Weekend Ramblings...

I'm thinking I may make a weekly post on our weekend music exploits because I am getting tired of coming up with titles for them all.

This weekend was chock full of music (of course). Friday afternoon on our way to New York for her fiddle lesson, I asked Haley if she got tired of driving all over the place and all the performances she does. She seemed shocked I would think that. She said those are the parts of her music that are the most fun and she wants more. So we drove to New York Friday for a late night fiddle lesson then did a sleep over so she could meet her friend, Sofia, in the city on Saturday.

The girls had busking plans for Washington Square Park. They are determined to help pay their part for their trips to Ireland next week. The day started out not looking very promising. It was raining softly most of the morning (as you can tell from the picture below) so they found a spot under the big arch which provided shelter for their fiddles and wonderful acoustics. They sounded like they were mic'ed.

They did pretty well there then we packed up when they got tired of playing. They enjoyed running over to check out the progress of the sand artist creating his work not far away (the guy on his knees behind them in this picture). They left him a tip because he was very nice to them. Sofia accidentally lost her bow down the grate in front of them and he came over and lifted it so she could retrieve it unharmed. (Whew! The perils of busking!)

The sun eventually came out and the girls took a break for ice-cream while sitting near the fountain. Here they are showing off their green tinged tongues.

Washington Square Park

Cute squirrel.

Sunday was what has become our annual fundraiser for Haley and her friend Emily for their trip to Ireland. A local pub, Lazy Lanigans, allows us to come in and take over their restaurant for an afternoon. The kids provided music, people came and danced, and we had a silent auction of 22 items and baskets donated by friends, supporters, and local businesses. We have done a fundraiser for the last five years and each year I am overwhelmed by the number of people who come out to support the girls.

We put a call out for musicians this year and it seemed all of them had other plans for the day so Haley and Dylan provided the ceili music all on their own. They did a great job...kept a strong, fast beat for the dancers and stoppped and started the music on time!

The Ceili Band.

Dancers doing The Plain Set.

Haley and Emily thanking everyone for coming out.

Donations from the AOH groups in PA.

The fundraiser was very successful. We couldn't have done it without all the people who donated and/or attended. We especially couldn't have done it without help from the people below. John and Jackie Kelly have become like Haley's adoptive grandparents. Jackie had back surgery a couple months ago but she worked hard those months, not only to recover, but to put together items (many which she donated herself) and coordinated the entire silent auction for us. The auction was an amazing success and she's an amazing person! We can't possibly thank her enough for all she does for us.

We are now on the countdown for our trip to Ireland this year! We are looking forward to traveling with Sofia and her mother and seeing a new part of the island. Go Derry!