Slight Detour: Good bye Cosmos; Hello, Shamrocks

I was feeling a tinge of sadness yesterday while walking around the yard admiring and snapping photos of my fall flowers.

Those moments would be among the last for this year's beautiful blooms----at least for me.

I hope our faithful housesitter Elisabeth gets some more enjoyment out of them while she takes over guardianship of the Lovestead.

Thanks to Elisabeth and friends and family, we'll be leaving our beloveds today and spending a couple of weeks in a land of magic, rich greenery, wonderful people, a Guinness or two, thousands of sheep and shamrocks.

It's back to Ireland once again.

Little did I ever suspect that Bill and I would be returning so soon after last year's trip----until Christmas Day, 2018, when I opened a gift containing the items in the photo.

I cried.

Since then, we've been quietly planning for this trip, and now it's becoming reality.

Ironically, I won't be the only sibling of our family on the European continent.

My brother Mike and his wife Mary are leaving this morning for a bus tour of Portugal and Spain.

Much of their route will retrace some of the same steps taken their granddaughter Justine and even more taken by Annie.

Readers may remember that last year Annie invited Justine to join her on the Camino, beginning in Portugal.

So, Grandma and Grandpa will see much of what she saw, including Santiago de Compostela.

As Mike and Mary move on through Spain, they'll see some of the places where Annie walked on her very first Camino.

A very meaningful trip, for sure.

And, from following Facebook, I'm aware that at least two of our Brown family cousins are in Europe also.

Cousin Mary appears to be in England, while Cousin Sue has been everywhere from Paris to Munich to Florence.

Too bad we couldn't have arranged a rendezvous somewhere. I guess Facebook will have to do.

Anyway, we have a long day ahead, maybe with some snoozing on our Aer Lingus nonstop flight to Dublin, but bedtime for this day will finally come on Friday near Kilkenny.

We'll reconnect with Anne Marie and meet her husband for the first time. They're the proprietors of the beautiful Lawcus Farm Guesthouse where animals abound, along with a great food and fun visiting.

Before finally hitting the hay, we'll probably sample our first Guinness at Malzard's Pub in Stonyford, which is just down the road from Lawcus Guesthouse.

Last year we walked into our first Irish Pub to listen to a lively set of Country Western music.

It's a hopping place filled with fun and friendly folks, many from the United States.

As far as the blog is concerned, there is likely to be a gap in posts, mainly because of our overnight flight and access to wi-fi.

So, stay tuned.

Once we've touched down on the other side of the pond and get settled with some wi-fi, I'll be posting.

Hope you enjoy. Happy Thursday.

This morning I particularly enjoyed my friend Connie's blog about family members on her mind.

For Connie: I can see that Jon and Grandma Kay being exactly the imps you suggested. In fact, I do believe that in at least one case, I have seen it firsthand.

And, we all miss Brian.

A lovely read.

https://retiredmtnlady.blogspot.com/