Although I am still trying to get some cards mailed out (consider it a Epiphany card if you are on the list to receive one), it may or may not include this Christmas letter. So here is what we have been up to this year:

January was a lovely and quiet month. We celebrated D’s birthday and I got to spend some special time with my besties.

We are rarely home in February and this is the reason why. The snow banks were so high that D was throwing it way over his head. Sometimes we ask “Why do we live in this God-forsaken place”?

Here’s why. We are 10 minutes away from each of the kids and spend a lot of the time with the grandbabies in winter. We celebrated a Wee One’s birthday as well as the Frenchman’s in February.

By the end of February, we had had it with winter and travelled to our special place. Some people wonder why we go to the same place every year and these are the reasons why. Above is Hortencia and her four daughters. We have made so many dear friends on Isla Mujeres with both the islanders and fellow travelers.

We are staying for a month in 2023! We think Isla brings out the best in us. People that know us especially well, would agree. But all good things have to end.

The snow took eons to melt at the lake but our house was rented in the city, so we moved there in April.

We drove back and forth a lot in the spring, celebrating special get togethers like our niece’s wedding.

May is typically a whirlwind, celebrating the birthdays of our youngest daughter, a Wee One, my little bear, my DIL and lastly my own. To make things even more joyous, we will be celebrating a new day of birth in 2023!

By this time, the gang joins us for extended weekends at the lake and we are into the wonderful days of summer.

I was scheduled to have my second knee replaced in June. While I was recovering D accumulated a gang to expand our deck.

This is the after picture. Since the water was so high on the lake this year, there was no beach and as a result we spent almost every day luxuriating on the deck. It was the perfect year to do so.

There was more back and forth though, like celebrating our eldest daughter’s birthday on their rooftop and the eldest Wee One’s, also in July.

We also got away for our yearly sojourn to join dear friends at Willard lake.

With the expanded deck, we hosted countless Happy Hours and extended family suppers.

The other lovely modification, since there was no beach, was visiting the pool in the forest built by Sister #2’s gang of capable guys. J and J are seen enjoying it here.

We celebrated J’s birthday in September, but the pool was used even on Thanksgiving weekend! Here’s one of four tables where we enjoyed dinner.

We stayed deep into the fall and then it was off to a trip of a lifetime!

If you follow this space, you will know that the three sisters travelled to Prague, Malaga and Dublin this fall. It was memorable in so many ways.

In November we took all four grandkids to Disney on Ice, as well as hosting them all at the same time for a sleepover!

And here it is Christmas. It is bitterly cold and snows almost daily, so it will not be long before that snowbank from earlier this year will be just as high. It is supposed to warm up soon though, which will be lovely when we spend some time at the lake for New Year’s.

D and I have been blessed with good health (I have yet to get Covid) and much joy this year and hope that the same is true for you, your family and your loved ones.

Kath’s quote: “To prepare our hearts for Christmas, we must cultivate the spirit of expectancy.” As in “I can’t wait”!

Love never fails.

Lots of things have changed along Hidalgo, the main restaurant street in Isla Mujeres’ Centro area, in the two years since I last visited. Some restaurants have changed locations, some have closed and some new ones have opened. One of the new places I was excited to try was Oceans Isla. The restaurant opened in October 2020 and seems to be fairly busy. Not surprising considering it’s popular location. A great place to people watch over brunch.

We started our brunch with their Classic Frappe. We ordered the sugar syrup on the side which allowed us to control the sweetness level. This resulted in my favourite iced coffee of my entire trip, and I had tried a few.

The first dish we savoured was the Eggs Benedict with arugula and Gouda cheese. Those who know me know I am a bit of a hollandaise snob. I really dislike the taste of packaged hollandaise and a fresh made version with just the right amount of butter, egg yolk and lemon can’t be beat. Their sauce was just perfect. As were the skillet potatoes that were crispy and well seasoned. This dish came with a side of fresh cantaloupe, papaya, and berries. The perfect balance to the richness of the dish.

The Chef suggested we try the Ocean’s quesadilla. Scrambled egg, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, spinach, and bacon on a flour tortilla. Served with guacamole and morita chilli mayo. Morita peppers are jalapeños that are allowed to vine ripen to a bright red and once picked they are smoked like a chipotle. This made for a yummy mayo that would be tasty in just about anything.

We couldn’t resist sampling the French toast so we ordered a half portion. Still a huge serving. We had version served with cinnamon roll icing. It was melt in the mouth tender and full of cinnamon toast flavour and not cloyingly sweet. I think I might prefer it for dessert rather than brunch.

The restaurant is nicely decorated and our server Renee was very attentive and had perfect English. Turns out she had attended university in the US. The portions were generous and provided us with left overs for another breakfast the next day.

Kath’s quote: “Elvis is in the kitchen and he is making eggs benedict”!

Love never fails

Sister #3 is a “Somebody Feed Phil” fan and researched what restaurants in the central area had been featured on his show. She knew that Gallagher’s Boxty House was included in Phil’s Dublin Itinerary so we had a reservation for later that day. Turns out though, that after our bus tour, we were hungry, cold and getting weary from our weeks of travel so we showed up on their door step a couple of hours early. And were welcomed with open arms.

What is Boxty, you might ask?

Traditional Irish boxty are the epitome of pancakes for potato lovers! Combining mashed and raw potato with buttermilk they are as versatile as a tortilla or crepe.

But first things first. This was our last meal in Dublin so of course beer was our amuse bouche.

Our meals had not been vegetable rich in Dublin so Sister #2 started with a salad of pear, pecans and blue cheese salad.

