It's just one birthday after another at this time of the year. First comes Ian's, then Carolan's, mine, Patty's and my mother's. I know at least 2 people who have birthdays on the same day as myself. The final birthday of the "season" is Brian's, on 6th April. Of course we've all spent our money by then, so tough luck! Actually, he already has a present from me, a pair of Gloven oven gloves that arrived on Friday. They are amazing as you just can't feel any heat through them. They can also be used to take things out of the freezer as you can't feel cold through them either.
I bought myself a watch last week. My last one gave up, or at least had become unpredictable in spite of a new battery. So, I decided to buy myself a nice watch with part of a bonus I received. I set myself a budget (200 euro) and went to a good jeweller in town. It wasn't a good start as they were out of stock as it was "too close to Christmas". I'm not sure whether that was last Christmas or next Christmas. They did have a few watches at prices like 1,000 euro. Do people really spend that much on a watch? Is this why they still had them?
Anyway, I crossed the road to the next jeweller and set out my specifications - a watch that was easily visible for reading time, and not flashy, with the aforementioned maximum budget. The nice lady I spoke to got the measure of me straight away and produced about half a dozen watches that were all meeting specifications and were within budget. I tried them on, eliminating a few and getting down to 3 possibles. Then she suddenly remembered that she had some watches that had been reduced to half price a couple of days ago. To cut a long story short, I ended up buying a watch at my budget price that had been reduced from 400 euro (400 - that is way above what I'd even dream of paying!). It's lovely - small, with roman numerals in black that make it very easy to read. There is nothing fancy about it, but the price seems to be related to the Swiss make and the fact that its back is made of gold. I'm really please with it, as it is rather special.
Gardening has started in earnest at this stage, though the cold weather means that I can't plant much. My birthday present from Brian was fencing for part of the garden, enabling me to move raspberries across the garden and still protect them from digging dogs. So far I've planted garlic and onions in the veg garden, and sewn broad bean and salad seeds in the greenhouse. I've also done lots of digging and weeding. I discovered that my compost heap had actually decomposed enough for it to be suitable for spreading across the garden, which I have now done. It was a very satisfying thing to do.
Greetings to everyone!
Sunday 20 March 2011
Sunday 30 January 2011
Plans
The next few weeks will fly by, I know. I've just been looking up the details of how to drive from Orlando to Tampa, and then Tampa to Jacksonville. A few days in the sunny part of Florida beckon, in good company. Then I head on to the annual HR get-together in Jacksonville.
On my return home I just might get to see Ian (and Kristin?), on a mission home to vote. Two days later Carolan comes home for a few days to check us out. So, there are lots of things to look forward to that will make February fly by. March is birthday month so we'll have to see whether anything can be drummed up for the quick succession of birthdays that happen on 7th, 13th, 19th and 21st. Mind you, the annual 3-birthday festivity for 3 generations all on one day is this Saturday, 5th February.
Yesterday I drove about 570 kilometres. Most of the driving was on motorways, bringing me rapidly between Cork, Dublin and Limerick. I had to attend two funerals, one in Cork and the other in Dublin. As I zoomed along the motorway and saw signposts to places such as Cashel it was odd to see no sign of the Rock of Cashel. There is such a sameness to the whole road, with barely any views and no villages, hills, valleys or mountains visible along the way. As a method of transporting from A to B, motorways are great, but they really miss the character of the countryside.
It's cold today again, but the heating has just come on so I'm about to become warm!
On my return home I just might get to see Ian (and Kristin?), on a mission home to vote. Two days later Carolan comes home for a few days to check us out. So, there are lots of things to look forward to that will make February fly by. March is birthday month so we'll have to see whether anything can be drummed up for the quick succession of birthdays that happen on 7th, 13th, 19th and 21st. Mind you, the annual 3-birthday festivity for 3 generations all on one day is this Saturday, 5th February.
Yesterday I drove about 570 kilometres. Most of the driving was on motorways, bringing me rapidly between Cork, Dublin and Limerick. I had to attend two funerals, one in Cork and the other in Dublin. As I zoomed along the motorway and saw signposts to places such as Cashel it was odd to see no sign of the Rock of Cashel. There is such a sameness to the whole road, with barely any views and no villages, hills, valleys or mountains visible along the way. As a method of transporting from A to B, motorways are great, but they really miss the character of the countryside.
It's cold today again, but the heating has just come on so I'm about to become warm!
Friday 31 December 2010
I like having some free time
It is very rare for me to have a few free days. In the summer we go away to the boat as often as possible so it is only during the Christmas break that I get to have days at home.
This week it has been so mild that I've even been able to do a bit of gardening. My project for this winter is to move all the raspberry canes from one side of the garden to the other, thus freeing up space in the vegetable patch. Today I managed to move some of the canes but have now run out of space to move them to. What I need to do now is move the heap of compost I bought in the autumn from the front garden to the area I want to plant the raspberries. It seems like a lot of effort, but it should be worth it when finished.
The other project for this week has been to get started on making a new flag for Knocknagow. The current one is getting a bit dog-eared as the felt that makes up the lettering hasn't liked the windy and wet weather it has met in the last few years. Carolan and I made it and I realise what a good job we did when I started to de-construct the current flag. Now I have to make one that is even better!
