Wow, I can't believe I've not posted anything since June. It's been such a busy and crazy summer...or June, July and August...can't really call it summer since it's never been nice. The wind started in early May and has never let up.....
So, let's backtrack. A fishing friend arrived in mid-May to help me catch that elusive brown trout on the anticipated Mayfly hatch. Well, the trout is still unknown to me and the Mayfly hatch tried its darndest, but just couldn't become much. I saw them hatch in small amounts, but the wind was so bad and the fish weren't interested so I think the swallows swallowed them all. Flan was introduced to a day on the water in a boat and she did very well...still wasn't the good-luck charm needed to entice the trout though. Finally after 10 days of nothing, the fisherman moved on...in a bit of a snit...not sure if it was anger at me, the dog, the fishing, the rain, the fact I won a lot of backgammon, the over indulgence of whiskey on his part, my lousy cooking, or what. But, it was a bit of a hurt. It's hard to lose a friend of 45 years without knowing the cause. But I guess it's kinda like a good book...there are lots of chapters; maybe a little romance, or adventure... a little mystery or sadness but you finish the book. A few you re-read because they were favorites, some you forget what happened and read again and others you close and say, "why did I waste my time?
The long-awaited visits of my kids began on June 20. I drove into Dublin and picked Amy and Leo up at the airport. We drove into Dublin, found their hotel, parked the car (they couldn't check in until 2:00), walked down Grafton, had a bit of lunch, walked back to the car and I dropped them at their hotel. They wanted to spend the first 2 days in the city. I returned on June 23 and picked them up at the hotel. We headed south toward Glendalough, over the Sally Gap in the Wicklow Mountains. This is a strange area...very raw, rough mountains. Desolate....lots of heather, boggy, wet, still......alone-like. We stopped at the top of one mountain to walk Flan and it was so strange to have wet bog so high in the mts. Had to stop to investigate a stream...Leo the fisheries biologist was immediately looking under rocks for signs of what kinds of bugs we have here. He was fascinated with the brown, peaty water. Then it was down to Glendalough with a walk through the grounds. Back to the car and off to the coast. We spent the night at Courtown on the sea. A beautiful beach. I took the pup for a walk in a beautiful forest park, then it was fish and chips along the sea. Woke to a beautiful, clear morning so walked down to the beach and took Flan for a long walk. She's afraid of the waves as they rush in....not used to that living on a lake!! We had a great breakfast and headed out for the west. Stopped in Kilkenny in the rain, toured the old castle in town, then on to Cashal and a tour of the Rock of Cashal......in a terrible storm. At one point both Amy's and my umbrellas blew inside out. Finally the tour guide just said "enough". People were leaving the tour because it was so windy and wet and most of the tour was outside, on top of a huge "rock" or hill. A wonderful place though. Then it was on to Cork to stay at the Travelodge cause I knew they took pooches!! To bed and up early to head further west. We stopped at Blarney for the kids to climb the tower and kiss the stone while I visited with a very nice older lady from
England... also waiting for her family. I love getting older, you can just sit and wait!! flan is a hit with everyone. She is so friendly and cute that everyone wants to greet her and she loves it. From Blarney we drove to Dingle, found a place to stay and then went out for the evening. Great dinner and fun to walk the town. We found that it is a destination place for "hen" parties....or bachelorette parties as we'd call them. Lots of drunk gatherings of costumed ladies. Fun to see different traditions. In the morning we set off for a tour of the Dingle Peninsula. It was raining and misty so there were times we had no idea that the sea was right below us...couldn't see a thing. I'll have to go back to see what I missed!! We still managed to see beehive huts, old forts along the sea cliffs, amazing stone structures...what a talent the very early people had of fitting stones together to keep the wind and rain out....such patience. But again, they had many rocks of many sizes to work with...never a shortage!! We bid the peninsula goodbye and headed toward the Cliffs of Mohr and home. Stayed the night in Lehinch and then up early to tour the Cliffs, the Burren, Galway, where Leo visited the Irish Fisheries Department and talked with another scientist, watched the men fish the weir on the