Chauffeurdrive vacations on Wild Atlantic Way with Dovechauffeurdrive and Dave Hogan

The beautiful, and historic town of Kinsale was our final destination on this really lovely tour, and i was sad to part from my new pals as said our goodbyes. They were a joy to be with, and i know that they really enjoyed their time with me, as we toured some of Ireland's loveliest countryside.

 The views from up on the hill at Charles Fort in Kinsale are gorgeous, and here we have, from the left, Patrick, Julie, Kathleen, Ken, Amy, Erin, and Ian, enjoying the lovely sunshine, and the fresh air, with Kinsale harbour in the background.

 A different view from the same place, with the town of Kinsale, at the inner end of the harbour.

 All together again, outside Acton's hotel, on the harbour front in Kinsale. That's me on the left, but i am sure that you already knew that.

 One of my favourite pictures was this one showing Ken emerging from his spell of confinement, in a beehive hut on Dingle. His behavior did improve a little after that. Well Kathleen does have to come down on him occasionally, and the Irish in her makes that easy.

 A lovely picture of these two beauties, Amy with her little lamb.

Love birds on vacation, Ken and Kathleen, what a lovely couple, and only married 50 years.

This had been a really nice tour, and our time together flew bye. I think we will have to do it all over again. Take care you guys. Love you all.
Dave

The Dingle peninsula and the Wild Atlantic way with Dovechauffeurdrive.

Today we were off to the Dingle peninsula, as we continued our journey on the Wild Atlantic way from Killarney.

Just have a look at those empty plates. All ready to head for Dingle after a hearty breakfast. From the left, front row, Ken, Julie, Patrick, Ian, Erin, and Kathleen. In the back row, Amy and yours truly. (i did not charge for my inclusion in this photo, well, because Amy is nice)

The Killarney Plaza is a really nice hotel, and one i use regularly for my guests. This nice photo i took in the main lobby of the hotel.

Our first photo on Dingle was at Inch beach as the day brightened and warmed up. This is a beautiful beach and featured in the movie "Ryan's daughter".

What a lovely picture of Ken and Kathleen. Ireland brings out the best in all of us.

Another lovely picture with the patchwork quilt like fields on the hillside in the background. After agreeing terms, i joined this picture myself. (Yes, that is me on the right. I think that my right side is my better one.)

 A visit to this particular site near Slea Head on this peninsula, is really a must, as there you can hold and cuddle a baby lamb. Here we have Kathleen, loving this experience, and one to remember.We did finally get Kathleen to reluctantly release the lamb, and in the photo below we have Ian and Erin, taking their turn.

Now it was Amy's turn, and how lovely she looks with her lamb. I think that this is a really special one, with the Dingle bay in the background. Unfortunately, due to the mist on the bay, we were not able to see the Skellig islands, which are actually offshore in the distance, directly behind where Amy is standing. These are the islands featured in the most recent Star Wars movie.

Patrick looks really pleased with himself in this picture, with Julie by his side. I think, that this session, with the baby lamb, was a real highlight today, eventhough they would not let me hold him, as they insisted that it was their tour and not mine. I suppose they have a point.

I always include this place as a special treat for my customers. It is located very close to Slea Head, and also includes a visit to the ancient Beehive Huts, stone dwelling places inhabited by ancient farmers and fishermen, and the monks of old.

 My friends standing in front of one of the Beehive huts. From the left we have, Ian, Amy, Ken, Kathleen, Julie, Patrick, and Erin.
This was a really great day and one enjoyed by all.

 After returning to Killarney this afternoon, we made our way to Muckross House, the stately home, where Queen Victoria stayed when she visited Killarney in the eighteen hundreds. The picture above shows the entrance gates to the estate.

 This is a view of the house as you approach from the entrance.

 Here we have my pals, standing on the steps down into the garden at the lake side of the house.

 This picture shows the rear of the house, and the fire escape which had to be installed for the Queen, as she would never sleep upstairs in any house, because of a fire in her youth. Special quarters were renovated in the downstairs area for her.The rear garden is very beautiful here, as are all of the gardens, once again especially created for her visit.

 My happy group, all together, with the lovely garden in the background.
What a great day we had today. Tomorrow we head for Kinsale, where unfortunately this tour ends.
They are just going to have to come back again for more, and they will be very welcome.

Chauffeurdriven tour with dave Hogan and Dovechauffeurdrive

My latest party arrived from the USA on Sunday and we began our tour on Monday, with a visit, first of all to the mighty Cliffs of Moher. This family, the Kimball's, live in and around the Boston area, and were all excited about their trip to their ancestral home. 

 Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture above, our recent spell of lovely sunny and hot weather had passed, but my brave group braved the weather, and really enjoyed their visit to the Cliffs. The group are, from the left, Ken, Kathleen, Patrick, his wife Julie, Amy, our boss, and commander in chief,  Erin, and her husband, Ian.
After spending time there, we made our way to Killarney. 
Tomorrow we make our way to the Dingle Peninsula, and the forecast looks a lot more favourable, so hopefully i will have a lot more nice photos for you.
Make sure to come along with us.

