Family Mellmann

I spent about six hours in the garden on Tuesday and another six hours today.  I used yesterday as a do-something-productive-that-requires-sitting day.  I really like being able to see some progress in getting the garden cleaned up for the summer.  The weeds, having free run of the place since spring, were...out of control.  Some of them were taller than me. :(  Now the weeds (the ones I haven't pulled yet) are tiny by comparison, but I'll get those, too - just not this week. I also got to reap the rewards of work done last year.  Around my compost bin, the weeds can get unruly, especially when  I'm not available to tackle them early in the season when they start to emerge.  This year, I wasn't able to get in the garden until now (school year ending, Katherine graduating, and then a family vacation) so many of the weeds were...picture Little Shop of Horrors (a musical where the carnivorous plant tries to eat the humans).  It was pretty bad.  Last summer, Katherine helpe

This is the LAST last day of our vacation.  Yesterday was the last travel day.  Today is the Home and Horizon Day; come home, do laundry, put luggage away, recover the lawn (mow and water after two weeks of no mowing and little rain), process pictures, stories, and experiences, and then turn toward the horizon; begin planning for “re-entry” - back to jobs, chores, schedules, and routines. Jörg and I went to a local diner for an early breakfast (jetlag means we beat the rush and arrived when they opened) where we recapped this vacation.  There is a sad but excited recognition that this was our last family vacation as Mom, Dad, and Kids.  From now on it will just be Husband and Wife.  Both kids made it very clear that they are done going on vacations with us and are ready to do their own thing.  It’s normal.  Not unexpected.  Appropriate.  But still comes - for this mom - with a hint of sadness.  After all, we have been on some epic adventures. Things change, they always do.  But this ch

Today we took a day tour to see the Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands (Inisheer, the smallest of the three islands).  We joined our tour group in downtown Galway and boarded a tour bus. The bus took us on a 90 minute drive to the coast where we boarded a ferry bound for Inisheer.  On Inisheer we rented a horse and buggy for a tour of the island. When the tour was over we stopped for a snack before getting back on the ferry. The ferry took us past the Cliffs of Moher before returning to the harbor. The cliffs are quite stunning, impressive in their size. At their southern end, the cliffs rise 390 feet above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head.  Five miles to the north, they reach their maximum height of 702 feet.  The cliffs are home to seagulls, puffins, and many other sea birds. We return to the bus to begin our journey home, but first a stop at the cliffs from a different perspective. Now that we had seen them from the water, we got to see them from above by walking on top of the cli

After hunting down ruins, cathedrals, and castles, it was time to do something different.  Patrick found a flight school and aeronautics museum about an hour outside of Galway.  The real attraction was a Boeing 737 flight simulator in which he could take a lesson.  He practiced takeoffs, landings (at several different airports), and even had a little weather thrown in for a challenge.  To cap off the experience, two of his flights included engine failures one of which was known as a V1 engine failure.  V1 is the point in takeoff where you past the opportunity to abort; your only choice is to take off and return the airport…tricky, but not impossible.  While we waited for his time in the simulator, we stopped for a snack at the Cafe Solo nearby.  What a great name for an airport cafe! And, since pictures can’t tell the whole story, here are some videos. https://youtu.be/s2DpJeujhC8 https://youtu.be/qgXxK73RYeQ https://youtu.be/0T5fTo13WQ8

In the name of (more) “off the beaten path”, today we plan to see two relatively remote ruins.  The first is Athassel Priory outside of Tipperary (yes, that Tipperary).  From the apartment, it was just under two hours. The priory was so off-the-beaten-path that we had to park at the entrance to a private residence (off to the side and out of the way, of course) because there are seldom any shoulders on Irish roads and where we were, it was even single-track part of the time.   Once parked, we had to climb over a stone wall (clearly designed for humans to walk over…steps and all…but designed to keep the cows in.) and walk across a field.  No red carpets here. The largest medieval priory in Ireland, Athassel stretches over a 4-acre site. The priory dates back to the late 12th century when it was founded by the Augustinians.  Hubert de Burgh was prior at Athassel around 1221. The original buildings were altered and renovated over the next 300 years. The priory was burnt twice, once in 132