Musing from the Emerald Isle

Yesterday as we were driving to Dingle we came to an area where there were mountains on one side of us and the sea on the other. It was beautiful, so beautiful that I decided we needed to get off the carriage way (that would be a two lane road to those of you in the States) and onto a side road (that would be a country lane to us). I got us as close to the sea as I could. Along the way we got to see up front and personal lots of darling Irish cottages. As we were meandering the road it began to get really grassy - almost like a drive way, but what could we do? We continued on our path. Soon we see an older gentlemen out for a fine walk with his dog. He looked the typical Irish country man - tall black rain boots, a tweet jacket and the ever present skimmer hat. He was carrying a walking stick. I knew that the both of us couldn't make it down the path so I pulled over as best I could, stopped and let him pass. He nodded his head in thanks and made his way down the path. The dog followed. I had not driven 5 feet til the girls started yelling. I said "what?" they said "the dog is following us - oh no he isn't the man called him - he's going to the man. - OH! the man just bonked him on the head with his walking stick!"God love the Irish - they treat their dogs like dogs - unlike some I know....

We have decided that when we get home we are changing out all of our curtains to lace.

Spotted Dick you say? We were in the big grocery store in Limerick and Peggy said to me "I wonder if they have spotted dick here." I said "No that is England." She said, "Well I thought maybe since we are so close." I should have gone with my gut, but no, I saw a store clerk - a young man about 28 - 30 years old and asked him "Excuse me Sir, do you have cans of spotted dick?" He looked at me rather agast and replied "What?" I said "Spotted...." I smiled and glanced at his crouch and said "Dick" He looked at me searchingly and said real slowly "S....p...o..t..t..e...d" and I said "Dick". He smiled and said "I've never seen it, but I don't work in this department. I will go check with someone who does." Peggy is behind me crying she is laughing so hard and he looks are me and says "Are you messing with me?" I "No, no I promise - it's a real thing." He leaves and comes back says "well, they said if we have it, it would be around here." We all started looking. He looked at me and said, "So what is it?" I said "Well, I don't really know - we just have a can of it and keep wrapping it up and giving it away at Christmas as a joke." He laughed and said, "Excellent!!" There was no spotted dick to be found in Ireland.

A long day getting to Dingle...

Last night at the pub our new friends told us about a village about 5 miles from here that was full of gypsies! They told us they steal everything in site, but when you see their houses you will notice they have bars and wires covering their windows and doors so that no one steals from them! They also told us about this cemetery that had very unusual head stones. So on our way to Dingle today we stopped at gypsy-ville and took a look around. It was very unusual! Then on to the cemetery!

 This is a grave for a little baby boy 

 I zoomed in on this. These are present at a lot of the sites. They are really stone, just carved to look like a pillow.

 I read this lovely poem, but the reason I had to post this is because I love the last three lines.....go on zoom in and read 'em

 Guess why I posted this one? Check out the mans name! (or nickname)

The same man above must have loved music because this was the remembrance from his grandsons.

After the gypsy town we headed on to Dingle. That was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life! The cursing that went on in our car would put the devil himself in hell! We went over Conner pass to get there and right when we got on the pass the weather took a turn and it started raining in sheets and the wind damn near knocked us off the road. But we persevered and made it into town. There we found the bar that our Uncle Dub frequented when he went to Ireland. His picture was up on the wall so Peggy and I got our picture taken along side of his.

Sister and I toasting "the man"

The Man - our Uncle Dub - born, raised and lived on a farm in NW Missouri.

I would upload more pictures but the connection here is pure crap and I can't! Will try later though....On the way home (or was it on the way there?) Peggy and Caroline both decided they have seen enough of the world and will never leave the states again. The roads scared them too much! Marge and I were in the front seat and as I drove through the pass into the gates of hell Peggy just yelled "Look at them Caroline - just call them Thelma and Louise - they won't turn back!"

By the time we got home we were exhausted from fighting the rain and wind. So we stayed home and ate ice cream.....lots and lots of ice cream!

potatoes three ways

Ahh....the beautiful Cliffs of Moher... a sunny day in Ireland....apparently a rare treat.....especially at the cliffs.  We enjoyed the Cliffs -

                                        'tis a rare sunny and beautiful day in Ireland!

                                              Peggy, Caroline & Marge

then went to Doolen for lunch. One problem with off season travel is that lots of things are closed! But somehow against all odds we managed to find a restaurant serving lunch.  And what an interesting lunch it was.....the lunch included mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes with the skins on and not to be outdone - boiled potatoes with the skins off! The server asks, "Would you like gravy?" "yes, of course" He replies "very good" as he ladles it over the meat! The meal ended with our first Irish Coffee of the day. Doolean resides by the sea and what a beautiful little seaside town it is!

                                Need to know what street you're on? Good Luck with That!

From Doolen it was on to Limerick. It took quite awhile to reach that destination because we took a side trip to Durty Nellies for a ..... you guessed it.... Irish Coffee! And it was a delight - full of fresh cream. Made it to Limerick and found out why Mary and Margaret weren't too impressed. We took a quick spin around town and then headed back to our nest in Adare. Took a  bit of a break at the carriage house and had.....lets see what did we have? Another Irish Coffee! In all honesty Marge had a boilermaker. We are taking a wee little break and then we are going out to hear some Irish Music and dance a fine jig!

an after note: we danced a fine jig at the pub last night with our 3 new friends: Sam, Magella and John. John is a single man and we thinks he has the hots for Marge!!! More to follow tomorrow....

cead mile failte!

That's Irish for A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!!!

We made it to the land of the little people.

We were so excited about the trip that we began our pub journey in the airport at Chicago!

                                                Enjoying cocktails at the TOCO restaurant

 After Marge befriended the manager, who btw is from Florida and is a Mizzou graduate, he gave us a dessert to share.

                                                    Our two servers who put us over the edge.

We were all over served and loved every single minute of it! On to the plane for wicked overnight flight. Got to Dublin and then had to drive to Adare - we were bone tired. Poor Peggy had to drive and she did a good job on the interstate. When we got off onto a side road sister got a little carried away reading sign that she ventured into the other lane - only for moment....and that's all it took! The headlights were coming at us! She quickly got into the correct lane before any damage was done to the vehicle but I can't say the same for our underpants.