Cullen in Blarney/Kinsale/Jamesons

After leaving Killarney, we made our way to one of the most popular attractions for our tourists, the famous Blarney Castle. As most people know, one of the reasons people come here, is to kiss that Blarney stone, and therefore gain the gift of eloquence. There are those who think that this is a load of nonsense, but people who travel with me have no doubt that i kissed that stone. My pals all kissed it also, and ignored the stupid rumours that it is unhygienic for unmentionable reasons, and i must say that it seemed to have worked on them also. Let me know if you notice any difference in them when they get home to you.

Then it was on to Kinsale, a beautiful harbour town on the south coast, not far from Cork city. This is a very famous and historic town, as it was the scene of our last great tragic battle with the British. It is now best known as the gourmet capital of Ireland.

Sitting on a low wall, overlooking the harbour and town, we have, from the left, Jack, Sheryl, Maureen, and Tom.

What lovely weather we had right through this trip.

The Old head of Kinsale Golf course is set at the end of a rugged and majestic peninsula, as you can see in this picture above, which i took when Tom and i visited there on Friday morning. A friend of Tom's, back in the USA, had arranged for Tom to play a round of golf there, and he was so looking forward to it, but the weather turned nasty with strong winds and rain, and it was just not possible for Tom to play.

I took the picture above of Tom standing out on the patio overlooking the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, to illustrate just what the weather was like.

This picture above gives you a better idea of just how severe the weather was that day. I know that poor Tom was disappointed, but i think he just might have to come back again, and that is something i would like.

Our day, however, was not entirely wasted, as i took them to the famous Jameson Distillery in Middleton outside Cork city, where they enjoyed a tour of what is recognised as the distillery which produces the world's finest whiskey. They had time to sample some of this great whiskey, and indeed made sure that they brought a sufficient supply of it home with them when we left.

Standing in front of the main entrance with this fine copper still on the lawn in the background we have, from the left, Jack, Sheryl, Maureen, and Tom.

Our tour ended yesterday when my friends finally flew out of Shannon after spending Friday, enjoying a medieval banquet in Bunratty castle, close to Shannon. 

This was another very special tour for me, and a most enjoyable one, with a group of people that  i know i can now call new friends.  

Thank you for coming to me, and please remember that you will always be welcome back again.

Your pal in Ireland

Dave

(If you are curious as to how my tours operate, just send me a message. Have a look at my website also. You can find the link here.)

 

 

We're still, still here.

Yep, we really had hoped to be blogging on a super regular basis by now, but the hours and days and weeks seem to have slipped by. And this time we're trying to change things...blog some more projects right away, recipes, home stuff, work stuff, play stuff...

Because lately it's been nothing but work work worrrrrrrrrk. That blink of an eye that some people call Springtime barely got noticed over here in the Everyday is a Holiday universe. Our big break in the day is when we sit out on the deck, drink lemon water, and feed nuts to our favorite squirrel early in the AM. 

You guys figured that we partied hard, and you figured right! lolz

In our current day-to-day we've mainly been working very hard on shop orders. 

And the good thing about doing the same things over and over like you see in the pic above, and doing it in your own home, is that you can listen to music as loud as possible...we're loving everything off of the new Portugal. The Man record. 

Or we listen to endless health/food/environmental documentaries...What the Health on Netflix is great. In an easily digestible way it covers just about everything having to do with the benefits of switching to a plant based diet.

And we also will just listen to every single NutritionFacts video over and over. 

Dr. Greger throws so much knowledge at you in less than 3 minutes most of the time, so re-listening is key. You can even learn how to test your body's alkalinity by peeing into a cup of purple cabbage water. It's fun for the whole family!! ha! 

You may have noticed that I keep saying that we listen to documentaries and videos, and not watch them. But I guess if you look at the above and below pics it's obvious why we can't watch. Our eyeballs are kinda occupied. We always tell ourselves that we'll rewatch everything to get the visual effect as well, but it never happens. We've got about a 30 minute window right before we fall asleep to squeeze in half of a show like House of Cards or Bloodline. Who am I kidding? I fall asleep about 15 minutes in most times and have to restart the episode the next night. 

One thing we recently did to get our creativity moving forward was set aside a mandatory slice of time each week to work on new pieces. Do you guys make sure to do this?...if you're a creative person, heck even if you're not...it's a good thing to do with any type of work. 

Do the thing that you have to do to stay afloat, but also make sure to do the thing that will set up your next few months. It's hard sometimes to break away from the grind, but it's super necessary.

And we do have some great paintings in the works that'll be plaques very soon!

And much like what you see here, they're going to be mini plaques.  

And speaking of...the mini plaques were a big step in the right direction.

Our signature items have always been oversized: giant cupcakes, giant donuts, giant ice cream cones...

