Sunday in Newtownards

We were meeting in Newtownards for lunch with my cousins Rosie and Jenny, along with their husbands and two of their adult children and my Aunt Dinah.

Mount Stewart House and Gardens were within easy driving distance from Millisle, we had a free morning so how could we not visit. The house was very interesting but we couldn't enter by the main entrance because a wedding was booked, but we were still able to see a good amount of this beautiful and very historic house. The estate was owned by the Marquesses of Londonderry, the construction of the house begun in 1820 and took 19 years to complete. In 1977 the house and estate was given to the National Trust with a family member still living in the house. The Trust opened the house and gardens to the paying public therefore helping fund the restorations of the house and gardens.

This was a beautiful collection of dessert crockery.

In the old days it wasn't deemed appropriate to have your crockery on show so this is a relatively new display. It was considered poor form to have your table covered by a table cloth as this would hide the beauty of the polished table and people might think you had fallen on hard times!

Once we finished the house tour the garden was rushed through but we did managed to appreciate beautiful roses,

grand vistas

and the big surprise, a little piece of Australia; gum trees.

Perhaps a little reminder that we aren't far off heading home...

Our way to Rosie's house was blocked by road works and our google maps couldn't cope, so we enjoyed a quiet wait by the duck pond

until Colin rescued us. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone. We so appreciated our time together, especially as Rosie, Colin and Nicky are leaving for Portugal in the morning. They have decided to chase the sun as there's not much here in Ireland. Our time in Belfast has been very busy.

One of the great advantages of the long evenings, with the lingering light, is lots of time to explore, so we took a drive around some of the coast before returning to our resting place. We found Ava Terrace, a street filled with patriotic flags and British bunting strung across the street. A sight only found in the North of Ireland and particularly now, in readiness for the 12 July celebrations.

Here is the beginnings of a bonfire on the wharf at Millisle.

These bonfires are mostly made from pallets, this one had a few old mattresses on it. Jenny told us a story of when she was still living at home. She said that her mum mentioned that their mattress was old and needed replacing. Jenny asked her did she want to get rid of it. Aunt Dinah absentmindedly answered yes. Jenny got a few friends together and took the mattress down to the local bonfire. When her mum came home she asked where was the mattress. When Jenny told her that she and her friends took it to the bonfire her mum wasn't impressed!

These bonfires are traditionally built in strong Protestant areas in Ulster, to commenorate the victory at the battle of the Boyne between the Protestant King William II and the Catholic King James in 1690. They are viewed by some as provocative and by others as part of their culture.

Donaghadee is a village sitting by the water, a lovely dash of colour along the coast, just a short drive from Millisle.

A nice end to a wonderful weekend.

At the Stormont

We said our farewells to my family in Cavan, the farm

and the beautiful horses (much nicer than the pigs)

and headed for our BnB for the next two nights. We were staying at Pinecroft Country House

in Millisle, on the Ard Peninsula, a really lovely part of County Down. Right next door is the Ballycopeland Windmill, the only working windmill in Ireland.

After unpacking our car we drove to Belfast to meet another cousin who had contacted us, wanting to meet us.

The Reverend Fred Greenfield was the host of a concert we were invited to by Michelle McIlveen, a local MP. I'm not sure how we got such an important invite, my newfound cousin, Sylvia, organised it. She thought we might enjoy visiting Stormont Estate.

The concert was held in The Great Hall at Stormont (Parliament Buildings, Belfast), a most beautiful setting.

The hall has a beautiful ceiling.

It's also great that the concert was held here because nothing else has been happening in parliament in Northern Ireland for over two years. Now, how can a country function without parliament sitting you ask, good question! Most in the North are asking the same thing. Anyway, back to The Reverend.

He is a retired Free Presbyterian minister with a loud voice, a piano accordion, nine singing grandchildren, a large repertoire of jokes and a passion for all things to do with salvation. I thought we had seen the Reverend Ian Paisley reincarnated! (Look him up if you are curious).

Our concert began with The Kingdom Heirs, not the main act! Followed by The Reverend leading us in a medley of hymns, piano accordion front and centre, followed by the singing grandchildren and The Rev, followed by some jokes, the MP, the Air Ambulance's spokesperson, more hymns and then....The Bellbrae Boys from Monaghan, senior singers of country gospel. I was ready for the whole thing to end right then but it didn't!

