Ghosts and Psychics In Ireland

When I began my novel, A Cry From The Deep, I had no idea that my characters would includ ghosts and psychics. It was the land that spoke to me, as well as my protagonist, Catherine Fitzgerald, a scuba diver on assignment to cover a treasure hunt, who took me in this direction.

I’be been blessed with much travel, so it’s not surprising that the places I’ve been end up in my stories. My husband, Rob, and I visited Ireland in 2006 and to say that I was blown away by its beauty is an understatement. 

Ireland is so much more when you see it for yourself. I tried to capture what I saw in my novel, A Cry From The Deep, when Catherine Fitzgerald sees the land for the first time.

“As if the drive wasn’t challenging enough, she also had to contend with the distraction of the picture postcard scenery. Though the skies were grey, the greens of the landscape were unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was as if God, the artist supreme, had selected every green paint available on the market and then some. There was kelly green, avocado, forest, willow, apple, lime, and mint. One green flowed seamlessly into another as it marched over the hills and into the beyond. She passed thatched cottages behind old stone fences, neon coloured pubs by the roadside, and new mansions set back on large properties. She even welcomed the times she had to stop to let farmers cross the road with their flocks of sheep. The gentle landscape was a welcome contrast to the frenetic pace of New York.”  from A Cry From The Deep

Because A Cry From The Deep, is a time slip story of a love so powerful it spans several lifetimes, it had to have ghosts and psychics. When Catherine Fitzgerald, about to join an underwater hunt for one of the lost ships of the Spanish Armada, buys an antique Claddagh ring, she is troubled by nightmares and visions that set her on a path to fulfill a promise of love made centuries before. Set in Provence, Manhattan, and Ireland, this romantic mystery exposes not only two women’s longings, but also the beauty of the deep, where buried treasures tempt salvagers to break the law.

Thanks again,  Siggy. I know you love Ireland as well. 

Diana Stevan 

For more about me, please visit me at http://www.dianastevan.com; 

https://twitter.com/DianaStevan, or my Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/dianastevan.author  

The link to my book title is http://amzn.to/1Lmx7nq.

Landscape Gardening with CARE

Landscape Gardening is no longer simply a job of creating a well planned garden, grading the terrain, and then executing a plan of what to plant where. The 21st century brought about its own environmental necessities and eco-demands that have to be taken into account.

Through combining workshop style assignments with research and ‘hands-on’ experience, the Wright Scoop takes readers through a process that uses site plats to create landscape/gardens which respect an existing vista, preserving and enhancing its eco health. For any style landscape should not simply be a result of traditional design but be the right plant, installed in the right place at the right (optimal) planting season - creating eco-legacies of landscape green, sustainable urban/suburban communities which enhance green space for today and future generations.

Project Back Ground

The challenge for present-day homeowners, gardeners or Industry professionals is to be naturalists with a "waste not, want not" ecological commitment: become stewards of the land, caretakers for their environmental communities. Through ‘hands on’ research, Wright identified tips and strategies which enable the who, why, where, what, how and when of landscape gardening -

     Who: Understand the factors which influence a landscape gardening perspective; and then, describe it in terms of someone who presently does and/or desires to 'dig in the dirt'.

     Why: Define landscape gardens more in terms of a mission, a lofty perspective such as 'green' - 'providing for present-day needs without sacrificing the future'.

     Where: Location, location, location – conduct a site analysis which identifies climate and physical constraints.

     What: Combing the 'who, why and where' influence a landscape garden plan, develop goal statements which describe a proposed site.

     How: List activities that accomplish the identified goals.

     When: Using the 'what and how' activities, identify recommended installation time-frame as well as recommended maintenance time-frame; and then, create a landscape gardening schedule.

Enable readers of her research to become known as a person who enables an eco-legacy of CARE - conservation, accountability, recovery and eco-efficiency.

