The Kitties Came!

It’s hard to imagine that tomorrow marks three weeks ago that we left Dallas. The time has flown! This week, in particular, has been full of activity complicated by the fact of Allen and I having Covid. 😑

Yes, it finally caught us.

Thankfully, both of us had very mild cases. Me, especially. A head cold, mostly. But with a barking cough like a seal. 🦭 I’ll take it, though, over a ventilator.

On Monday our precious cats, Frank and Sister, arrived! After their original flight on June 13th was cancelled due to Covid staffing shortages, they cooled their heels in the AirVet’s for another whole week. I waited with bated breath, feeling helpless being 4500 miles away, hoping against hope that the new flight wouldn’t be cancelled. The only airlines that’ll fly animals in the summer is Lufthansa and they only fly on Thursdays. Once we got notification on the 23rd that they’d be flying, a whole different bunch of anxieties took hold.

I think it was Friday we heard they’d landed in Frankfurt and would be enroute to Dublin, soon. At long last, on Monday, we received a call that they were on their way from Dublin and would arrive at Kincaid’s place, here in Galway, in 2 hours, 45 minutes. Hallelujah!

I’m telling you, you never saw or heard such a sight as Sister and Frank being let loose in the same enclosed space. For those who don’t know about this particular odd couple, Sister is our outdoor cat and Frank is the indoor cat. Frank adores Sister and Sister hates Frank’s guts. She hisses 🐉 at him every time he disrupts her airspace. Ooma never forgave her for that, saying, “He only wants a kiss and all he gets is a hiss.”

He never loses his cool or his affection for her.
When they were let out of their crates, Sister lost her mind hissing, hissing, hissing and growling. She was very agitated. Frank, walked like he was drunkedy for two days. Which reminded me of showering in the evening after being out on Allen’s boat with him all day. You’re standing in the shower, on terre firma, but you still feel the rocking of the boat and you sway. That’s what I think Frank was experiencing.

While Sister hissed, Frank walked around quietly sniffing everything.

Kincaid’s roommates, Gillian and Lyle, are medical residents, and will only be here another couple of weeks before transferring to other programs. They graciously agreed to house Sister for us while Frank will be with us at Cillian’s.

After the initial bad impression Sister gave, Gillain and Lyle said, “We want Frank! Why do we get Sister?!” Arden promised them she was a sweet, loving cat, once Frank was no longer in the picture and of course, that proved to be true. Now, they love her!

Also, on their crates are greetings, “Hi, I’m Frank” and “Hi, I’m Sister” accompanied with photos to identify them. Arden said, “I love how Frank’s is a glamour photo, like he’s lounging on pillows being fed peeled grapes and Sister’s looks like a mug shot!” 😂 She’s not wrong.

All of this was high comedy to Obie who said, “If this isn’t the absolute real life version of Garfield (Sister) and Nermal (Frank), I don’t know what is!”

Nermal was Garfield’s annoyingly adorable little “relative” who’d come to visit occasionally and Garfield was waaaaay too cool to hang out with or tolerate goofy little Nermal.

As a result, Garfield was always threatening to send Nermal to Abu Dhabi.

So, here, Sister and Frank have actually been traveling partners going from Dallas to Frankfurt to Dublin to Galway. HILARIOUS. I’m sure Frank was on Sister’s last nerve! 🤣
It’s been nearly four days with them back in our lives and I can tell you, their presence is such a joy. As I’m typing this, Frank has wedged himself into the tiny space between my right arm and the chair. We couldn’t be more cramped.

While we were sequestered with Covid, and rife with cabin fever, Cillian drove us out to the Cliffs of Moher and we were dazzled by their magnificence, yet again. We had lunch on the way in a wonderful little lobster “shack” we’d first enjoyed when Allen brought me here to get our wedding rings. It had been written up in Bon Appetit, when they’d devoted an entire issue to the Emerald Isle. Fabulous place and meal.

Then, today dawned and with it, our appointment with our solicitor, “Paddy, with two “d’s,” Daly” to put our non-refundable downpayment on The Hotel. We loved Paddy and as affable as any Irishman, ever, he said, “I think I’ve made too much of a deal of the two “d’s” thing because once I introduced myself to someone and they said, ‘Oh, yes! Paddy with two “d’s” from Galway!’” 🤣 I said, “Well, if you were in the States, where people think it’s St Patty’s Day, you’d be doing double time making that destinction!” To which he replied, “Oh, yes. Well, there is *that*.”

So our money is down and our closing date is September 1. We are excited!

Tomorrow will be just as exciting, as we have our first in-person appointment with our “conservation architect,” Seán. We’ve had one virtual conference with him from Dallas and loved him. We are really excited to get started working on plans to transform the Ross Lake House Hotel into its former home status and name, Killaguile.

More to come.

“Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”

~Joseph Campbell