Sunday 20 March 2016

Eggstatic Egg Benches for Easter

I'm eggstatic about egg benches!


http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/ 

And now it's time to come out of my shell . . . 






. . . and show you some great benches for Easter.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/

But what comes first, the chicken or the Easter egg?

I'm debating this because it will soon be Easter here on Paradise Island and Easter is one of the nicest things about spring.




We welcome spring, of course.






Spring puts a, um, spring, in everybody's step.


All the lovely spring benches come out, and Easter colours like yellow and lavender.



But first there's this chicken and egg issue. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780


My husband, His Excellency: The chicken/egg thing is a tired old question. There's nothing to be gained from investigating it.

Well, the choice is to look at some fluffy bunnies.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/


Or chicks in pretty little nests. 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/

Tamsin, a very sweet local girl: Ohhh, aren't they adorable?!!!! 

You're the Queen of Cute, Tamsin; I knew you'd like them.

Tamsin: They're almost as cute as I am lol!



I like your purple Easter dress. And you all look pretty in your Easter bonnets.

Tamsin: That was last year. I look even prettier this year with my new purple hat!




Lady Brassica, wife of the Fifth Earl of Drizzly: That hat is dreadful, Tamsin. I've just been to Paris and feathered hats are what fashionistas like me are wearing this spring.




Mungo, my imaginary husband: I hate all this stuff about fashion. I thought this was supposed to be about benches.

You're right, Mungo. We need to keep a focus on benches. Specifically, benches with an Easter theme.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385


His Excellency: I am struggling to find an Easter theme here or indeed any theme at all.

Sorry. I'm finding it hard to get started because of the chicken and egg question. I haven't managed to hatch a plan.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167


Mungo: I thought egg benches would be a dime a dozen.

Eggs, yes. 

Egg benches not so much.




His Excellency: Oval-shaped benches: how hard can it be? 

Well, here's a great design though it isn't really an egg bench: it's called Harmony.  


Xiao Tianyu @ www.wuhaoonline.com 


His Excellency: And here is a mid-century Arne Jacobsen-inspired Danish Egg Chair.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/shopgirlinprint

Mungo: Looks good enough to eat. Is there a Bacon Chair to go with it?

As it happens, there is.


https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate

Tamsin: I saw a lovely hen going out for her shopping this morning.  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539  


Very nice, Tamsin. But there's no bench. 

Tamsin: Golly, does there have to be a bench?

His Excellency: Perhaps the title Bench and Site gives you a clue.

Mungo: Yes, it's a blog about benches so don't try to duck out of it.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/

His Excellency: I think you'll find this is a platypus.

Mungo: It's all water off a duck's back to me.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/

Tamsin: I don't understand this. Why can't we just look at Easter bunnies like we did last year?




Mungo: Yeah, it's not like you never repeat stories on Benchsite.



Oh dear, we are getting scrambled up here: Easter, benches, chickens, eggs -   it's too many eggs in one basket. 




Mungo: The same thing happened last year. And the same old puns yolks. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/


An egg bench! Thanks, Mungo! It's great that you're egging me on. 


His Excellency: As you're recycling photos, I seem to recall an excellent shot of Innocent in her Easter dress. Now that would be worth seeing again. 





His Excellency: Very nice, but this isn't the one.

Is it this one?




His Excellency: Now this makes me fancy an Easter egg hunt. 

Mungo: I fancy a fry-up.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633


Eggs sunny-side up! This bench is smashing. 

Tamsin: I don't like eggs. I want to see some Easter bunnies. 


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_


Tamsin: This is soooooo cute! 

His Excellency: However, there is no bench here. And rabbits are beside the point; they have nothing to do with egg benches. 

Tamsin: Who wants to see egg benches? I want to see bunnies!

OK, who wants to see benches? We'll take a quick straw poll.  


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny


Tamsin: Ohhhh I love this scarecrow bunny! 

Here are the results of the poll.


Want to see bunny benches - green
Want to see chicken benches - purple
Want to see egg benches - red
Want to see no benches at all - blue



  
Mungo: Hard luck, Seashell. Looks like not that many people want to see benches.

I think this story is beginning to go off the boiled egg boil a bit.


 http://yrkubus.tmall.com


The truth is, it's rather hard to find egg benches.

Mungo: Maybe they're hiding in their cartons?

You're right. We'll have to sit down very carefully.


http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa

His Excellency: According to Egg Bench designer Grace Chen, an egg it not as fragile as you might think. Each egg on her egg bench can hold 120 pounds of weight.


http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/

As for Easter egg benches, I'll just have to chick it out.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/


Mungo: This is the wrong date for Easter this year. 

Golly, there are quite a few errors in this story. 

I've got egg on my face.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/

Tamsin: And it's a bit boring. I'd like to see more fluffy bunnies and little chicks and cute stuff. 


https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920

This Easter egg story is exhausting.






Egg benches seem to have stirred up a lot of emotions.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/ 

His Excellency: This blog is certainly nothing to crow about.



Well, what can I say? I'm a bad egg.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/ 

I'm headed for a Great Fall.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/

His Excellency: There is something alien about this egg. 

Tamsin: Ohhh, I love Humpty Dumpty. 

It doesn't end well for him.

Tamsin: This is sooooo sad! 

It would be nice to end with an egg bench but I can't find one. 

Never mind. As they say in France, un oeuf is un oeuf.


Happy Easter anyway!






