Weekend Ramblings....

 (Nearly all the photos in this blog post were taken by Denise Foley with Irish Philadelphia! Check out their website at www.irishphiladelphia.com or look them up on Facebook.)

What a week we had! Haley had her long day in the ER and surgery on Sunday. (See previous post) Wednesday between patients at work, I was rear ended and the entire back end of my car was destroyed. No one was injured (the other girl's Jeep wasn't even damaged because her bumper with branch guard was what went into my rear) and my car was still drive-able so after the police officer left, I finished out the day.

So, Friday after Haley's follow up with the orthopedic surgeon, I had to drive to see the insurance adjustor, who then suggested I take the car directly to the body shop and get a rental which I then did. We finished up with all that just in time to make it to Haley's violin lesson and from there went to her first night of PRYSM for the 2013-14 season. Haley was still on crutches so spent the night telling people how she injured her foot. She decided "impaled by a toothpick" sounded better than "stepped on a toothpick"....Ha! puts the fault on the toothpick that way and sounds more dramatic according to her.

After PRYSM, we headed over to the Philadelphia Ceili Group's annual festival for a "rambling house session"...there were hosts who invited different musicians from the audience to join them on stage for a set or two. We got to hear a lot of wonderful music and songs. Haley went up to play a few sets with Gabe, Joanie, then Paraic.

She had a lot of fun! We didn't leave until 11pm because she was having so much fun and enjoying the music. There is an amazing amount of Irish music talent right here in Philadelphia!

Saturday at the festival began with a fiddle workshop by Tony DeMarco. He taught a number of tunes and talked about his history in Irish music....He and Haley's teacher, Brian Conway, "grew up" together with the music.

Fiddle workshop.

After the workshop we joined a large group of "Next Generation" kids in the Fireside room. They talked and listened to other bands playing until their turn to play. The group of kids took turns playing together and doing solos and various groupings. 

After the kids finished playing, we had cake to celebrate Haley and Emily's first place wins in Ireland and to thank all the people who supported them and helped us raise funds for their trip. 

The night concert was fabulous! Haley and Emily were asked on stage after the dancers to play a tune each before the main part of the program. 

Then we listened to Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O'Leary followed by Tony DeMarco and his band, Atlantic Wave. The music was great and amazing sean nos dancing by Siobhan Butler. 

Sunday, Haley and I drove to New York for a fiddle lesson then stopped by the Plough and the Stars on the way home for the session...we hadn't had enough Irish music yet! The Plough provided a cake for the session to celebrate Haley's Ireland wins and everyone signed a card for her. So they had a little celebration along with the session. It was a lovely weekend after a rough week!