It's just after 4pm and the rain has set in for the afternoon. I managed to finish the gardening I was doing out the front before it started and was glad of an excuse to come in and rest my weary bones. It's amazing how much work there can be to do in a small garden. Both front and back gardens are now fairly tidy. The veg garden is ready for seeds once the better weather comes, but the front garden could do with some plants that keep the weeds in check, and I'm not sure what to put there. I'm not really interested in the front garden so don't pay it much attention. That means it is harder work when I do decide it needs tidying.
I've done the ironing too, so I'm going to spend the rest of the day relaxing. b has gone off to join Neil Arlidge and gang on their journey in to Dublin. He will leave the car at Hazelhatch and meet them before they go on an early morning start tomorrow.
Right - off to relax...
Monday 24 March 2008
Sunday 23 March 2008
Nearly a week later
Happy Easter to all. I'm afraid that Easter to me means a nice long weekend, enabling a bit more catch-up time for the tired body.
My greenhouse arrived on Tuesday, and Ian and Brian helped a French guy to put it up. It is situated between the boiler shed and the oil tank, with the door facing in towards the back door of the house. This means that it is easy to get to from the house and gets remarkably good sun most of the day. It is quite large for the size of our garden - 6 x 10ft. It will enable me to grow things and to use it for drying washing on a rack on rainy days.
Yesterday I put together the remaining parts of the climbing frame for use as shelving in the greenhouse, making it colourful inside. The poles of the climbing frame are red and the flat parts are yellow, blue and black.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the garden, and felt the better for it. I had cut down a lot of vegetation the previous weekend and it was lying in heaps all over the place. It has been dry for the last week so I had a good bonfire. All that remains of the vegetation is ashes and a few sticks that missed the middle of the fire.
Today I will sow some seeds prepared by my mother and labelled by Carolan (I recognise the writing!). The tomato plants are already looking happy in the greenhouse, so these will join them. I'm hoping to acquire more goodies to plant at Yearly Meeting next week, as there are always good things available there.
Ian came into town with me yesterday briefly. He wasn't in good shape, but survived sitting in the car while it was jacked up and had all its tyres changed. Rob had done some work for a tyre place and they couldn't afford to pay him, so he negotiated a set of tyres for my car. That was nice, so my car looks very posh and safe now. The guy seemed to be very grateful to Rob for what he had done for him.
Ian bought a book on designing web pages. It is a serious book, so he is being ambitious about learning how to do it properly from a technical perspective.
It was great to see Carolan during the week, even if only briefly. She met my colleagues from the other J&J companies during a meal at Fitzers. I bet she is currently exhausted as she helps to run JYM.
b is off to Killaloe market this morning. The dogs are currently resting in anticipation of the good run they will have once he has been to the market! Leavy has learnt to stop pulling very quickly with her new lead, but yesteray managed to break it, so I'll try to mend it today.
My greenhouse arrived on Tuesday, and Ian and Brian helped a French guy to put it up. It is situated between the boiler shed and the oil tank, with the door facing in towards the back door of the house. This means that it is easy to get to from the house and gets remarkably good sun most of the day. It is quite large for the size of our garden - 6 x 10ft. It will enable me to grow things and to use it for drying washing on a rack on rainy days.
Yesterday I put together the remaining parts of the climbing frame for use as shelving in the greenhouse, making it colourful inside. The poles of the climbing frame are red and the flat parts are yellow, blue and black.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon in the garden, and felt the better for it. I had cut down a lot of vegetation the previous weekend and it was lying in heaps all over the place. It has been dry for the last week so I had a good bonfire. All that remains of the vegetation is ashes and a few sticks that missed the middle of the fire.
Today I will sow some seeds prepared by my mother and labelled by Carolan (I recognise the writing!). The tomato plants are already looking happy in the greenhouse, so these will join them. I'm hoping to acquire more goodies to plant at Yearly Meeting next week, as there are always good things available there.
Ian came into town with me yesterday briefly. He wasn't in good shape, but survived sitting in the car while it was jacked up and had all its tyres changed. Rob had done some work for a tyre place and they couldn't afford to pay him, so he negotiated a set of tyres for my car. That was nice, so my car looks very posh and safe now. The guy seemed to be very grateful to Rob for what he had done for him.
Ian bought a book on designing web pages. It is a serious book, so he is being ambitious about learning how to do it properly from a technical perspective.
