His and Hers Riding Lawn Mowers.... | lol

So we've had two consecutive days of rain. It's really nice because it was getting rather dry here... BUT even better, my neighbors who have HIS and HER's riding lawns mowers, AREN'T out making a hell of a racket mowing the "lawn" (really it's pasture grass that looks like #$%& cut to 2 inches....).

Every single sunny day (most days in Colorado) he and his woman are out cutting 10+ acres with a puny little riding mower. If it wasn't so funny it would be pathetic.... You know move to the country and bring your lawn mowers... roflmao

NOT to be outdone, the Smith's (me and Susie) ran out and got our very own riding lawn mowers.... Not only are they RIDING mowers but they can be used in full AUTOMATIC mode (fairly reliable). In addition these are ALL weather mowers that double as snowmobiles in the winter.... The very best part however is the automatic fertalizer attachment, well come to think of it, it's actually always attached and operational. Some might say it's a rather #$%&ty design.

RedMan & Nic Supervised by "Fur B" the cat

This actually works out pretty good, while Susan is in cleaning the house, I'm cutting the grass!!! lol...

In reality Susan cuts the small amount of lawn (pasture grass cut to 2 inches) we have!!!! we DO turn the equine loose to eat down the growth around the driveway and cloths line....!

My 3rd annual "SURPRISE" Birthday Party

Well, it's been a week since the first of our family showed up, James and Solitare were closely followed by Edward, Rachel, Cordelia and Wyatt...

We started the celebration with baked corrned beef with carrots and cabbage.... hmmm... hmmm... good. Of course I wasn't expecting that many for dinner, I was truley and pleasantly surprised that Ed, Rachel and their kids were able to make the trip from Grand Junction.

As it usually happens when the family gets together, bedtime didn't come early.  I had to get up and put the "pork shoulder" (for pulled pork if you're from NC, carnitas if you're from the southwest) an 8lb roast cooks for up to 8 hours, until it's falling off the bone, getting turned every hour.

Saturday morning, got up late but already had the pork ready to go....

VERY shortly after the pork was in the oven, Gabriel came though the door. I had no idea Becky aka Becca knew that morning even existed.  That's not really true she goes to work pretty early some mornings.

Went to get ice and a couple of other things with James and Solitare.... Got back and was getting ready to start "peach margaritas" when I noticed the 10 Avacados waiting for me to make guacamole'. Decided that in the interest of accuracy, in makig the guac that I should do that BEFORE starting peach margaritas....

Minnesota Susie (not to be confused with MY Susie) came with a TURKEY she had cooked and de-boned. Mike and Cindy along with their oldest daughter, Gina and her two girls arrived. 

Of course by this time I had been working on the peach margaritas (and some beer) for a hour or so.

Robert(the horse whisperer/trainer) and Linda Hartford show up and it just happens to be their 10th wedding anniversary. Of course I tried to toast them and spilled TWO peach margaritas.... dang, waste of good liquor and better peaches....

In any case we had a lot of folks for quite a while. We eventually got around to "GAME TIME" just like we always do... We played the REALLY STUPID, but REALLY FUNNY game called "Quelf"...

As always happens, Sunday came and everyone headed home.... dang, another year older and a WHOLE LOT OF FUN....

Hmmm photos..........

Cordelia, Wyatt, Gabe(the big one), Connell and Molly

  

Becca playing the "air drums" with household items and Connells help (the game -Quelf) 

James & Solitare - Also playing "the game"

 

Rachel, ALSO playing "the game" - Note the dogs leash? hmmm....

 

Wyatt & Ed NOT playing "the game" - look like twins to me... check out them eyes

A REALLY "Old Man From Black Forest" OLD and tired.

and of course, not ONE single photo of my lovely wife, her camera!

Chapter 6 | Bed & Breakfasts + Global Warming Strikes Southern Colorado

I'll start with the "global warming" issues - It's the 11th of May, 2010 (last night). We're in bed watching the "thunder-snow",  Spring-time in the Rockys brings THUNDER-SNOW... woke up to two inches of WET, SLOPPY, SLUSHY, SLICK SNOW and we're expecting up to three more inches tonight and even more tomorrow night.... It may sound like I'm complaining, but it's really only an observation.

Back to Ireland.... As I had mentioned earlier in this "recollection", we stayed in Bed & Breakfasts through our entire Ireland visit.... So before you leave the U.S. you find a bed & breakfast in the vacinity you'd like to start your trek. These are the hardest to find, but not to hard if you start early.  The Bed & Breakfast "organization" that most belong to send you an inch thick listing with photos, directions, and descriptions of literally hundreds of possibilities. 

When we arrived for our evening stay we'd speak with the owners and get recommendations on the next days adventures and where they recommended we stay.  Make a phone call to the next days B&B and see if they can accomodate us, if not we simply tried another.  Both times we did this (it was VERY easy with just Susan and myself) we NEVER encountered any lodging issues.

Most also had "dinner" as well as breakfast so we did get a good deal of Irish home cooking. 

Usually the families were very talkative and seemed to enjoy our conversation. Of course me being me, my favorite topic was the Protestant vs. Catholic "conflict" that none of the Irish really cared about.

For those that haven't travelled outside the US I think the thing you'd find most perplexing is the plumbing, especially showers.

