Happy Birthday Don!!

We hope that you have a grand and glorious day, surrounded by all of your blessings!

We'll sure be thinking of you today!

Remember this?  We couldn't find one of you alone, but this one says it all!

Coastside nature walk...

We took a nice walk along the Coastside trail this afternoon, in between showers!  The Coastside trail is a 3 mile paved trail from Miramar to Half Moon Bay State beach.

We were armed with an umbrella and a camera, and in addition to a great walk, we got opportunities to use both of them.

Wildflowers along the walkway

One of the dozens of bunnies that we saw along the trail

Venice Beach

Wildflowers

Yellow and white daisies along the trail, and wildflowers

We watched a group of dolphins swimming north towards the harbor - it looked like there were 8 or 10 of them

Ok, what is this critter?  There were two of them on the path

They are very small - with really long, tufted tails

And stand up like a ferret - any guesses?

A happy thistle!!

A mitzie!  In Japan, a mitzie is a big, black bug!!

There was a fairly large group of kids and counselors camped out at a park along the trail.

We think this is a goldfinch - very brightly colored bird!  We also saw red-wing blackbirds, but they refused to pose!

Birthday Freesias

Here are the beautifully fragrant freesias that the Richey's sent!  They came as buds, but are opening, beautifully!

Another birthday treat from the Murphy's is a fun gift certificate for Filoli!!  How spoiled am I??

Thanks everyone!!

Amgen Race - Tour of California

This year's Amgen bike race went right down Highway 1!  We walked up to the highway, Lee with his trusty camera, and waited for all of the excitement.  The highway was closed at that point, and there were lots of people gathered to watch the riders go by.

This race was very different than the Aids race - it was tightly controlled with lead cars and follow-up cars and lots of motorcycle patrols, too. 

It was pretty exciting when we saw the group of bicycles coming south on Hwy 1, and then whiz right past us. 

Lee was able to get several shots, and we think that Lance Armstrong is in there somewhere, but we couldn't tell.

Definitely a fun thing to watch!

Vickie and Erin's visit...

Vickie and Erin took a mother-daughter holiday, and came to California!  They stayed at the new Oceano Resort at the Princeton harbor, and could not believe the growth in this area.  Of course, it's been many years since Vickie was here, and even more for Erin, so they saw lots of changes.

They flew into San Jose, rented a car, and then found their old house, near Blossom Hill Drive in San Jose.  From there, the next stop was the Gilroy outlets!  Most important!  They traveled over Hwy 129 to the coast, and came up Hwy 1 to their hotel.

On Friday they spent a sunny day in Santa Cruz, before coming back up here to the grey, overcast, foggy coast!  Not fair!

On Saturday, Erin got a facial and pedicure, Vickie toured downtown Half Moon Bay, and then they came here for a wonderful visit.  We spent hours catching up, and it was great to have them here.  We figured they were sick of eating out at this point, so we had dinner in.

On Sunday they were talking about going to a Giants game, since they were playing at home, and then this morning, bright and early, they were catching an airplane to take them back home and to reality.  Erin and Vickie both missed Kaitlin, but Kaitlin and her daddy did just fine.  I'm sure that they will be glad to see Mommy, though!

Thanks for coming, Vickie and Erin!  Hope to see you again, soon!

Oh, yes, while they were here, we showed Vickie the Kindle, and she ordered one while she was here!  She's a voracious reader - usually a couple of books a week - so we know that she will like her kindle as much as we like ours.  And, it might even arrive on her birthday!

Lee and Erin

Vickie and I.

Wednesday, May 12th - our last day in Ireland

Wednesday was our last day in Ireland.  Alisha volunteers at St. Vincents on Wednesday, and Mark had a meeting and errands to run, so Lee and I occupied ourselves by getting organized for our trip home on Thursday.  First on the list was getting our suitcases packed and able to close!

