Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday

Sunday morning, we went to meeting with my grandparents; the same meeting my family went to before we moved to America. We had lunch at my grandparents’ with Stephen Landon and his parents, as well as my uncles Paddy and Malcolm. Later on, we went into Kilkenny city. There is another castle there on the “Must See” list. Unfortunately, we were 15 minutes too late. :( The castle is still impressive from the street. It’s tall, rugged, and the twilight sky made for beautiful pictures. We set off in search of food (and Wifi). Once again, we decided on for another boiled dinner!

I love our photographer! (Thanks Brooke!)

The following pictures were all taken at Dunmore. Martyn Homestead.

Back to my grandparents and off to Gospel Meeting. Saw lots of old friends and special people. It was a day of chatting, memories, and good laughs!

Shannahoe. John and I were born here.

Monday morning we got up to sunshine! We said goodbye to my grandparents, and headed over to Alison (Pearson) Chambers. She gave us a life-in-Ireland lesson. She explained all the sports, culture, and even brought us on a small hike to see “a bog”. In Ireland, firewood is not plentiful because all the forestry is controlled by the government. (There was a time when Ireland was stripped of its trees for farm land.) The Irish people dig up a peat (compost) material from bogs and burn it in the place of wood. (It smells wonderful) The locals call it “turf”.

 

Peat dug out of the bank.

Narrow roads on the Slieve Blooms

                                                      

We left Alisons and drove over the Slieve Bloom Mountains. On to County Donegal; my mom’s old haunts. We got to my mom’s sister’s (Graham and Mary Patterson) in time for supper, and spent the night chatting (and doing some laundry—yay!)

Uncle Graham's calf. Notice the heart!

Tuesday morning was photo shoot morning! We eventually headed into Donegal Town. We stopped to see my grandmother in her new nursing home. I was sooo happy to see her. She’s in a cozy, sunny little spot. Her nurses love her, and she looked sooo good. She kept us laughing with her antics and we left with a smile on our faces.

Jane and Granny Andy

               

We did a little shopping in Donegal town. We each found a treasure and then my Aunt suggested The Blueberry for lunch. GREAT choice. Once again, we had a delicious meal and finished our shopping in time to go to the ocean; my aunt is only a mile and a half from the beautiful Rossnowlagh beach.

                                        

Tuesday was my cousin Lloyd’s 20th birthday. We celebrated with his other grandma, Evelyn, and my mom’s brother Adrian. We had some of my (baker) Uncle Ian’s cake. After many hours of laughing, singing (both hymns and Irish ballads), eating, and many cups of tea, we headed to bed, setting our alarms for 3:15am...