Mrs Bouquet!!!!...Lady of the Manor.!!!!

Not sure exactly what the sentiments of the above quote by Henry David Thoreau are but am presuming he is saying to live each day as is happens, don't dwell on what's past nor worry too much about the future...

....and probably to enjoy some good wine on the way...(as it was on the front of the wine list presented to us last night!!!!)

And what we were doing last night was celebrating the birthday of one of my favourite people.....

 Here's to you Mam...wishing you a year of good health, happy times and lots more good memories.....

Keeping the old adage in mind 'Children need your presence..not your presents' and knowing that this sentiment does not specifically apply to our little ones! we thought what better way to celebrate Mam's birthday than spending it with her and Dad......

Therefore we surprised them by booking them into Dromoland Castle last night and joining them for ..good food.. good company...good wine...and good ambiance.....and then after all that we came home like the poor relations and they got to savour the experience of staying in one of Ireland's nicest B&B's!!!!

Aidan wasn't too sure about being the one to open the champagne for a pre-dinner drink.....

 ...so thought if anyone should pop the cork through the ceiling it should be Declan while he took on the role of innocent bystander!!

 Eileen posing with the 'Two Maureen's'... her own first born Maureen(but not her favourite!!!) and behind her Maureen O'Hara, famous for her role in 'The Quiet Man'... (Well, it was St. Patrick's Day!!!)

 '3 Quiet Men'...enjoying watching 'the big fight' at the end of 'The Quiet Man'!!!

All I can say about this is having perused the wine list and looked at bottles with a price tag of 2,192 euros  and many costing well over 1,000 euros I cannot countenance how anyone could justify spending such an exhorbitant amount of money on a bottle of wine, no matter how good its vintage.....except maybe some of our politicians with large expense accounts! (inserted with just a smidgen of irony!) Needless to say our wine carried a pricetag of 29 euros... a very respectable amount and ...it was lovely...

 These girls love Grandma Eileen.....her having taken on the role of surrogate mother to first Darrelle in 2003 when we were in Kazakhstan adopting our precious Elena and again in 2006 a deep bond was forged between Eileen and Elena during our 'extended holiday' in Kazakhstan while small boy Alex was making his way home and completing our family!!!  Thanks for always being there for us...You are the best.....

 Spent a lovely sunny, crisp afternoon strolling the grounds of Dromoland.... such a pleasant place to pass a few hours.....and not just on the golf course...

 Of course you will always just happen on meeting one of the neighbours on the golf course!!..Delan's golf buddy Liam.. and they say they don't get out enough!!!

 Home to the 'luckiest ducks in Ireland'...although they were elsewhere today when we passed.....

 And off course, a birthday would not be a birthday without a cake.....and a party planner to organise, to sing and to eat cake.....

Happy birthday Mam...and many more....Will this cover Mother's Day on April 3rd?!!!!