Poetry

When God made little creatures
The rabbits and the mice
He made them all so carefully
So cuddly and so nice
The trembling nose and twitching ears
Each creature did he place
And sent them off down to the earth
To rule the human race

They climbed aboard the space ship
The rabbits and the mice
Brer rabbit hit the starter
And they soared towards the skies
Saint Peter swung the pearly gates
This little craft swept out
The Saints and Angels saw them go
And gave a glorious shout

God makes no creature perfectly
Not rabbits, men or mice
He either makes them clever
Or cuddly, soft and nice
He tries his best, that's granted
The Angels do as well
But God nor man could ever make
The mice like space travel

Their beady eyes were troubled
Their stomachs were as well
As planet earth loomed closer
They viewed it as a hell
They rushed out of the cockpit
They raced on down the hall
They leapt out of the door and through
The skies began to fall!

The rabbits felt bewildered,
Not cuddly and not nice
They could not bring the space ship in
Without their friends the mice
They tried to call the lord above,
But he was not at home
Mary said he'd gone to earth
To meet some guy in Rome.

The earth loomed even closer
The ships grew firey hot
The rabbits were between two minds
If they should jump or not
At touchdown minus ten seconds
Brer rabbit flipped a coin
But the coin was rigged
The ship was frigged
They jumped at T. minus nine

The rabbits fell on Dublin
The mice to Limerick came
They did not know quite what to feel
Anger, guilt or shame
They knew they failed the lord above
They knew mankind was doomed
They'd failed their lord by one small slip
As through the sky they zoomed
Their orders burned up with the ship
They could not hope to win
Aso they did what mankind did
And turned to lives of Sin

So reader in the evening
When the sun is sinking low
And as you ply along the road
As weary homeward go
You see a rabbit in a field
A mouse upon a wall
Just leave them live their peaceful lives
They yet could save us all

Colman Murphy, Age unknown, Dossing in some class.

Christmas in Dublin and Kildare

The best part of banging up your leg is the disabled line at the airport.  We zipped through all the airport security lines in record time.

Dublin was unseasonably warm, and after Prague, anything above freezing point felt good.   This was taken outside Martha's house on Christmas day. 

 Martha's Christmas dinner table was positively exquisite, in keeping with the whole house that looked like a Macy's ad for Christmas decorations.

After Dinner Fred did his usual trick. Blame the jetlag

Even Foxie needed a nap 

 Relaxing by the fire watching Mrs. Brown

 

Next day we were treated to the same at Aunt Mary's house.  Except that Aunty Mary always does things on a grand scale.  24 people for dinner in total for a family celebration.  Once again the table looked stunning.

Of course the piece-de-resistance was Majella's Christmas cake.

 
 Below is her runner up cake.

The Crib

Patricia's girls have been well trained and did all the work in the kitchen.

 John and John holding up the wall.

 John Walsh was very interested to see if anyone could taste the difference between the organic and inorganic turkey.....nobody could but we pretended we did.

Siobhan, Damien Byrne and Father Martin

 Sisters playing with the camera

 Mrs Byrne came in for a short visit on her way home to Tullamore.  She thorougly enjoyed meeting Aunty Mary and Uncle Dan

 She was in her element with someone to fuss over

Uncle Dan's walker came in handy for the gimp

The four girls enjoy a moment together

 John O'Kelly and Barbara discuss politics while Uncle Dan studies the table mat

Double Trouble!

Aunty Mary's fabulous Christmas pudding

 Uncle Dan and Aunty Mary holding court

Triple trouble!

Still a beautiful couple after all these years



Prague Christmas Markets

Good King Wenceslaus looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even

Prague reeks of Christmas, Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Saind Wenceslaus Square, to honor the Good King, and the Christmas markets give a tinsel town feel to the place.

We took a few days before Christmas to wander through the city and soak in the Christmas spirit.

The Christmas markets are nothing to write home about but the atmosphere is wonderful.

This is a view of the old town square from the top of Clock Tower.

Prague is small and just about everywhere is within walking distance.  Our tour began with a visit to the Royal Palace, and Saint Nicholas Cathedral nestled above the old city.

The tour continued with a visit to Saint Vitus Cathedral, housed inside the walls of the Palace.  Unfortunately the weather was too poorly to get a good photo so here is the summer view.  It is a magnificent example of Gothic architecture.  Good King Wenceslaus is buried in here.

How about a tomb like this one?

The nativity scene is traditionally made from straw.  It was amazing to see the detail work.  Puts our biddy hats to shame.

A live Nutcracker outside the palace gates

Snow on vines that are hundreds of years old providing wine to the church.

The gimp walking around the old square

Why the crutch you ask - well I was sporting a multicolored knee for the trip thanks to fall the weekend before

This is not the place to come if you are a vegetarian.  Whole sides of pig were being roasted over charcoals.

The Astronomical clock in Old Town square is over 600 years old and still keeps perfect time.  

Many of the stalls were selling a local Christmas treat.  Not sure what they are called but the locals went mad for them.  Can you believe Fred skipped eating them.

Yum

Christmas tree in the middle of the Old Town Square.

Cold and happy after a tremendous dinner at La Finestra in Cuchina

Prague is definitely on my top favorite cities that I have visited.

Big Basin Camping - Sleeping in the dirt for 2 nights

It always amazes me how much we love camping.  We go out into the woods, stumble around in the dark putting up a tent, get covered in dust and dirt, sleep on an uncomfortable mattress, eat too much, drink too much, come home stiff, sore and talk about how we can't wait to do it all over again.
Tinker and Fred enjoy a glass of wine after the tent ordeal is over.

 Kate and David got creative about how to listen to music from her iPod.

 On Saturday we hiked part of the skyline to the sea trail.  Weather was the perfect temperature.

 Merie and Heidi enjoying the trail.

 Big Basin was the first state park in California.  Can you believe it almost closed last year due to lack of funding.

 The best part of hiking is the beer back at the campground.

 Fred chose to stay at the campsite and dog sit Sparkey and Whiskey.  I am sure he fitted a nap in somewhere although he strongly denies it.   Even the dog was exhausted from doing nothing.

 Heidi and Kate hanging out by the campfire.

 Heidi the shrine

 Whiskey is taking to the camping thing really well.  Molly would be proud of him

 Exhausted from a day of exploring all the new smells in Big Basin

The food was gourmet, pork lion, rack of lamb, portabello mushrooms.