 

Sylvia Hoehns Wright is a nationally recognized eco-advocate, contributing writer and communications specialist; in her spare time  she is a passionate historian and member of the American League of Pen Women.(www.NLAPW.org).  As founder of the ‘Plants of CARE’ plant recognition program and recipient of the Turning America from Eco-weak to Eco-chic award , the Wright Scoop – Sylvia Hoehns Wright seeks to inspire people to create an eco-legacy of CARE, a perspective of conservation, accountability, recovery and eco-efficiency – ‘green’ America’s landscape! To review and/or acquire copy, link to Sylvia's store http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/syhwright or for details of Wright's eco advocacy, visit web site www.TheWrightScoop.com 

 

In his review Den Gardner, executive director of Project EverGreen, says:"Wright’s eco-chic advocacy embodies every aspect of the consumer education campaign we hoped to inspire. For, our vision is to become a global organization that empowers people within communities to change society through the responsible creation and preservation of sustainable green spaces, such that the ever-increasing impacts of global warming in the world are measurably reduced; because Green Matters!

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This ice cold party beverage is green as a Leprechaun’s hat and perfect for a St. Patty’s Day party. You may have had this punch or something similar at birthday parties or holiday celebrations. If so, you might have wondered what exactly is in this sweet concoction. This beverage is pretty sweet, but it’s also undeniably yummy.

Ingredients:

• 1 46 ounce can grapefruit/pineapple juice
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 packages lemon/lime Kool-Aid
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 cups water
• 1 ½ quarts 50/50 soda
• Lime sherbet ice cream

Directions:
Combine all of the first five ingredients and refrigerate until chilled. Pour in a punch serving bowl. Add the 50/50 soda right before serving to ensure the most carbonation.  Add ice cubes and several scoops of sherbet ice cream.
Tip: Freeze an ice ring to float on top instead of ice cubes. Place scoops of ice cream in the center of the ring.
Makes 1 gallon or 32 4-ounce servings.

Other than that:

Half-million pack Dublin for St. Patrick's Day

By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press – 1 hour ago 

DUBLIN (AP) — An estimated half-million people crowded Saturday into central Dublin to view the St. Patrick's Day parade, a focal point for Irish celebrations worldwide and the start of the tourist season in debt-battered Ireland.
Bands from Britain, the United States and Russia joined thousands of Irish volunteers on Saturday's two-hour procession down Dublin's major boulevard, O'Connell Street, across the River Liffey, past Trinity College and concluding outside St. Patrick's Cathedral.
In his St. Patrick's Day message, Catholic Cardinal Sean Brady offered prayers to the estimated 50,000 citizens who have emigrated in the past year to escape Ireland's weak economy.
Unemployment stands at 14.4 percent despite the resumption of emigration at levels last seen in the 1980s. Ireland has been forced to raise taxes and slash spending for four straight years and since 2011 has been dependent on foreign loans to pay its government bills.
Seventeen government ministers have left Ireland this week to lobby 15 countries for increased investment and tourism. Prime Minister Enda Kenny is grand marshal of Saturday's parade in Chicago.
"I am keenly aware of the huge numbers who have emigrated from Ireland in recent times, especially those who felt they had no choice," said Brady, spiritual leader of 4 million Catholics in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
"May the memory of St. Patrick, who was himself carried off from his homeland at the age of 16, sustain all those who have left our shores for other lands," Brady said, referring to the saint's legendary background as a slave imported from Britain. "May the example of Patrick's faith in God, who comforted and protected him, protect and comfort them also."
The Catholic Church in Ireland also launched an online information pack for emigrants.
Brady was presiding Saturday over a special service honoring both St. Patrick and the Vatican's new diplomat to Ireland, New York-born Archbishop Charles Brown. At a service in Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastical capital located in Northern Ireland, the two men planned to bless sprigs of shamrock for the congregation and then take part in Armagh's own parade.
Saturday's Dublin parade is just one of more than 50 across Ireland, many of them rowdy village affairs. The capital is also running a four-day St. Patrick's Festival through Monday that features live performances and amusement park rides in several parts of the city center, although the fireworks show has been canceled, another casualty of austerity.
The city's two most popular tourist attractions, the Guinness brewery and Dublin Zoo, both offered nods to the day's mix of patriotism and partying. Zoo animals were being fed special mixes of oranges and vegetables, mimicking the green and orange of the Irish flag, while Guinness was offering free admission to any visitors named Patrick.

