There are two supermarkets in the area, and I was once again reminded that certain things are sold in very small packages. The brown soda bread is divine--I had forgotten how good it tastes. We bought some baked goods made by Pat the Baker, and other basic needs. Since we are in an Irish-speaking area, the various departments in the store are labeled in Irish. Looking around while shopping is a good way to increase your Irish vocabulary.

We eventually met our landlord on Saturday, when he drove down from his house in Letterkenny, about 25 miles away over the bog. He was totally charming and welcoming, generous, and hospitable in the true Irish tradition. Speaking at 90 miles a minute (he is a "Type A" Irishman!), he told us a bit about himself and his family, showed us around, and played a few tunes for us on the pennywhistle (he was All-Ireland champion on the whistle eight times!). We had a thoroughly enjoyable visit with him and hope to meet his wife sometime soon.

There is no telephone in the house, and over the last week my husband has had some amusing exchanges with the phone company, in an effort to get a line installed. Apparently, they don't know where we are, and they don't have any maps. They are unaware that our neighbor, just a few steps away, already has a phone. They do not know where the hotel is (it is a large building just a hundred feet away from us, with many rooms, a pub, and other facilities). They asked US to find out our neighbor's phone number to help them out. They have no clue how to spell our address. And they don't seem terribly interested in installing a phone. But after about eight separate calls, alternately cajoling, pleading, and threatening them, they gave us a tentative number and said they might come by in the next four weeks or so and put in a line. My husband even offered to pick them up and bring them here, but this offer seemed to offend them.

Now--about the music sessions. There is a Thursday night session at Teac Mhici (pronounced roughly "cha vicky", which means "House of Micky) in the Derrybeg Hotel. The fiddler is a gal from Oregon City, of all places! She's married to an Irishman and likes to sew. Quilting is definitely on the agenda (she made one quilt top which seems to have been lost in the move). After her upcoming visit to Oregon & Alaska in December, we will try to get together for a little stitch and bitch. Anyway, she's a very good fiddler, with an unusual five-string fiddle made by an uncle, and we enjoyed playing with her and the piper and the guitar player (both of whom were named Conor, apparently a common name here). Last night, our second time there, we also had a flute and penny whistle player, a gal from Holland, who has lived here for about five years.

The other session is at Huidi Beag's (pronounced roughly hyoody beg's, which means "Little Hughie's), at the other end of Bunbeg, on Monday nights. There were three other fiddlers, a bodhran player (pronounced roughly "bowrahn" which means "deafener"), two guitar players, one of whom also had an octave mandolin. One of the fiddlers owns the pub and kept all the musicians supplied with drinks. The main fiddler is Ciaran O' Maoinaigh the nephew of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, the gal who plays with one of my favorite groups, Altan. So the music was mighty--very hard-driving and lots of Scottish influence. When they found out we were musicians, they most kindly invited us to sit with them, and we were able to keep up with them on several tunes, though their tempo here is brisk to say the least. However, many of the tunes were not familiar, or a different setting than those we are used to. The pub was quite crowded, and the patrons mostly spoke Irish, apart from a table of German tourists.

We also paid a visit to Teach Jack's, the hotel beside us, but the Tuesday night activity is actually a dance, and the music is provided by a lone accordion player, so no chance of sitting in.

The weather has continued mostly foul, with lots of wind, rain and hail, but occasionally the sun breaks through, and of course, we see a lot of beautiful rainbows!

''Rainbow!"

So here we are, and I have no news of any quilters or sewers in the area (apart from the American fiddler in Derrybeg). But I will pursue this line of inquiry in the hopes of having something to report to you all, and in the interests of having something to do here (it will be several weeks before my sewing things arrive). I hope you are all well and having fun with your endeavors,

Happy quilting, Lisa