Boxty dates back to the 1700s in Irish households where potatoes were relied upon to survive. There are actually three types of boxty: boil, baked and pan boxty. The word “boxty” comes from the Irish phrase “aran bocht ti” meaning poorhouse bread. One of the sisters had a boxty filled with chicken in a leek cream sauce

and the other steak and a mushroom pepper sauce.

Since this was my last holiday meal, I opted (again) for fish and double fried chips. I just couldn’t get my head around around a potato pancake even though I love Jewish Latkes and Norwegian Lefse. The sisters offered me tastes and I was pleasantly surprised but then I tasted one of the most delectable things ever….

Boxty fries are made when they slice the pancakes into strips, season them and fry them to a crispy, crunchy golden brown!

But the other hit that afternoon was our waiter Giorgio. He was efficient and so sociable. I felt bad when I didn’t order what he recommended! He had so many stories to tell of his life back home in Croatia and his Irish life trying to put his son through university. We were fascinated.

And of course, he had met Phil Rosenthal so Sister #3 had to rub shoulders with him! She thought that she might post this photo on Phil’s website. It was so wonderful to see her so happy and a fun place to end our European eating adventure.

Kath’s quote: “Well, did you ever take potato cake and boxty to the school. Tucked underneath your oxter with your books, your slate, your rule?”

Love never fails.

By this time we had gotten the hang of the Luas and agreed that it was a great way to get in and out of central Dublin. We met lovely people on our back and forth route to the hotel.

We had also figured out that we should delay our first meal of the day until we were in Dublin’s City Centre. On this day we were in for a special treat-vegan doughnuts from the Rolling Donut.

It was the morning of Hallowe’en. We saw costumes wherever we went, but the gang at the donut shop were our favourites.

We walked in the cold and rain to the Hop On and Hop Off Bus (we hopped on and stayed there). And enjoyed the sights from the warm bus. This was our first glimpse of Trinity College home to 18,000 students and alumni of Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and Edmund Burke. Trinity is one of seven ancient universities of great Britain & Ireland founded in 1592. I longed to visit their famous library but it was not to be on this trip.

I love the doors in Ireland and had once written a blog post in their celebration.

I also loved their vine covered buildings.

This beautiful stained glass also caught my eye. The original theatre now called 3 Olympia Theatre was opened in 1879.

Three Sisters on a bus after we had wiped chocolate doughnuts off of our faces.

A quick glance of St Stephen’s Green.

As the largest cathedral and one of the most important pilgrimage sights in Ireland, St Patrick’s has been at the heart of Dublin and Irish history for over 800 years.

This next stop was self explanatory. Everyone who knew that we were going to Dublin asked if we would tour Guinness. I already know what the inside of a brewery looks like and I don’t care for stout so I was happy for a quick glimpse of it from the bus.

This is the Wellington memorial in Phoenix Park. It reminded me of the the Washington Memorial in Washington DC.

This beautiful example of old Irish Architecture was one of our last tour stops. Detailed in my favourite colour, I wondered what it would say if these walls could talk?

Kath’s quote: “May your heart be light and happy, may your smile be big and wide and may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!”

Love never fails.

We caught a glance at The Four Courts building

as well as Christ Church Cathedral also known as Dublin Cathedral. It is an Irish Anglican church founded in 1038 by Vikings who occupied the city! In 1539 King Henry VIII mucked about with the building too.

When we saw this sign, we knew we had arrived at the right place. The Brazen head claims to be Ireland’s oldest pub and meeting place for historic rebels. There has been a hostelry on this land since 1198. The present building was erected centuries later in 1754 as a Coach’s Inn however the Brazen Head appears in documents as far back as 1653.

The pub is located away from the Temple Bar area on Bridge Street. This is found on their website: In this area the original settlement that was to become Dublin got its name. The Irish name for Dublin is Baile Atha Cliath- which means The Town of the Ford of the Reed Hurdles. Beside the pub is the Father Matthew Bridge which crosses the River Liffey. It was the very spot that the original crossing of the river was located. Here reed matting was positioned on the river bed which enabled travelers to cross safely at low tide.

The day was dark as was the tiny rooms like this one, where we were fortunate to find a table. We could imagine those rebels from long ago sharing plans and secrets as they huddled around the fire for a pint.

I wondered whether beer was once served out of the enameled jugs hanging from the ceiling.

The menu was somewhat limited but we did find Steak and Guinness Stew for Sister #2,

Fish and Chips for me

Seafood chowder for Sister #3 and

Irish Soda bread with that divine Irish butter!

But the highlight of that evening was not the food.

The highlight was squishing our way into the front room of Brazen Hall where the live music was still going strong. Indeed it was not only the best night of our time in Dublin but an evening that we will always fondly remember. A table of locals decided to take us under their wings and squished onto their bench, as well as giving up chairs so we could be comfortable.

This particular group of friends assemble every Sunday afternoon to sing along, clap and stomp with the local musicians. One woman’s late husband played with the group before he died and she attends every Sunday to honour his memory.

The locals were quite fascinated that the three sisters would choose to travel alone to Europe. They thought that we must all have been single. They tried to figure out our birth order which I was delighted with, given that I am the oldest by eight years!

There were many memorable tunes that we valiantly tried to sing along too. My favourite was Galway Bay as I had visited the beautiful little city a number of years before. I tried to raise my voice, smiling broadly with tears in my eyes.

Kath’s quote: “My soul to soar, forever more, above you Galway Bay” from the song by Francis Fahy (1854-1935)

Love never fails.