I think it is appropriate, on this day that we are all Irish, to share a quote from my “Daily Devotion”, contributed by Fay Angus:
“Many of us will have corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Not in Ireland, though: Their tradition is Irish stew (made with lamb), soda bread and colcannon (from the Gaelic cal ceannann, the name for whiteheaded cabbage). Colcannon is a delicious mix of mashed potatoes laced with onions and cooked cabbage and then drenched with butter.
In Irish villages, when guests leave the festivities, it’s customary for the host to take a burned stick and mark a charcoal cross on the sleeve of each person to remind them of their commitment to the faith and their love of Ireland’s patron saint. "
May love and laughter light your days
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam. . . . "
(Celtic Blessing)
Give us smiles to cheer us, and loved ones near us as we celebrate all that is Irish and wear St. Patrick’s shamrock . . . in the name of the Great Three-in-One, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.”
This morning Barbara and I had corn beef hash for breakfast and this evening as we enter the La Fontaine Dinning Room I am looking forward to our chef’s version of Colcannon to see if it is on a par with our daughter Lisa’s.
And… in a craft class today I put together a stylish “stick pen” for Barbara to wear on this special occasion. The Celtic Blessing is perfect for our dinner companions as well.
Next: Stair Well Wall Art
Cummings Family Adventures 
I was going to post above but I don’t remember having a password, so I typed in my e-mail address, and it was kicked back at me.
I am part Irish (My maternal grandfather was Irish, but I don’t know if he was a full blood, or not. His name was even Irish, but I suppose it was like the story goes—‘When they were signing in at _______________Island, they couldn’t understand the language, so just wrote down {Irish}in the book. I can’t remember the name of the Island right now, so you can fill in the blank. Both of my sons in law are Irish too. Brad always thought he was Scottish because he and his dad played the bagpipes, but his dad told him about 10 or 15 years ago that they are Irish, not Scottish. Brad was unhappy about that, but I don’t know why. Then he refused to wear the kilt and got his dad upset. His dad really tried to get Gavin interested in playing the pipes also, but he just wasn’t interested. Too bad.
When they were younger Brad and Connie went to a lot of the taverns around town and played the pipes on the 17th. He would get the pipes full of air and when he was ready, Connie would open the door so that he could do his march in to the bar. After he hurt his back and had the fusion surgery, he can’t play the pipes now much. You have to have so much air in your lungs to play, he said, and that puts pressure on his back and hurts so much. His father, Don, can’t play anymore either because of heart problems.
I always enjoyed the corned beef and cabbage we had every year on this date (and sometimes at other times too), but I am not cooking that just for myself, so I decided to cook navy beans with ham. I haven’t had that since I have been alone, so it’ll be different, anyway.
I love the decoration on the ship that you sent a photo of. It is always so much fun when it is some kind of a holiday, because it adds to the atmosphere so much.
Years ago Johnie and I took the little 3 day cruise out of the Kennedy Space Center area in Florida which went over to the Bahamas. We were on the way back on the 3rd day and there were TVs on because one of the space ships was to take off shortly. The captain came on the intercom and told us that if we went outside on the port side at such and such time, we could watch the launch. Of course we did. It was pretty thrilling to see it live instead of watching it on T.V. You’d think I would remember the name of that space ship but it was so long ago it is totally out of my memory. I sure wish I had kept a Journal. It would have been fun to look back on now instead of depending on a faulty brain to remember.
That’s it for now.
Love, June