Happy St. Patrick's Day From Your Dublin Connection

Wishing I Was Here

{A repost from year's past this is as much applicable today as it was when I first posted}

St. Patrick's Day is a day of mixed emotions for us. We always have fun celebrating, but in our heart of hearts we wish were with our family and friends here:

James Toner's, Baggot Street

having one of these

if we could score the snug like we did two years ago, we'd be very happy

(as you can see by Gar's face)

and if we weren't there, then perhaps we'd be here at Connolly's aka The Sheds

(this was leah's first visit)

visiting with our family

or maybe walking along the river liffey

or we could be in Cork hanging with my bestie Tina

then again, we might be in Dublin at toddy's in the Gresham Hotel

or we might be enjoying the parade

of course, if Niall was cooking, we'd probably be here, in his and Caragh's kitchen

if the ferris wheel was up, we'd have to take a ride to see Dublin from above

we might take a walk up the Christ Church

of course, we've also been known to hang out in Fran & Fiona's kitchen

or maybe Gar and Gra would be cutting a rug at the Gardai Club

then again, we might just stay at James Toner with some of
our favorite people

or we might be in John and Angie's kitchen having a bit of a sing-song, but we'd all be quiet first and give  JenJen the floor (don't get dizzy from my video skills).

 

missing dublin (and cork) today, we'll do our best to muddle through

We had a St. Patrick's Day weekend filled with celebration.  Friday night Irish youtubing, singing a dancing. Followed by a visit to our favorite pub RiRa in Portsmouth on Saturday. The neighborhoodlums went up with us for the merriment and Sandee gets five gold stars for being the DD. We came back to the house to had a bit more of the craic ('good times', not the drug) with -  you guessed it- more youtube singing and jigging.  Yesterday our pal from Cork popped over and then we were off to my parents for a proper corned beef dinner and some irish music.  Today, I'll probably make a big shepard's pie and we'll enjoy even more Irish music and merriment (when our work is done~!).

That's it from St. Patrick's Day Central. Make it a good one!

Ciao for now and Slainte!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wishing I Was Here

St. Patrick's Day is a day of mixed emotions for us. We always have fun celebrating, but in our heart of hearts we wish were with our family and friends here:

James Toner's, Baggot Street

having one of these

if we could score the snug like we did two years ago, we'd be very happy

(as you can see by Gar's face)

and if we weren't there, then perhaps we'd be here at Connolly's aka The Sheds

(this was leah's first visit)

or maybe walking along the river liffey

then again, we might be at toddy's in the Gresham Hotel

or we might be enjoying the parade

of course, if Niall was cooking, we'd probably be here, in his and Caragh's kitchen

 if the ferris wheel was up, we'd have to take a ride to see Dublin from above

we might take a walk up the Christ Church

of course, we've also been known to hang out in Fran & Fiona's kitchen

or maybe Gar and Gra would be cutting a rug at the Gardai Club

then again, we might just stay at James Toner with.............

missing dublin today, we'll do our best to muddle through

Lobster Bake- Take 2

Busy weekend here. The Bates of Clontarf (part of our Dublin family- Gar's brother Fran, our ssister in law Fiona, nephew Conor, and niece Rachel), who are in NJ for the summer due to work, swung up on Friday for a quick visit. We just chilled- ate yummy cheese, swam in the pool, and talked. Perfect laid back family time.  Saturday before they headed off to visit Fiona's sister in Boston, we had lunch at the 401 Tavern.  We got to eat in the 'wine loft'. Wish the picture was better, but I love the way our friend Desi decorated this part of the 401- about 1,000 wine bottles across the ceiling and now creeping onto the wall. Very pretty.

Too bad Gar couldn't eek out a smile for the picture.

Yesterday afternoon, we were off to our friend's lobster bake. Since Ralph helps Gar out with ours on the 4th, Gar does the same for him.

Filling the baskets with seaweed, clams and lobsters.

Loading the baskets onto the bake.

Hot stuff coming off the bake.

Come and get 'em!

So, so good.

Hope you are having a good weekend too. Enjoy your Sunday.