Ireland and Midsummer

Last Friday 13th we had an unexpected trip to the children's hopsital, but this time we had a much better day!
We set off to Manchester Airport in the morning and got the train across the Peak District. We had a smooth trip over to Ireland and Ryanair seems to have had a personality change and it was fairly civil for a change, including complimentary priority boarding and good seats there and back.

We hired a car and drove down to Carrick-on-Shannon where we met Olivia and Joe for a meal before heading up to Kilmore. During the course of the evening most of the family popped in and as always it was lovely to see them! On Saturday morning, we went over to Ruth's for a coffee and for Vera to play with her two cats, then we went to Joe and Claire where Vera played with Grace, Luke and Lily and fed Claire's chickens!
In the evening, we went to Jamestown as it was Ciara's 14th birthday. We had some cake and Vera played with her cousins outside. Pat and Ken's house is just by the river Shannon and it is such a beautiful view, especially on a sunny evening such as that!

On Sunday morning, we went to Lough Key Forest Park for a play and run around and then met Joe and Olivia for Father's Day lunch in the Landmark Hotel.
In the afternoon, Vera and I went down to the farm where Vera, Grace and Luke fed the calves and then Vera got to drive the tractor. A highlught of the weekend for sure!

After a relaxed morning on the Monday, we drove up to Dublin in our rented Dacia Duster :-) and got the flight back to the UK.

The rest of the week went quicky, on Thursday night Mark surprised me with a Midsummer foodbox from Scandinavian Kitchen - full of Swedish treats and goodies! He's so thoughtful!
That evening, I had my monthly WI meeting and this time we did ceiligh dancing. For those of you who don't know, it's Scottish dancing, usually done at weddings and such like. It's hard work and a lot of fun! We did 5-6 long dances, in pairs accompanied by a live band.

On Friday night after work and on a beautifully sunny evening, we celebrated midsummer our way. Alas no dancing, but lots of nice food followed by Scottish strawberries.

On Saturday I met an old work colleague for a day of shopping in an outlet so called "Designer Village ;-) near Nottingham. We had a nice day, coffee, lunch, chatting and a bit of shopping!

On Sunday I went to Ladybooth Equestrian Centre for a 2 hour trek in the Peak District. I got to ride a big, friendly horse named Prince and it was so lovely to be back on horseback and as a bonus, get to enjoy the beautiful views!