iPhone

I got it in the end, having overcome my anger today following a nice, friendly Meeting this morning.  Now I have an iPhone with a cool, red cover on the back, and a plastic skin stuck on the front.  It even works!  The person in the O2 shop who sold it to me was really nice.

So much to do, so much for iPhones

Have you ever had so much to do that you don't know where to start?  This seems to be the case in all aspects of my life at the moment and it has left me a bit paralysed.  However, today I've started off with some of the things I haven't had a chance to do for some time. The first thing was a hair cut.  Then I called in to work for half an hour to do a couple of things that will make my work easier on Monday.

One of the most satisfying has been having a big bonfire.  I've had a big pile of hedge clippings and raspberry canes that have collected since the autumn.  They dried out nicely over the last couple of weeks and this morning was actually dry - and a Saturday - so I set them alight.  I got most of the fire burnt up before the rain came.

Of course, the hardest things to get to are those that require creative thinking.  I promise I'll get to that CV, Ian!  My head needs to clear first.

Castleconnell is a lovely place to go for a walk.  There are always other people out walking too, and sometime someone stops and has a chat.  I met a woman on the foot-bridge who stopped to chat, saying she hadn't seen me for ages.  Neither of us had a clue who each other was, but we had a great chat, and even exchanged names.  She and her husband moved to Castleconnell 20 years ago and live on the opposite side of the river from us.

I know you don't really want to hear about my iphone story, but I'll tell it to you in brief.  I decided to order an iphone on line in the O2 shop.  In the process I ticked the box to say that I wanted to retain my existing number and move to the payment plan that was required for iphones.  The only difficulty in ordering was that they didn't have a box to allow me to say that I was already a monthly paying customer of O2.  There were boxes to tick if I was moving from other companies, or even from a pre-pay O2 plan, so I just chose a box at random and ticked it.  It appears, however, that good, paying, customers of O2 are not allowed to order from the convenience of their home.  As I had difficulty working out which SIM card I was to use I rang the help-line.  I was told I was a very bad, bold, stupid customer and that I was to go to a post office and return the iphone immediately.  Then I was to go to an O2 shop (note- they'd be unlikely to have a phone in stock) and buy one there instead.  I protested, but to no avail.  Suffice it to say that I am extremely angry.  I have now returned the phone via a post office but am seeking an alternative way to buy an iphone with another phone company, or maybe I won't buy one at all.  It's disappointing, as it was my little treat to myself.

This evening we are going out for a meal with Joe and Nikki in Killaloe.  Last night I met up with my Avocent pals.  What a social whirl!

A domestic weekend

Let's see, what do I have to show for this weekend? Here's the list of tasks achieved:
- loads of ironing
- pruned back the raspberry canes
- made some sour dough bread
- hoovered around the house
- washed the hall and living room floor
- about 3 loads of washing (not sure how it managed to build up)
- cleaned the oven - a job I hate
Is that all? It seemed more than that.

I've been enjoying lovely Lush baths over the last few weeks. I'm going to have another one in a few minutes. I think that's a relaxing way to finish the weekend.

Next weekend the plan is:
Friday - Jonathan and Ian arrive in Dublin. I go to Late Late show with Jenny.
Saturday - Brian, Carolan and Andy arrive in Dublin. Everyone goes to 90th birthday lunch with Granny and Grandpa. C and A stay in posh hotel, while the rest of us find a floor somewhere. Jonathan goes to Paris.
Sunday - visit Gran for the "Christmas" visit. Carolan and Andy fly back to London. Ian stays in posh hotel. Brian and I head home.
Monday - Ian heads back to Bristol.

Are we back to "normal"?

It was lovely to step out into the garden today and be able to dig up some parsnips. I actually felt like doing some gardening, though I'm afraid I don't have the time this weekend. Maybe I'll get a start on it next weekend. The first thing to do is to cut down the raspberry canes...or, maybe, to clean the slippy patio area...or, have a bonfire....or, write a list of priorities and have the satisfaction of ticking them off as I get the tasks done. It's always important to put an easy task on the list, I find, so that the list reduces quicker.

We've been very lucky in getting through the cold and wet weather. None of the family got stuck while travelling to or from here over the Christmas period. We had no water for a few days, but no broken pipes. The boat is still floating and its engine is fine. My parents' house at Kilgarvan didn't get broken pipes. Some kind person seems to have emptied their water tank for them so that nothing would freeze, so Brian was relieved to find the place dry and warm when he ventured up there yesterday. The one bad thing that happened is that my mother slipped on Thursday and has fractured her wrist - so near to the end of the freeze-up!

We looked at cars today. Only one of the dealers quoted me a price based on trading in my Honda CRV. It was such a low price that it really isn't worth getting a new car even though I would be moving to a lower emissions category. A couple more dealers are due to get back to me on Monday so we'll see whether they are consistently gloomy with their prices.

Pippa is snoring! Leavy is hiding herself on "her" black chair. All is peaceful (well, except for Pippa's snores).

We're going out to treat ourselves to dinner this evening. That's an unusual event so I'm looking forward to it.

Snow, nearly as forecast

We're blanketed in snow today, but you would be hard pressed to make a snowman. It fully covers the ground but isn't very deep. It isn't as cold today (nearly as high as freezing) but the cold ground means that every bit of snow that reaches it is staying there. The birds are very busy feeding themselves outside our kitchen window, and we keep replenishing supplies.

It looks as if we won't have water until temperatures go up to about 4C as the pipes will be slow to melt. Most others on the road have water so Brian has been getting buckets of water from them. The only positive is that it means I can't do any washing, or washing up, or cleaning the cooker, so I've done some other useful tidying things instead.

The bigger freeze

It went down to -8.8 last night, and is still -6.6 at 10.45am as I write. I turned on the washing machine and it didn't work, and we've now discovered that we have no water coming into the house. Disaster! The interesting thing is that we did have water for making coffee this morning so it seems like this has happened since 9am. The Ryans say they have water, so where next?

Snow is due tomorrow, and we're told the cold patch will continue until next weekend at least. Will we have got used to it by then and learnt how to cope, or will everything grind to a halt? We've had cold patches like this before, in 1964 and 1983, and they went on for longer....

Emptying house

We're down to 3 of us plus the dogs at the moment, and Ian is heading off on Friday morning, weather permitting. Kristin seems to have made the boat just on time. Her bus was due to be in Dublin by 6ish, but actually arrived just before 8pm. The traffic was chaotic due to snow. This was on time to get the bus out to Dublin port, so we assume she will be safely on the boat by now.

So, it's back to routine from next week. Today is Nollaig na mBan, or little Christmas, the twelfth day of Christmas. Traditionally in Ireland it is a day for women to put their feet up and hand over the household to the men for the day. I've been to some nice gatherings on this day the last few years so it is disappointing that the cold weather has meant this year's plan has been cancelled. I was looking forward to meeting some interesting women.