5/14/07

After going to bed on Sunday night at 7 pm, totally exhausted, i slept amazingly well in this very scenic B&B just outside Dingletown. That morning I drove around Slea head drive, the coast of the Dingle peninsula- for some incredible views, side hikes, good prayer time by the ocean... it was awesome... and if i move there, i'm moving to the Dingle peninsula to be a sheep and cow farmer along the ocean... it really doesn't get more beautiful than that!!



Around 3 pm that day i'd finished the scenic drive and it started raining, so i headed north across ireland toward Castleblayney to meet my Grandma's cousins.

My Gram has been writing these cousins for some 60+ years. Nonetheless, it was very strange to arrive in Ireland and call your long lost family who have no idea who you are or that you are coming and introduce yourself over the phone and ask if you can come meet them. But I somehow managed to do just that and they were very excited and told me to come.

A couple hours down the road, i was cruising along, when a huge semi whipped around one of those delightful blind curves, taking up 75% of the road (including where i was driving). I swerved to the side as far as i could, which was only about 12 inches onto the weedy strip between the edge of the pavement and the rock wall conveniently located there. Crunch. Apparently a rock from said rock wall was hiding in the weedy patch. Ugh. there was no place to pull off and stop right there, but the flat tire forced me to get around the bend and pull off in front of a little irish house. Stomach in my throat, worried about the damage, i climbed out and checked it out. One very very flat tire, with a bit of a bent wheel, and no hub cap... not to mention being a stranger in this country, no cell phone... i knocked on the door of the house, and a very sweet (and familiar looking) lady Katherine invited me in and listened sympathetically as i explained the problem. She got right on the phone with Michael at the tire shop and said he'd be by to look at it momentarily. I thanked her profusely and went back to the car to wait, until she came out moments later and insisted on making me a cup of coffee so we could visit while we waited!! What a sweetheart!! Michael came with his son, put on the spare, and led me to the tire shop before disappearing to take his son home. The tire had a huge gash and had to be replaced, oh well, it could definitely have been worse and i must say it was the friendliest, most pleasant flat tire i've ever had!

Two hours later, I was back on the road headed north again. I stopped for the night at a B&B along the way, and had to ask the poor woman to repeat everything she said at least 3 times because not only did she have a strong irish brogue, but she didn't open her lips to speak, hmmm. She did, however, make a great breakfast in the morning, and even agreed to make it early so I could get back on the road, so all was not lost :)

5/13/07

I have to keep my Ireland posts relatively short because i'm not very good at formatting the pictures in the post and it starts wigging out if i put too many in. Anyway, back to Sunday... Mass was wonderful. I must say, one of my favorite parts of being Catholic is the universality of the Catholic church and that no matter where I go, I feel very at home in a Catholic church, because Jesus is there waiting for me. It was no different here, and I felt blessed to be there, to be celebrating Mass with a community of believers, and to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.


Once Mass was over, I got back on the road heading south toward Dingle. I did stop briefly in a small town called "Reens" because I thought it was fun to have a town named after my nickname and because i was desperate for some caffiene. At the Reens bar, the owner made me a cup of coffee, and a couple locals asked me where i was from, what i'd see, etc. They were soooo friendly, and I felt terrible having to ask them to repeat nearly everything they said because of the thick brogues. The owner said coffee was on the house and to enjoy my stay.

I arrived on the Dingle peninsula to find that it is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I began driving around the peninsula, just taking in all the beautiful scenery- the green green pastures, going right up to the ocean; the mountains on the other side, quaint irish homes all very brightly colored, cows and sheep grazing in every direction, rock walls separating the fields... it was breathtaking.




The other thing that was breathtaking was getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road. I should also mention that the roads in Ireland are about half the width of the roads here in the US. A 2 lane road in Ireland is really more like 1.5 lanes here, with rock walls on both sides, very sharp blind curves, and the locals that like to drive very fast around said curves on said narrow roads. Anyway, for my first 24 hours on the Ireland roads, every time a car would tear around the bend, my heart would stop for a moment, because in my head, they were not only tearing around a curve, but on the wrong side of the road. I would begin to breathe again as i realized they were on the correct side and so was i and that we were not about to collide. Thank God!! it made for a rather... um... thrilling commute though, feeling a little like the roller coasters at cedar point!