It was great to see Carolan during the week, even if only briefly. She met my colleagues from the other J&J companies during a meal at Fitzers. I bet she is currently exhausted as she helps to run JYM.
b is off to Killaloe market this morning. The dogs are currently resting in anticipation of the good run they will have once he has been to the market! Leavy has learnt to stop pulling very quickly with her new lead, but yesteray managed to break it, so I'll try to mend it today.
Monday 17 March 2008
Happy St Patrick's Day
It's nearly a month since I last blogged and I probably have lots to catch up on. However, since Ian is now at home and Carolan has visited twice in that time, they should be well up to date so I'll stick with current happenings.
It's great to have a day off today, and another one next Monday. As it is too early in the year to go to the boat I'm taking the opportunity to tidy up the garden. The exciting news is that my greenhouse arrives tomorrow. Ian and Brian will have to spend the day helping "the man" to put it up, so I'm hoping to come home to something very fancy.
Last night B and I attended a Slow Food meal in Country Choice and one of our friends there gave me some tomato plants. That will be the first thing to go in the greenhouse, even though these ones have to go outside later in the year.
As usual, the Slow Food event was very enjoyable. We were seated opposite an American couple who have lived in Spain since the 1970s. They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and her 60th birthday. He is a food writer, and friend of the American food writer who helps to organise the event, so had his notebook out for the evening. They were good company.
The main meat dish of the day was burgers from Ladybird. It does seem strange to be eating burgers at an event like this, but these were definetly special, as we have experienced many times before when we have bought them. The pavlova for dessert had the most perfectly soft base I've ever come across, with the tiny hint of crispiness on the outside. It was made by Anne Byrne of Brocka-on-the-Water, and we need to find our her secret!
I'm off to do some gardening now, but may blog again later.
It's great to have a day off today, and another one next Monday. As it is too early in the year to go to the boat I'm taking the opportunity to tidy up the garden. The exciting news is that my greenhouse arrives tomorrow. Ian and Brian will have to spend the day helping "the man" to put it up, so I'm hoping to come home to something very fancy.
Last night B and I attended a Slow Food meal in Country Choice and one of our friends there gave me some tomato plants. That will be the first thing to go in the greenhouse, even though these ones have to go outside later in the year.
As usual, the Slow Food event was very enjoyable. We were seated opposite an American couple who have lived in Spain since the 1970s. They were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and her 60th birthday. He is a food writer, and friend of the American food writer who helps to organise the event, so had his notebook out for the evening. They were good company.
The main meat dish of the day was burgers from Ladybird. It does seem strange to be eating burgers at an event like this, but these were definetly special, as we have experienced many times before when we have bought them. The pavlova for dessert had the most perfectly soft base I've ever come across, with the tiny hint of crispiness on the outside. It was made by Anne Byrne of Brocka-on-the-Water, and we need to find our her secret!
I'm off to do some gardening now, but may blog again later.
Saturday 23 February 2008
A weird week
Work has been very busy, with update meetings for shifts and others going on all week, a fairly stressful process. On Wednesday Ian made the decision to come home, and he is currently trying to get a flight out of Ghana. This is a protracted process.
The death of a long-term attender of Limerick Meeting, Aidan Power, happened this week. The funeral was today at the Meeting House. What a sad occasion. His large family has had a string of misfortunes and deaths in recent years, and this adds to the pattern. We will miss his quiet presence in Meeting.
C is home for the weekend and she and b went to the market this morning. Our fridge and freezer are now full!
The death of a long-term attender of Limerick Meeting, Aidan Power, happened this week. The funeral was today at the Meeting House. What a sad occasion. His large family has had a string of misfortunes and deaths in recent years, and this adds to the pattern. We will miss his quiet presence in Meeting.
C is home for the weekend and she and b went to the market this morning. Our fridge and freezer are now full!
Sunday 17 February 2008
Lovely day
What a lovely day. I've been outside, gardening. By gardening, I mean having a bonfire and turning the compost heap. The vegetable garden is looking quite neat and ready for the new season. I've also moved some of our garden "furniture" (the big shelf contraption) that was on the tarmac to make space for a greenhouse. I've still to buy a greenhouse, but I think that is the best place to put it when I do.
Saturday 16 February 2008
Daffodils and an anchor
It must be nearly March as there are daffodils in the market. We bought some bunches and will keep them in a cold place so that they are just right when C comes home next weekend. I love daffodils. Yellow flowers really make me feel summer must be around the corner. Gorse bushes flower soon too, and they are a lovely sight.
I've no plans for this weekend. That's odd, as I normally know what I want to achieve, even if it is only some cleaning or work at home. I think, though, that it must be because I feel particularly tired and need to do nothing. Eek, how do I do that??