Mark picked us up at 1:15 and we went into Kilcullen to pick Alisha up.  We went to lunch at a new restaurant there, which was just wonderful.  As we ordered lunch, and came back to sit down, somehow there was a large gift bag where I was sitting!  It contained a framed, enlarged photo of Lee and I at the Dunamase ruins!  That was one of Mark's errands!  Thanks, you two, we love that picture!

After lunch we returned home and spent a quiet afternoon.  It was raining off and on, and it was nice and cozy in the house.  About 5, the rain cleared and the sky got blue, so we went for a walk to the ruins that is visible from Mark and Alisha's house.  It was a great walk, and felt good to be outside getting some exercise!

The ruins are the site of an old monastery and graveyard, that is reported to have been commissioned by St. Patrick!  The amount of ancient history in Ireland is just amazing!

The ruins are at the top of a hill and have a fabulous view all around, including a clear picture of Mark and Alisha's house.  One of the paddocks had grazing sheep in it, who paid us no attention at all.  The other paddock had a herd of cattle, who were lying down, or grazing, off in the distance.  As we got closer to the side of the graveyard that bordered the paddock, all of the cows looked at us, got up, and in a body, started moving towards us.  They must have thought that we had food!  It was a little eerie, but they got pretty close to the fence (thank heaven's for barbed wire!) before we decided to move on.

After our walk, we got ready for our dinner reservations at Fallon's.  Fallon's had recently won some best restaurant awards, and Mark and Alisha hadn't eaten there, so we were all looking forward to trying it.  We got a great seat at a table in an alcove with a fireplace - it was a great space and was good for photographs, but poor Alisha just about baked!  The fire slowed down, and Mark traded places with her, so all was well.  The food was delicious, the service and ambiance were great!  It's on our do-again list!  It was a great place for a birthday dinner.  I had a wonderful birthday in Ireland.

Then it was home, finalize packing and relatively early to bed, as we needed to catch an 8:15 am bus the next morning, for the airport and the trip home.

Thanks, Mark and Alisha, for a fabulous first trip to Ireland.  We'll be back!!

This is the tower at the site of the ruins across from Mark and Alisha's house.  This photograph was taken from their front yard.

Enlarge this picture and you can see the reference to St. Patrick

Entering the grave yard - note the steps built into the stone fence.  Those were common in the areas we visited.

The tower and some of the crosses and headstones in the graveyard

Another shot that shows the age of this place

There was a great view in all directions from the site.  Make this picture large and you can see Mark and Alisha's house!

The cows are interested in us!  You can see that some of them are still lying down, but they all got up and started toward us.

Here they come!  Ok, that's close enough...

Mark and Alisha at Fallon's

The four of us at Fallon's.

Tuesday the 11th

Tuesday began with our normal, leisurely morning.  Once we were all ready, we started off, with several things on our agenda - a stop at the Kildare Outlet Center, where we shopped for shoes at the Clark's outlet - very cool!  I was the only one able to find shoes I wanted in my size, so I got them, and I love them!  I'd never had Clark's shoes before but they are super, super comfortable.

After the outlet center, we visited with the folks at the Open Arms Church in Newbridge, County Kildare.  Mark and Alisha have been good friends with the pastor, assistant pastor and office staff since they moved to Ireland, and the church has been very supportive of Mark and Alisha's efforts in Brannockstown.  Lee and I got the grand tour, while Mark and Alisha caught up with the office staff, and showed off Alisha's i-Pad, which caused quite a stir!

After visiting Open Arms, we went to the Newbridge Silverware factory.  They had amazing things in there, and we had a great time looking around.  After that, we headed back home to hang the laundry out and to pick up the chocolate chip cookies that Mark had made that morning.  Then we went to visit Jim and Iris in Kiltegan, County Wicklow, who go to the Brannocksto church, as they had invited us out for tea.

Jim and Iris are delightful - they are both in their 80's, and extremely sharp and active.  While we were there, we got a great surprise - Jim took us over to Hume Wood castle!  This is a privately owned castle, which was built in the 1800's, originally as a hunting lodge.  It was purchased by a Mrs. Coleman, in quite a run-down state, and most of the castle has been completely refurbished.  Jim is friends with the caretaker, and we were SO fortunate to get a personal tour of the castle. 