Credits


The egg bench at the start of the story is by designer Grace e Chen, first seen on Inhabitat in 2010. Inhabitat is a female designer working in cyberspace from Novato, California.   https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/4612445087/  However, the photo of Grace's debut bench that I have used here was seen at chairblog.eu, together with the later picture of someone (Grace?) sitting on the bench. Here is Grace's explanation of her work: Composed of six dozen eggs delicately seated on a solid walnut base, Egg Bench was created to challenge common misconception that eggs are fragile. By researching this complex physical structure, I discovered that each egg can support and distribute a load of 120 lbs maximum. To insure success, my unique design isolates each egg into an optimum position and ensures that it remains motionless. The result is a piece that invites the sitter to suspend their disbelief and to embrace a new appreciation for this powerful, natural creation.  http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/10/30/egg-bench-by-grace-chen/   


Anna Hull from West Sussex is The Bunny Maker, Maker of Rabbits. It all started because her eldest son loves soft bunnies and what was one sock bunny became two, then five, then ....... they took over. She now has a whole album of sock bunnies, like the blue and pink sock bunnies are hatching out of their egg-like boxes on on a garden bench in 2009.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfanacre/3388382910/ Widget Widget was, and still is, The Most Important Bunny. You can see Widget and his friends at http://www.widgetandfriends.co.uk/  Do we have rabbit benches here on Benchsite? We certainly do! http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html


Welcome Spring is a welcoming bench pillow cover from Chelsea and Charlie at Pink Door Fabrics in Colorado. They sell scrumptious modern quilting and craft fabrics, including new arrivals like Fox Field by Tula Pink, Maisie and Clementine by Blend Fabrics, Wee Wander by Sarah Jane, Littlest by Art Gallery, Sweet as Honey, April Showers Precuts, Mirabelle precuts, Helen's Garden by Tamara Kate. I could go on and on but I won't. You can see their shop at  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PinkDoorFabrics


Poultry is popular here on Benchsite. There are plenty of rooster benches in 2017, The Year of the Rooster. For Easter 2015 we were eggstatic when we celebrated with some sprightly Spring Chicken benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/no-spring-chicken-benches.html  And in 2014 we had Sunny Bunny Easter benches, presented by April, age six, who lives here in Fribble-under-Par with her parallel selves, May and June. The girls always turn up together to community events and are among the very few children here on Paradise Island. They love Tamsin's baby, Isambard, and they have a pet lemon called Squeezy, who looks a little sinister but maybe he's just a sourpuss. Here they are last Easter on their yellow benches:




Springy benches featured on Benchsite back in April 2014. The red one is in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse and comes from an ex-pat American who has travelled from the Midwest to Southwest Germany, and everywhere inbetween.  She recounts her adventures, observations, and tips for living, visiting, and enjoying Kaiserslautern, Germany.  http://aroundthewherever.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-bit-of-neustadt-der-weinstrasses.html

I am lucky enough to have two husbands. One is Mungo, my imaginary husband, who keeps a good workbench. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html  The other is His Excellency, who has a reputation for destruction, even when he means well. He's a philosopher and, to say the least, not a very practical person. You can appreciate his difficulties if you know his school bench history

The deviled egg chicks are a clever creation by Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss, the Meal Makeover Moms. You can visit their website at www.mealmakeovermoms.com or see their 2012 Easter treats at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/6905448780

We have platefuls of food benches here on Benchsite. There are some very tasty Italian benches and strangely edible benches which look quite appetising, despite the exploits of the odious chef Jench de Bench. We have creamy bovine benches and delicious ice cream benches. And then we have logs that look like cake and cake that looks like logs and logs and/or cake that looks like benches.   

Liz Kearley from Charlotte, North Carolina, loves photography and dachshunds. She used to run the Comment on Cuteness Flickr group, (now disbanded). 
Liz's dog Honey Bunny makes a very attractive rabbit.    https://www.flickr.com/photos/doxieone/5644086363/  For some very appealing dog benches see  

Alanna George is a freelance graphic designer and stay-at-home mom for her two small children. Her love of design and flair for crafting keeps her busy creating handmade gifts, jewelry and cards for all occasions.Her craft repertoire includes not only scrapbooking and papercrafting but also sewing, needle felting, jewelry making and more. One of her creations is the lovely spring chicks from Easter 2010. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alannageorge/4587225768/


Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. Ever a follower of fashion, Tamsin likes to try anything new, even lurid purple Easter frocks. She has a French fiance, Garcon Orange, and a baby named Isambard Kevin, whose paternal origins are unknown. And she has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about big and small benches. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. 

Red Shoes is a 2011 Bench Monday photograph taken by the ever-clever Karina at Bunches and Bits. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/5342959385  In fact, I like Karina's photos so much that I've used another one in this story. It's the one with the eggs in a basket on the floor. Karina calls it Watching My Eggs and it's from a Bench Monday in 2009, when she photographed every day; this is Day 113/365. The bench was newly recovered and Katrina just had to include the rooster. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/4128780564  We're cock-a-hoop about roosters in 2017 The Year of the Rooster Bench.


Ohkylel@twitter is a boring fat guy with an attractive wife, a 16 year old son, and four year old daughter. His life in Blue Ash, USA is the typical stuff a good sitcom contains, including Lego chicks coming out of their shells. https://www.flickr.com/photos/thekmancom/9539704167


Jessie Pearl  from Yucapia, California is a Boss level photographer. Her website is at http://terwilligerphoto.com/   She has a photostream full of colourful Easter eggs, one of which is the basket of eggs shown in this story.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/terwilliger911/


The elegant oval bench is called Harmony and it's a limited edition by Chinese designer Xiao Tianyu at Wuhao www.wuhaoonline.com  Working now as a freelance designer, Xiao Tianyu graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Harmony combines the traditional woodwork of China with the comfort of western materials. Harmony was exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2011. I first saw his work at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/5642696442/  


The mid-century Egg Chair is a classic design by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen. A great example is the yellow Egg Chair print by shopgirlinprint Caroline Moseley in Perth, Australia. At her etsy shop Caroline designs wit and wonder for your walls, such as the classic mid-century Egg Chair in yellow and white. Shopgirl in Print Mini-Art comes in a set of two, which includes 'You and Me, Baby', with a bright yellow background, and the mid-century inspired 'Egg Chair' in yellow and white. Mini-Art is perfect for a pin board, mood board or to frame. Each print measures 13cmx18cm and is printed on 210gsm silk-finish paper.  
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/191067425/mini-art-set-of-2-pocket-sized-art-for?ref=related-6

