Hey folks,

I thought that you might be interested to see some of the cool stuff that I saw and did while I was back up in Ireland. I had a great time, ate too much and all that, but a picture speaks a thousand words, it’s said, so here are a few to brighten your day. Sorry for the awful quality, photography is not my strong suit. The weather was actually pretty good, so excuse the presence of the sun!

My dad’s place- very in the middle of nowhere. But next to a castle- those guys are everywhere in Ireland:

 

 

This next one isn’t in my dad’s garden, but I visited some friends down south, so behold Trim Castle:

While I was down there, I saw… this. I did not expect to see those words assembled together, but sometimes life throws you a curveball:

I took a trip to the majestical Dunfanaghy in County Donegal…

…where I saw the spectacular sights from my childhood:

 

Took a visit to “my mountain,” Muckish….

 

…played with fire guilt-free (It’s not like Ireland has fire warnings)…

 

…and located a very poorly disguised pot of gold. Must be the guy’s first day on the job. 

I was home for Christmas Dinner. Please note that my nephew is sporting a t-shirt of a pug flying through space on a pizza.

 

Every year the casualties are atrocious, but we persevere:

 

  I also went to the Giant’s Causeway:

 

I reminded myself why I left Northern Ireland…

 

 

…and why there’s still some hope in there…

 

And I got to spend some time in the nature with my family.

Finally, the take-home for all of you fine New Zealanders is this sweet prayer. I’m not a prayin’ man, but things like this remind me that there are grains of wisdom everywhere, even in the 17th Century 🙂