It's just beautiful, and the present owner has down considerable work to convert the castle to luxurious hotel accommodations.  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get the necessary permits to operate a hotel, so it's only used occasionally for family and friends - such a shame!

It was wonderful to have a private tour, and if they ever get permission to operate it as a hotel, I'd LOVE to stay there!

After our castle visit, we went back to Jim and Iris' for a wonderful afternoon tea which was like a late lunch.  We also got to meet two of their grandchildren, as they conveniently live right next door!  Then it was home, to let Hishey cat in, have a glass of wine and relax!

Another wonderful day!

This was the lighting in one of the outlet shops - we thought it was very interesting.

Hume Wood Castle!

Here we are, outside of the main entrance.  You can see the turret and the part of the castle that hasn't been restored at the far end of the picture.

More of the unrestored part

This is the ballrooom

The dining room - the table is very, very, very long!

One of the living rooms

One of the original flush toilets!  The handle to the right is how it's flushed

One of the many hallways, this one with stained glass windows

This was the view outside of one of the bedrooms

Some of the grounds - off to the left, just out of site, is a lake.

The walled garden

Monday the 10th, Kilkenney and Kilkenney Castle

On Monday we visited Kilkenny and the Kilkenny castle.  It was a beautiful drive, through the gorgeous countryside.  We had lunch at Kyteler's Inn - an amazing place that was built in 1324.  The building has been slightly renovated, but the downstairs is completely original. 
After lunch we visited the castle.  Kilkenny castle was built in the 12th century.  We were able to tour the castle and see all of the rooms, bedrooms, halls, walk-in fireplaces (they are huge!) and staircases.  It's been beautifully restored and maintained, and it was just great to see an actual castle!

Kilkenny grew out of a monastic settlement first established in the 6th century by St. Canice.  It had a sucession of owners - Strongbow and the Butler clan, most notably.  Interestingly in 1366 the Statutes of Kilkenny were designed to supress Irish influence which included the banning of  Irish customs and language.

After we visited the castle, we wandered around the town.  There were interesting shops and a wonderful ice cream shop, too!

Afterwards, we went to Bennetsbridge, the home of Nicholas Mosse Pottery.  They make amazing pottery and have a great cafe and shop. 

Then it was time to head home.  On the way, we went to Moone.  Moone is pretty close to Brannockstown, and is the location of the second tallest Celtic cross in Ireland.  I like to pick up a small rock from wherever we visit, and I found a small piece of slate at the site of the cross.  It wasn't till later that night, that I realized I had a Moone rock!!

When we got home, Mark and Lee built some supports for the tomato plants, as they were growing like crazy, while Hishey supervised. 

Needless to say, we were all pleasantly tired and enjoyed a quiet evening!

This is the street that Kytelers is located on.  If you make the picture bigger, you can see the name on the hanging sign.

This is the original part of the Kyteler's Inn.  You can see how thick the walls are.

The beer taps have been set into the wall.

Mark and Alisha, after lunch

Kilkenney Castle!

Isn't this just amazing??  Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed inside.

These are the grounds leading to the castle.  It was like a park!

The entrance to the castle!  You could see where the moat had been, as well.

In the guard house!

Kilkenny city

Here's where we had ice cream!

This is the Butter "slip" - little walkways that take you from one block to the next.

This is the 2nd tallest Celtic cross in Ireland, located in Moone

These were some of the gravestones in the graveyard outside of the structure holding the cross.

Many of the stone fences we saw had these vertical rocks along the top - sure would make it hard to climb over

The tomatoes are growing like crazy, and will enjoy the support that the stakes will give them

Lee, working on his tomato plants, too.

Here's Hishey, supervising Lee and Mark, as they stake the roses.

What a grand and glorious day we had!