And then one day, inspired by the very limited wall space in our studio, we got the idea to do some of our most popular pieces but in much smaller sizes. We also have so many friends who live a lot like us...collecting lots of stuff from lots of artists, and it gets hard when one piece of art takes up three feet of wall space. 

And beyond the practicality of making smaller pieces, we just love how they look, and also how they feel. Once they're all painted and clear coated they're almost chubby feeling if that makes any sense. And yes, we totally get that our mini pink macaron is still a GIANT macaron in real life.

We've always worked in a production line style since we usually get multiple orders for single pieces, but with our minis, just like with our ornaments around the holidays, it's kinda exciting to see all of the work spaces in our studio covered in rows of Sprinkles, and Ice Cream Cones, and Boxes of Donuts. 

There's definitely something to be said for injecting new life into your work without having to overhaul everything.

Though we have to admit...it would also be pretty awesome to overhaul everything! Well not every single thing, but we do want to change our focus for at least a little while. 

We have been dying to paint signs...big signs, little signs, medium signs. We used to do so many signs in years past but ever since our hand cut plaques took off we've kinda put that part of our creativity on pause. 

This recent custom job was really fun and we realized how much we miss doing hand painted lettering.

The three Jumbo Cupcakes and these two signs will hang in a Cupcake/Ice Cream shop in Florida. 

One of the best things ever would be to visit all of the bakeries and shops that we've done signage for. Of course we'd like to visit the actual homes of our collectors, (I mean...if they want us there. We'd def bring snacks! haha!) 

but checking out retail spaces seems a bit more accessible...and less stalker-y.

Jeez, it's already summer and nearly Independence Day. And this year we're so happy that we planned ahead. We wanted to design a piece that was perfect for the holiday but that also worked for all summer long. We love classics, nostalgia, Americana, and fun treats, and Bomb Pops pretty much have it all. 

And apparently there are lots of Bomb Pop fans out there besides us. We're working all this weekend getting the last ones done so that they can ship over the next few days in time for the 4th. And we'll be able to squeeze in a few more for any last minute shoppers who grab them before Monday. They're in the shop now! 

We'll be going over to my brother's house again this year, and everyone will be there. I'll make sure to recap the day here on the blog.

But we'll post a bunch before that, and I promise that'll it'll be less work and more play. Hopefully some food, possibly a project or two. We just really wanted to get back on here and start blogging on a regular basis. Oh, and I just remembered that we overhauled the look and navigation of the blog. We hope you like it!

And we hope your summer is off to a great start!

We'll see you again soon!

Love from the Jersey Shore,

xo Jenny & Aaron 

Dingle on chauffeurdriven tour of the south west of Ireland

Today was our day on the magical Dingle peninsula, and once again the weather was favourable, not quiet as much sunshine, but very warm, and a bit overcast. It really was a nice day. 
In this picture, my friends are sitting on the low wall above the lovely Inch beach, which you pass on your way to Dingle town. This place has become extremely popular for surfing.
From the left, Jack, Sheryl, Maureen, and Tom.

Our next stop was near Slea Head, where the above photo with Sheryl holding the lamb, with Jack supporting, was taken. You can also visit the Beehive huts here, photos of which you will see below.

What a cute photo of Sheryl, feeding this lamb, and he was not long finishing his bottle.

Here we have Jack and Sheryl, Maureen and Tom, standing outside this ancient beehive hut. It is hard to believe that people actually lived in these dwellings, but they did, and many of them in this region.These type of homes were to be found in other mainland European countries also.

There were different types of these dwellings, some larger communal types, as the one pictured above, which were linked to each other by internal tunnels. In this photo, you can see, Jack, Maureen, Tom and Sheryl, at the far end of one of these interconnecting tunnels, and inside another beehive hut at the other end.

Tom, making his way back to the main hut.

The views from Slea head at the tip of the peninsula, from where you can see the Blasket Islands offshore, are stunning. Here again we have our full party, sitting on the wall, with the islands in the background.

Another wonderful scene from the Slea head area.

Later we returned to Killarney where Sheryl and Jack spent time at Muckross House and gardens. The picture above shows the old house, famous for having had Queen Victoria as a very special guest back in the eighteen hundreds.

A lovely picture of the lawns that sweep down to the lake at the front, and side, of the house.

Tonight we had a really great meal at Killarney's best Mexican restaurant, Casita Mexicana. This place is well worth a visit as their food is superb, something our group would gladly testify to.

Another highlight of our day today was the Celtic Steps show at the Killarney racecourse this evening. Because today was Solstice day, the show was held outdoors for the night. In this picture we have once again, from the left, Jack, Sheryl, Maureen, and Tom, happily waiting for the show to begin.

I took this picture, in the fading light, as the grand finale was taking place on the stage, ending what was for everybody, a spectacular night's entertainment. If you are in Killarney, this is a show not to be missed, and runs right through right into October, six nights a week.