Our B&B overlooking the Bull Rock

Perfect Breakfast and oh the Views

It's the fun music festival time of the year again and here's a few pictures of one down in Allihies on the Beara Peninsula in honour of Michael Dwyer the great trad composer and whistle player and some from the Willie Clancy School of music up in Milltown Malbay, Co.Clare where the streets, pubs and sand dunes are filled with music. There are students there from all over the world to take classes in music, song and dance.

And the craic was had by all.

Barcelona, Spain

Spent a lovely, sunny week in Barcelona early in May, my first visit to that great city since the 70's when we had a summer apartment down on the Costa Dorada. Had a wonderful time strolling along the Ramblas again, full of life, mimes, flowers, fruit and the locals on their promenades. Oh the markets full of colour, fruit, nuts, people downing Cava and bars serving huge gambas, grilled sardines, bombas and their own specialties of the house.

How perfect to have a city with such fantastic architecture, with the long beaches right in the city, the almost nightly performances in the Palau de la Musica which has to be the lovliest theatre in the world, the old and young dancers performing their stately dances in front of the cathedral just as generations have done before them.

Leaving the warmth

Sunny Thailand has been left until
next Winter. Finished with outdoor dining, BBQs and sitting on the roof of the University watching the Art Movies. We have such a great bunch of pals there every minute is a good one. There was a big round of parties and farewells and now off on my own again.

Left for Ireland to pick up warm clothes and put on shoes again for the first time since Oct last.


Only stayed 1 night in Ireland before flying on to the States to stay with daughter Terry landing in Pittsburgh and driving on to snowy Erie. This is her smart little
Dachshund Buddy who gets almost lost in the snow drifts.
Settling in for nights of firelight, movies, Jeopardy and vino:) There's
a lot to be said for that too.

Plans are to ski on days when the sun comes out and the wind does not try to cut the nose off the face. First stop is the big library down on Lake Erie to stock up on a pile of books. GREAT

Huai Hom Village

This is a lovely clean little village in the North West of Thailand. The lovely woman with the leaves in her hand is the head lady and the woman sitting on the platform is her mother. Here a lot of the coffee for Starbucks is produced and excellent coffee it is and 100% Arabic.
Many ladies in these hilltribe villages smoke pipes and they work really hard.

There's bettle nuts drying and the white beans are actually coffee.

They also work hard here at weaving and sell their scarves and produce. The name of the village comes from the Hom leaf that the lady is holding in her hand, they use that to dye the natural wool.
Nearby is a village renowned for making silver. This young man is in his workshop where he is sizing rings we bought from him.

There are nice homestays here organised by the capable lady with the leaves in hand. Her name is Malee Wan and even the King of Denmark visited here and was impressed with their products so he set up a contract to buy from them and export to Denmark.

If any of you want to visit it is not far from Mae Sariang where guesthouses include the lovely River Bank Guesthouse, price around 800 baht/room, new and very clean or
Northwest Guesthouse. price around 300-400 baht/room which is not as up market but has a lovely owner who speaks English and serves excellent food.
We intend to go and have a homestay there next time among these friendly giggling people.

Images from Mae Sam Laep

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Wandering around Mae Sariang

Spent the last week up in the north west frontier area of Thailand based in the town of Mae Sariang, between towering mountains and rivers.

Near here are many many displaced people fleeing from Burma and there are volunteers risking their lives to help them reach these shores.

The children in these pictures are from an orphanage a few hours from there. They are not all orphans but many have left their parents and families behind. In this particular safe haven there are also the children of a few widows who can not feed and raise their children so they come here and work at weaving scarves on foot looms. These are sold and the widow gets some of the money and the rest goes to keep her child/children in the orphanage. In the picture they are lining up to get milk and cookies after school but we mainly concentrate on bringing huge bags of rice for their necessary main meals. Luckily they to be nourished and happy although the whole place came down with malaria last year. Certainly they are tough and well able to stand their ground while being so polite and kind to strangers and the little ones in fact there is a hut for babies with each one cared for by an older child.

We made our way along the Salawin River, so close that we could have "thrown a biscuit on the Burmese shore" as Wolfe Tone once remarked about Bantry. We could not use a boat as planned as the area is dangerous now as the border often is. The roads are so bad it took 90 minutes to drive about 18 miles. From here the children are reminded daily of the villages that were home just across the river.

Things I will miss about Thailand

Riding my bike, a cool breeze, sunny days, the scent of flowers, birdsong and white teeth flashing smiles from strangers.

Whole families plus dog riding by on one motor bike with granny on the back calmly eating or knitting.

The bows and wai's before the spirit house each morning and presentation of fresh tea, whiskey, bananas, other fruit, flowers and water even though within minutes the birds will have had a little feast there but the main thing is the spirits will first have had their fill.

Greetings and smiles when entering any public "taxi" and the ease of just waving a hand in any place on any street to catch one. Usual price in the city is 50 cents a ride.

The tiny stands on almost every street that mend clothes, sew new clothes, repair shoes or watches for reasonable prices.

The beautiful presentation of food and the colourful interiors of good restaurants and hotels with cool water streaming down walls, orchids, cushions and serenity

The availability of cooked food priced for every pocket. People just set up a stand or a make shift grill outside their house and offer food for extra income not to mention the market stalls on most streets with grilled fresh fish, mysterious foods wrapped in banana leaves, every kind of exotic fruit soups and curries, Indian Roti's, grilled sausages and kebabs and satays on sticks.

Of course there are things not to like especially the suicidal drivers making it an act of courage to cross a road where there is no traffic light. Even when there it is red it is often not recognised so the locals scurry across to be sure. The cars and motor bikes switch lanes, drive up one way streets with a merry disregard for rules.

Thais don't like to say no so an affirmative does not mean they will actually do something. They are not paid well so think nothing of sleeping at work which rather defeats the market lady who rises VERY early and sets up her stall only to fall asleep across it within an hour.