Tag: Ireland

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I’m not Irish but I do like the color green and I do like tales of St. Patrick  – I read he used the shamrock to explain the trinity to others.

My china teacup with shamrocks.

We have traveled to Ireland, the emerald isle. It is charming and picturesque, and green.

Festive lights near our front door.

So, for those silly reasons, I decided to have a little St. Patrick’s Day celebration. 

The seasoned brisket on top of the vegetables.

For the first time, I made corned beef and cabbage. I found a crockpot recipe that had good reviews. It called for red potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage and corned beef, which my husband purchased at a store in the cities.

The cabbage is added to cook for the last hour.

I followed the recipe carefully –  8 hours in the crockpot, before our planned dinner time. 

The crockpot on the counter, cooking the corned beef meal.

While waiting for our dinner to cook, I set the table, looking around the house for green items to use for decoration. I had bought some fun napkins for the occasion.

Green tablecloth, candles and themed napkins.

Also, I found a BINGO game online, using the Irish theme. Gary helped me make up several “boards” and we went out to find some prizes which I wrapped in green tissue, of course. 

A game we made, and played.

As dinner time grew closer, I put soda bread (another first for me) into the oven. When it was done, we were ready to eat. The corned beef and cabbage turned out, and were very tender and very tasty. The soda bread was a little doughy. But overall, we deemed the meal a great success, all the while Irish music was playing in the background. Delicious lemon bars were brought for dessert.

The sun sets on our party.

We had a fun time celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.

A traditional Irish Blessing for all...

May the sun shine warm upon your face. And rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

 

Memorable Hikes – Ireland 2014

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Sheep on the hillside, Ireland.

In 2014 we met friends from Boston, in Ireland. We rented a car and drove around the southern part of Ireland on the opposite side of the road for ten days.  The countryside is beautiful and green, filled with old ruins, sheep, flowers and so much more. The coast is rocky and wild and we liked Ireland.

One day the four of us hiked to Mount Brandon on the Dingle Peninsula. It was the end of an ancient pilgrimage for Saint Branden (whom the mountain is named after – I don’t know why the spelling difference.) It is steep, rugged and wonderful. It’s the second highest point in Ireland, at 952 meters, or 3,123 feet.

The sheepherder and his dogs.

We stopped to ask an older man, a sheepherder whom we encountered while looking for the beginning of the trail, where the trail-head was. He confirmed our thought and then he started up the trail himself. He made it look so easy. He and his three dogs started up the trail about the same time we did but soon they were out of sight!

We started our hike at sea level in sunshine and cool weather. The trail is marked with crosses and white makers. The crosses were numbered for the Stations of the Cross. It was special to come upon each one…a mini victory each time we passed.

One of the wonderful crosses along our trail with vistas of the sea below.

The sheep were on the mountain with us and the views over land and sea were stunning. It was a difficult hike but we kept climbing. At cross #6 I thought we were half way but when we got to cross #12 and it wasn’t the end we began to wonder how much longer or higher we had to go. By now it had started to rain. We kept going…cross #13…#14…should we turn around?…let’s go to the next marker…

And then…there we were…at the top! We were excited, happy, cold and wet. We looked around to see what we could see. There was a definite edge on this peak and for a moment, a little ray of sunshine poked through the fog to give us a glimpse of the beautiful sight straight below us. We snapped a photo and then started back down the way we came up.

Fogged in at the top of Mt. Brandon, Ireland.

Though the trail was wet and slippery, the rain had stopped and we dried out on our way down the mountain. At the bottom we were proud that we completed this six-mile trek. It was one highlight from our many adventures in Ireland.

Serenity Prayer – Reworded

 

Mt. Brandon – Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

In church on Sunday, we heard a different version of the serenity prayer:

Show me what is yours to do Lord.

Show me what is mine to do.

Show me what’s what, and make it clear.

This is the traditional prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

Both are worth praying.