If you doubt that it's possible to find anything online, try Googling Bacon and Bench. Yep. Here's the bacon-coffee-table-handmade bench, which sold on Etsy in 2011 for round about £475.77. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/111794707/bacon-coffee-table-handmade-bench  The creator is Ryan Fitzpatrick, from Texas, whose shop is Masters of Fate at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MastersOfFate


The lovely embroidered and beaded Easter chick is a lovingly hand-crafted work by Constanza, aka peregrine blue, in 2009. Constanza comes from Santiago in Chile and currently lives in Camarillo, California. I spent a long time looking at her brilliant arts and crafts. https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/3344868539  

Loren Javier lives in LA and photographed the colourful Perry the platypus bench at the Phineas and Ferb exhibition in San Diego in 2011 https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/5963375484/  Loren has an annual pass at Disneyland and he has loads of photos from Universal Studios too, including a whole collection of Norman Bates and the Bates Motel. That's why he's been on Benchsite before; if you want to have the wits scared out of you, see the spine-tingling Halloween post.

The Duck Bench is in Pages Wood in London, sculpted by Andy Frost. It's on the London Loop Section 22 Harold Wood to Upminster Bridge. It was photographed by Maureen Barlin, who lives in Richmond near London and gets out and about throughout the UK with her camera. She has interesting albums of all kinds of art, culture and fun events. https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureen_barlin/10706275283/  


Jeff Turmelle has only 23 photos on his photostream, which include landscapes, a penguin, a puff adder, and the egg yolk bench which he saw on Tallman Mountain in 2009. Well, if you're going to have a very small photostream, one of the pictures ought to be a bench.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/26615859@N05/

Innocent married Root, the son of Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. Since their Scottish wedding, Innocent has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of a fashion icon. But just how innocent is Innocent? Last year in the Springy Yellow Bench post she turned up to a party in rabbit ears and ended up dressed as a Mexican flag. Is this a bit of fun or a careful strategy to unnerve the Easter Bunny? For a whole fiesta of Mexican benches, see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-fiesta-of-mexican-benches.html


The fried egg bench was seen at the open Air Museum in Hakone, Japan in 2008. The photographer is Cinjo, from San Rafael, California  https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcej/2960250633


The little white bunny baby is Riley Cole Hinkle at Easter 2009. It was bright and he needed to wear his sunglasses, along with his bunny ears. The photograph was taken by Hinkle Riley and available at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_riley_006_(Medium).jpg?uselang=en-gb

The Easter bunny made of straw is sitting on the market well in Neckargemund in Germany in 2009. As it happens, Mungo and I have stayed in Neckargemund and have cycled along the lovely Neckar in the area around Heidelberg. The bunny was photographed by Nemracc and can be seen on Wikicommons at  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easter_Bunny_made_of_straw.JPG?uselang=en-gb  There are lots more alpine benches and other benches from Germany here on Benchsite. 


The very cool boiled egg chairs are from Cool Jacobs Flagship Store in China. They are made from fiberglass and sold at  http://yrkubus.tmall.com, who have sooooo many varieties of Egg Chairs that you won't believe it.   
  
The egg sofa is called Relax. If you can. It was for AXN, Sony's Satellite TV channel back in 2006. The AXN Channel is/was? focussed on energy programs, impressive tv series, high tension films, so the Relax concept is totally relevant. The clever advertising agency was The Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies, 1861 United, Milan, Italy. 
 http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axn_sonys_satellite_tv_channel_eggs_sofa


Ged Carroll is Renaissance Chambara. He lives mostly in Hong Kong and his occupation is digital, strategy, social media, web X.0 type thingy. He photographed Chick it Out in a year when Easter was on March 23rd.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/renaissancechambara/2347726277/

There is a lot of fun with eggs going on in Flickr photos. The egg face is by Courtney 'Coco' Mault, dating back to 2009. Those eggs will be cold by now. Coco lives in Omaha and has a number of blogs, including one called Your Dress Would Look Better on Me. Coco's sense of fashion and general zaniness kept me amused for ages.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/contusion/3403068028/

Victorian1920 is an etsy shop featuring creative designs by Colette in Connecticut. Bunnies I Love is a digital collage greeting card featuring a beautiful little boy and his favourite rabbits. The shop is full of delights and the loveliness just goes on and on.  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/victorian1920

Did Paddington colour all these Easter eggs and then fall asleep in his chair? No, he didn't. They were coloured by Miggy's family for Easter 2016.

The Egg Moticons are by Veronica Aguilar, who is from Granada in Spain but currently lives in London. They were Egg-actly the right thing for Easter 2013.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynsey_wells83/11054897226/ 

The huge rooster on a wall is called Morning; that's when roosters are at their best. It was photographed in 2007 by Tom Rose, who is a web developer from Philadelphia. https://www.flickr.com/photos/slurve/1410379588


Ron McNeil is an artist based in the Scottish highlands, working in both Pop Surrealist and abstract genres of painting and drawing. He has degrees in fine art printmaking, fine art painting, and photomedia. Bad Egg is one of his wonderful graphite illustrations
https://www.flickr.com/photos/63488526@N07/   His other work can be seen at  http://www.spanglefish.com/ronmcneilart

The Happy Humpty Dumpty Alien was photographed on his wall/bench in 2010 by Ben Gillin, who is a graphic designer. Humpty was apparently at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, as was Ben.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/bengillin/4468802828/


Miggy saw the bench at the end of the story in a shop on Main Street in Pomeroy, Washington. What a great little town! What a great window display!

Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Wearing O' the Green Benches for St Patrick's Day

Top o' the mornin' to you!  It's that time of year when the green benches are out.

American vintage postcard 1910

My imaginary friend Miggy: We don't want to just see green benches though; we want FUN!




His Excellency, one of my husbands: Did someone mention St. Patrick's Day?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151

Yes, of course they did! It's March 17th, the day our hearts rejoice.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/

His Excellency: I hope you're not going to get bogged down in green kitsch and silly nostalgia. 

Don't worry, this will be a modern, trendy blog about The Emerald Isle. 

Mungo, my imaginary husband: I hope no one will say Top o' the mornin' to you. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012

I guarantee it, Mungo. No road will rise up to meet you.

His Excellency: And no one will wear a tee shirt saying Kiss Me I'm Irish

Mungo: Or Kiss Me I'm Drunk.

Tamsin, my sweet little neighbour: I love someone to kiss me when I'm drunk!

I promise, there will be no cozy cottages with peat burning on the fire.

Stacy Cashman at RamblingTraveler.com

My imaginary best friend Miggy: I was hoping for a certain amount of green though.

www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn

Mungo: I was looking forward to some green beer. 

Even if it's being drunk by a green dude in an ultra-cool pub?

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488

His Excellency: No green beer. And most importantly, no Irish eyes should be smiling.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927

Tamsin: Oh, so that's what Irish eyes look like! I grew up in Ireland and I never knew that.

Hey, everyone, just to remind you that as this is a blog called Benchsite, I must keep Irish benches in the frame.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/

Tamsin: They don't all have to be green, do they?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424

His Excellency: A tasteful celtic cross bench will do nicely.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925

Miggy: This all sounds a bit boring. I have fond memories of St. Patrick's Day.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758

But I still have to show some green benches.


My photo, Somerset


His Excellency: I happen to know this bench. It's not in Ireland. 

If you're a regular reader of Benchsite, you'll know what I'm like.

www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile


Miggy: I hope you're not relying on the luck o' the Irish.

Quite right, Migs. I have invited two little people called Sean and Seamus to help me liven things up for St. Patrick's Day.




Tamsin: Sean and Seamus are sooooo cute! They look just like my brothers.

They are your brothers, Tamsin. 




Tamsin and Sean and Seamus come from the land where the shamrock grows.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851

They grew up in a pretty cottage in County Offhand.





Mungo: This looks like a cookie jar.

Sorry, guys, it is a cookie jar. 

Tamsin: Yeah, but it's really cute though! 

Like many Irish people, Sean and Seamus have the gift of the gab

His Excellency: Some call it Irish Diplomacy.


www.etsy.com/shop/dorindaart

Miggy: some just call it blarney.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875

But Irish people don't let the grass grow under their feet bench.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/

His Excellency: This bench is not Irish. I saw it in the Netherlands.

So you did. I thought it would make a nice little surprise
.

Tamsin: Oh I love surprises! I remember that time Seamus gathered our family together and dropped a bombshell.



www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch

His Excellency: They suspected all along.


Now Sean and Seamus have suggested we all go down to the pub for a pint. 

Mungo: In Ireland they call it a bar, whether or not it's on the beach.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001

My two husbands are very happy about this. 

His Excellency: I am particularly pleased that Guinness is good for you.


Photo Olivier Bacquet @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808


Tamsin: My Mum said Guinness was good for us when we were babies too. 

And Mungo is in a very good mood since he heard that there are more than 500 pubs serving craft beers in Ireland.  

Miggy: The pubs are likely to be rowdy though. 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543

Miggy: There'll be a bit of a craic going on down there for St. Patrick's Day.

www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps

Golly, a lot of this is stuff I've been told to avoid: pots of gold at the end of the rainbow, for instance. 

Tamsin: We used to chase those all the time. 

And the wearing o' the green. 

www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns 


His Excellency: To quote a well known Irish film critic, what in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery? 

Sean and Seamus say it's rich folklore, as old as the trees and long embedded in tradition.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331

This reminds me: I need to show another green bench.

Musee d'Orsay exhibition, Paris

His Excellency: Irish? I don't think so.

Ok, I'll try again. 





His Excellency: This bench has nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland.

Mungo: And nothing to do with St. Patrick's Day. 

I know. It's in Wells in Somerset. Right behind the cathedral. 

Tamsin: At least it's green though. 

That's something to celebrate I suppose. 

Miggy: I actually began my St. Patrick's Day celebrations hours ago. 

Mungo: You saw a man on a bench, didn't you? And you said Top o' the mornin' to ye

Miggy: I did. 

What did he say?

Miggy: Nothing. So I hitched up my skirts and did a jig for him.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012

His Excellency: The man looked alarmed.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630

My two husbands are also well underway on the Guinness. They've been celebrating with Lord Brassica over at Drizzly Manor, where Lord B has constructed a replica Irish pub just for today.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240 

Mungo: It's called O'Brassica's and it's the real deal. 

His Excellency: Though the bouncers are not what you'd expect from Ireland of the Welcomes.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434

Miggy: A lot of Paradise Island people are there. 

Yes, here's Innocent, wearing a crocheted design from Studio Ballyfrumpy, which just happens to be in County Offhand in Ireland. 




Root Brassica is there too, though he and his mates celebrate pretty much every day of the year anyway.





Mungo: Root actually gave up drinking once. It was the worst fifteen minutes of his life.

His Excellency: Right now Root is in such a state that, one way or another, he's going to have to be carried out of O'Brassica's.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704

Tamsin: Ohhhhh, a wake would be such fun!

Lord Brassica and his drinking mates are going to feel rough tomorrow.

The Next Day, Joseph Fortune Layraud 


But where is Lady Brassica?




Here in Ireland, Sean and Seamus and the rest of us are trying to find the pub. Bear in mind that it can be hard to find your way round in Ireland. 

