Galway Visit

Our trip started out with an unexpected tour of New York! Because of bad weather our plane was delayed and Mike had to fly off without us. Our friend's daughter picked us up in NY and let us crash at her place! The next day she and her boyfriend gave us a great tour and we took the subway to the airport. Our flight went very smoothly and we arrived well rested.

We found Mike and drove from Dublin to Galway via Clonmacnoise Abbey which is a beautiful spot on the Shannon. We arrrived at the Dolan's house without a hitch. It is now called "Castlefield House" because of the field on the property that has the ruins of a castle. The field next to the house is filled with sheep so were greeted with much baaing! It was our most rainy day so far but we were cheered up with a rainbow that evening.

We had a good time with our cousins who have very busy lives and flat screen T.V.'s! The three Mannion kids, Niamh, Eimear, and John are all teachers and all speak proficient Irish. In fact John teaches at an Irish speaking school.

We went into the Skehana village and bought a few supplies at the Diamond's store. The Diamond's have had a store in the village for many years and now they have a new up to date place. One afternoon we thoroughly enjoyed a visit with the neighbor Sonny Killarney and a walk to the bog--lots of good memories of our mother as she loved the bog. (Today is the 10th anniversary of mom's death. We celebrated by having a mass said in Dingle this morning.)

Day in Dingle

We had a great day in Ballyferriter yesterday. The weather was superb! Dan golfed and Mike and I walked a little of the Dingle Way. It was brilliant. Then we had the family over for tea and a little "sup".

Cheers, Anne

Happy Mother's Day

I'm having an awesome Mother's Day. Lilly spent the night with us last night which was a real treat. She enjoyed a big walk with us along the river. We saw lots of really big turtles sunning themselves. Then she had a big swing at the park. The highlight for Lilly was sleeping in our "big girl bed".

Today Liz, Pete and Meg showed up with with a wonderful brunch which we enjoyed on the back porch. Then Liz, Dan and I went for a long walk and now we stretched out relaxing.

Easter and more!

Happy Easter to all. We had a glorious day here! Lots of family, friends and sunshine! Here are pictures of our recent happenings: Dan and drove to Indy to celebrate with Trish, then Trish came for a quick visit to the Bend, and then our Easter celebration. In the middle of all these festivities Dan surrendered his truck (it was recalled and demolished) and shopped and bought a new one!

Happy St. Pat's

Lilly had a fun time frosting shamrock cookies and singing and dancing at Fiddler's Hearth. She was quite taken with the Irish step dancer at the Hearth and she gave it a try!

Lots of love,
Anne

An amazing thought....

Notice the animal foot prints--must have been a squirrel.

From Rooftops

My neighbor Anne often has awesome insights. Yesterday she said she saw the snow on the roof and thought how no human could shovel it up there so perfectly. The perfection of the snow laying up there was something that only God could do!

It looks like our roof is iced--the snow is lying so smoothly!

From Rooftops

And then here's the cluster of roofs behind our house....

From Rooftops

Celebrating Pete!

We had a fun dinner with Lilly, Pete and Meg. Lilly really enjoyed our Mardi Gras decorations.
We're still shoveling snow and keeping the home fire burning! Most mornings Dan and I have forged through the snow to walk around the river. This morning the snow was falling and it was beautiful.