KAITLIN K WALSH
  • Stories
    • Reviving Our Roots >
      • Dagmar
      • Jo, Lorna & Kat
      • Per Christian
    • We the People >
      • 2017: A Year of Protests
      • DNC 2016
      • RNC 2016
    • The 12th March, Northern Ireland
    • Cleveland Celebrates
    • Mary & Julierret's
    • Hands
  • Portfolios
    • Commercial
    • Portrait
    • Food
    • Performance
    • Lifestyle
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop

Dorothy & Co.

11/19/2018

0 Comments

 
     The best part about my stay in Ballymena was forming lasting connections with the people I met there. I cannot say enough how much this place came to feel like home because of the wonderful group of supportive people that became a part of my life. 
     Dorothy is a force of nature, sharp as a tack, and so much fun. She can do anything, from felling trees with her several chainsaws, to whipping up a batch of jammy dodger cookies in 10 minutes flat, to analyzing interpersonal communication skills. The day trips she took both Lea and I on were spent talking for hours, and often extended to more conversation over dinner and wine. We became very close and I will always consider her family and friend. I loved getting to know her daughters Cora and Neve, and getting the chance to see Neve play for the Ulster Women’s Rugby team.
     Just down the street from Dorothy lives her father, John. He is such a good natured man, always with a smile on his face. He would join us for dinner or afternoon tea on occasion, and was eager to lend a hand around the house or garden any way he could. I loved hearing is stories of growing up in Wales during World War II, or about how his mother was a great painter and his father was a published mathematician. John himself is a painter, and he uses it as a sort of meditation. When he paints everything else recedes into the background. He also keeps bees, and Dorothy lovingly says that he looks like an astronaut Winnie the Pooh in his bee suit. 
     There were some of Dorothy’s friends that became my own as well. I never got a picture of Alex, but she is a spunky Northern Irish woman who I enjoyed very much. Then there was Jo and her whole family. Jo is a kind, smart and welcoming person. She persistently asked after my photography and ended up coordinated me doing a little presentation of my different photo projects to their friend group in Ballymena. She let me document her beekeeping, which is so cool. I learned so much. My day of shadowing Jo and her bees also included lunch with, and made by, her mother Judy, who I got to know at several of the friend gatherings and who is a delight. She recently moved to Ballymena from the Lake District in England, and is loving living in Northern Ireland. We bonded over both being left handed.
     I also become close with Jo’s son, Gus, who is a documentary filmmaker. We had a lot to bond over with movies and documentary subjects, not to mention that he is a funny guy and just great human. He showed me around Belfast and we also caught a couple of movies in Ballymena, followed of course, by analyzing them like the good film geeks we are.
     Dorothy hosted another traveler while I was there, Lea from Switzerland who is so sweet. We made a good team, and made also sorts of tasty dinners and treats. Lea was the instigator of the glamor shoot and the rugby lesson that I went to, and my time there would not have been the same without her. We left Ballymena on the same day, and there were more than a few tears shed.
     The whole gang was just the greatest and I am so thankful to have found my adopted Northern Irish family.
Picture
Dorothy
Picture
Dorothy and John
Picture
John and his bee suit.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Jo preparing for her beekeeping.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Jo
Picture
Gus
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Lea and Dorothy
Picture
Lea and John
Picture
Lea in the kitchen.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Cora
Picture
Dorothy and Lottie
Picture
Neve, the blond in the center facing towards us.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Dorothy giving Neve her customary post-match hug.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Going-Away party on my last night in Ballymena.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Judy and Gus
Picture
Judy
Picture
Jo
Picture
Neve
Picture
0 Comments

Love in 2016

12/31/2016

0 Comments

 
     To say the least, 2016 has been a rough year for the world on many fronts. Throughout this crazy year though, I was lucky enough to be witness to a lot of love. Five different friends, from all different parts of my life got married this year. As 2016 comes to a close, I want to look back on the good as I prepare for a new year.
     Happy New Year everyone, and here's to love.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Ghost Forest

