Does it get more Southern than this?

I am back in the South for sure... check out this gigantic, enormous honking magnolia flower from a tree in Nash Square, downtown Raleigh, diagonally across from my studio. All I need to complete this experience is a big ole mint julep:

Progress.

My message to Emmy must have gotten through: this morning she waited until 5:30am to poke me in the face. Things are improving.

Pokey.

In truth I really did miss the cats, and of course John, while I was away in France/Ireland. However, as much as I missed Emmy’s habit of poking me in the face in the mornings, she really outdid herself today - making up for lost time, I suppose. There was a widdle fuzzy paw prodding at my mouth at 3:30am. The paw was back around 4:30am, accompanied by a raging purr. I love to be loved and all, but I must insist that this love does not smack me in the face until at least 7am.
Ok, Em?

Raleigh = lush.

If one is going to come home off a stellar, divine, awesome, fun, beautiful, instructive, overall amazing time in Paris and Dublin, I’d have to say that arriving in the full bloom of a lush Carolina spring is not a bad way to do it. The weather today was absolutely teriific – and, likely due to the rain we had yesterday, it was actually less humid than usual. Glorious, glorious. The trees in our yard have once again plumped out with foliage to such a degree that one can’t see beyond our balcony, and when walking to work it is difficult to see oncoming cars exiting the I-440 off-ramp, as they are hidden by trees and shrubbery. Hence, it’s beautiful outside, but *slightly* more dangerous.

Awesomeness alert: there are honeysuckles blooming along the walk we take to work. Mmmmmmm, honeysuckles.

Outta Dublin, by a hair.

Some days, you know, they just start off on the wrong foot. If all’s well that ends well, however, then I’m all good and can probably forget the fact that I could have easily missed my flight out of Dublin this morning. However, I cannot ignore the factor of luck and maybe some karmic retribution in my having been saved from a travel-related debacle. Here’s what I like to think: because I showed un-Diane-like kindness in aiding a fellow traveler in navigating the Paris Métro three weeks ago, good travel vibes came to my aid in the form of my German roommate waking me up this morning to let me know my cab was waiting for me. Otherwise, I’d have overslept due to a battery malfunction in my alarm clock, and I’d be stuck in Dublin. A bad thing? Perhaps not… but in any event, it’s good to be back home as scheduled and reunited with my better half and our feline roommates. Ah, home.

Ballycastle.

Today I bid adieu to the Lofft kids and hopped on a bus for a 4 1/2 hour bus ride to the Atlantic coast of Ireland, in County Mayo. Some fellow painter friends are doing a residency program out in the windswept and rugged western side of Ireland, in a wee and charming little town. I was curious, so I thought it would be worth a grand total of 9 hours (round-trip) on a bus to check it out and to pay them a visit. I was not wrong, behold – extremely dramatic landscape ahead:

Alex and Hollis, in front of the sinkhole.

Some lovely sheep, grazing at the buffet:Some cows, doing the same, with Downpatrick Head far in the background.This is the highly dramatic and amazing Downpatrick Head, which looks like it is separating from Ireland and trying to float over towards America...More of the rocky coastline:It was totally, totally worth the trip.

Teaghlach.

We did more exploring of Dublin today, Kaff, Alex and me. As a treat to the painter in our group, we visited the Hugh Lane Gallery and the relocated and eerily preserved studio of Francis Bacon. Slobby, yet lovely:Not a cheery place to hang, overall pretty sobering: Kilmainham Gaol.Wines, spirits, Ireland.A view of Dublin from above, at the Guiness Storehouse:Cutest couple known to mankind:By the way, I think I may have found one of the (many?) reasons why British and Irish cuisine gets a bad rap; behold, Exhibit A:
"Brown sauce"-?? I mean, what the heck is that?? Sigh.
By the way, I sampled it to find out - and, well, it tastes brown. Decidedly.