My dad finally retired from the Department of Agriculture (and
Food, and Fisheries, and Forests, and a whole slew of other stuff that
seems to change on a weekly basis...) after 40 years. We had the
formal retirement "do" on Friday and a private meal on
Saturday with Sunday reserved for recovering from the indulgences of
Saturday night. My brother
Donal even came over from the US for the weekend.
And as usual, camera trouble. I managed to switch to the low-res
(i.e. small picture) setting on Saturday night. I seem to recall that
I was trying to disable the flash at the time. Oh well.
Donal and the Bear play "Brightest Shade Of Orange" for Hannah's amusement.
Dad's laughing, actually. So's the cow. We didn't tell Dad that Donal was gonna be there.
The cow is still going.
Also, the cow gets around.
Are you feeling weirded out by the cow yet?
Mom gets a bunch of flowers
Dad gets something or other, but I wasn't standing up for the photo.
Dad does his stand-up routine.
Watch these two carefully. By the end of the night, they will be wrestling.
My uncle Patrick in full flight.
Dad, thinking, "My son's drunk, and he has a camera."
Dinner, with Hannah at the head of the table.
This girl LOVES cameras.
BRANE-CANTER?
This wine was bought in the eighties, btw.
Dad's a lifelong pioneer, i.e. he's never had a drop to drink.
John, Dad and Hilary in a group hug.
Hilary explains something, Dad laughs.
Hilary finds another knee to sit on.
Hilary and Shar get with the wrestling. This was about 5am.
John holds Hilary back.
Hilary goes for the headlock. Note that it's starting to get bright.
I can't tell if that's another headlock or a friendly hand on the shoulder.
Definitely a headlock!
Donal carries Hilary around the orchard.