Yesterday evening I went to Pauline's house to get a massage. My left shoulder has been very tensed up for some time and I thought it would be a good idea to go to her as she does massages on an occasional basis. I feel good after it and probably need to go again as my muscles are very tensed up and need a couple of sessions to fix them. She uses a lovely combination of oils as she massages so my skin feels lovely.
This is the salary and bonus time of the year. For me that means a lot of work. We also did a review of pay and I have to feed the information back to everyone. This means I have to attend lots of meetings, some of them in the late evening. I'll be glad when March comes as it has to be over by then.
I've nearly finished knitting the slipover I got wool for a few weeks ago. It is nice to have something to knit when in front of the television, but it hasn't been very fast to knit as I'm rarely sitting in front of the tv.
Ian will be home on 29th March, the weekend of Yearly Meeting. He's at the half way stage now, and it has passed quite quickly, though his illness is upsetting. I've been looking up the information on Mole park, where he will be visiting the first week of March. It looks as if it will be a fascinating trip. Remember to bring covered shoes, though, as they make you wear rubber boots if you only have sandals with you - and that sounds awful in that climate!
b had an exciting find during the week. He was chatting with a person in O'Brien's Bridge about the contents of his book and discovered that a diver had recently brought up what looked like an anchor. b suspects that it was part of a marker used during navigable times, and finds that the top is made of wood that is very old. The National Museum has expressed an interest in it and said to put it back in the water to preserve the wood until a further examination is made
The anchor isn't of any value other than as a piece of waterways history, so it isn't of great interest to a museum, but it is exciting to seem to have found something b had just been researching.
I've no plans for this weekend. That's odd, as I normally know what I want to achieve, even if it is only some cleaning or work at home. I think, though, that it must be because I feel particularly tired and need to do nothing. Eek, how do I do that??
Yesterday evening I went to Pauline's house to get a massage. My left shoulder has been very tensed up for some time and I thought it would be a good idea to go to her as she does massages on an occasional basis. I feel good after it and probably need to go again as my muscles are very tensed up and need a couple of sessions to fix them. She uses a lovely combination of oils as she massages so my skin feels lovely.
This is the salary and bonus time of the year. For me that means a lot of work. We also did a review of pay and I have to feed the information back to everyone. This means I have to attend lots of meetings, some of them in the late evening. I'll be glad when March comes as it has to be over by then.
I've nearly finished knitting the slipover I got wool for a few weeks ago. It is nice to have something to knit when in front of the television, but it hasn't been very fast to knit as I'm rarely sitting in front of the tv.
Ian will be home on 29th March, the weekend of Yearly Meeting. He's at the half way stage now, and it has passed quite quickly, though his illness is upsetting. I've been looking up the information on Mole park, where he will be visiting the first week of March. It looks as if it will be a fascinating trip. Remember to bring covered shoes, though, as they make you wear rubber boots if you only have sandals with you - and that sounds awful in that climate!
b had an exciting find during the week. He was chatting with a person in O'Brien's Bridge about the contents of his book and discovered that a diver had recently brought up what looked like an anchor. b suspects that it was part of a marker used during navigable times, and finds that the top is made of wood that is very old. The National Museum has expressed an interest in it and said to put it back in the water to preserve the wood until a further examination is made
The anchor isn't of any value other than as a piece of waterways history, so it isn't of great interest to a museum, but it is exciting to seem to have found something b had just been researching.
Sunday 10 February 2008
80 years a-growing
We're back from the Gran 80th birthday party, held in Finsstown Country House Hotel. Finsstown House is very impressive to drive up to, and is everything the word "country" evokes in this context - old but well furnished, lots of carpets, warm fires, big rooms. The food was mediocre, though, and the room we were in was less impressive than the main public areas. However, it went off well and all the rellies were happy. It is amazing, though, how people age differently. The room was a study in that.
We also visited Rockspring and found everyone reasonably content. My father switches off every now and again as conversations must be difficult to follow when you can't follow the people. He can see shapes all around him so was able to see that a black moving object, for instance, was at the patio door and wanted to come in. At a wild guess, of course, that was Leavy! The dogs had a great run around the garden, overwhelming Maxie somewhat.
We also visited Rockspring and found everyone reasonably content. My father switches off every now and again as conversations must be difficult to follow when you can't follow the people. He can see shapes all around him so was able to see that a black moving object, for instance, was at the patio door and wanted to come in. At a wild guess, of course, that was Leavy! The dogs had a great run around the garden, overwhelming Maxie somewhat.
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