May Day - Wexford's Labour Day

May Day is on May 1st, but it includes a bank holiday on the first Monday of the month. May Day is associated with a lockout of workers in 1911 who were working to unionise. It was an awful time with lots of hardship.

I went to a celebration/remembrance yesterday in the Faythe at the site of the sculpture that commemorates this occasion. There were speeches by dignitaries and relatives of those who took an important part in the resolution of the lockout.

The band

The mayor in all his finery

Other dignitaries

There was a get-together afterward at the Talbot Hotel that myself and my new friend, Norah, attended. Afterward she had errands and I was hungry so I went to the Wren's Nest for lunch. John and Sarah joined me there to watch the football (soccer) match on tv. We had a pint and then Sarah and I walked around for a bit. We spent a bit of time wandering the quay looking at the tractors that were part of the Tractor Show.

I liked the old ones

There were also some old cars on hand

I also liked the unusual ones

More old ones

There were hundreds of them on the quay

I've been quite busy in Wexford the past couple of weeks. I made a trip to Sligo, climbed Knocknarea, dog sat, went to Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers at the National Opera Centre, attended open mic night at the Fusion Cafe, and attended a tribute to Thelonius Monk at the Art Centre. With the arrival of warmer weather and the "season" things are starting to happen around here. Next Friday there are three things I want to go to, but they conflict with each other.

Tomorrow I have Andy the Handyman coming over to install shelves in the hall closet, hang towel racks in the large bathroom, fix a fussy window, install under-cabinet lights in the kitchen, install a couple of small shelves in the bathrooms, and attach a rail that has fallen from the fence between my neighbor's patio and my back yard.

I'll close with one of my favourite photos taken shortly after I arrived in Wexford. It is amazing how when I look back at my first pix I feel so familiar with the places where they were taken. In the beginning I had to take notes so I would have a perspective for them.

I am making my first trip back to the states to see my family in late May into mid-June; then my sister and two friends are coming over to visit; I'm returning to the states in October to visit my family and help my Mother celebrate her 93rd birthday; then I am going to Malta for two weeks with John and Sarah around Christmas time. Busy year shaping up including a very busy Opera House and Art Centre schedule from now through October.

I will try to post to my blog more often. I've been lazy and opting for posting to Facebook instead, but  I have been asked by a few of you to get into blogging again. So this is for you.......