A mad-house

Have you ever been in a house with 3 dogs wagging their tails at you? Admittedly one of the tails is a bit on the small side, but it still makes the whole house seem small as they take up the lot of it. Two was plenty!!!

Anyway, welcome to Leavy. She is really sweet. It's strange to think that nobody wants a dog that is black. She has been in foster care for 6 months with noone prepared to take her, in spite of the fact that she is very good-natured and lovable. She moves on three legs as she had one damaged in an accident so it doesn't reach the ground fully, but she is very agile. The photo C has on her blog doesn't do her justice so we'll have to take some more to show her off well.

Pippa is very jealous and growling, but she will get over it. Goldie is just a bit confused. I was greeted this morning by evidence that Leavy hasn't been fully trained - 2 poos and numerous pees are just fine and dandy at 7am!!! She also has to learn how to travel in the back of the car (not jumping into the seats..).

I think that's plenty of news from mother.

Wood pellet boilers

As it takes about 3 months to have a wood pellet boiler delivered after you order it we need to decide fairly soon what we are going to do about it if it is to be installed during the summer. The current boiler shed is marginally too small to hold the boiler and hopper so we need to extend it. We also need a place to store pellets, or wood (we'll get a multi-fuel boiler so we're not tied to pellets). Should we put the new shed beside the current boiler shed, at right angles and out into the garden? While we are at it wouldn't it be nice to have a small greenhouse that could be at the south side of the new shed?

The other main option is to put a shed south of the current oil storage thing, where there is currently a not-very-successful flower bed that Goldie loves to dig up. Then a greenhouse would probably have to be free-standing, which would make it colder. I'd prefer it to have one brick wall on the north facing side of it. We also have to consider how to extend the current boiler house for the boiler and hopper - maybe we could extend it out a bit where its door currently is. It would be good not to have to re-do the electrics and pipe-work so we'd like to maintain its current position.

Also, how can we make the tarmac area that used to be for basketball into something more useful? It just gathers loads of moss at the moment.

Decisions, decision, decisions.....

And I pruned the pear trees (B reminded us that they are pear trees so don't produce prunes, but we ignored him) this morning. I also tried to remove some of the green stuff at the front of the house on our formerly nice white paint-work.

All is quiet in Castleconnell

It's Saturday and I have the place to myself at the moment. B has gone to the market, I is in bed, the dogs are sniffing around outside, and I am listening to the washing maching working away feverishly. It's a bit cold as the patio door is open to accommodate the dogs, but it's dry.

We have to go into town later to collect I's friend from the bus, and they intend to go to the cinema later. I've changed the sheets on C's bed ready for the guest - I wonder when that was last done??!!

Uh,oh, spoke too soon. The shower has started going and Goldie has come in to lie down and stare at me (lovingly?). On the plus side, the washing machine has finished working.

I'm looking at a photo that was on the front of the Irish Times motoring section this week. It shows a car hanging out of a parking block somewhere in Germany. The driver tried to reverse the car into its spot and allegedly mixed up the accelerator and brake pedals. Presumably this means that the reverse was accelerated instead of brakes put on. However, they must have been applied at great speed as half the car is out the window. Note how I have carefully avoided using he or she, as does the caption on the picture....

We've been wondering what Ians would like for 18th birthdays. It seems that the Ian living here doesn't have any wants and needs (except for an iphone, according to his blog). His father suggests this, though: http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=13583&random=89214504&cid=38&subcat=&scid= . I suspect that is more a present for when he starts working. I hope everyone remembered to wish Spencer a happy 21st and helped him to celebrate it.

I'm thinking that the legs part of a track suit would be useful for yoga as jeans aren't very flexible, kinda like me. I'll have a look to see if Penney's has such a thing today. Maybe if I wear flexible leg things it will make me flexible - ever an optimist!

Next week is due to be busy early in the week. I have to go to Waterford for school meetings on Monday evening and then on to Cork for the day for meetings on Tuesday. Yoga is on Tuesday evening, and then home to normal life for the rest of the week.

I've just changed the tariff on my mobile phone as it appears I don't use 100 minutes, or anywhere near that, per month. I've dropped down to 30 minutes plus 100 text messages, which works out cheaper. I can change monthly if I want, though the new tariff doesn't apply until the end of February. I also get 50 minutes to phone a friend for free who is on the same network, but the sad thing is that I don't appear to have any friends on the network. I also just looked at the landline bill for this month and have discovered a new option. For an additional 7 euro per month we can phone landlines in UK and Ireland during the day for free, as well as in the off-peak times. That seems like a thing worth doing on at least one of the phones.

Anyway, to breakfast now. Muesli and bananas - yum!

Satisfying Saturday

This week seemed long as the general anaesthetic last week has left me with headaches when I feel the slightest bit tired or under stress. Today I woke up with a mighty one but have taken it easy and am much better this evening.

We went to the market this morning. The rain and wind meant many stall-holders weren't there so we didn't stay long. B got his car washed at the former Jennings filling station on Mulgrave Street and, after a quick stop at Superquinn, we headed home. I spent the afternoon making apple juice from the rapidly deteriorating apples we bought and were given before Christmas. I've just had a glass of it and it's very nice.

I've just done the depressing task of working out how little money I have. Final school fees have to be paid on 1st February - wow, the final instalment of 10 years worth of fees seems strange! Anyway, the head is still above the parapet in spite of losing 3+ months of earnings last year due to not working.

Ian says in his blog that he has tagged me. Does that mean I have to tell you some things you don't know about me? Don't you know everything you want to know? Can I escape from this....???

