Blog

Some of the roads here in our part of Ireland are a bit on the narrow side!  Tim took this shot as we were returning from a 1000 year old fort off the Ring of Kerry (a famous scenic loop in County Kerry).  Tim's sister, Sue and her husband Tom came for a visit and this was one of our stops along the way!

In lots of places it can be a challenge when another car wants to go the other way on the same road.  Fortunately, most of these kinds of roads do have a few places along the way that are wide enough for cars to pass each other!

Tom & Sue did lots of things around our house, mostly heavy duty gardening, to help us.  The picture below was taken in our back garden (yard) after they had finished pulling weeds and pruning!  Thanks Tom & Sue for all the help . . . we miss you!

                                               L to R:  Tim, Tom, Sue, Kathy

Tim's eldest sibling, sister Sue, and her husband Tom have been with us the past week or so and we have been having a great time with them here - for the first time.  Tom & Sue live in the Pacific Northwest of America, in Washington state.  We have visited Blarney Castle, driven the ring of Kerry and enjoyed much incredible beauty here in SW Ireland.  Tomorrow, Sunday, we are heading to Dublin as they will be leaving Tuesday morning and we want to show them where we lived before, and maybe take in an Irish dance show.  Irish dancers are different than anywhere else in the world - it would be a shame to come all this way without seeing it!

Below is an image take at Blarney Castle with a huge rhody in the background.  Tim is on the right, Kathy on the left, with Sue & Tom in the middle; oh yeah, that's Tia laying down!

A few weeks ago we sponsored an event here in Kinsale titled 'Where is God When Things Go Wrong'?  To start the program, Donal, a young man from Ireland was interviewed by Craig Maiden concerning a plane crash that occured on the runway at Cork Airport  (about 20 minutes from Kinsale) in 2011.  Donal was one of a few that walked away from the crash, while many others lost their lives.

Why?  That is usually the question after a disaster like this one.  Donal shared his thoughts and feelings about that day, 10 February 2011.  He said he thought he was going to die, twice.  First as the plane was flipping over upon trying to land in heavy mist (fog), and then again when it looked like the plane was going to explode in flames.  He survived both, and talked about his thoughts, his feelings, and the events that followed.  Few can say they 'know how he felt' as few have survived a crash like this.

           Donal (left) being interviewed by Craig Maiden about his plane crash experience 

Following this interview, John Blanchard, from England spoke on the subject of why?   Why does God let things like this happen?  Why do some survive and not others?  There were about 100 people in the audience, which was followed by a chance to share a cuppa (tea or coffee) while taling about this important issue.

Last night felt like a category 2 hurricane was blowing through Kinsale!  Our power went off for the first time since we have been here, but only for about a half hour, so no complaints.  We were involved in a piano concert being given at The Calton Hotel, about 1 mile from our house.  Concert pianist Sam Rotman, was in town and he was fantastic.  Along with the concert he shared about his Jewish roots and how he began to read the New Testament, a challenge for someone with his background. 

All funds collected at the concert were donated to The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind - here's an image of Kathy, 9 month old Tia and Sam Rotman at the 7' Steinway piano.  In spite of the wind it was a great night.