I think Sylvia was feeling awkward with her newfound cousins by interval, asking if we were tired. We lied! And resisted the urge to buy a CD.. and continued to endure more of The Rev and The Bellbrae Boys. The Rev preached a short, sharp salvation message and took up an offering and the event was finished off with another singer singing the final hymn, now he could sing beautifully. I was wishing he'd done the whole concert, and then we were released...

Michelle, the MP, took us on a personal guided tour of part of the building, including the old Senate room.

That's Sylvia with us in the old Senate which isn't used anymore for governing but many committees meet here. The inquiry into the controversy which is stopping the parliament from functioning met in this room. Michelle had lots of interesting stories about the building, the ceiling, a fire and the chandeliers. This one was a gift to King George V from Kaiser Wilhelm 11 and had been hung in Windsor castle until the beginning of WW1. It was considered inappropriate to stay in the royal residence, considering the war, so was given to Stormont.

An enjoyable tour of an impressive building.

Dinner was shared in one of the local haunts with Tom and Sylvia. Tom is another joke machine! There seems to be something familiar about Irish men and jokes.

An Irish barbecue

Our stay at Corranure has been extended by a day so we can attend the BBQ Barbara and Rodney's church are holding on Friday evening. They're only a small congregation but with a huge enthusiasm. The advice was that we arrive early so off we set at 7:30 to save standing in the queue. I'm not sure what I was expecting but not what I experienced.

Firstly the food, mountains of it; salads galore and always potatoes, bread aplenty and always Irish Soda bread (I'm going to set myself to learn how to make it, I love it!) and meat - pork, pulled pork, sausages, burgers - and lots of everything. Desserts just kept appearing; pavlova, real apple tart, cheesecake to mention just a few. Now you might be thinking what's the big deal about that. The church group, I'm told, totals about 20; the crowd, at a rough estimate, about 500! That's a lot of people and a lot of food!

Rodney was one of the main organisers

A musician entertained us for about 2 1/2 hours, singing country music. He was very good. The kids were well occupied with the playground

and the oval. As I sat watching the event unfold I couldn't help but notice the immense pleasure everyone was having as they greeted one another, this was truly a community gathering, and they were loving being together.

Howard handed us several tickets and said to put our names on them. As the evening was winding up Simon, the minister of the church, began reading out the names of prize winners. That's when we heard 'Joan Wills'. I was told, when I went to collect my prize, that I had won a top prize.

Howard was smiling when I presented it to him and wished him a happy 70th birthday. I'll leave you to guess what was in the box...

As we were walking out of the marquees we met Simon. Allan and Simon stood talking for some time and to end their conversation they prayed together, right there with the crowd swirling all around them.

A few nights earlier, while we were driving home, Howard turned the radio on to listen to the Christian hour and the quicky quiz. The question was, name the two sons of thunder and their father. Howard wanted to send in the answer (once he asked us) so Catherine obliged. When we arrived home she decided to send it in again and put Allan Wills, Australia on the text. What laugher errupted when the announcer declared the winner to be Allan Wills from Australia and then she sent a cheerio to everyone in AUS. Winners are grinners!

A wee trip to Kilskeery

We got into our wee car and set off for the drive to Kilskeery via Belleek. This is a beautiful journey, along Lough Erne, which is really two lakes with 365 islands in it, through shady tunnels of shrubbery and past the mountains. We arrived in Belleek, a village which sits in two counties; County Fermanagh and County Donegal, famous for its pottery where fine porcelain has been made since 1886. Walking around the village we noticed a lovely house. It was painted pink, not a colour you would normally choose, but it looked great with a brighter pink door.

As we walked by, a man working around the house began talking to us. This phenomenon is usual in Ireland. We must be obvious to the locals because they quickly identify us as visitors and want to engage us in conversation. It's a bit like a naughty child being found out by their mother - they think they have gotten away with their misdemeanour, only to be confronted and questioned heavily. We heard all about the pink house, the owners, your man's family and his views on Brexit and so much more. This same exchange happened a few days ago in Cavan. It's quite challenging to extract oneself from these encounters!

