Publin

Since the other option is more kitten pics, I went through some more photos from Ireland only to reveal that all we really did in our 2 short days there was to walk (a lot) and stop in a few pubs to have a Guinness and some food to rest in between.

We did manage a tour of the immigration museum, the archaeology museum (previous post) and the James Joyce museum (future post) and, of course, a music store for The Husband, but other than that just a bit of pub-crawling.

I think we missed a few good pubs, like these 2. We might have to go back.

Martin, Mousie, and the wheelchair

The weather continues to be far too nice for this time of year. Just in the last week or so it is starting to get cooler at night which makes for some very foggy mornings. I am still trying to get Jessie used to staying in the house for longer periods, but when the weather is this perfect it is hard to deny her an all day nap outside in the sun. She usually wants to go out by 8 am, and she doesn't come back in until dinner time, and then only if I catch her and bring her in.

I have to work harder to convince her that in the house is a good place to be.

Of course these foggy photos are just to steer you away from the fact that I am obsessed with the cute kitten and his crazy antics. I took a video of him playing with his favorite mouse toy under the  wheelchair, just to see how long he could go. It was 27 minutes and 5 GB long.

Apologies to Claire for sending it to her and clogging up her phone memory!

Somehow Mousie still survives and Martin gets exhausted. All good.

Changing colors

The goldfinches and goldenrod are fading, just as the trees are starting to change into their fall wardrobe. All this is happening when the weather has been very summery—up to 80° a few times in the last week or 2. But I have also put the heat on once or twice. The chilly nights in the 40°s and 50°s are likely making those colors change.

Of course you know that this is really just an excuse to share more cute kitten pictures. At least you can kinda see the same pretty trees behind the vertical Martin Peters. 

Pooch poses, sunsets, Martin, and Joyce

I am not making much progress in getting a better photo of Jessie and Cyrus together for the home page. Woody is happy to still be featured there, so there is no rush. Here's another sunset to take the lead for now.

Martin the kitty is safe in his crate when we aren't able to keep an eye on him, but he is not thrilled about being in there now that he has tasted freedom. He makes the most pathetic little cries asking to be free to play with the big boys and girls.

The big boys and girls are getting better at playing with him, but still a bit rough. It's only been 2 days and I am pleased with their progress.

I have one more Ireland post for y'all when I find the time to get it together. Our second visit to the James Joyce museum in Dublin was just as interesting as the first when we were there in 1998.

Martin

We have been leading up to the point where we bring another cat in the house, since we lost Willie a few months ago. There wasn't much of a plan, mostly because Husband and I could not agree on what that plan was.

We have Otis and Zelda outside. Both just appeared on our property and we provided food and water and shelter, and had them neutered. They have bonded and I didn't want to mess with that. I also did not want to bring them both inside. Mostly because Cyrus gets a bit crazed with outside critters, including killing several of our chickens and ducks.

Husband wanted to break the Kathy-imposed rule of 2 cats/2 dogs in the house—can be fewer, can't be more. But then he keeps showing me cute kitten pictures online.

So yesterday we visit our friend June the Goat Lady to discuss borrowing a goat buck for breeding purposes. She has several bucks for us to choose from, and far too many barn cats.

So in the spirit of friendship and good will toward all cats, Martin came home with us.

Cyrus barked at him in the big dog crate for a good hour or more. Not even 24 hours later, he is content to watch Martin (not in the crate) play with me. So far they will have only supervised interactions.

MonkeyCat is still assessing the situation and keeping his distance.

Dublin—Saints and more pubs

St. Stephen's Green

You can see poor Molly in the background

Our Ireland trip ended with 2 days in Dublin. We brought Cousin Tony back to the city with us, and turned in the evil car near his home in Kilmainham without having to make our way back to the airport rental agency. So for the last 2 days KP was stress-free! Yay!

We did a lot of wandering in Dublin's fair city. The saints were everywhere. Poor Saint Andrew must be horrified that the statue of Molly Malone, on the sidewalk out in front of his church, is fondled by tourists from all over. I just don't know how that became a thing...

We also went to the National Museum of Ireland where there were plenty of archaeological artifacts recalling a sainted history—including Saint Patrick's tooth. (?!?)

