A look back

Well, it's been quite awhile since we last posted, and we'll be honest - blame the momma! 

I will fully accept the blame for not posting - honestly, for quite awhile I lost all desire to even think of posting.


After getting home from the Ireland trip, I was interested in spending more time with the dogs than blogging - especially since one of the Horde had cancer.  Sierra had hermangiosarcoma, a blood borne cancer.  It was originally in her spleen which we had removed.  All was going well, and then the nasty #$^&* came back. This time it was in her liver. We could have had surgery done, but it would have given us only a few months more - at 10 1/2 it was not worth putting her through surgery again.  We decided to help her cross the Bridge before she suffered.  It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but it was the right thing to do for her.  After that, I just wanted to curl up and love even more on the rest of the Horde.

Well, as the year is a few hours away from ending, and the Horde has been pestering me, we will once more venture forth into cyberspace (or should I say siber-space?) in 2012.

We all want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!  May your 2012 be filled with love, laughter and happiness!

~ the Horde and their Momma

Newgrange

Today we visited Newgrange - a monolithic tomb that predates both the Pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge.   At sunrise on the Winter Solstice, the sun hits a shaft at the entrance of the tomb and illumiates the inside of it.




It is mind-boggling to think that Stone Age man constructed this with no modern-day equipment.

Tomorrow morning we head for home - seems like this trip passed by in the blink of an eye.  Starting with the next post, I will return control of the blog back to the furballs (at least until I hijack it again!).

~ the momma

Quiet contemplation

Today we visited a quiet unassuming little church -  St. Columba's Parish Church in Drumcliffe in County Sligo.  It sits quietly in the shadow of Ben Bulben - the table top mountain.


Its two claims of interest are a very well preserved celtic cross that dates back to perhaps as far back as 1100.


The other?  The final resting place of W.B. Yeats.  He wanted to be buried here, where his great-grandfather was the rector of the church.  As you can see, his headstone is nothing out of the ordinary.


Hard to believe that this quiet churchyard contains two such treasures.

"Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." ~ W.B. Yeats

~ the momma

Magnificent....

Sometimes you go somewhere and see a sight that simply takes your breath away.  Today was one of those days.

We visited the Cliffs of Moher today.  It was overcast and windy (it was full out windstorm there - imagine Chicago during a 40+ mph windy day - that's what it was like at the Cliffs), and then it rained for a few mintues - felt like hail was hitting us instead of raindrops.  But everything was SO worth it!  The view of the Cliffs took my breath away, and to see the size and magnificence, truely humbles you.  Mother Nature had one of her finest moments when she created them.

Since my words can barely accurately describe the veiw, here's a couple of pictures to sum it all up:




A picture really is worth a 1,000 words...

~the momma

Siteseeing....

From the village of Adare, to Bunratty Folk Park - lots of things to see and do.

Adare is a little village that has several thatched roof cottages.  Aren't they adorable?


From Adare, we visited Bunratty Folk Park - not only is there a castle built in the 15th century, which was home to the O'Brien Clan, but they also have a recreated 19th century village.  Lots of fun to walk around and explore.  The castle was very interesting, but those staircases are narrow and winding - talk about a workout!  Here's a picture of the outside of the castle:


~ the momma

Ring of Kerry

Today's been a long day, so I just want to share a couple of photos from our jaunt around the Ring of Kerry. While we had overcast skies, there was no rain (or fog) for which I was greatful. The ride was very scenic - the views were spectacular...




And I had to share this one - a hidden gem we saw on our tour - these are Ogham Stones - ancient grave markers.


~ the momma

The gift of gab...

Today we went and visited Blarney Castle.  This was going to be a tough one for my mom - she's not big on heights (bit of an understatement there) and none too fond of small spaces - both of which we faced in order to visit and kiss the Blarney Stone to get the gift of gab. 

See, the Blarney Stone is set up at the top of the castle, and the stairway up and down is at bit narrow - add in rather high steps and honestly I wasn't sure that mom would go up, let alone kiss the stone.... Oh and before I forget to mention this - to kiss the stone you have to lay on your back, grab two iron hand rails and lean backwards to kiss it...

Just to give you an idea of what the castle looks like and how high we we went up:


And for those of you who thought mom would not make it up there... well can I say I'M SOOOO FRICKN PROUD OF HER!!! Not only did she go up to the top, but she KISSED the Blarney Stone!!! You can see how relieved she was when she was done tho....


After visiting the stone, we went over to the Rock Close, which is a garden they have on the grounds, very pretty and picturesque. We saw this tree that had grown this way - add a few strings to it and you would have a marvelous harp! LOL


And finally, just to prove that I am on this trip too, here's a pic of me and mom....


~ the momma

Day 2 of our trip

Well, we managed to see quite alot today.  Started out at the Irish Stud Farm - got to see lots of horses, and since I promised my niece that I would take lots of pictures for her, I thought I'd share a couple for her to look at until I can show her the rest.





I actually had one little guy come up to the fence and let me scratch him!  Very cool in my book!!

We also went to the city of Kildare and got to view the palace that is there - we went in, but weren't allowed pictures, but the place is huge...



That's my mom in the foreground...  she looks so tiny next to the castle!

Then we were off to the Waterford Crystal factory to see how they make the fine crystal... very impressive and almost all of it from start to finish is done by hand!!





Still can't belive how much time and work goes into making the crystal pieces.  They demand perfection in their products and if a piece doesn't make it to their expectations, they recycle the crystal to be made into something new.  Now I can almost understand why the crystal is so darn expensive!!!

~the momma

Hijacking the blog

I know we just got the blog up and running, but I'm taking over for a few posts.  The furballs aren't thrilled with me about that - but hey, I'm across the pond and they'll have to complain to me when I get back.

We (my mom & I) had a decent flight out and on time!  Once we checked in the rest of the day was ours to do what we wanted.  So we took a hop-&-ride tour of the city.  Saw lots and had a ball, even with a little rain.

We managed to get in and visit a few sites:


This is a picture of St. Patrick's Cathedral


And we stopped and explored Christchurch Cathedral.

And guess what was our last stop???

Still not a fan of the beer, but had fun with the tour!

Got an early start tomorrow, so stay tuned!
~the momma

Can I have the ball???

picnikfile_lzFBUY, a photo by adenwood on Flickr.

Pardon our dust...

Well, after lots of pestering, we finally got mom to get us into the blogging world!  Welcome to our blog spot - we are the Hairy Horde - 5 Siberian Huskies who share their lives with their mom & dad.  Our momma is working on figuring out how to use blogger, so forgive us if the page doesn't look to pretty right now. 

We promised mom we would share with her so she can post some of her pics of things other than us - so if she hijacks the blog, you know why!

Stay tuned and we'll introduce ourselves to you shortly!