 

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

 

Map

 Posted by the Ex Farmer's Wife

Green Germany vs. The Green Isles: a Culture Clash

When we made the move to Ireland, organic farming, self-sufficiency and the whole shebang, we had years of green living and environmentally consciousness under our belts. Germany of the 80s had taken great strides in raising the public awareness. The Green Party was well established. As a German, I had been brought up with the motto “Waste not--want not”, that my grandparent’s. i.e., the war generation had drummed it in to us. It was natural to us to switch off any light upon leaving a room, or other unused gadgets, as it was to hang out the wash if the weather looked promising to save on electricity. In order to save on water and avoid surface pollution, German law forbids washing your car in the street. You must go to a car wash instead. The petrol crisis and the warnings of the club of Rome in the mid 70s had contributed to people saving gas whenever possible, downsizing cars, putting catalytic convertors in; cars were made fuel efficient. A debate was raging for years whether diesel or petrol was better for the environment. Another question was foremost on environmentalists’ minds: Does one save petrol by switching off the engine at a railroad crossing while waiting? Or at a red traffic light? In addition, being a bit of an activist –some said busybody - I would get out of my car in such a situation and ask the drivers before and behind me, “Does your engine have problems in starting, or don’t you want to save the environment?” A speed limit was introduced in busy parts of Germany. The sky was no longer the limit as urban myth abroad about the Autobahn still claims.

A levy of 10 Pfenninge on plastic bags had been introduced early on in the 80s when grocery shopping. So people made the switch and got accustomed to taking their own bags or baskets. We used rainwater for watering plants, off switched the tap while brushing our teeth and on again for rinsing. Water saving devices were installed into toilets, one for the small and one for the full flush. We avoided chemical cleaners around the house and substituted them with baking soda and vinegar.The use of aluminum foil and saran wrap as well as paper kitchen towels were reduced to a minimum. Freezers were defrosted regularly in order to reduce electricity. And then, after we had left for Ireland in 1990, recycling was taking to an all new level. Until then, you kept paper and glass separate for recycling anyway, in addition, a bio bin was introduced for scraps from the kitchen, and an extra bin for plastic or what is called “rest trash”. In some cities, households have 4 different trash cans. If you dare to mix the ingredients, maybe even by mistake, the bin men won’t pick it up.

Detergents were used ever so sparingly. Water softeners were the work of the devil since they hypertrophied rivers and lakes which results in unwanted algae growth. There is no need for them if you hang your wash in the breeze, and definitely not if using a dryer.

When building our new house in Germany, it was built according to environmental standards with eco-friendly materials, in particular paints. In the renovating process of the Irish farm, Mac took gallons of Livos paint (eco!) on board in his hand luggage while I navigated 2 toddlers and their nappy bags in a stroller. Patrick, my second born, wasn’t exposed to disposable nappies –no, we had linen diapers and self-knitted panties made out of home spun untreated sheep wool. I didn’t spin though, only knitted …and then kept washing. They made the naturally big baby enormous around the midriff!

At some stage I had taken to making my own soaps and shampoos but it never turned out well enough for satisfactory results.

Being well trained in so many different areas, Ireland came as culture shock. The so called Green Isle was anything but “green”. Hedgerows were littered with plastic bags. My neighbor kept burning their rubbish, even attempted at setting metal cans on fire, exchanged their oil in the yard and let it drip down on the ground. I was the only one in the local store who brought a basket. Everybody else, even for buying just one bag of chips, got a plastic bag to wrap his purchase. In answer to the shop owner’s question why I bothered since there were plastic bags,I told her about the German levy on bags. She frowned and said condescendingly, “That wouldn’t go down well in this country”. It took about 15 more years until Ireland had to face the music, too, as part of EU regulations. They are paying for plastic bags too now.

There was practically no awareness as to what was harmful to the environment, organic and eco products were not available. Clothes were way cheaper than in Germany but often made of poor quality, i.e. synthetics and not degradable. None of towns around Lough Dergh had a single water treatment plant until 1995. All household waste and sewerage plus farm effluents went untreated straight into the lake. So did the waste from numerous boats cruising on the lake, a tourist gem, and the River Shannon.

Encountering this challenge in my newly adopted country made me bite my teeth on an ongoing basis. I was fit to be tied facing this sea of backwardness and having the ambition to change things for the better. I tried for many years. It’s hard work to convert a whole country.

Now here in the USA, I’m facing an even bigger challenge. Not just because of the size of the country, but because the irrefutable knowledge is there and widely available. The inertia that surrounds me seems to be unsurpassed, however. Apologies to states like WA , OR and CA where things are different.

The Ex Farmer's Wife
Twitter:@Hernibs