Cows Getting Up Close and Personal...

So we got a new herd of cows in the back pasture.  They like to come very close to the fence.  I was intrigued and took some photos.  Then one day I let the dogs out thinking everything was fine, and they were barking at the cows.  That was okay, but these particular cows don't really run away.  They startle at first, but then move in closer.  I was in the house and then looked out the kitchen window, and there was Chloe, on the wrong side of the fence!

I ran out there and she kept running up and down along the fence looking for a way in.  I have no idea how she got over there.  There is chicken-wire all along the wooden fence, and I could not find any holes in the wire or spots along the ground that she could have used to get over.  As far as I can tell, she must have jumped over!

She seemed pretty anxious to get back in the yard, and the cows were all coming toward her to sniff her.  She tucked her tail quite tightly and looked pretty small, and then she whined!  Almost broke my heart and they did start to crowd around her and I was afraid she might get trampled or crushed.

There is an electric fence all along the backside of the wooden fence.  It is about 2 feet away from the wooden fence, but I was afraid that Chloe would hit it if I pulled her up along there.  Then she ran up along the side and there the electric wire was further out.  I got her to put her paws up on the wooden fence and then I had to pull her over.  Once she was back over, she ran a couple of circles and seemed pretty pleased to be back on the safe side!

Here you can see the cows are missing their little blonde pal!

"Hey, can Chloe come out to play?!"

Couldn't get a picture of her on the wrong side as I was too busy trying to rescue her, but I did get a couple of shots of Rugby, who got big and brave AFTER the fact and barked at the cows.  He puffed up his fur trying to be bigger, but his back legs were shaking like crazy!  Admirable to try to defend Chloe after she was safely back on our side of the fence.

You can see the cows are not impressed...

Finally a Clothesline!

In Ireland, people hang out their clothing all the time.  Seems strange, I know, especially given that it's often raining, but there it is, an act of faith in every neighborhood!  Every home has a clothesline.  Now I think the reason people hang out laundry to dry is because the clothes dryers aren't that great.  Maybe it's just ours, but both washers and dryers are very small.  The dryer is LOUD - like an airplane. I swear it's true!  And it takes FOREVER to get anything dry.  So, people are left with paying outrageous electric fees (which is way  more expensive here) or they have to take a leap of faith and hang the laundry out to dry.  They all opt to hang it out to dry. 

We did not have a clothesline, so in honor of Earth Day and all things conservation-minded, we bought this lovely little clothesline from Argos.

And I have used it many times over the past 2 weeks as we have had fabulous weather.  April has been a splendid month for blue skies and extended sunny spells.

I love being able to hang out the laundry because I am so sick of hearing that stinkin dryer running!  Here's to lower electric bills and saving the planet! 

Orange Salad

After reviewing my Easter entry and the orange salad, I was reminded of a birthday card Sharon sent to mom one year.  It went something like this:

A can of mandarin oranges is just a can of mandarin oranges.  But in Mom's hands, with some Jello gelatin, it turns into something damn tasty!

Hahahahaha!  Still makes me laugh!  

I guarantee that anyone who eats this salad will want the recipe.  My cousin, Sue Chellstorp Mackenzie and her husband, Jeremy, found an old  cookbook at my Aunt Margie's house with an orange Jello and sherbet recipe dating from 1973 I think.  Very cool!  The original recipe Mom had called for Dream Whip.  Not sure they even make that anymore...

Violets!

Saw the violets at the Mall last week and they reminded me of Grandma Hogan's yard in Dubuque.  Posted it on facebook and Sharon noted that the same was true of Grandma Hogan's childhood home!  Lucille Arensdorf Hogan grew up in Dubuque and her childhood home on Almond Street was later bought by the Meloy family!  Sharon says there were violets and lily of the valley growing along the side of the house. 

I remember picking violets for Grandma and she would put them in the orange glass Easter basket or the short green glass vase.  And I happen to have them!  The runner they are sitting on also belonged to Grandma, and then Mom, and now me.  

After picking violets it was time for a small glass of warm Pepsi and 2 Ritz crackers for a treat.  I loved visiting Grandma!  I spent a lot of time there as she babysat me every morning when Mom was doing her student teaching, and I was in afternoon kindergarten.  Grandma was wonderful!