Miggy: The signs aren't much help.



Stacy Cashman at RamblingTraveler.com

On Suffolk Street in Dublin we pass The Tart with the Cart.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953

His Excellency: Top o' the mornin' to ye, Molly Malone!

Sean and Seamus know her by different names: The Dolly with the Trolley; The Dish with the Fish; The Trollop with the Scallops; The Flirt in the Skirt.

Mungo: To be sure, the Irish have a way with words. 

We pass a very nice book bench, which reminds us of Ireland's great literary tradition.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198  

His Excellency: I enjoyed A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when I was a young man. 

Mungo: Here is your portrait when you were a young man.




James Joyce looks on with some degree of bewilderment.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427

Tamsin: Who is James Joyce?

His Excellency: How can you be Irish and not know who James Joyce is?

Tamsin: I don't know everything about Ireland. I'm a Dubliner.

His Excellency: Don't you ever read books, Tamsin?

Tamsin: No, I'm down on this sort of thing.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093

In Sligo Street we see someone kneeling before a sheet of cloth. 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961

Just to show my literary credentials, I tell him to tread softly, because he treads on my dreams. 

Mungo: I can't repeat what he replied but I don't think it was Gaelic.

Miggy: Remember when we went hitchhiking in Ireland years ago and you tried to memorise The Collected Works of WB Yeats? 

Vague memories, nothing but memories.

His Excellency: Now there is grey in your hair and young men no longer suddenly catch their breath when you are passing

Mungo: No old gaffer even mutters a blessing.

And speaking of old gaffers, down on the edge of the canal, The Crank on the Bank looks like he disapproves.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788 

Miggy: Perhaps he's just leafy-with-love and the green waters of the canal.

Mungo: Banal on the Canal.

There is nothing banal about Patrick Kavanagh.

His Excellency: And malice is only another name for mediocrity. 

There is nothing mediocre about Irish poets.

Mungo: I didn't say there was.

In an Irishly diplomatic way, Sean suggests we stop for a Choc Ice.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676

Miggy pours a bottle of Irish Cream over hers.

Miggy: Let's go to St. Stephens Green and eat these splendid green cupcakes on a bench.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997

Sean and Seamus see a couple of women they know who've been shopping in Grafton Street. 

Mungo: The Hags with the Bags.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216


Miggy: Top o' the mornin' to ye!  

Tamsin sees a dog bench and there is a long discussion as to whether it's an Irish Setter bench or an Irish Wolfhound bench.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736

Speaking of dogs, Sean and Seamus suggest a trip to the dog track. 

His Excellency: The Irish are very keen on a flutter. 

Then Mungo spots Father Ted's bench. 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753

Miggy: What are the odds of that happening?

Finally we reach the pub and everyone is there. Our friend Troy has come all the way from Dry Heaves, Minnesota for the celebrations. 

Miggy: He's wearing an outfit hand-crocheted for him by the good ladies of Ballyfrumpy. 




And Lady Brassica has flown in on Aer Lingus, stylishly dressed in green.




His Excellency: This is unlikely to be a coincidence.


On the flight she met Oscar Wilde who, at Customs, had nothing to declare but his genius.  


https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109

Outside a pub in O'Connell Street we see Lady B's son Root.

Miggy: He seems to be in the gutter.




His Excellency: And he isn't looking at the stars.

Once we get to the pub the landlord welcomes us in.




We find that lots of dancing is going on. 

The good are always merry, says the landlord. 

Miggy: And the merry love to dance.

His Excellency: I must say, Innocent does a very seductive Riverdance.  




But Troy goes all out for a raucous jig.




Miggy: Dance there upon the shore, Troy! What need have you to care for wind or water's roar?


Tamsin and friends sing Whiskey in the Jar.

Mungo: But then there is a row about what kind of whiskey and what kind of jar.



Minnaloushe the cat lifts his delicate feet.

Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance? 

Miggy: Sure and begorrah, 'tis a grand day to be alive! 

His Excellency: Shhh! Innocent is singing Danny Boy.




Next thing you know, everyone is in tears. 

Miggy: It's just one of those nostalgia things.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903

Later, Miggy goes missing and we all go out to look for her in Croppies Park, where there is a famous fountain, better known as Viagra Falls. 

Mungo: Miggy is in it.

His Excellency: The Floozie in the Jacuzzi.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704  

His Excellency: It may have escaped your attention that there are hardly any green benches in this story.

Yes, but what a brilliant day we've had with the Wee Folk Seamus and Sean! 

Miggy: St. Patrick's Day is like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

His Excellency: I propose a toast.






Ah to be sure!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

photo by Sheila B


Credits

'What in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery?' is a quote from Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke. He has a way with words. And you want to know the film, don't you? It's Wild Mountain Thyme (2020). Maybe go see it and make up your own mind. 

The happy Irish fellow with the lucky horseshoe is a vintage American postcard from 1910


Ever meet a pint of Guinness on legs? No? Now you have. Jason comes from London and he's a Lewisham dreamer. His first attempt at selective coloursation was back in 2006. And did anyone mention St Patrick's Day? Well, they should https://www.flickr.com/photos/lewishamdreamer/111654151

March 17th is the day our hearts rejoice, according to the pretty St. Patrick's Day souvenir postcard. It's in the photostream of Bluebells2008, posted for St. Patrick's Day in 2012. Bluebell lives in the UK and her photostream has all kinds of Little People, among other things  https://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebells2008/6844386286/

It turns out that Tamsin isn't from Ireland after all. She's from one of the 13 places called Dublin in the USA; she can't remember which one. Tamsin is a sweet local girl who works here in Fribble-under-Par in the Not Quite Good Enough pharmacy. She has a rather odd perspective on life, as shown in the post she helped me with about big and small benches. If you think size doesn't matter, you ought to see it. 

His Excellency is one of my two husbands. He is a philosopher and a man who takes an interest in many subjects, though he's extremely camera shy, which is why his portrait photograph is rather uninteresting. Mungo, my imaginary husband, is my travelling companion and soulmate but he is not a great lover of poetry. He blames this on his schooling, which focused mostly on woodwork. For more about my two husbands and their education see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html   Their workbenches are quite interesting too   http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/workbench-wonders-two-husbands-lots-of.html


Don Harrison is Up North in Michigan and he's The UpNorth Memories Guy. He's a wannabe philanthropist and collector of delightful Irish American postcards and other great stuff. Some of the photos here are from his UpNorth Memories eBay Postcard Store at
stores.ebay.com/UpNorth-Memories-Collection  I found them all on Flickr. For example, the Top of the Mornin' To Ye  men  https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012 and the lucky horseshoe shamrock guy, who is really cheerful and nothing at all like my husbands https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301053966  Then there's the pipe and hat picture with the poem about coming from the land of shamrocks.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3300218851 Finally another dear Irish memory from the Upnorth guy with  https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/2302196758 and the girl with her petticoat showing https://www.flickr.com/photos/upnorthmemories/3301057012  No, it's not Miggy, but you already knew that.


Stacy Cashman is The Rambling Traveler and in her photostream she has two albums of photographs from Ireland. She photographed the pretty stone cottage with the red door and the blue bench in Mulraney in 2008 and also the multitude of signs on the R477 in County Clare  https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/2848604174  and https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramblingtraveler/359768953/in/set-72157594483435446   Her website is at www.Ramblingtraveler.com


The Happy St. Patrick's Day bench is by Cindy Oppel in Orem, Utah. Her Etsy shop is Out Back in the Barn, where she makes benches with interchangable messages for holidays. Using Velcro on the back of the sign makes changing them easy, so you can buy as many different messages as you like. She also does hand-painted woodcrafts and homemade jam. www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn

Daniel Voyager from the UK has a very active Second Life. I'm not sure what his First Life is like but he hangs out in some strange pubs. One of them is all green and apparently serves mugs of green beer for St. Patrick's Day. At least they did back in 2010 https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/4440792488


When Irish eyes are smiling sure 'tis like a morn in spring. Spring in Birmingham, anyway. The girl with the big green paper eyes was photographed by Ross Hawkes on St. Patrick's Day in 2010.  Ross is a university lecturer and journalist from Lichfield in the UK  https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosshawkes/5280571927  


The picture-framed picnic table was photographed way back in 2001 when the Dynamic Duo went to Ireland. Who are the Dynamic Duo? One of them is Babak Fakamzedah, aka Mastababa; the other is Joost.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastababa/2505333817/


The red bench sitting out in a green field in Donegal was photographed in 2012 by Eoin O'Mahony. Now there's an Irish name for you.  Eoin is a researcher from Dublin. https://www.flickr.com/photos/73man/7507658424

Dissonancefalling is of the spray and pray school of photography. The celtic cross bench was photographed in Tintagel in Cornwall in 2012. That's not Ireland, of course. There are other celtic places around, notably in Scotland.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/dissonancefalling/8023739925  


In days past, The Mercantile was the place to find anything. If you didn't see it, you just had to ask. Steve Tucker from Harrisburg, Oregon has created Tuckers Mercantile, where he makes one of a kind handmade gift items. When making signs and woodcrafts, he often uses re-purposed materials to add character and rustic appeal. The sign I love is the one about malarkey and shenanigans but he has many other Irish signs as well.  www.etsy.com/shop/tuckersmercantile

Sean and Seamus really are Irish. They are visiting me from their home with my friend Kate, who comes from County Antrim. Kate likes a good celebration and, fortunately for me, keeps a little stash of stuff for St. Patrick's Day.

Mungo is right: the cottage in County Offhand is a cookie jar. It belongs to Miggy's mum.  

Dorinda from London has an Etsy shop which sells a variety of printable art to decorate your home or to use as a gift for someone special. One of them is the terrific Irish Diplomacy. All of the prints can be used to print as a canvas wall art or simply frame as a quick and very cost effective way to make wall art.  www.etsy.com/shop/dorindaart

The green bench is a photograph I took in Lynmouth, Somerset when the tide was out in summer 2012. The other green bench is in Wells, Somerset, on the walk at the back of the cathedral. And the green bench at the very top of the story is also in Wells. 

The Blarney Castle bench is outside Blarney Castle near Cork in Ireland. You're meant to kiss the blarney stone, which apparently gives you the gift of the gab. I kissed it back in 1977 and I'm still waiting. The photograph is by Matt Brown, editor of Londonist.com and an all-round Londonophile. 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/10040187875

The green grass bench was on show at the Netherland's Floriade in 2012. It was photographed by Pierre Swillens, who is retired and lives in Maastricht in the Netherlands.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/gloria_victoria/7432481414/

Amy Karoly runs her Etsy shop The Freckled Stitch from Lancaster, Ohio. She offers professionally designed humourous t-shirts such as Mom, Dad, I'm Gaelic. She also does funny hoodies, inspirational sweatshirts and accessories such as scarves, bags and totes. I'm curious about the Uplifting Tshirts; exactly how far do they lift I wonder? www.etsy.com/shop/TheFreckledStitch

Billy Stewart is a senior sales consultant with over seven years experience. He's a passionate advocate and practitioner of social media and also a sociable person. He photographed the Beach Bar bench in Easkey, Ireland in 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/billystewart/6545719001


The No Drugs or Nuclear Weapons sign was seen by jojo7D at the entrance to the Star Rock Café in Dublin in 2011. From Atlanta to London to Bangkok there are a lot of these signs in Hard Rock cafes around the world.  jojo7D lives in Lille in France.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/65588802@N04/6266106543

