wasn’t really thrilled about the hostel I had booked in Carrick anyway. It may have been just fine, but it was cheap and I didn’t mind losing the money for that night. I was sad to miss the session though.

    Once I got back to Ardara, the noise on the street was crazy! It appeared to be a bunch of college age young adults who were excited about the World Cup. They eventually disappeared and I went to the pub on the bottom floor of the Nesbitt Arms Hotel. They sat me down in front of a huge TV screen, where I watched about half of the World Cup while eating mussels and garlic bread.

    I think that the next time I visit western Ireland I will rent a car.

  • Ardara, July 17-18, 2026

    I left Glencombcille on the bus early in the morning, expecting to have breakfast in Killybegs while I waited for my connection, but I passed a smaller private bus where I heard the driver say Ardara, so I hopped on and got there in 10 minutes or so.

    The view from Diamond House

    When I got there, I gave Geraldine, the owner of Diamond House, a call, and she immediately came over and let me into my room and showed me the common area and kitchen, and offered me a bottle of wine. The room was really comfortable and I had a nice rest before heading out for lunch.

    Note: “Diamond” in this area refers to a central plaza. Kind of how a “high” street refers to the main commercial street in the rest of the UK, most of the businesses and restaurants radiate around the diamond.

    Anyway, I decided to try the most famous pub there, Nancy’s Bar, for lunch: a salmon and seafood chowder. How good was it? I went there again that night and the next night for dinner!

    One of several small rooms in this traditional pub

    One of the reasons I chose to come to Ardara was its weaving heritage. Close to Nancy’s Bar was Eddie Doherty’s shop, a renowned weaver getting up in years. He had a large fly shuttle loom in the back room where he demonstrated weaving the woolen twill fabric he sells. I wish I had taken a video, but I was too enthralled with talking to him. I think he was impressed that I knew enough about weaving that my questions were different from what he was used to. He lit up as we talked about the mechanics of his loom. Super nice guy, and he had cones of leftover wool for sale at incredibly low prices. I knew I needed to be frugal about space in my luggage, but I bought two cones and wound them into balls that would take up less room that night. Then the next day I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t buy the rest so I went back and got the rest.

    Mr. Doherty’s loom
    Winding off the cones into balls while sitting by the river

    Then I had the idea of doing a quick weaving using the book I had bought for a frame loom, but I needed a needle. I found a little boutique that had a tiny sewing/knitting corner and bought scissors and a pack of needles. They came in handy later but I never got around to weaving. The owner of the boutique actually looked in her own sewing kit to see if she had a large darning needle to give me. As I’ve said, the people here go out of  their way to help.

    So, there were many exciting things I could have done around Ardara. It’s known as a central spot where you can take side trips to the nearby mountains, beaches, caves, waterfalls, and more. I did not. I rested, and listened to music in the pub across the street, and ate very, very well. I regret not walking down to the beach. Hindsight is 50/50 now while I write this in August, but I know I needed the rest then. It gives me a reason to go back.

    Outside of Nancy’s Bar
    Friendly folks at Nancy’s Bar

    I returned that night to Nancy’s Bar for fresh raw oysters. I sat at one of the bars next to Mr. McHugh, an older gentleman in a wheelchair who I came to understand had several relatives on the staff…and was most likely the owner or former owner. Nancy’s Bar has been owned by the same family for seven generations! The oysters were amazing, in part because they were served with sauces I had never heard of and secondly because they had arrived from about “six miles down the road” that afternoon.  There was a couple from New Jersey on the other side of Mr. McHugh and we all laughed and talked and asked him questions. I tried a couple of local brews and told him the story of the Dingle bartender who bullshitted me about Budweiser being made by Guinness here. He shocked me by telling me that the bartender was correct. Guess I won’t tell that tale any more!

    It was getting time for the music singalong to begin at the Corner House, so I headed over there and snagged a bar stool. The pub began to fill as the sun began to set. It wasn’t trad music, but they covered John Denver and the Eagles and such so I enjoyed singing along. I stayed sober by drinking water between drinks and was a good girl, went home early.

    The next day I ate a light lunch at the Courthouse Restaurant, then I wound more yarn in the park, then once the Corner House opened, I moved to the back covered beer garden to get out of the rain.

    Lager and yarn winding in solitude at the Corner House

    An excellent gallery I visited was Donegal Designer Makers – a beautiful variety of fine craft and art. I also stopped by the little pharmacy to get some meds for nausea, anticipating my needs for the boat tour to the Slieve League Cliffs the next day. (Turns out that my acupressure wristbands worked well for motion sickness and I didn’t need the medicine: highly recommend!)

    That’s right, I went back to Nancy’s for dinner. Prawns with a garlic cream sauce over linguini. I was seated at an old sewing machine table next to a few antique books. Perfect. Said hello and goodbye to Mr. McHugh and turned in for an early night.

    Sign in Nancy’s: “Welcome All of Our Guest Bring Happiness Some by Coming & Some by Going”