Can I Have Your Sofa, Please?

So yesterday was another lovely day at work. Well, I didn't technically go to work-work, but Stephen sent me on a mission to find pieces of furniture for The Mill's next play, Faithful (it's a mob comedy...). I slept in a little bit because it doesn't take me to just get to the center of town and then I began my quest I went to several different shops and walked from point to point. Stephen gave me a list of places to check but also wanted me to explore any shop I might find along the way. It was fun getting to see all of the furniture. Some of it was really nice and I definitely browsed through a few very expensive antique shops, but they were beautiful. It gets even better because Stephen had given me money for lunch and transportation. Yay! I stopped in a cafe on St. Thomas St.---parts of the street were dodgy but the cafe was very nice-- and I had lasagna and three salads. Mmmm.... Since I primarily survive on sandwiches, pasta and coke it was so good to get some fresh vegetables and legumes in me-- and of course potatoes were involved, too. I really didn't just have outstanding success or stumble upon anything amazing, but I took some pictures, made some measurements and turned toward st. stephen's green to catch the Luas to Dundrum.

I had spent part of the day before looking at online sights that had people selling furniture so I checked the only promising sight again and saw a couch that looked very promising. I called the number and spoke to Richard. He was wanting to sell his large couch and a love seat together and was surprised to get a call so quickly--- he had just put the ad up thirty minutes ago. He wanted to know how much we would give him for the large couch though. I gave the phone to Stephen who started to explain the situation and then after a moment spent listening to the other end his expression changed. It wasn't a bad change, more one of those life defining moments when something clicks into place that you never believed possible. He stood there jaw dropped and said "Richard! I didn't know YOU were selling your sofas...." and so forth and so on. Apparently the Richard I had called is our brochure designer and had done some printing for us, too. He wanted some time to think about it, but in the end Richard agreed to let us use the sofa.
It isn't perfect--- buts it's pretty good and the best we can come up with for a reasonable price (or so I believe). This and the fact that a group who uses the theatre for classes gave the mill staff a box of chocolates for us all to enjoy made the day even better.

Earlier that week Stephen had called to get me tickets to see a play at the Smock Alley Theatre. The play was called After Miss Julie and was absolutely fantastic. I think it may be the best thing I've seen this summer. I want to go back and read it, but it was truly a great and thought evoking performance. The Smock Alley Theatre was cool too. It's entrance literally is an alley-- it's in the location of a historic theatre that had fallen or been burned down sometime in the past. At one time, Richard Sheridan (author of The Rivals--it's been on at the Texas Shakespeare Festival) was the theatre manager there.

When I got home I found Dominique talking outside with some friends. One friend, Keith, is a Dubliner that Dominique met in town a couple of weeks ago. We managed to have an hour long conversation and debate centering around simply pronunciation and accents. The primary focus of the debate was the letter "H." Yes, it's true--- Well, just for more justification the Irish say "h" like hAch. Where we just say Ach. You know? Okay, so maybe it's not the most rivetting discussion or debate I've been a part of.

Today I've been doing laundry and I went grocery shopping (finally). There were some cherries on sale, so like my Granddaddy's granddaughter I had to buy them--- in fact I'm going to go grab a few now....

Okay, cherries in hand....

To continue on. I went shopping and watched some television shows on Youtube. Tomorrow I hope to revisit the Ireland Museum of Modern Art, finally see the Book of Kells, and just revisit a few favorite places. I also want to go the botanical gardens.

That's all I've got for now--- I guess I can begin a countdown to my return--- one more week in Ireland and then a brief tour in London and then back to home sweet home. (Then off to Atlanta, but that's another story...)