6/14/2016

0 Comments

 
     While in Portland my friend Andrea and I decided that we needed to do some nature exploring. There are so many parks in and around Portland that it was really tough to choose where to go. However, once we saw a photo of the Ghost Forest in Neskowin on the Oregon coast we were sold.
     Normally I am not that much of a beach person. I burn very easily, and tend to stick to any shade I can find. (Which resulted in my high school friends lovingly calling me Shade Girl. Yup. Shade Girl.) So the foggy and brooding coast of Oregon is totally and completely my kind of beach.
     There's a very good chance I would have been entirely satisfied with just the stormy beach, the fog and the rolling waves. Which is all the beach was when we showed up. Because we hadn't given any thought to the tides. Having grown up on Lake Eire I still kind of forget that tides are a big thing. So the ghost forest was hidden under the water. I'm very glad though, that we decided to go grab some (really delicious) Nepalese food and come back when the tide had revealed the ghost forest.
     These stumps had once been an ancient forest of 150-200 foot spruces. During an earthquake in 1700 the forest was destroyed and covered in sand. After some particularly persistent storms in 1997-98 the remains of the trees were uncovered. Now they reappear from the ocean twice a day at low tide. 
     They are super eerie, haunting and otherworldly. It was really amazing.
     Even after having to wade through a beach stream, barefoot in the freezing cold water, it was amazing. Even when my phone fell out of my pocket and directly into a good foot of water (completely my fault), it was amazing. (And miraculously my phone still works.) It is an experience I will not quickly forget. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Black and White of the Week

11/13/2015

0 Comments

 
     I've been awol for weeks but now I'm back! Luckily, it was mostly for fun reasons. For a couple weeks I was visiting friends in LA and San Fransisco, and soaking up lots of good times. There will be some posts on those adventures in the weeks to come. For this week's black and white I've picked a photo of my lovely friend Alexis, whom I stayed with while I was in LA. This was our first morning, out at a delicious little coffee shop called Cantina. 
Picture
0 Comments

Lunch by Eastern Market

3/4/2015

0 Comments

 
     My friends Colleen and Yoder and I went out to lunch recently at the coolest place, called Ted's Bulletin. I just wanted to take pictures in there all day. When our food arrived I was so preoccupied Yoder finally told me, "You know you're also allowed to eat that." Here's what I got.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Chrissy and Ben

2/2/2015

0 Comments

 
     My very good friends Chrissy and Ben spending their first Christmas together as a married couple. Aren't they cute?
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Outlander meal

10/1/2014

0 Comments

 
I was very lucky to meet and become friends the most wonderful people when I lived in LA. One of those people is my, now, very good friend Alexis. 

We bonded over our love of dance, crazy family stories, good food, and of course, books. We exchanged books, and recommended books, and reveled in our favorite parts. It was Alexis who insisted I must read the Outlander series. 

I didn't get around to starting the series until after I had moved to DC, but when I did I believe I used the phrase "catastrophic for my productivity" do describe it's effect on me. I simply couldn't put it down. It is such a captivating story, and I highly recommend it to everyone. 

Excitingly enough the series is now being adapted for TV, and Alexis was set to visit me right around the air date! It had been nearly a year since I had seen Alexis, which we decided was far too long, but we made up for lost time by talking nearly the entire 72 hours or so that she was here. And in honor of Outlander (which is set in Scotland) and our love of cooking, we made a delicious Scottish inspired meal and watched the first two episodes together. 

I documented our endeavor, which consisted of bannocks with butter, brie and jam, Scotch eggs, cod, some veggies, wine and whiskey. (It was Irish whiskey I admit, but that's what I prefer.)
Picture
Picture
Picture
I had actually made bannock, (a Scottish quick flatbread) when I was younger. I went to a historical summer camp (yes, and I loved it, haha) that taught us about the early settlers in my town right outside of Cleveland around 1830. The settler that we focused on was a Scottish weaver who immigrated to the US. Interestingly though, the recipe we used then for bannock was made with cornmeal, instead of oats like what was used in Scotland, since corn is what was available to the pioneers. I must say, both versions are delicious. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Scotch eggs were fun, neither of us had ever made them before. They were really tasty. I got to use the breadcrumbs I had collected from my own homemade bread which was such a rewarding use of them.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
All in all, it was a very rewarding and very fun way to spend our day!

Here is the recipe we used for the bannocks, though we substituted sour cream for the yogurt. 

http://outlanderkitchen.com/2014/08/13/bannocks-castle-leoch/
0 Comments

    kaitlin k walsh

    Adventurer armed with a camera.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    Bars
    B&W Of The Week
    Christmas
    DC
    Documenting
    Food
    Friends
    Home
    Latest Projects
    Portraits
    Travel

    RSS Feed

© COPYRIGHT KAITLIN K WALSH 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Stories
    • Reviving Our Roots >
      • Dagmar
      • Jo, Lorna & Kat
      • Per Christian
    • We the People >
      • 2017: A Year of Protests
      • DNC 2016
      • RNC 2016
    • The 12th March, Northern Ireland
    • Cleveland Celebrates
    • Mary & Julierret's
    • Hands
  • Portfolios
    • Commercial
    • Portrait
    • Food
    • Performance
    • Lifestyle
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop