Spring

Sure signs of spring today. We had two cardinals and an evening grosbeak on the feeder today. It's snowing pretty good right now and actually starting to stick. I can see the shed roof and it's all white. We have some landscapers coming on Monday to do some work around the house. It should make a huge difference and make this more of a finished place. I'm gonna build a deck and we're making a patio behind the garage. Also working on the hay shed. As you know our family from Louisiana is coming up this month. We are very excited. Here is a pic of five of our grandkids, and another of them relaxing by the pond. Aren't they cute in their gator suits?

I thought I would introduce our girls as individuals. Now you can match the egg pics with the hen that layed them. Some fun huh? the first pic is Lucy.(Yes that's a big pile of fertilizer behind her) She is the rebel of the group. Likes to eat out of my hand, always the last in the coop at night. Last night I went down twice to close up things cause she was still out in the pasture. Probably be the one the coyotes get. Next is Alice. She has had some laying problems. Layed quite a few eggs with no shell, but layed a good one yesterday. Then there is Ethel. She hasn't layed an egg for a few days, don't know why. And finally Crooked Butt. Gramma has renamed her Annie. So that's who she is from now on. She is our most consistent layer. Here she is making my breakfast. Thanks girls, you bring fun and joy into our lives.

Pastures and Pork

So the pastures are about ready now. The horses have been making it known that they want to get that grass. I think today we'll put them out for a 1/2 hour. This is always fun cause I have to chase them off with the whip and the 4 wheeler when their time is up and they never go easy. Then they will be mad for the rest of the day. Here's a couple of rubber noses and Pinky saying "Put down that camera and feed me". It doesn't matter what time of the day you go to the barn the boys think they're supposed to be fed and they are not quiet about it. Guess I better go feed them.

Ireland Day 7

Saturday 10/2/04

Rained during the night. (As usual) Going to see the Ross Castle today. Need to find a laundromat today too. Drove to Ross Castle, but got there too early to get inside. It's a ruin so there probably wasn't much to see. No one gets up early in Ireland. Maybe some farmers do, but no one else. Nothing opens until 9:00 A.M. and even then they don't open on the dot. They open at 9:00 if they happen to get there then. Frustrating for me. Drove up into the mountains to a place called Ladies View.(It is called that because Queen Victoria's Ladies In Waiting would picnic here whenever she was in Ireland) Quite the drive. In some spots the rock was overhanging the road. There is a narrow tunnel cut out of the rock. Beautiful views. Scary drive. Partly sunny today, very windy. It's sunshine-rain-sunshine-rain and the wind always blows. Went a place called Muckross House. It's a Victorian Estate House bult in 1845. Very impressive. Huge trees. Came back and ate a late lunch. Stopped in a pub and there were 6 or 7 drunken Irishmen singing to each other. Strange, but kinda cool too. Ate dinner at O'Learys Restaurant. Had lobster. First time I ever had a whole lobster. It was good, but not as good as Gramma's broiled lobster tail. Driving to Cork and Cobh(pronounced cove) tomorrow. Didn't find a laundromat today. Hopefully tomorrow.

(That's Gramma at the base of the castle Which is built on the rock, and that's me at the base of that tree)

Ireland Day 6

Friday 10/1/04

I slept good, but Gramma didn't. Heading to the Dingle Peninsula today. Then to The Ring of Kerry and on to Kilarney tonight. Staying at a "guesthouse" tonight. Not sure what that is, but I hope it's better than the "Grand Hotel" which ain't too grand. Went to Dingle today. Very beautiful country, but the roads are very narrow and the locals drive very fast. The roads also wind and wind a lot and you can't go more than 40 mph and most times only 30. Can't stop to take pictures. Dingle was a nice town. Stopped at Murphy's Pub for for a drink. We decided to to go right to Kilarney and not do The Ring of Kerry because we just don't have the time. Drove on a really small road to Kilarney. Went through Inch which has a large beach area. I asked Gramma what she remembered most of the drive from Dingle to Kilarney and she said "The big trucks that tried to kill us". When we left Dublin on Sunday the country changed as we went West. Going South from Galway, after we went through The Burren, it changed again. Rock walls began to give way to hedges for fences and stayed that way until the Dingle Peninsula. Then we saw rock walls again. (These hedges appear to be impenetrable and I don't think you could go through them without a chainsaw.) So we had a combination of hedge fences and rock walls. We have seen a lot of ruins of old towers and old churches all across the country. We have seen alot of new houses too. Most houses they build are made of block, including the interior walls. Then they stucco them. Ok. Now we are in Kilarney at the guesthouse. Wonderful. Decided we will stay two nights and see stuff around here. That will be more relaxing than driving so much. Bathtubs are deeper here than at home. Just thought I would mention that. From our window we can see mountains. They are called "MacGillycuddy"s Reeks". Reeks are tops of mountains.

Hope you didn't fall asleep, long post.

Eggs

Well those of you who don't have chickens, (You know who you are) may not find eggs very exciting, but Gramma and I do. Now that we can tell the hens apart we can figure out who lays what egg. Welsummer hens make this kinda easy cause thier egg color is unique to each hen. This is cool and exciting. Stop rolling your eyes. The only hard part was catching the hens in the nest box and when they got out so I knew who layed what egg. Lucy and Ethel's eggs are very similar, but Ethel's egg spots are darker. Alice has really tiny spots close together. Crooked Butt's eggs have an almost colorless spot on each side and they are different each time. Also her eggs are actually crooked. It's weird.

Ireland Day 5

Thursday 9/30/04
Got a late start. Heading to Tralee. Drove through "The Burren". It's a strange mountainous area that is made up of small rocks. It's actually more than one mountain. Lots of rock walls. Lots of ruins of castles and monk towers. We see lots of stuff to take pictures of but cannot take pictures because of the narrow roads with no shoulders and no place to pull over and traffic that tries to run you over. Very scary. We decided today that if we ever come back here we will take bus tours so we can see what we are driving by. Fences, hedges and stone walls keep you from seeing some of the stuff along the road. Also because you fear for your life while driving and can't take your eyes off the road. I do not exaggerate. Finally found a spot to pull over and take pictures after driving up the mountain on lots of switchbacks. Other tourists were there taking pictures of a cow next to the road. They thought it was a bull! Big difference. Got to the"Cliffs of Mohr". Magnificent. Hope the pictures do it justice. Drove south toward Tralee. Some parts of the road are good and others are scary. Gramma says she feels like she is on a scary amusement park ride. We got lost in Kilrush looking for the ferry road. Signs are good sometimes and not good othertimes. Made it to the ferry. That was fun. Got to Tralee. Went to the Grand Hotel. No elevator, smoky room, windows that face the roof in the middle where all the fans and chimneys and stuff are. Not good. Ate in the pub downstairs. Good food, except the best beef in Ireland seems to be equal to the most mediocre beef in the States. But the beer was good. Also we had lunch in Quiltey today at "Cooney's Pub". Good food. Had "Toasties" which are just toasted sandwhiches. Stay tuned, more to come.