St. Stephen's Green - Irish Pub was where EVERYONE seemed to go last night... Turning their collars up against the cold, biting January winds... they braved the frigid temperatures and frosty night air - to seek shelter, fun, great food, and cheerful friendship of the friendly folks & patrons of St. Stephen's Green Irish Pub, Spring Lake Heights, NJ...

Everyone enjoyed warming up the night - in the glow of the blazing fireplaces and the enveloping, HOT Irish tunes, the sultry songs, and lots of lively laughter of the Session folks (going on EVERY Tuesday night from 7 to 10).

Folks came in from near and far, to listen to the tunes & songs that filled the pub with warmth & life on a bitter, January evening. Thank you EVERYONE who came out… it’s always wonderful to see so many familiar faces and friends! You make it – the wonderful evening it is… each week!

Charlie & John Farrell came in to play with us this evening... adding a lively, and unusual flair to the wings of music that drifted through the night. The songs, tunes and laughter filled the night at the pub... which ended before we'd barely knew it started!

Thanks to "Clan Suibhne" (pronounced 'Clan Sweenie') for joining us on our weekly night of traditional Irish music at
St. Stephen's Green Pub!

As the cold wakes each morning... and my breath frosts in the early morning crispness of the air, I crunch along through the woods, knowing I truly DO love the winter... ah… and the approach of the Winter Solstice... the darkest day of the year.

Ohhhh and how I love to feel somehow - secure, in the long darkness of the deepest, winter day - and the encroaching stretch of seemingly abundant, never ending night – that holds the dim, shivery twilight in ice... blue shades - of winter...

I anticipate Christmas... I'm a winter child... and i love the scent of pine and the soft twinkling lights. I love the black, velvet night, hung with a perfect, shining moon - with the face that i know, and love so well... Oh and the benighted sky - pinned with scatterings of crystaline stars, that make the night seem somehow - even deeper yet - and brings the beauty of the world... up close and personal... Like they're there - just to remind me, in that very moment - to always look for the beauty, and the joy and the pleasure of what we see around us...

Ah, then there's the divine... earthly things... oh yes, the cookies, and the home made bread from the oven… the gathering of family and friends... and love, laughter and music... always music... the fiddle music, the pipes, bodhran, guitar, flutes & whistles... and the music that flows from within our hearts... for we must always seek to hear the music inside us, the song of ourself... for without that music, or love or joy in your heart... one will grow old.

So with all this in mind… I send my wishes for everyone… for a happy holiday - and a very Merry Christmas… and a happy, healthy and holy new year…

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As I feel the demise of my favorite season... and the golden leaves have mostly fallen... yet some – still tenuously cling overhead... and the days somehow seem more Winter grey than cool Autumn blue... And that chill that sets in, as the day grows dark… I feel it... Winter is closing in… and I’m sad to see the Fall drifting away, like the leaves… but I somehow anticipate the warm fires that will chase that chill, in the ever increasing darkness that envelopes the cold nights as the Winter Solstice approaches...


So I’m gearing up for new fiddle tunes… when the icy weather keeps me inside… and the snow begins to fall… I'll feel quiet I'm sure... like snow falls in the silence of night... Pensive perhaps... alive in my mind, reaching, searching... but I’ll never be bored... as long as there are tunes to learn, and play, and a fiddle or dulcimer laying around to play it on...

Here’s what feels to me to be a winter type of set... First tune is off a cd by - The Boys of the Lough – a Shetland dance tune called “Da Cold nights o’ Winter”… and we go into… a tune learned from fiddler, Matt Cranitch – “Boys of Malin” – a Donegal tune. Have fun! Enjoy the beautiful season! Happy Thanksgiving…

Cold Nights of Winter_Boys of Malin 16-28-08

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This year's Halloween session brought a host of guests & goblins out of the wood work... some of them... ALL the way from Waterford, Ireland!
We were so pleased to have Sean & Mary Dumphy come to the pub, and thrilled as ever to hear Sean play his beautiful accordian music for us!

They brought with them their lovely friends... and it was wonderful to see everyone again!

The Ghosts and creatures that ventured in that night... first being our dear Lyn, who claimed to have a spliting head ache...

There was a Guinness Stout... a goul of some sort... a VERY scary witch... but isn't she always?

a Scarecrow... and a confused... Central Jersey sports fan... We had a Crazy Viking chic with a Banjo...

and TONS AND TONS of tunes and songs that had our patrons dancing, laughing and enjoying the night!!!
Thank you all... for coming out and making the night of Irish music and scary creatures even MORE fun!


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Obsessions... Ahhhhhh..... to name a few... fiddling is one of the most known, ah, yes, then there's horses... yes, of course... my beloved Clay and Augustus Blue... but then..... there's my bike... ahhhh.... (drooling) I drool when i play fiddle sometimes... a well known fact... gross but true... but i DROOL when i think of cycling! Is that TMI?

Yes... my MOST agreeable - Cannondale six13........ Now THIS sweet bike holds a special place in my heart... I bought it new, this last November 2008... and logged in 3,100 miles before 10 months ran out... EASY...

The month of September - ALONE - I logged in 571 miles, and discovered I'd worn down a perfectly good set of tires - right down to the tubes... and OMG I LOVED IT.... can i say FEATHER in my cap?

The miles flew by - like fiddle tunes drifting on a cold, winter's night air... I never saw them slide by me..... Not until dear Clarence - at Brielle Cyclery - noted my tires were worn down to total shreds - in several places... so he fixed that up for me in a jiff... AND taught me how to fix a flat in the process!!! He's a total gem! Thank you!

My rides take me from the beautiful coastal waterways and back, bay waters... through the sandy home of the red Foxes...

all the way out to the Greater Pinelands National Reserve... and the wild lands of the Jersey Devil... who scares the BAJINGAS outta me sometimes... YIKES... and I'd be fibbing if I said I didn't get spooked on those back Piineland roads...

Now my boy is interested in my bike... so i may have some company one of these days... He's wanting to 'try my bike" more and more... how do you say No to that? lol... Ride my bike... play my fiddle... it's all good with me!

Cycling is an amazing thing.... and ohhhhhhhhhh I DREAD the cold winter days... when there's ice, snow and cold that keep me in on that trainer... burnin' those calories, stayin' in shape but WANTING to be OUTSIDE in the GREAT OUTDOORS!!!!

AHHHHH but there is more... Today... after a perfect, Autumn day, out riding in the woods with my dearest friend Marni, and our horses... OH! There is just something about horses... and how they love you, that is good for the soul!

I unhooked the trailer, and drove the old Diesel home from the barn... and I just couldn't stop smiling... I was filthy dirty, I smelled like leather, hay and horse... my hair was TRASHED (hairdo by helmet)... and i had TONS of dirt caked under my nails... and i couldn't have felt happier!!!!!

Here I am with my dear, sweet bubba... "Augustus Blue"
He's a Percheron / Paint cross... and such a charmer! you'd rarely meet!
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