Jaysus, Mary and St. Joseph! As if it isn't enough of a load to bear, what with having to spend the weekend playing in a Festival with Seamus Kennedy, drinking copious amounts of a barely adequate imitation of Guinness (Murphy's), watching the wee fella from Belfast do his version of "Got Milk" for my 10 year old substituting Murphy's foam for the milk and having the mustache start at the bridge of his nose and go all the way to his chin. Then he would refuse to wipe it off, instead letting it drip to his mouth...................hahahahahahahaha. And wee Ciara loved it. I suffered the outrageous slings and barbs of 4 of these Norn Irish lads. Pat Woods from Keady, Seamus from Belfast, Des Quinn from somewhere in County Down, and the wee madman Seamus Duffy of Derry. Once they got going, civilized Southerners couldn't understand a word of that "sweet Belfast brogue". Singin', slaggin' and playin' the tunes nonstop for three days.

And then I come home to this!

Now..........you know how these folks exaggerate. The facts are that Heather has recreated Eden in that back yard. It only had one problem. She needed a reflecting pool, a place for schools of Koi to swim. A place for water lilies to bloom. Given that I have pledged my life to service, and conflicted by my status as a partner in Fielding, Swan, Patterson, and Lane....Layabouts at large and for hire, I had to find a way to excavate for the pond without much manual labor. After all, our corporate logo is "It's the least we can do". And so I sacrificed my body to fulfill my desire to serve. And what do I get???? Abuse...............feckin' abuse.........I'll tell ya, it ain't easy being me.........

Rick's basement...........wow.....I do love that basement. When Jed and I took our ramble early in the year, that room was my bedroom. I would reach up and strum the strings on the instruments. Or pull one off the wall to wind down with before bed.

Glad you got the chance to experience this, Don.

Mick