Yesterday we went to visit Knocknagow in Ballinamore, where it is waiting to have some work done to it, including putting on a wheel-house that will protect us from the elements when we are steering. We were a bit anxious that it might have taken on water following the severe frost. Even though it has been over 9C for a number of days now water must take longer to thaw than elsewhere as the whole harbour was still full of thick ice. Anyway, the boat is still floating, so that's a relief.
Happy new year, everyone.
This week it has been so mild that I've even been able to do a bit of gardening. My project for this winter is to move all the raspberry canes from one side of the garden to the other, thus freeing up space in the vegetable patch. Today I managed to move some of the canes but have now run out of space to move them to. What I need to do now is move the heap of compost I bought in the autumn from the front garden to the area I want to plant the raspberries. It seems like a lot of effort, but it should be worth it when finished.
The other project for this week has been to get started on making a new flag for Knocknagow. The current one is getting a bit dog-eared as the felt that makes up the lettering hasn't liked the windy and wet weather it has met in the last few years. Carolan and I made it and I realise what a good job we did when I started to de-construct the current flag. Now I have to make one that is even better!
Yesterday we went to visit Knocknagow in Ballinamore, where it is waiting to have some work done to it, including putting on a wheel-house that will protect us from the elements when we are steering. We were a bit anxious that it might have taken on water following the severe frost. Even though it has been over 9C for a number of days now water must take longer to thaw than elsewhere as the whole harbour was still full of thick ice. Anyway, the boat is still floating, so that's a relief.
Happy new year, everyone.
Sunday 19 December 2010
One home, two still to come
Anyone reading Carolan's blog will have learnt already of her frustrations at getting home, but she managed to beat the weather and arrived here safely at 9pm yesterday. The road from Limerick to Cork got progressively worse as we went south of Limerick.
Tomorrow Andy is due to arrive in Cork so the journey has to happen again. The trouble is that information on the real conditions is scarce. Sometimes reports suggesting an area is bad are not accurate, and the opposite is also true.
We've just been chasing creatures around the kitchen. There is a chewing sound in one corner so we've checked everything near the sound and can't find anything. We've blocked holes in the skirting board now so hope that if there are little furry critturs around they'll give up trying to get through. The dogs should ensure they don't have a chance, but I wouldn't be on them.
Tomorrow Andy is due to arrive in Cork so the journey has to happen again. The trouble is that information on the real conditions is scarce. Sometimes reports suggesting an area is bad are not accurate, and the opposite is also true.
We've just been chasing creatures around the kitchen. There is a chewing sound in one corner so we've checked everything near the sound and can't find anything. We've blocked holes in the skirting board now so hope that if there are little furry critturs around they'll give up trying to get through. The dogs should ensure they don't have a chance, but I wouldn't be on them.
Sunday 5 December 2010
and 2 more
2 more ice creams made - another raspberry yoghurt, and a walnut coffee ice cream. It will have to be sorbets tomorrow as I'm running out of cream.
Saturday 4 December 2010
An icy week, and ice cream in the making
We had the dreaded Japan audit this week, and came out with flying colours. Today we had a visit from one of the most senior people in our big company, and he was very happy with what he saw. The scary thing is that he was anticipating something totally different from the reality. However, that's one more convinced that we make good products and run a good show. That's a relief.
We had at least 30 US and Japanese visitors this week. They were all as surprised as we were to find ice, and even a bit of snow, here in Limerick. We got off very lightly compared to other parts of the country. Mind you, it is worth sticking to the main roads as any side roads are unexpectedly slippy. The road from Castleconnell to Lisnagry was very slippy this morning, in spite of the non-freezing temperatures.
My exciting purchase today was a new cover for my ironing board. I can now iron without getting the marks of the metal base stuck onto my blouses. I celebrated by doing some ironing so am feeling very smug about being ahead of where I normally am at this stage of the weekend.
Christmas is coming, apparently, and that means I'm supposed to have a stock of ice cream in the freezer. Today I've made chocolate chip ice cream and raspberry yoghurt ice cream. On the list for making are:
- melon brandy sorbet
- more raspberry yoghurt
- blueberry
- more chocolate based ice cream
Anyone who is going to be here for Christmas is welcome to put in an order for their favourite type if these aren't on the list.
Leavy has a new duvet bed that b bought for her today. She's spoilt!
We had at least 30 US and Japanese visitors this week. They were all as surprised as we were to find ice, and even a bit of snow, here in Limerick. We got off very lightly compared to other parts of the country. Mind you, it is worth sticking to the main roads as any side roads are unexpectedly slippy. The road from Castleconnell to Lisnagry was very slippy this morning, in spite of the non-freezing temperatures.
My exciting purchase today was a new cover for my ironing board. I can now iron without getting the marks of the metal base stuck onto my blouses. I celebrated by doing some ironing so am feeling very smug about being ahead of where I normally am at this stage of the weekend.
Christmas is coming, apparently, and that means I'm supposed to have a stock of ice cream in the freezer. Today I've made chocolate chip ice cream and raspberry yoghurt ice cream. On the list for making are:
- melon brandy sorbet
- more raspberry yoghurt
- blueberry
- more chocolate based ice cream
Anyone who is going to be here for Christmas is welcome to put in an order for their favourite type if these aren't on the list.
Leavy has a new duvet bed that b bought for her today. She's spoilt!
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