To Do's on last day in and around Kenmare
Arrange for laundry
Christmas shop, and have gifts mailed to the States
Attend Mass
Meet Cass for coffee
Meet the owner of our apartment and the art gallery below us.
Say hi to Sean Finnegan
Meet an amazing poet
Visit Muckross House near Killarney and walk the grounds.
Watch a sheep herding demonstration.
Have one more dinner at PF McCarthy's.
Meet some musicians--some in the band, some who spontaneously joined the band. Watch in awe as they showcase their talents.
Some of the above were on our list. Most were not.
One would think to accomplish all that in one day's time would take some strict discipline.
Happy to say our perspective was pretty laid-back as most happened unexpectedly yesterday.
We did not meet our friend Cass, whom we've seen on almost every trip to Ireland. Cass now works in Ireland tourism as a guide, and she puts in the miles.
Unfortunately, her busy schedule for the day did not match up with meeting us for coffee in Kenmare. If there were any way it could happen, Cass would have tried.
As we tell all our Irish friends, we realize they have to live their lives, so if a visit works out, great; if not, next time.
As far as the rest of the day is concerned, we did meet Faye and Rosemary and Sean and Vince and Mary and Damian and Tommy and Chris and John and Evan and a few others in our travels.
Rosemary owns our apartment and the Purcell Gallery below. She's a marine biologist turned artist who specializes in sea scapes.
Faye works in the gallery two days a week and writes poetry. She's a trained lawyer who has lectured in England. She sings. She's also a mother of teens who focuses on her poetry.
I've included a video which features one of her works about the lighthouse in the photos on yesterday's post.
Bill bought a copy of one of her poetry collections.
We stopped by Finnegan's Jewellry to say hello to its proprietor Sean who's retiring after running the store for 44 years.
Sean and his sister are friends of our friend Marcia Pilgeram, and they've been to Sandpoint. Sean says he and his wife will probably come back to Sandpoint sometime in the next year.
We also did some Christmas shopping at Quill's and arranged for the items to be mailed to our home in Sandpoint.
We attended Mass after planning to just visit the church and finding that it was time for daily Mass.
Later, we drove back through Killarney National Park to Muckross House (with Queen Victoria history).
We treated ourselves to a tasty dessert at the cafeteria and enjoyed walking the beautiful grounds. We also met a couple from Tennessee, whom we later saw at PF McCarthy's.
She grew up in Spokane, graduated from Shadle Park High School and later earned her Master's Degree at Gonzaga University.
We suggested that they try the potato cakes at PF McCarthy's. They did and they highly approved.
We met Evan at Kissane Sheep Ranch.
Evan is a sheep herding specialist who works for area farmers with his Border Collies. Yesterday, with his whistle, he directed Kate as she herded some Kissane farm sheep around the hillsides and back into a pen for a group of tourists.
Ironically, Bill and I were driving by on our way back to Kenmare when we saw the tour bus turn into the sheep ranch, which we thought was closed for the winter.
Happily, we were able to join the audience and watch the demonstration.
It was later that we learned from Evan that his beloved Kate was just one day younger than our beloved Liam.
I think our spontaneous visit to Kissane Ranch may have been directed from that force I spoke of yesterday.
In the evening, we paid our last visit to friends, Vince and Mary, who owned the Rose Garden. They are regulars at PF McCartheys.
Last year we met Damian who works at PF McCarthy's. At the time, we learned that Damian and I share the same birthday.
Last night we learned he's a talented musician who plays guitar with two others--one of whom, Chris Savage, a keyboardist was a regular with the '70s English band MUD. Tommy, the vocalist for last night's performance came originally from Vancouver, BC.
Their performance was enhanced by a couple of guest performers---one an elderly lady named Esther who joined them to sing a beautiful love song; the other, an amazing saxophone player from Homer, Alaska, who just happened to brought his instrument along with him to dinner.
John Mink blew our minds with his ability to connect with and to add a dramatic touch to the band.
What a night, and what a day, packed with interesting and talented people and one amazing Border Collie.
We could never have plotted such fulfilling and amazing happenings as those we experienced yesterday did from start to finish.
Today, it's good bye to Kenmare and hello, Stoneyford as we see our friends at Lawcus Farm Guesthouse and Malzard's Pub.
Happy Tuesday. Enjoy the photos and the video.
1 comment:
I’m so sorry about the loss of your sweet Liam.
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