Easter Sunday

So we had a lovely Easter, though pretty quiet.  Haley had to hunt for her basket and she was delighted by that, NOT!  I initially hid it in the coat closet, hanging up under a zipped up coat, but Steve thought I should make it easier to find so I put it in the dryer.  Didn't even pile clothes around it. Pitifully easy...  We did actually find jelly beans at Tesco on Saturday so we bought 2 of the small containers to satisfy the jelly bean withdrawal they had been experiencing.  I confirmed with some basketball moms that they do not dye eggs here.  Also, all the eggs are brown anyway.   

Oh have to comment on this!  Who could forget the Billy and Betty Bunny Incident?!  Zach was about 2 and he picked them up.  I was trying to get him to set them down and Mom says "it's okay, he won't hurt them."  As I was saying to her, "aren't they ceramic?" Zach banged them together and Billy's ear broke off.  Then Mom said, "oh shit" in a funny voice and we laughed and laughed.  James was with us and he really got a kick out of it!  I think he was 12 or 13 at the time.  Not sure how I ended up with them, but it seems appropriate...

For Easter dinner we had a lovely leg of lamb on the grill and I managed to make the orange salad!  Used the jello that Jeff and Theo sent, and then had to kind of improvise.  No orange sherbet here and couldn't find sorbet either.  Instead, we found some vanilla ice cream bars that were covered with an orange-flavored coating and we bought some whipping cream that was unsweetened, as there is no cool whip or other such sweetened whipped cream as far as we could tell.  They do have mandarin oranges and it set up nicely!  Mmmm, my kind of "salad"!!

 We also got to face time with Connor and Kay and so our Holiday was complete!

Easter in Ireland

Haley is currently on a two week break from school that goes the week before Easter and the week after Easter.  We have been doing some shopping and such, but mostly hanging out here at home.  It has been a truly gorgeous week.  We have been getting sunshine and temps in the upper 50's and low 60's (around 12 to 15 degrees Celsius) all week long.  No rain except a tiny bit of mist on Thursday!

Now it is Easter weekend and Haley is playing in a basketball tournament.  Yesterday, on Good Friday, we were at the grocery store and the alcohol aisles were not open.  Turns out, they will allow sporting events, even on Easter Sunday, but you cannot buy alcohol on Good Friday.  Nor can you do any banking.  The banks are closed for Good Friday and the whole weekend and Monday is a bank holiday so they won't re-open the banks until Tuesday!

We did have to get McDonald's fish sandwiches last night - I was kind of craving it and it seemed like the Good Friday nostalgic thing to do! 

Zach is leaving today for a three week trip to include Dublin, Scotland, and England.  He is meeting Victoria, a friend from Argentina whom he met in Barcelona.  They have it all worked out with hostels, planes, trains, etc and are looking forward to a great trip.

As far as Easter things, I did not see any egg coloring dyes here.  I don't know that anyone really does that here.  I guess not.  Could not find any jelly beans either, much to Zach's dismay!  I told Haley I would do a basket but she will have to hunt for it.  I know David approves of this requirement.  I can still hear him telling Mom, "Hide my basket, and Kathy's too."  Good times, good times...

Had to send a Betty Jane Easter Egg to Connor.  Zach and Haley think that is terribly unfair!  They will get Lindt chocolate, which just isn't the same.  I have not found a local chocolatier here in Ireland.  Will have to keep looking!

While I am sitting here, a bunny has hopped across the patio and Chloe is going bananas!  It is the bunny weekend!

Time to get dressed and off to Edgeworthstown for the tournament.  Happy day before Easter!

Longford Falcons Win the Conference!

So, after spending the night in Dublin, we had to high-tail it to Streete for the basketball conference final.  (and we did sleep well - as the hotel party ended at midnight)  When we got to our car, it was covered in dirt - as were all the cars around the city.  Turns out, it was sand from the Sahara Desert!  Go figure!

The game was awesome and Haley played marvelous as usual!  Then they did a photo with all the girls from both teams.  I love that they play hard but still have camaraderie after the games. Especially one like this, for the championship.  After the game, we went home, picked up the pooches, and got ready for the week.  The second half of March was great for us!

Leinster v Munster Rugby Game at Aviva Stadium March 29, 2014

So we had to say goodbye to our March guests and get them to the airport.  It was sad but all adventure was not lost, as Steve, Zach, Haley and I had tickets to the Rugby Match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for Saturday, March 29th!  So I drove my pals to the airport and then high-tailed back home so we could make the return trip to Dublin! (Not enough room in the car for everybody...)