And of course we made our way to a pub or 5.

On our last night we wandered into The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, established 1198. We met locals John and Lorraine, and chatted our way through the evening with the Olympics on the TV overhead. John said that "if bullshittin' was an Olympic sport, the Irish would win all the gold medals".

Goats on the loose

Also on our last day in Dublin, we heard rumors of a herd escape in Schuyler Lake. The trail camera showed this to be very true. Fortunately, the home team was successful in guiding them all back home.

Entrance to the National Museum of Ireland

Tim with some saintly figures

Because you really did want to see this!

The beautiful Swan Bar, established 1661

The Brazen Head

Brian walking Otis and Zelda :)

Killamuck Abbeyleix

Cousins Tony and Rose still live in Dublin, which is where we visited them before. But since they fixed up the house where my grandmother and her siblings were born and raised, they have been spending plenty of time there in the summer.

The address is Killamuck, Abbeyleix. No street name or number necessary, because everyone knows everyone who lives there, even if they don't live there all the time.

I am still learning more about my Killamuck ancestors, but I do know that Teresa, my grandmother had several sisters. Mary, also known as Molly, had emigrated as well and lived in Elizabeth, NJ across the road from Granny. I met Agnes (Liam's mom), Lucy, and Tony's mom Frances when I was in Ireland in 1982. I know there was a Bridget and Kathleen, and maybe a few more that I am missing.

Kathleen was the one who bought the ticket to come to the US, but then decided to stay in Ireland with her new beau. Granny ended up taking her ticket and coming here at the age of 15. The ticket was purchased at Morrissey's which was a grocery store back in the day. 

After a fabulous lamb and roasted veg dinner made mostly by chef Tony, we headed there for a pint or 3 to celebrate a great time with the family.

The Queen Mary with old grocery items still on the shelves

The original house (behind the door) with new addition (left)

Looking down the street with my scary rental car in the driveway

Cousin Tony with his parents' bikes

The fireplace behind him was the old kitchen stove

The kitchen addition with Cousin Liam and his wife Mary

Chef Tony and his wife Rose making dinner

Roasted lamb with lots of roasted veg (not all in the pic)

The Husband, Donal (Geraldine's husband), and Tony

Cousin Geraldine (Tony's sister), me, Mary, and Rose

Malin Head

On our last day in Donegal Town, we took a journey along the Wild Atlantic Way to Malin Head, the northernmost point in Ireland. It's a stark contrast to the Atlantic Ocean as I know it, on the New Jersey coast.

Granted, it was a cloudy day, but we had the entire beach to ourselves other than one young lady with a child and a small dog. This was in the height of summer and the tourist season. There were several more people on the paths along the cliffs, but I chose to sit that part out so I could take more photos.

It's hard enough keeping up with the husband wandering through city streets, but send him off in the countryside and there's no way my short legs will keep up.

Apparently this spot looks otherworldly enough to be featured in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That would never work with the Long Beach Island I remember in New Jersey.

 

Donegal—the bay, the music, and the castle

Driving north from Galway to Donegal was as hair-raising as all of the rest of the driving. There was no good way to tell my Irish guide, Siri, to keep us on the highways and off the back roads.

We aimed to take a boat tour of the Slieve League cliffs on the way to Donegal, they are supposedly even more amazing than the Cliffs of Moher, but it was too cloudy and foggy when we got there.

It was still cloudy when we got to Donegal, so we took a short tour of Donegal Bay. It was just touristy enough to be amusing. There was not a whole lot to see, but our tour guide sang some silly songs, and told some even sillier jokes for the ride back to the dock.

Our hostess at the guest house aimed us toward The Reel Inn for a good dose of traditional music. We went after dinner for the 3 nights we were there. Not all of it was traditional (we heard some John Prine and Bruce Springsteen), but it was certainly easier to hear the music than in sports-crazy Galway. One night these 3 young ladies appeared with some traditional Irish dance. The lady on the left looks a whole lot like my cousin Kathleen O'Brien!

I did not take many photos of the town itself, but I did take quite a few of the castle, right in the middle of town. Lots of new construction everywhere, and then, when you least expect it, a castle from the 15th century.