Corrib, then into town for a bit of shopping and sightseeing, back to the car and homeward bound. When we got home, Alex, Andrew and Liz arrived. It was such fun to have us all gathered together. The next day Amy, Andrew, Liz and Alex went to Foxford for some blanket shopping and Leo and I went fishing on the Boyle. We stopped at the sportsman shop and he told us how to access the stream. Wow...it was beautiful. As Leo said, it reminded us of the Beaverhead in Montana. But, alas, no fish for either of us. Still a beautiful river and soooooo nice to walk a river. I realized that I really don't like fishing on lakes. It's boring... I like to wander, see what I'm doing, not just sit and float....The next day we all explored Carrick and Boyle, looked around the area, hiked to Carrowkeel, etc.. Amy and Leo then went back into Dublin with Alex, et al, and flew out the following day. It was such fun to have them here, but all things must come to an end. Then Alex, et al, took off and went much the route that Amy and Leo and I had done, and came back up the following week to stay for 4 days. We toured more in the area, went up to Sligo, We had a great BBQ on the 4th of July...just like in America. Burgers, dogs, potato salad, beans, etc. No cherry pie though!! Before you knew it, it was time for them to head back to Dublin for a flight out. It was such fun to have family around. In fact, it sort of put me in a funk when they all left. I had to really re-think my life.
Well, a few things I'd learned: 1) I needed to find a cheaper place to live and 2) I'd explored the heck out of the northwest part of Ireland. I love it dearly but I'd promised myself that I'd get to know Ireland and by staying put, I was only concentrating on one area. 3) I needed to get rid of my boat cause I wasn't using it. I'm getting too old to row all day long, or maybe I'm just too impatient and want to get from point a to point b faster. Maybe a pontoon boat with an electric motor....???? anyway, this one was going and I could use the money. So, I put an ad in DoneDeal and sold it immediately for a bit more than I had into it. Not a bad deal. It now plows the seas off Arklow.
So, I started looking for some place else to live and found a perfect place near Galway.. It's a huge farmhouse, just recently completed, but the family works in Abudahbi 10 months of the year. They needed someone to "housesit" for them. I pay a small rent to basically pay for the oil it takes to keep the house warm through the year. I have my own quarters when they are here, but use the kitchen/family room when they are not. It's lovely, overlooking 30 acres of farmland. Since they want me to be on site most of the time, I decided I'd better do a "reality check". and take a trip back to the US. I was still missing family and wondering if I'm doing the right thing by staying in Ireland. I'll always wonder that, but have made the decision to stay another year. I returned on July 19 (God bless my neighbors for offering to watch Flan) and returned to Ireland on Aug 4. It was good to see the kids, get warm, see Pat's new house, visit with Dee Dee, get my teeth cleaned, etc. I then returned and immediately started packing. It took me 3 trips to get everything moved (hard to imagine all the stuff I've accumulated for a 4-bedroom house) and finally settled on the 11th of August. On the 12th I took the family (mom, dad, and 3 great kids) to the CityLink bus at 6:00pm and saw them off. They flew out to UAE on Saturday and I settled into a new year in a new area. So much to learn for both Flan and me. She loves the 40 bullocks that roam the fields around the house, learned that sheep are stupid and run...oh, what fun...but off limits...she could be shot for messing with them. So, she is learning her boundaries while I meet the new neighbors!! We are finding new woods to walk in , new beaches to explore, new castles to visit. Each day is a new learning.
Am I doing the right thing by staying. I'm still not sure, but I know I can afford to be here since I won't have the unknown of utilities. I can get along without food, if need be, but I can't go cold....so, for now, I'm home in a huge house. I may just set off for Connemara today to see what the day brings. The flowers are blooming in the courtyard, life is good. I'll try not to be so negligent in the future about keeping in touch, but this was the summer of discontent and contentment. Wonder what the future brings... I know it will be more lunch dates, dinner dates, walks, flowers, photos, new friends, old friends, kisses from a pooch, books to read, sewing and knitting, Internet backgammon, music and................................? time will tell.
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