We stayed at the Lansdowne Hotel and found that they had a party at the hotel for the game!  It was outside and the music was great.  So we donned our Leinster Gear and went out to enjoy the food, music and beverages before walking to the game.

The cigarette was not ours...

Though I loved my blurry action shot, he did, in fact, miss this penalty kick, so the game was Leinster 6 - Munster 12.  Ahhh!  The first half was all penalty kicks and Munster was scoring on theirs and Leinster missed TWO!

Coming back after the half Leinster started catching up in penalty kicks and then Brian O'Driscoll scored a try and it was Leinster 19 and Munster 12!! After that Munster scored two more penalties and it was 19 to 18with 4 minutes left in the game.  Then Leinster scored another penalty as time was running out and the final score was Leinster 22 - Munster 18. It was a great game to watch!

It was so cool to see Brian O playing in person. We had watched the Six Nations Rugby Tournament which Ireland won, and Brian O retired from the Ireland team after the tournament.  I was afraid he was retiring completely, but there he was in his Leinster uniform!  Yay!


Tried to get a shot of Brian O but it didn't come out so good...He was done after scoring the try having taken a pretty hard hit to the head.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to watch and we all enjoyed it. 

Zach of course tried to ruin the picture but I posted it because Haley is adorable!

Trim Castle Re-Visited

So Haley had school all during the week they were here, which was the last week of March, but we let her take Friday off so she could join us for the fun and games.  So on their last day here, we all packed into the car and drove to the town of Trim to see the castle.

I say "re-visited" because this is the one we attempted to tour in November when Jeff was here, but the castle wasn't open during the week at that time.  So we toured around the outer grounds and saw Sheep's Gate and St. Mary's Abbey.  Those photos were posted in November 2013 - and it lets you see all around the outside of the castle walls.

This time, I called ahead to be sure the castle was open.

Amy got the photo of the car-load!

This identifies that Trim Castle was used as the York Castle in the filming of Braveheart.

Amy also took this shot - and it's cool because you are on the city street and can see the castle looming up in front of you!

This is Trim Gate, which was closed to us in November!

This is the Keep.  Hugh De Lacy acquired the lands in 1172.  With the River Boyne on the North and the marshy ground on the South, it was an ideal spot to build and to keep it protected, as it left very few ways to enter the castle grounds.  The keep itself could only be accessed by a drawbridge, which would have been where the metal stairs are now.  He began building in 1173.  Trim was at the time, the largest Castle in Ireland, and it has been well-preserved with the integrity of the building itself kept intact.

This is the Great Hall.  It was added some time after 1250, when the castle keep no longer was suitable for important meetings and parties and gatherings. 

The tall tower in the distance is the ruin of the Abbey of St. Mary's that we saw in November with Jeff.  It is across the river and outside Sheep Gate - which we also went through last November.  Sheep Gate is a Gate belonging to the town wall, and the only one still standing.  The tower is still the tallest building in Trim.

This is another view of The Great Hall, with a view of the tunnel underneath.

This is the tunnel that leads to that railed off area.  There is also a trough which was used for waste.  (I know, ewwww!)  It would have gone right into the River...

This picture from one of the signs shows what the Great Hall would have looked like from the river side.

Part of the wall enclosing the castle grounds.

A view of Trim Gate, through which we entered, from the Great Hall.

The River Gate.  This Gate was added to allow for easier deliveries from the boats on the river.

The picture on the sign gives a nice view of what it would have looked like from the river, with The Great Hall to the right of The River Gate.

These are two shots of the side of what is left of The River Gate.

The whole place would have been walled for protection, so the wooden fence would have been an extension of the large stone wall you see in the distance.

The Barbican Gate.  Added in the early 13th Century.  This was added to guard southern approaches to the Castle.

Inside The Barbican Gate.

Our tour included a guide for seeing the inside of the Keep.  It was well worth it to go in and climb to the top and see the magnificent views from above.

This is another double basin in the chapel.  As I noted in my info about Fore Abbey, the double basin was unusual.

View of The Barbican Gate from the top of The Keep.

View of Sheep Gate, which is across the river.  Following the path will bring you to The Abbey of St. Mary's.

View of the Abbey and also the home where Jonathan Swift lived in the early 1700's as Vicar of Laracor in Trim.

We had a great time and our tour guide was awesome!  After the tour we got a late lunch/early dinner in town and then drove back home so they could get ready for their trip back home.