Packing

Time to move the gifts for Ireland from the tree to the suitcase
On the road

3:50 am, leaving Novato
James' window seat & comedian captain

Poor James, the only window seat without a window.
Otherwise, this is flight 1322 on Friday the 13th, so that's lucky!
Landed in Washington DC

We have a long layover, so we're heading to the Mall for a while.
Visiting the monuments

We had a walk up the Mall
Downtown Christmas Market

A quick stroll through the Christmas Market
A cheeky Nandos

Finally, I got to try a Nando's. It didn't disappoint.
Meanwhile, back in Napa

Della hanging with her sister, Skye
Crossing the Atlantic

Boarded and taxiing for take-off.
Flight UA228.
Same presents, new tree

All the gifts made it safely to Ireland 😁
Home again

The house and gates have got painted since last time. Looking good.
Changes

The new UK £... Well the new £20 with King Charles.
What a difference a year makes

So great to see dad taking care of the cattle again. He was absolutely not able to do that last year 😁
A walk around town

We had a walk around Monaghan this morning, mostly around St. Davnet's hospital.
A visitor to mum's garden

A not-so-shy robin
Sunday Lunch

Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puds.
Canal bank walk

James is doing a final this morning, so Trystan and I went out for a walk.
The mechanic

My nephew Jack is getting our old tractor running again. It's older than me, but he's working a miracle and actually has it running again.
The origami Christmas Tree

In all its glory. I promised I'd fold it.
Mum's Winter Roses

3 blooming roses in the dead of winter
Swinging by Alan's

Decided to take a drive up to the Giant's Causeway, which actually brought us past Alan's place. Randomly he was working at home and Aoibheann was home sick, so we got a chance to say hello.
Dunluce Castle in the rain and wind

Now it's better known as Castle Greyjoy, of course, from Game of Thrones. What an amazing location for a castle. This one dates back to the 1600's and belonged to the MacDonald.
Gigantic

The Giant's Causeway
Ballintoy Harbour

This was used as the Greyjoy Harbour in Game of Thrones
Kinbane Castle

Another incredible ruin near Ballycastle
ViaggiatoreWow! So many presents 😍
ViaggiatoreCertainly a lot to bring on a plane. 🎁✈️