Well, this is my first blog 0f 2010 and I am writing it from Sarasota. Yes back in Florida after Christmas in Ireland, with a 5 day trip to Switzerland to see my daughter and grandson thrown in also. It was a tough journey back to Ireland as the weather was terrible, both in USA and Ireland. I had to make some last minute flight changes as the airports in DC and Chicago were dodgy, so I got a flight to JFK and then onto Dublin before getting a last minute flight from Dublin to Shannon, as the roads were in a dreadful condition. It was not possible to get from the Airport to the train station.

However, I had a really lovely Christmas. I spent Christmas Day with my son Gary, his wife and my two grandchildren. It was a truly joyful time for me. It was lovely spending time with my grandchildren. I also got to Switzerland to see my daughter and her son. What a lovely time. I will never forget this trip. She lives in Klosters, which is high in the Alps and getting there was a huge challenge as my flight from Shannon to Dublin was cancelled and I had to drive from Lisdoonvarna to Limerick to get a train to Dublin. My son Gary got up a 4.00am to make sure I got there. Way above the call of duty !!! Driving in Switzerland was a dream, no problem whatsoever. They are so organised and snow tyres are also a great help.

I have tried to insert some photos of my Swiss trip, so I hope it works. It was great to meet some friends in Ireland also, but because of the weather, I did not get to see a rugby game, which was disappointing.

So it felt good to get back to some Florida sun last Saturday, January 16. I had a lot of emails to catch up on, so I did a lot of work the first few days, although I did get to Orlando to meet with my friend Damien McCarthy from Limerick. He is playing music with a wonderful fiddler, (certainly in the top 3 in Ireland) called Colin Farrell, not, not the movie star. This guy is from Manchester, England with Irish parents. If you are in Orlando, go to Downtown Disney and an Irish Pub called The Raglan Road and the guys should be playing. They do 6 nights every week, Sunday off.

I had a FIRST this week. Anyone that knows me will know that I cannot stand fish. I think I have an allergy. I always swore that I would never touch anything that comes out of the water, except MERMAIDS, and even then, above the waist ONLY. Well on Tuesday last in Sarasota I had lunch with Jan and Jean and they persuaded me to eat ALLIGATOR TAILS.

They were done in breadcrumbs and tasted like CHICKEN, but it was a ONCE OFF thing. If I want something that tastes like CHICKEN, in future, I will eat CHICKEN. But I am very proud that I can now say……..I ATE ALLIGATOR TAILS. The weather here has been nice and warm, but I have not had much time on the beach, HONESTLY !!! Work has to be done.

I went to two really nice gigs this past week. First I saw David Mallett from Maine. He is a wonderful writer and performer. He has written many wonderful songs, Like………The Garden Song, The Ballad of St. Anne’s Reel etc. His songs have been cut by Emy Lou Harris, Delores Keane, The Dubliner’s, but he is most proud of his songs cut by Liam Clancy, (who died a few weeks ago) I do hope that he may be touring with me in 2011. He is also a really nice man.

Next, I went to see Bill and Kate Isles in concert at New Smyrna Beach. They are doing two tours with me this year and actually have a few slots left for their May tour. They did a truly wonderful gig, so I am really looking forward to touring with them in the Summer.

I will be attending 3/4 more gigs in the next week or so. I will not be doing too much traveling before heading for the Folk Alliance in Memphis on February 15, but I will have a really long tour with John Spillane, but I am really looking forward to that. Well, that’s all for now. I will be writing another blog in a couple of weeks.