Carrie Stephens from Windsor, Ontario deals in fish scraps, by which she means instantly downloadable images of all kinds of brilliant things. FishScraps offers digital clipart, digital papers, clipart images, printable art and photoshop brushes. Original digital graphics, such as the St. Patrick's Day Irish collage in the story, are designed and hand-drawn by Carrie. Other products are available royalty free for commercial use. www.etsy.com/shop/fishscraps  

The leprechaun doll with his pot of gold is from Debbie Ritter at Uneek Doll Designs.  www.etsy.com/shop/uneekdolldesigns   Debbie makes dolls of all sorts of fictional and real people. She has hundreds of celebrity dolls and figures from throughout history. Debbie's blog about her work as an artist is at http://uneekmusings.blogspot.co.uk

When William Murphy from Dublin started his Streets Of Ireland project back in 2005 his aim was to publish 100,000 photographs by the end of 2015 but with no real expectation that he would ever achieve such a target. As it happens, he published photograph number 100,000 on November 22, 2014 and was more than a little bit pleased. I'm pleased too, because photo number 100,000 is the brilliant Hungry Tree, the bench embedded in a tree, which is in Dublin  https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15851977331


William Murphy also photographed the Brendan Behan bench statue in 2012. It's at the second Lock on the Royal Canal (Dorset Street bridge). Behan (1923-1964) described himself as a drinker with writing problems. For him, one drink is too many and a thousand is not enough.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/6798486630 


Around 13 million pints of Guinness will be consumed around the world on St Patrick's Day. Guinness is good for you is an old advertising slogan and many people still believe it. This sign was photographed by Olivier Bacquet in Bunratty in 2014. Olivier lives near Arras, in Pas-de-Calais, in northern France. https://www.flickr.com/photos/olibac/14800755808


There are over seven thousand Irish themed pubs around the world where you can get an Irish breakfast, a pint of Guinness, and an uncomfortable bar stool. O'Brassica's pub is not the one shown in the photograph though. The photograph is Fagan's Bar, which is a real bar in Drumcondra in Dublin. It was photographed by Jay White in 2013. Jay currently lives in Portland, Oregon and enjoys sharing photographs on Flickr.   https://www.flickr.com/photos/madpoet_one/8705118240 

Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer here on ParadiseIsland. He loves his horse Tonks, his dog Pru,and his 1947 Landrover, in that order. He indulges his wife, Lady Jessica Brassica with a replica mall in the basement of Drizzly Manor, a beach hut on the Esplanade, and unlimited amounts of cash for shopping. However, it has emerged that he doesn't know as much as you'd think about farm animal benches, especially cow benches or sheep benches. He knows a bit more about horse benches, learned from his horse Tonks, and possibly something about dog benches from his dog Pru. What he really knows though, is picnic benches

Leprechauns are big business in Ireland and there's a National Leprechaun Museum in Dublin. The Killer Leprechaun sign was photographed at the Killeen House, Aghadoe, County Kerry by Joel Sowers in 2010. Joel has a lot of travel albums from the United States and also one from Ireland, including the obligatory one for all travellers to Ireland - someone kissing the blarney stone  https://www.flickr.com/photos/sowersnet/5298873434  


Innocent wears a crocheted wool dress created by Lady Jessica Brassica at her studio in Ballyfrumpy, which is in County Offhand in Ireland. If you're a fan of frocks, see what happened at new year by reading all about it in the ParadiseIsland fashion forums

Root is the son of Lord and Lady Brassica of Drizzly.Whilst Lady B is gorgeous and Lord B is wealthy and personable, Root has none of these qualities. In fact, he has no qualities whatsoever, as became apparent in my Bus Stop benches blog last year. 

Kristina Hoeppner is a prolific traveller and photographer whose photographs have been on Benchsite many times. She captured the coffin-like bench at the Dunquin Blasket Islands centre. She asks whether there is something inside. Well, you know how the Irish love a wake . . .   https://www.flickr.com/photos/4nitsirk/3086878704 

The next Day is a painting by French artist Joseph Fortune Layraud (1834-1912). 


In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I once laid eyes on sweet Molly Malone at the bottom of Grafton Street. She pushed her wheelbarrow through streets long and narrow, crying Cockles and Muscles Alive, Alive-o! Sculpted by James Yorkston, she has done this since 1880. Molly Malone, a ficticious fishmonger, was photographed in 2014 by Anselm Pallas. Anselm is a Spanish speaker and interestingly, presents the song in Spanish, where Cockles and Mussels are known as Berberechos y mejillones and Dublin's Fair City is En la Noble Ciudad de Dublín. And yes, she has several nicknames, though not all of them are rude. https://www.flickr.com/photos/anselmpallas/15567605953

Bernie Goldbach, aka Irish Typepad, comes from Lancaster, Pennsylvania but currently teaches college courses in media writing, media studies, public relations and multimedia programming in Cashel, Ireland. He photographed the red and green book bench, which was made by members of a Clonmel Youth Group for the Clonmel Junction Festival.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/irisheyes/321198   Irish Typepad by Bernie Goldbach. 


James Joyce (1881-1941) is sitting with a book in Zurich, Switzerland, where he died in 1941. He is buried in this spot by Zurich Zoo. Joyce's best-known works include The DublinersUlyssesFinnegans Wake, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The statue was photographed in 2006 by afritzse  https://www.flickr.com/photos/afritzse/229927427


Cian Ginty is a student journalist who is originally from Ballina in County Mayo, though he now lives in Dublin. In October 2008 there was a student protest against higher fees, in which many students came out to show they were Down With This Sort of Thing. Father Ted fans will recognise this point of view.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cianginty/2967031093


Under bare Ben Bulben's head/In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is one of Ireland's most famous poets, which is saying a lot in a place with such a rich literary heritage. The crouching man is a statue at the poet's grave in Drumcliff in County Sligo. It was photographed by theq47, who lives in Ballymote in County Sligo.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/theq47/158859961  The man crouching before a cloth on the ground refers to one of Yeats's most loved poems, He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

I would spread my cloths under your feet
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

There are many references to the work of Yeats throughout this story. I'll leave you to find them.

