Beside Still Waters

 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.

Psalms 23:1-2

 

 

The Lost Sheep

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Luke 15:3-7

 

Going For A Drive

Around Thanksgiving weekend we went for a small trip to the west coast of Ireland.  During that trip we drove along the Burren.  Below are some of the pictures we took on our drive.  We had little time especially since our little Tater-Tot started to catch a virus that day.

The one time being stuck behind a tractor is not so bad.

 

 

The picture below is of a Stone Cross.

 

 

 

Below is Leamaneh Castle dates back to 1490 and is the home of the infamous Maire Rua

In Enlgish her name was Mary O'Brien (Little Mary).  I looked up information on her and it wasn't pleasant.  Not something I want to read again.

Click here for a story about Red Mary

 

 

 

 

 

Another tractor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is remains of old Irish home and the picture above is the walking trail to go see it.

 

 

 

The two pictures below are remains of an old church.

 

 

 

 

And finally what we had been waiting to see!

 

We kept waiting for a leprechaun or a hobbit to come out of this hole but nothing ever happened.

 

For more information on the Burren click here

 and here

Irish Ornaments

Here are some new Christmas ornaments we found here in Ireland.  We are looking forward to starting a new tradition when we go back home by decorating a tree with all Irish ornaments.

Tradition

A couple of weeks ago I began writing my Christmas food list.  I realized just how fast the season was approaching and knew that I needed to be ready.  I went to our local Tesco store (which is as close to a Wal-mart or Target that you can get) and discovered the majority of what was on my ingredient list was non-existent.  I left the store a bit irritated as well as whiny.  Soon after getting home I looked up the items very quickly to see if I could have them shipped.  I did find most of what I needed and excitedly made the order.  To my surprise I discovered the cost of the items!  Wow, what a jump from our American prices.  I decided for the sake of Christmas I would order anyhow.  It would be completely worth it since we are so far away from our family and friends.  But then, I began the process of on-line checkout and much to my amazement some of the items had to be taken off because they were not allowed to be sold to our area.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse I found out that shipping the items would cost as much as the order itself.  At that point I really began to inwardly sulk and just about give up on our traditional Christmas. 

For a couple days I just didn't know what I would do.  While sitting in our family room
The Fiddler on the Roof came to mind.  I then realized how whiny I was being and what I could do different.  So this year we will be celebrating our Christmas with a traditional Irish theme and a few other places of Europe in the mix.  I plan on posting as much as I can about it as I go along.  I hope you will join me on our journey to a new Christmas celebration.  And who knows, may be some of it will become a new TRADITION!

Click here for The Fiddler on the Roof song TRADITION

Below are some of our family's traditional foods that we make at Christmas time.
(these were the foods we could not make since the ingredients were unavailable or extremely expensive)

• Posole'
• Chile' Rellenos
• Green Chile Corn Casserole
• Tamale's
• Pumpkin Pie (yes I even eat this at Christmas)
• Fudge (I have recently found a new recipe with ingredients in Ireland)
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter cookies with Hershey Kisses
• One food that I miss but have never ventured to make is my Grandmother's Empanadas.  I told myself last year that I would make them "Next year" but at the I didn't realize I would be residing in Ireland.

Items not found in Ireland are:
Hominy,  Red Chile, Green Chile, Masa, Canned Pumpkin, Corn Tortillas, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares, and Hershey Kisses

I also thought that I could not find marshmallow cream.  While at Tesco yesterday they had it in the baking section and it is in a clear container called Cake Topping.  They use it as a topping for desserts but not for cooking. 

Some of the things we miss about New Mexico the most (besides family and friends) are:

• Chile Ristras
• The Mountains
• Luminarias
• Christmas lights on cars
• The adobe home in the desert with Christmas lights and a sprinkle of snow
• Snow

No Worries

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the blog.  The Christmas season has taken all of our free time as well as having sick children. Kids are getting to feel better and I am in great hopes to blog soon.  Don't give up on me, I'll be back soon.  :0)

Thanksgiving in Ireland

Thanksgiving in Ireland is going to be a bit different.  Since it is an American holiday my husband will not have traditional Thursday and Friday off of work.  In fact today is the day of and he is at work right now.  We have decided to move our celebration to Saturday instead which seems to be the norm in America for those that do work on the Holiday.
I thought for this post I would try to go over a few things.  I have had several people ask me a few questions about the holiday and so I thought I might go over a few things.

Question 1- Do the Irish observe Thanksgiving and are they aware of it?  For some it seems obvious that they would not celebrate but some have never really put thought into it.  No, they do not observe it since it is all about America, Pilgrims, Native Americans, the Mayflower and such.  They do however know about the holiday.  Every Irish person I have spoke with on the topic has known about it. 

Question 2- Can you get a Turkey in Ireland?  Yes, it turns out it is an extremely popular food for Christmas.  We have been told that the Irish really look forward to their Christmas turkey.  We have been seeing many bins full of turkeys since early November.

Question 3- Does Ireland have other Thanksgiving type foods available?  Yes and no.  I went the other night with list in hand to find all that I needed for our celebration day.  When shopping I could not find any canned pumpkin, canned yams, or marshmallow cream.  Once we had trouble finding these items we went in search of help.  The person we asked for help gave us a very strange look when we said canned pumpkin.  They do not carry those or yams.  They have to be specially ordered.  That was such a strange concept to my mind.  What is even stranger, to me, is that the Irish do not eat pumpkin pie or candied yams.   (I have so much to learn)  They do however eat cranberry sauce, turkey, ham, stuffing, some type of vegetable and, of course, potatoes.  (there is many other items they traditionally eat but I will get back to those on a future post)

Our plan for food will be
Turkey, cranberry, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, some appetizers, cheesecake, cherry pie and thanks to our wonderful pastor and his wife we will get to make a pumpkin pie!  While visiting with them in their home, they being Americans, had some canned pumpkin.  They very graciously offered us a can.  I can't express to you just how much I appreciated that.  I wanted to attack them with a hug and a kiss but instead very discreetly took the can and held onto it with a smile on my face.  (our God is such a merciful and gracious God.  Even my want for pumpkin pie matters to Him)

So, other than missing some of our family and friends we are looking forward to having a wonderful celebration.