Doggy Hiatus- Irish Day Cleanup

Photo: Our St. Patrick's Day Family Picture

The Dog hasn't been feeling well- this morning he puked three times, and Jaci and I had to rush to clean it up before he ate it again, so it was unhappiness Bengfort household this morning. (Although probably not a result of St. Patty's day celebrations last night- I only had 3 pints of Guiness and champagne, the dog had a little champagne, but not much else.) As a result, Jaci and I have been posting Winston's blogs as he lays in the sunshine of the office looking at us.

I must say I was touched by his last post- and the dog does sing quite frequently. I sort of laugh it off- but I guess man's best friend must do what he must! He actually sings a couple of songs- including "Winny, Winny, Winny get your adverbs here- Father, Son, and Puppy get your adverbs here." But I am fairly sure he has never seen Schoolhouse Rock- it isn't exactly an English instition (and Parlaiment is too complicated to come up with "I'm just a Bill").

Yesterday was St. Patricks Day, and both Winston and I were expecting a little more enthusiasm from a place so close to Ireland. Needless to say, until I got into a bar, every English person I spoke to had no idea that it was St. Patty's. I mentioned to my hairdresser (who was dropping her comb, scissors, and clippers and hitting me with the cord) that she was probably having an unlucky time cutting my hair becuase she wasn't wearing green, and my green was covered by the hair blanket. She merely looked at me blankely. I then explained what today was- and she chuckled and said she would have a pint of Guiness for lunch- no enthusiasm.

At the Royal Post the person behind the counter didn't realize Ireland was a different country and so postmarked an envelope incorrectly- which I took as a good sign of realizing it was St. Patty's day- but to no avail. Only one man (wearing a Guiness Shirt) finally picked up what I was refering to (but he didn't wear the Guiness shirt on purpose) and laughed that St. Patty's day was probably bigger in New York (Boston, I said) and for us Americans than for the English.

He asked if I was Irish- I responded I was just a good Christian...

Finally we went to Jude for lunch and I found my fellow St. Patricks celebrants all drinking pints of Guiness and IPA Green at noon- and watching the Ireland v. Italy rugby match on the 6 nations cup. And although they did have specialty beer at the pub for St. Patrick- no specialty food. So perhaps America is bigger than England on St. Patty's despite the proximity, but what are you going to do?

Later that night: Luminox, but you can read more about that on Jaci's blog.

Winston says: Woof! He enjoyed his St. Patty's day- he got to walk along the canal searching for four leaf clovers- which if he found he probably ate, and that may have caused his stomach ache today, but I guess we'll not know.

Photo: Drinking Champagne out of Guiness Glasses- a Bengfort touch for the Irish!

P.S. I have heard that in Oxford at least, they mix champagne and Guiness or Guiness and liquour to make it taste better... we have yet to try that!