It has been a busy week-and-a-half here. Since landing I have celebrated Cillian’s ninth birthday and Richard and Leonie’s tenth anniversary. I have seen much of West Cork and a corner of County Kerry. I have Watched Shauna maddeningly getting ready for her “debs”. Had, and mostly lost, a small cold and started on the path to being a regular at Ma Murphy’s pub.

After a few days settling in here we had a “grand” celebration on Friday for Cillian’s ninth birthday. This day also happens to be Richard and Leonie’s tenth anniversary. As is the case a nine-year-old’s birthday takes over the house. After the little man’s football camp (Irish football) he and I walked down to town to the toy shop and got him my present, a  Power Rangers helmet and a Matchbox car. When we got back Leonie prepared a feast with hamburgers and sausages cooked on the grill and a homemade cake. Cillian’s grandparents (Richard’s Ma and Da) came to visit from Blarney which was a surprise for him because we had not told him they would.

Leonie took the next week off and we explored some of the surrounding country.  Our first adventure to Drombeg stone circle turned out to be a bust as Leonie could not remember the exact roads to get there but we had a great time running around the country anyway. We eventually did make it to Drombeg and we took Leonie’s nephew Eoin with us. We spent the traipsing all over West Cork and even took a drive up north to Co.
Kerry and visited Kulmare. Richard and I hit every pub we could find while Leonie drove us out to Sheep’s Head and back.

On Thusday Ricard and I had a boy’s day out and went to Cork to get me some new trainers. My old New Balances where seeing their final days and I had meant to replace them before I left but I ran out of time. Fortunately Richard’s father used to run competitively with a man who now owns the best running shop in Cork. I didn’t wear my new shoes when we went to see Blarney castle since it was a bit muddy out. I also didn’t kiss the Blarney stone after I was informed that it was a Blarney tradition for the boys of the Blarney to urinate on the stone on their fourteenth birthday.

The week finished with a mildly -stressful Friday getting Shauna ready for her “debs”. At the last minute she had found a date and so the pressure to look good was increased. Up until Monday she had planned on going on a “gate crasher” ticket but now that she had a date she had to make the extra effort to look her absolute best. I avoided most of the stress by taking a nap and sleeping of the cold I had gotten a few days earlier. In the end Shauna looked stunning and told me this morning that it was worth all the effort.

Well that is all for now. Today I am mostly lounging around. We might go for a walk in a bit. Next week I have to start the real work of planning my Russian visit.