At one point, on my way to the town of Dingle, there was a small road, that ended right at the ocean, with cow pastures on each side. I needed to stretch and wanted to see the ocean, so i pulled onto this road, finding that it ends literally on the beach. So I got out and walked along the shore for a few minutes, just taking in the beautiful scenery and the salty smell of the sea. I backed up to near the cow pasture to take a few pictures, and before i knew what was happening, the whole heard crowded to the fence, trying to see what was going on. It was hilarious to watch as they all pushed their way to the front for a better view.


I'd met my second local friend, or friends, i should say, since the entire herd stepped right up as to introduce themselves. The seagulls flew overhead, sea grasses swishes in the wind, a few drops of rain fell, and I stood there telling this friendly herd of cows that I was rather envious of their view, and they probably didn't even appreciate it fully, etc. Again that stark realization hit, "I must look like a crazy person out here on my own talking to a herd of cows."

Ireland Highlights

May 13, 2007 - I arrived in Ireland, bright and early on that Sunday morning (after travelling all day Sat and having slept all of 2.5 hours on the plane), I got my rental car and headed out, scared to death driving on the wrong side of the road and SOOOOOOOOOOO thankful it was 7.30 am on Sunday morning so there was hardly any traffic. I headed south toward the Dingle Peninsula, looking for a Catholic church for Mass along the way. I passed several churches, but all were locked and no posted Mass times.

Finally in a small town called Askeaton, I found the church and decided i'd ask around till i figured out when Mass was so I wouldn't miss it altogether. I arrived in town around 9.30 am, and found out that Mass wasn't until 11.30, so I decided to explore the area while I waited. It was a chilly and blustery morning, but not raining, so i wandered around the small town, checked out the castle ruins, and then drove a mile or so out of town to see the monastery ruins.

It was amazing to me how many ruins you see while driving through the country- everywhere you look a crumbling tower, a quaint abandoned cottage, monastery ruins, etc. Another interesting thing I found was that in all the old church and monastery ruins, there are graves- both very old graves and very recent graves... they are scattered throughout the courtyards, inside the church ruins, everywhere you look.

So on that drizzly morning, my first day in Ireland, I found that Askeaton had monastery ruins to explore and there I met my first friend...

Meet my first Irish local friend... we'll call him Seamus. A friendly old horse, who grazes outside the Franciscan monastery ruins in Askeaton. He appeared to be guarding the place and made for great company on that Sunday morning. It only occured to me after about 5 minutes of conversation with said horse that there I was, alone in a strange country, talking to a horse... hmmm... "I probably look like a crazy person" I said to Seamus, and then quickly looked around to make sure i was really alone, and then continued talking to the friendly horse.

I'm lovin' it!

Things I'm loving about life right now (not in any particular order)…

Maureen is loving this spring / summer weather!!!! Seriously I don’t think it gets much better for me than sunshine, long days and evenings, and being outside a lot (sigh of contentment). I do, however, need to fix my ceiling fan in my bedroom, which I think is off balance, so the nights aren’t so stuffy since I am holding out on the A/C as long as possible.

Maureen is loving being home again after a wonderful trip to Ireland. I love traveling, but there is nothing better at the end of a trip than coming home. And after being gone, there are about a thousand things to catch up on, people to see, projects to finish, house to clean, sweaters to pack away, etc. but its still great to be home. There truly is no place like home.

Maureen is loving the munchkins in her life. At the risk of leaving out any important munchkins, I’ll leave out names… but seriously, God has blessed me abundantly with so many absolutely terrific nieces and nephews and honorary nieces and nephews. I am so blessed! And there is nothing like a kid grinning from ear to ear and running to give you a hug, just because they are excited to see you, to make you feel just great about life!!

