The Musings of Revd. Ryan: July 2006

Bri's Visit

The final visitor at the Manse Hostel for the year- my friend Bri from Iowa. Here she is at Beachy Head and here is an interesting sign we noticed at Middle Farm (I'm always a bit wary of children who dress like they live in the 1920s- they give me the creeps!) :)

Stacey's Farewell Tea

We hosted an informal farewell tea for Stacey on her last afternoon in the country and gave an open invitation to Hailsham. Here are Ruby, Pam, May, Pam, Ted, and myself enjoy the food and conversation.

Gamelands Church Dinner

A wonderful church dinner was arranged by Gamelands at the Anglican church hall. We had a wonderful evening of food and entertainment, including a hilarious skit performed by Jack and Leslie, music by Jack, Pat, and Lorna, and a few songs I played as well. I will miss these churches so much!

Alison's Visit & Ireland!

Preparing to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle.

A Celtic Cross found in the lake near the monastery on an island we rowed out to.

Stealing a kiss at the waterfall in the national park near Kilarney

Our picnic spot with the islands far in the background.

A distant picture of the two islands

The bird island- most of the white is either birds (about 10,000) or their poo :)

One of the Skelligs- you can just barely see the 600 steps leading up to the ancient monastery at the top.

Stacey and Alison on the boat. I barely survived the trip due to giant swells- it was a 3-dimensional rollercoaster ride for two hours since the swells prevented us from landing at the island. I made it through, but it was pretty miserable on the way back! The upside was getting to see a few puffins- so cool!

The strangest coincidental meeting in Europe so far- out at the end of the Ring of Kerry we had arranged to take a boat trip out to the Skelligs, two small islands inhabited by 1,000s of birds and the ruins of a 6th century Christian monastery. When we were walking down to the docks in this 200-person town, I thought I recognized someone in line, and it was Sharon from my seminary out in Denver. She was on a guided tour of early Christian sites with John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, two prominent Jesus scholars. So random!

Alison being introduced to the Sussex Cream Tea tradition by Stacey at the manse.

Alison, a friend of Stacey's from home, came to visit for a fortnight and we all spent a few days in Ireland together near the Ring of Kerry (Kilarney and Cork).

Denver Friends Come to Visit

Our friends Brad and Audra and their son Braden were recently our guests here in England at the Manse-Hostel. We had a meal together to celebrate the fourth with many of the traditional fixins. It is the busy season here at the manse, with 6 sets of visitors coming all within just over a month's time! We're having a great time hosting everyone, and the time here is flying by. One more month and I'll be back in the States!

Kilts & Lochs- Scotland!

A cool church we visited which is half church and half ruins.

Scotland's smallest distillery (this is an exhibit at the distillery, not the distillery itself)

Quite possibly the oldest living thing in the world- a yew tree in Fortignall scientists believe is 5,000 years old!

The burial mounds of the McNab clan, where they have been buried for 800 years on an island in the middle of the river in Killin.

A herd of wild deer in Glen Lyon, a 2-hour single-track driving adventure down a beautiful valley.

A Scottish Sheep- much cuter than English sheep, I think.

The travelers aboard the S.S. Sir Walter Scott on Loch Katrine.

"You take the high road..." Me and the Peeps (http://www.peepsineurope.blogspot.com) out on Loch Lomond on our Scotland trip with Stacey and Beth & Pete, the briefest of trips covering 1200 miles in four days.