Yoga

Right - decision made. I've signed up for yoga classes on Tuesday evenings. They may not make me fit but at least I'll have to move and breathe a bit. That might prepare me for the summer when I'll cycle in to work.

I'm also going to go for a massage tomorrow evening with the yoga teacher. It's all go.

Goldie escaped today when a delivery man came to deliver a parcel to the wrong address and spent most of the day loose. He is dirtier than a pig. I've spread newspapers around the floor and he is lying on them so I hope they'll help to remove dirt and dampness.

Tomorrow is parent-teacher consultation day so b is heading to that. I'm hoping Ian might manage to ring me some day soon but the phones must be out of order still. I wonder did he have his annual hair cut today, as he intended?

My parents are heading to Egypt today for 2 weeks, and my sister and husband to Kenya. 5th February is the big birthday day at their house - my father will be 87, my brother 49, and his daughter 14 (I think).

Sunshine and a good night's sleep

It is a beautifully sunny day here, though cold. Sun makes a great difference to my spirits, though also causes all cobwebs and dirty spots in the house (and there are many) to be highlighted. However, I think I have an excuse this weekend to do very little so I'll just concentrate on the 2-week pile of ironing and doing a hoovering of the kitchen and living room.

I had a great sleep last night and it was hard to leave the bed this morning. As a result I had a lie in - to 10.30 - unheard of!

In, out, down and home again

It's been an eventful and long 36 hours. 8am yesterday saw me checking into hospital. The day ward is very new and clean and modern. I had to wait a long while before I was brought to the theatre but had lots of visits from various doctors and nurses all filling in forms, checking and double checking that I was who it said on the form and whether what was on the form was what I was really signed up for. By 10am I was knocked out for the count and remember waking up at about 12pm. The rest of the day was spent snoozing, though suffering a splitting headache.

B collected me at 6pm and it was fantastic to get out into the fresh, windy, air. They wouldn't win any awards for conservation in a hospital with the high level of heat!

This morning I went to a meeting in Waterford. I thought I'd be fine as I was being driven by someone else. However, my emotions seem to be affected by the anaesthetic and it really wasn't a good idea to go. Ian rescued me from a fraught meeting and let me cry on his shoulder and bought me some chocolate. Thank you, Ian!

On arriving home I decided to be sensible so have cried off going to a 50th birthday party for Jackie tonight. I think she was a bit annoyed so B is going on his own for the pre-dinner part of the occasion. I feel bad but I don't feel up to it, with that splitting headache not yet gone away.

Today's Irish Times magazine is a very interesting edition about energy and things green. It's well worth a read. Maybe it might even inspire me to grow veggies again this year.

Should I change the name?

I'm going to have to make a big decision soon. Should I change the name of my blog to reflect the reality? No blogs from C or I for some time, only the parents continue.....

It's pay and bonus review time of the year, not a time I enjoy as it involves lots of spreadsheets and hassling people to give me their recommendations. Tomorrow I have to present everything I have to the other managers and see where we go from there.

It's still wet here, though warm. That insulation we put in the house during December is really of benefit as I find myself turning off the heating during the evening, something I would never have done in the past.

Someone let Goldie out the gate today and he disappeared for a few hours. It's not clear who let him out as we had no visitors and no post. Maybe someone thought we were the doc's surgery and opened the gate. As a result, Goldie is exhausted. Pippa didn't wander away so she is her normal lively self.

It's op day on Friday. I'm a bit nervous as I don't want to have a general anaesthetic, but I've no choice - or do I? Saturday is Patron meeting day. It's likely to be controversial as I sent a letter to all members over Christmas bringing up various issues. I got a nice response from one of them today, but others will not be happy bunnies.

Hustlers

Have a look at this. We thought we had trouble with hustlers while in Havana, but at least we didn't get caught as much as Kugler. Have a look at Guardian travel from yesterday's paper. I wonder how he will get on at Isla de la Juventud this week.

Ian is packed for going back to school, Goldie is barking, Gay Byrne is nattering away on Lyric, and it is a generally lazy Sunday afternoon. We've just had a lovely mid-afternoon dinner. I've done some bread baking, a very relaxing occupation when it involves yeast and kneading dough. Now there is noone to eat the bread so I'm putting it in the freezer for later consumption.

We visited the office

Ian and I called into my work today and managed to see everything but my office. His impressions are: "it's big; impressive; wondiferlous". Lots of robotic arms were going backward and forward and small groups were in deep thought looking at machines that were apparently not working. The engineers had just solved a problem that had been giving them grief for 24 hours so they were hoping to get home in time to see "the match" on TV for the afternoon.

We won't, of course, mention yesterday evening's match played in Newport..... I suppose that Munster have to concede something at some stage in order to sharpen their new year form.

Happy new year

Back at work a week already, it's amazing how easy it is to get stuck back in after what was a lovely break. I've been suffering from a cold all week. It needs to go away before all my energy comes back. However, work was encouraging as the GM has been reading self-improving books over Christmas and is really taking them seriously in his campaign to make our company a great place to work. Change has to start at the top, so we're getting places.

This morning I have taken down the decorations on the Christmas tree and any other sundry Christmas bits and pieces that were around the house. That definitely marks the end of the season. Ian goes back to school tomorrow so we will be back to just two of us and the dogs.

Pauline's party for women only is today. She has an open house all day to raise money for Adapt House, a women's refuge. I'm not sure when I'll go over, but probably this evening for a while.