Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Although...when you have a bagpiper in the family it is more like Happy St. Patrick's Week!  The weekend before and the weekend after St. Patrick's Day are big parade days.   This year the first parade Hannah was scheduled for didn't go too well - after standing in the rain for 45 minutes the parade was cancelled due to the threat of wind.  But since everyone was there and assembled why not play a set or two?

Here's a nice shot of Hannah at the that appeared in a local paper.

But apparently - the police officers who were trying to reopen the road to traffic were...less than pleased...with the band taking matters into their own hands.  There are even  rumors that when the parade is rescheduled the band may not be invited back.     Good grief - where has the world's sense of humor gone?  Or how about a sense of adventure! Or spontaneity! 

A happy but soggy Piper!

Back at home we've been enjoying selections from A Pot O' Gold: A Treasury of Irish Stories, Poetry, Folklore, and (of Course) Blarney.  We especially liked the story of "St. Patrick and the Salmon" - I bet you didn't know it was St. Patrick who blessed the salmon with the ability to jump.  The story is that much more vivid to us having seen the salmon run this past fall on the Oswego river in NY.

I bought a corned beef at the supermarket - even after I read the label - I am now pretending I just didn't see the "ingredients" at all - in fact I guess I might as well pretend it was completely home cured from a cut of grass fed organic beef - I figure everyone's entitled to their own bit of blarney on St. Patrick's Day - right?

And we thought we made Irish Soda Bread but actually what Hannah made was two loaves of what might be called "Spotted Dog Cake" according to the Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread.  I am scandalized that this lover of all things *authentic* did not catch onto this sooner.  Well now I know how not to embarrass myself at an Irish Feis if I ever dare enter a "Soda Bread"!

And I have been feeling a little blue lately, a little overwhelmed, a little well...lost.  I have three things that help ease my more melancholic episodes....a visit to the ocean....cleaning...and crafting.  No visit to the ocean but my husband's Explorer is "mostly" clean now and this little fellow has joined our  St. Patrick's Day Festival Table :

A wee Leprechaun

I see that he is missing his hat band - I'll have to fix that - and he needs a bit more curve to his hat - but overall I like him.  I was first inspired by this post at Wee Folk Art but lacking the wooden body piece I improvised with different colored roving I had on hand. 

And of course a post about St. Patrick's Day would not be complete without an Irish Blessing -

May those who love us love us.
And those who that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping!
--From A Pot O' Gold (the treasury mentioned above).