We proceeded on to Kilskeery, arriving about 2pm. This is where my Mum is from and where her cousins still live. They call themselves "the walking wounded" for obvious reasons which I won't go into. Their average age is 80 years and they are all equal in their enthusiasm for all things to do with talking.

Before we left for our trip away we visited my aunt in Bendigo and recorded a message from her for the folks in Ireland. It was priceless to observe as each one in turn watched Aunty talking to them; they were answering her as if she was talking to them in person. When I suggested that they send a message back to Australia they all claimed that they couldn't talk but once they got going the stories flowed and the background banter accompanying them was hilarious. I can't wait to show our filmings to Aunty when we next visit her.

This is Robert and Evelyn's front garden, it's full of garden gnomes - Aunty will love seeing them.

Allan thought we would leave after about three hours but they were having none of that. Tea had been arranged in Irvingstown so we took Barbara and Robert with us. Barbara was very efficient with her directions from the back seat, as she was in ordering Robert's meal. It was ordered at least five times, I was amazed that the waitress didn't bring him five plates of steak and chips.

What a joy to see a brother and his sisters so devoted to each other. And what a joyous occasion to have been blessed to experience. A few tears were shed as we parted company but we are so glad to have had this opportunity to see our precious family once again.

The football final is coming up this weekend and Cavan is one of the finalists. The locals have been encouraged to get their flags up by way of cheering the team on. There are signs along the roadways from many of the local MPs and many houses have the Cavan colours flapping in the breeze.

A nice colourful expression of the local community spirit.

Family Gatherings

Sunday presented as an exciting day, the first of many family gatherings. Henry was turning one year old and we were all meeting at Debra and Chris's home for dinner at 3:30.

The birthday boy
and his cake

About 24 were gathered to eat a huge meal. Chris told us that when he went to get the meat from the butcher, the butcher said that he had never sold that much meat in one order before! I think that was a bit exaggerated but a good indicator of how much food was prepared for us to eat. The salads were equally plentiful and what can I say about dessert other than it was very Irish... and then came the cake, firstly the birthday cake, then another one for John and then others just kept coming - and all chocolate cakes. Sunday was Father's Day in Ireland so we sang happy birthday twice and then happy Father's Day several times. We were on a roll!

It was lovey to meet the latest members of the family; new husbands, new babies, new inlaws and to greet dear ones again.

Howard insisted that we go up the road to photograph Lucas' vintage cars. Amongst his collection he had an amazing old pickup truck. It was his grandfather's and Lucas had restored it to immaculate condition, but I wouldn't like to travel very far in it. There's no padding on the seats and no windows on the sides. Not ideal for Irish weather!

There was a advertisement in the cabin dated 1916 for grinding and scutching.

Lucas showed us a room that he had 'fixed up' so they could use it for celebrations. It was a fantastic place, right up in the attic of one of the sheds in the yard with a potbelly stove to keep it cozy in winter.

We decided it was time to go home when a couple of Afghans gatecrashed our night..

Went to the Kilmore Hotel for lunch with Charles McCollum after a great catch up in the morning. He has a wonderful collection of pot plants around his home and a great outlook across the hills.

John had the shearers in to give the sheep their hair cut.

Allan enjoyed chatting to the men and they suggested that he have a go but unfortunately we had somewhere else to be so there wasn't any time. He was disappointed.

John had to jump on the wool to pack it down in the bag.

Visited Catherine and Noel, Sarah, Rachel and Conor in their new home. I can't understand why we don't build homes like this in Australia.

Noel has reused the stone, bricks and slate tiles on the outside. Inside there is a circular staircase, beautiful wallpaper and a lovely English style kitchen - everything is beautiful. It's delightful to sit inside and look out at the cows and the lake. We'll have to come back again to see the garden take shape.

The children were very excited and I don't think it was just because we were there, they are lovely kids. But we thought we'd leave so they could settled down to bed. We visited the Drumlane Monastery ruins which sit on the banks of Lough Oughter. What a pretty spot with the late evening sun resting over it.

The next afternoon we visited Barbara, Rodney, George, Robbie, Victoria and Scott in their new house. Wow is all I can say. I didn't even take a photo of the house, silly me! Barbara has the biggest AGA cooker I have ever seen. Allan and the kids had fun building the biggest tower they could manage.