Poetry please! If you're a fan of poetry there are plenty of great poetry benches at  http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/poetry-please-benches-for-national.html  Though be warned; you will have to put up with a certain amount of nonsense from a couple of annoying non poets. If you like books but poetry's not your thing, there's a great stack of book benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/a-stack-of-book-benches-for-world-book.html  And should you like a newer book list of library books and militant librarians, there's a whole Dewey System of them at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/world-book-day-dewey-need-library.html

Patrick Kavanagh (1904 – 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist who is not at all Banal on the Canal. He is regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century and known for his depictions of everyday Irish life. His works include the semi-autobiographical novel Tarry Flynn and the poems On Raglan Road and The Great Hunger. His statue sits on a bench along Dublin's Grand Canal and was photographed by William Murphy in 2014. Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal is a line from one of his poems.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/15517460788


Desmond Kavanagh is an Irish designer working in Germany. He's interested in documentary and travel photos, including the bright yellow Choc Ice house (or shop?) in Sneem, County Kerry in 2009.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/3259119676   This is the kind of site which makes visitors love Ireland. The cat is a nice touch too, though Desmond describes it as a flea-ridden feline. Oh dear, Meredith my feline editor would not like this. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cat-benches-for-world-cat-day.html

Clever Cupcakes in Montreal make THE most beautiful cupcakes - trays and trays of 'em. The shamrock cupcakes were made for St. Patrick's Day in 2008. They are green velvet cupcakes, made with vanilla buttercream and shamrock sprinkles - pretty enough to make most Irish eyes smile.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevercupcakes/2333110997

'What in the name of holy bejaysus and all the suffering saints is this cliched paddywackery?' is a quote from Irish Times film critic Donald Clarke. He has a way with words. And you want to know the film, don't you? It's Wild Mountain Thyme (2020). Maybe go see it and make up your own mind. 

William Murphy photographed Two Women, also known as The Hags with the Bags in 2012. The statue is at the Ha'Penny Bridge in Dublin. https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7556032216

The large bone bench in the garden with a small doghouse were at the Dublin Bloom Festival in 2010. They were photographed by Grevillea, who is from Western Australia but currently lives in the Netherlands. Of course Grevillea is not just sitting there in The Hague doing nothing: she's out all over Europe taking photographs, including benches  https://www.flickr.com/photos/katiehumphry/7717042736

Actor Dermot Morgan (1952-1998) is well known in Britain and Ireland as the feckless priest Father Ted Crilly, star of the comedy sitcom Father TedThe Joker's Chair in Merrion Square, Dublin, is a memorial to Dermot Morgan, photographed by William Murphy.   https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/4568641753


Troy breezed into our town this summer. He's normcore and his occupation is Pilgrim. Apart from that, all we know about him is this: 1) he comes from Dry Heaves, Minnesota, where he learned to read poetry in a particularly alluring voice  2) he never wears shoes  3) he is extremely polite and calls ladies Ma'm  4) he speaks a lot of languages fluently 5) he carries a manbag filled with books, a violin and a ladder in case anyone needs to be rescued. And last summer Troy spent rather a lot of time at Lady Jess's beach hut

Lady Jessica Brassica is married to Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly. For many years Lady B modelled for Studio Joop from Overbearing in Holland but now has her own fashion house in County Offhand in Ireland. Just how will the world take to the designs from Studio Ballyfrumpy? If Troy's green crocheted trousers are anything to go by, I don't think Stella McCartney has anything to worry about.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish writer and poet who became one of London's most popular playwrights of the 1900s. His quotes are famous and he really did declare his genius. The other quote referred to is this: We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars. The Oscar Wilde bench statue is in Galway, where Oscar Wilde is seated with the lesser-known Eduard Wilde, a writer from Estonia. The photograph is by Rowan, who has an album with nearly a thousand photographs of Ireland, plus lots of Celtic music festivals. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/2327409109

Beverly takes a lot of interesting pictures. Her albums include things like politics, rainbows of colour, crafts, and dog rescue. A very striking photograph is Lily of the Valley, a vintage green girl made up of a composite of other photographs in 2009. I know it's not exactly Irish, nor even Irish connected but it's green, it's beautiful, and it needs to be here.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/3392921903 


The Floozie in the Jacuzzi is one of several irreverent Irish nicknames for the monument properly entitled Anna Livia Plurabelle, a personification of the River Liffey, which runs through the city of Dublin. Once located in O'Connell Street beside the Liffey, the statue is now in Croppies Memorial Park. Anna Livia Plurabelle is the name of a character in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, who also embodies the river. Viagra Falls is another of the names for the monument and it gets worse from there. The sculpture was designed by Eamonn O'Doherty for the Dublin Millennium Celebrations in 1988, and photographed by William Murphy in 2012.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/infomatique/7552452704

The Irish toast at the end of the story was seen at a pub in Joseph, Oregon on St. Patrick's Day 2016. 

The final green bench is not in Ireland. It's in Cyprus, photographed by Sheila B, who is an expert in finding Cypriot benches. 

If you are feeling bereft of green benches, we already have quite a few on Benchsite. Slightly different meaning of green though . . . 

If Ireland doesn't warm the cockles of your heart there are plenty of benches from other countries here on Benchsite. Japan, for example, and Turkey. And a whole fiesta of benches from Mexico. There's a whole alphabet of Dutch benches and a bench from each of the countries of Europe. Every summer Miggy and Mungo and I go on a mission to find benches so see how we ate our way through found the tasty benches of Italy. We got high on benches in the Alps but Greece was a mission impossible. And then there are the benches of St. Helier, and the benches of Las Vegas, where Mungo and I gambled on love.