As we explored central Ireland, headed for Donegal we decided it was time to do laundry (yup, unlike in the movies, they do laundry, (and go to the bathroom) in Ireland too). and one of the highlights of the trip (for me anyway) Belleek, Northern Ireland, just outside Donegal....

Chapter 5 | Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Well I have a few minutes... So here I am, trying yet again.  I'm behind in my watercolor class, but I don't think I'm as far behind as Susan... Maybe, but I don't think so.... HOWEVER in terms of quality Susan is unsurpassed...


Well we FINISHED the watercolor class, Susan has some EXCELLENT examples of what watercolor should look like....

On to Dublin....

The Dublin airport hence the bed and brekfast we stayed at were on the East side of the city... We were headed West. In general we were headed to Donegal by way of bed and breakfasts along the way.... Dublin is a big city, just like other big cities, there are lots of people, lots of stores lots of traffic.... There's also a lot of history and of course Guiness (which we never got to, but drank our share, well, I drank our share....

We did visit Trinity College, Dublin with the beutiful old library and the "Book of Kells". for more information on the "Book of Kells" see http://www.bookofkells.ie/book-of-kells/ . Four gospels in very ornate "caligraphy" and in Latin (circa 800). 

On leaving Dublin heading toward Donegal, we just drove and stopped when we saw things of interest. Same thing we did on our Colorado vacations.

So what did we find?  Castles, castles and more castles. Big castles, OLD castles (and some forts).... I think we must have stopped and explored, I don't know, maybe twenty different castles.

This was one of the first, as you can see a real tourist mecca, the tourist buses actually swarm onto some of the better known castles like the Blarney Castle.... So this out of the way castle was great fun. No one showed up the entire time we were there, as was the case with MOST.

We parked the car and walked

The three "children" Ed is off in the distance

and NO, it didn't rain the entire time we were there, but it was clear why Ireland is so green....

REMINDER - Third annual "surprise" birthday party for ME.... Saturday, May 22nd noonish.... Pulled Pork, aka Carnitas um Guacamole, Peach Margaritas and we'll see what else..... Don't tell me, it's a surprise..... 719.499.7758 for directions.... 

Amanda Memorial Photos

Many of you know Amanda, you know how truly HUGE she was. You do get use to how big newfs are after a couple of years... Amanda was actually the smallest of the newfs we had, the photos just don't do justice....

This was taken during one of our snow storms... I went out to see how she was doing. You can imagine my thoughts when I saw this.

Newfoundlands LOVE sleeping in the snow!!!

This photo was taken just a couple of weeks before she died...

Just laying in the driveway

Finally no memorial of Amanda would be complete without a tribute to how absolutely gentle she was... All seven cats really liked her. But Cream just adored her. They use to go out the screen door together, Amanda would open the door and Cream would follow.

Amanda 110 lbs. & Cream 10.5 lbs This cat followed her EVERYWHERE, well except in front of Amandas fan.

It's been really hard, different and lonely (when Susan goes to work). Every time I hear a dog bark I jump up to check on her.  We went to a picnic in Fort Collin Sunday (the 18th) with James and Solitare and lots of dogs, but alas no Amanda... ;-( We really do miss her.

18 Years of Newfoundlands, 13 Year with Amanda....

We got our first Newfoundland 18 years ago, Windy.... Our last Newfoundland has been with us for 13 of those 18 years, Amanda died today the month of her birthday 13 years ago....

She couldn't walk and was starting to have breathing problems.... I called the Vet Monday and we agreed on Today (Wednesday), Susan and I spent all day with her...

About 2PM the vet called and said she was on her way.... We went in to say our final good-byes and Amanda was all happy, glad to be pet and fed carrots and liver snacks (she quit eating her regular chow)...

About 15 minutes before the vet came she laid down with me, went to sleep... The vet came, gave her some 'ace' (tranquilizer), got everything ready and administered the injection, Amanda NEVER woke up. I guess she too had decided it was time.....

We are both VERY sad, but also very relieved as she wasn't in very good shape and going fast.....

Chapter 4 | Republic of Ireland | "Shades of Green"

So... the high speed ferry arrives in Dublin Ireland.... We collect our loggage and head for the "rental car" location.... After arriving I present the confirmation for a "full size" rental vehicle.... Right this way.....

The look of disgust | Hmmm...

Five(5) adults in this "full size" vehicle... No amount of complaining did any good.

But we did make the entire time without too much friction. the three took turns in the middle of the back seat. Ed and Becky both tried the drivers seat. James and Susan, well they just rode....

So from the ferry dock to the "bed and breakfast" and it's starting to get late... Fortunately I had driven around Dublin on previous visits.  When I looked for a bread and breakfast I looked for someplace near something I knew,...  the airport...

The roads in Dublin are very hard to navigate. the street name changes every couple of blocks. No street names on the corner. The street names are carved into SOMETHING, usually stone near the street... Needless to say Dublin is NOT easy to get around... Not only was Susan impressed, the the guy that ran the bed and breakfast (with his wife) couldn't believe a yank could find them that easily... Big secret.. follow the signs to the airport...

So, we spent the night at the B&B, had breakfast and headed off to Donigal...

Sorry it took so long to post this, been kinda busy... I'll TRY and do better....