Weds while having lunch with Ben and Ellie, I said to Ellie “Who’s a pretty girl?” and Ben responded, “I am a pretty BOY!”

Then later in the day I had my monthly ‘dinner and a haircut’ night with Geno and Lucy, which is always fun. I always call macaroni “Mac and mac” to which Geno always laughs and corrects me that its “mac and cheeeeesseee.” Lu didn’t miss the humor in the situation, and she grins, looks at Geno, then at me, and says “Mac mac,” laughing at her own great joke. For the rest of the evening, every few minutes she’d get that glint in her eye and say “mac mac”. She’s a funny one, that girl; even with very few words, she can tell a good joke.

(Please note these pictures are just a very small sampling of said munchkins... I just couldn't possibly upload all of them right now :)

Maureen is also loving her adult friends and family (not just the munchkins). Going away and coming home again is such a great reminder of God's blessings in my life- terrific friends, an amazing family, a wonderful parish, the list goes on and on...

Maureen is loving the garden. My flowers are all in bloom, the fragrant smell of the lilacs wafts in through the open window, and the vegetable garden is begging for some attention. This weekend’s tasks include tilling and finishing planting the veggies, adding in some compost, and harvesting the first crop of lettuce. And there are a few strawberries ripening that I need to get before the birds do.

Maureen is loving her young people… and agonizing about what to do next year. I do love my teenagers (many of whom have grown into wonderful young adults) and I am constantly amazed at how God blesses me through each of them. Another year at Life Teen is ending, and its time to figure out what to do next year. There are so many pros and cons to continuing my involvement, so ultimately, I’m waiting for God to send the golden telegram and tell me what He wants- its His decision anyway.

Maureen is loving cows... and after a trip to ireland, where she met several very friendly cows, she is considering adding to the menagerie... although i'm not sure cows are allowed within city limits in Saline (they are allowed in towns in ireland, incidentally), so she may have to find a more suitable location prior to obtaining said cows and sheep, and horses, and donkeys, and barn cats, and...

4 days and counting...

I can hardly believe my trip to Ireland is coming up so fast! Time flies when you're having fun I guess... and too busy to think :)

Last week was one of those weeks I felt like I barely saw my home and my pooches (and i definitely never located my head)... it was great, but not enough home time. The CTK parish mission was amazing, all about living in the power of the resurrection- wow. Good good stuff, a great shot in the arm and inspiration to live even more sold out for Christ... so that was Sun-Wed evenings, on top of Pentecost planning team stuff (thanks to LAM for a beautiful brochure), work, Thurs was the HSC play, Fiddler on the roof- which was awesome!! Teens and cousins in it, so that was a blast. Then Friday, our first softball games (yes, they killed us, but we had fun anyway), a bunch of people at my house, bulletin stuffing, hanging out, watching Maverick, great time. Saturday i was finally home and did lots of yard work, then Rosie Love's baptism and party, and finally hanging out at the Bradstard pad with the college kids after that until much too late. Sunday, family brunch to celebrate birthdays, good time with the fam, and a nice opporunity for the BOC to run like wild and wear off some energy!! then some putzing in the yard, Life Teen, and just like another week is off and running.

Last night was great because it was the first night in about 3 weeks i didn't have anywhere to be... so i played with the BOC, weeded my garden bed (it was such a beautiful evening!!), watered plants, swept the floors, actually made a real dinner... it was perfect and so good to have an evening at home! For the rest of the week, somehow i have to figure out how to run a dozen errands, do some cleaning, practice softball, play softball (friday), laundry, pack... ahhhh... all before i leave Sat morning! Like I said, I'm excited, but a bit overwhelmed.

So... pray i dont die driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car... or hiking alone in the remote hills of Ireland although frankly, i'm more nervous about the driving. God bless you!

love this kid

Sunday was great. It was a beautiful day and I went to the Corner Brewery with one of my favorite kids (and her parents, who are also pretty cool :)

This is how Maria feels about solid food.











... and this is how Maria feels about beer :)