Another ATC, Plans for the Kitchen, 9.2.10

ATC 'D' is for Dragonfly from Cat.

I received a lovely Artist Trading Card from Cat today. It's for the letter 'D' and is a Dragonfly.


Cat also enclosed a pretty card and some bits and pieces for me to use in my collages:


I shall have fun with those.

I have just finished my 'E', which I will post tomorrow. My E is for Earwig or Ear and Wig!

This is heading off to America to Mim. I hope she likes it.

Kitchen Changes

As you know, Jim and I travelled South to pick up a cooker and it is now fitted in place, although we have to wait for the electrician before it'll be properly installed. Here it is:


The work top did go all the way across the top, so Jim cut the middle out and has made a jolly good job of it I think:

It fits perfectly in the space where the washing machine used to be. That is now in our old bathroom - now a laundry/utility room.

The old cooker used to be here, with cupboards either side of it:


Jim always disliked the fact that the sink and work surfaces were on one side of the kitchen and the cooker at the other end! So, the cupboards have been moved for now and are here:


This is a bit of a temporary situation as tomorrow we are going to get some new work surfaces. The fridge, which was where the cupboard on the right was, is to be moved into the lobby further on the right, then the work surface can go from a bit nearer the boiler and all the way to the end of the fridge as it is now. Have you got that? No? I'm not surprised!!


These cupboards are going over to the other side too!! Well, hopefully you'll see it soon! We are also buying some wood tomorrow too. The other exciting thing is that Jim is going to make a small island - on wheels I think! It will enable us to have 2 stools under it for the odd cup of tea and a cupboard under for the saucepans, which I hate being visible.

So it's all happening again. We already have the paint to decorate when the work is finished. My first job is to remove the tiles underneath the cupboards (last photo, above). Ping, ping, that should be fun!

Jim has been to the UK for the day today and I went with Ann Broderick to a funeral mass. One of the 'coffee morning' ladies' brother-in-law has recently died, in America, so they held a remembrance mass for him in Ireland. It was Catholic of course, which I am not, but I followed Ann and managed to stand and sit in all the right places. I miss the hymns in a Catholic service and the whole building was very austere. I suppose it's what you are used to.

Now I'm off to bed. Jim and I usually do a crossword before we settle down. Happy Tuesday everyone.

Artist Trading Cards and Trip to Tralee

Artist Trading Cards

Our little group of 10 'ABC of ATCs' have been busy with the 2nd time round alphabet. I have received some lovely cards already.

This is from our 'boss' Teri, who is a talented artist. She is not only doing the letters but is writing a Haiku for each one. How clever is that? Teri is also a big fan of daisies, so I have 2 pink ones on the ATC too. Teri's blog, full of lovely things, is well worth a visit.

This was enclosed in a very pretty card:

The colours aren't very true for some reason, the 'beige' here is actually a real spring yellow.

I received the 'C' from Lisa, who is doing a series of painted butterflies. I wish I could paint!

This one is called the Clytie Ministreak.

Now Marianne in The Netherlands must be very organised as she has sent me her 'F' for Flax Fairy. Marianne always includes a circle in her ATCs and this is no exception:


Again, the colours aren't very true, but you can still see the beauty of the painting.

I sent the 'D' I made to Marianne and it is a collage of various items beginning with D:

If you would like to see all the ATCs both from the previous alphabet and the start of this one, do visit the site 'ABC ATCs Around The World'. Some of the little cards are real works of art.

Trip To Tralee - that sounds like a song! 'Hey, Ho, trip to Tralee'

Jim and I took a day out on Thursday and drove down almost to the Ring of Kerry, in fact to the town of Killarney. We had bought a cooker from a chap who lives there and as well as picking it up, we thought we'd be able to have a tour around this beautiful part of Ireland. Sadly the weather was against us and it rained virtually all day. I still enjoyed the drive but the weather wasn't helpful for taking many photographs.

On our way, we went through the pretty town of Adare, a historic place which has won many awards. On our return journey, we decided to stop there and have a coffee and a bun and a walk round. It was still raining, but we just ignored that. I did manage a few photos - you'll just have to imagine the sunshine.


This little row of thatched cottages is so pretty. Some have been turned into little businesses - the whole town is turned over to tourism. It must be pretty hectic in the Summer.



I was amazed at the thickness of the thatch - and don't those hydrangea heads look pretty?

This shot shows the whole row - I managed to avoid any cars passing by.


A well wrapped up Jim outside the cottages.

One of the many churches - the railings were pretty:



A fine pair of gates.


As we had driven through Adare, we crossed a narrow bridge, on the left of which was a splendid ruin. We took our life in our hands and walked onto the bridge, the only view of the ruins we could see - as they were 'shut'!


The river was really wide. It was a pity we couldn't take a look around the grounds.

We'll have to come back in June.

We parked outside the Heritage Centre, noting that it had a cafe inside.


I think this may have been one of several monasteries around the town.

It did have rather splendid railings.

There is a large park in the centre of the town. I loved this splendid gazebo. A little later, we saw a bride, groom and small wedding party taking photos in it.


A pretty stream ran through the park, then under the very busy road and out the other side.

This is where it flowed under the road.

This is the Heritage Centre front with its wintry looking garden. We partook of a cup of tea and piece of cake - and were the last couple to leave the cafe!

Inside, on the wall, I noticed this photograph. It certainly confirms that Buster is a foxhound:

Lots and lots of Busters. We put Buster in the kennels for the day so that we wouldn't have to rush back.

On the drive back, I had a little doze! A visit to Wickes in Limerick was our next stop, to look at curtain poles for the sun room. To our delight, all their paint was half price as they were going to use a new supplier, so we bought paint for the kitchen/diner, laundry and snug. We also did find some curtain poles, so it was a successful shop.

In the Summer, we sometimes visit a place called Coole Park, which is just outside Gort. In Spring, they have been holding a series of talks and events and Jim had looked on line to discover there was a one hour concert happening on Thursday from 8 - 9pm. Our timing was pretty good and we made our way to Coole Park. The car park was pretty empty and we had visions of having a private performance, but it soon filled up with more eager audience members.

The entertainment was provided by a trio of musicians, 2 on violin/viola and a pianist. They are called Cantabile. What a delight this was. They played a variety of music from Mozart to by Debussy, ending with 'Oklahoma' which left us all tapping our feet and singing inside our heads! It was a wonderful way to end a delightful, if rather soggy, day. I have tried to upload a U Tube video of them playing Oklahoma but can't make it work. Here is the URL if you'd like to see them. It's very short! I think this link might work now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iex-Uh3kMQ

We stopped for a bite to eat on our way through Gort and then headed home.

The only down side is that I seem to have torn a muscle in my shoulder carrying our new cooker from the car to the cottage! Oh well, I'm sure it'll mend.

Have a good weekend.

Another Walk Along Lough Graney, County Clare....

Buster showing off his dancing skills!

Another Adventurous Walk

Well I did say in the last post that I loved walking by Lough Graney - and I took a mega walk this time with Buster. The weather hadn't been great and suddenly the sun came out - yesterday that is. (Wednesday). Inevitably this post will be picture loaded - you have been warned! I headed the short way past Kevin the farmer's house to the fishing stand behind it. Gosh, it's really wobbly - I think the ice must have caused some damage, look at it now:


I suppose it belongs to the local authority. I had better let them know and hope they can repair it.

I thought I'd walk a little way along the shore towards Dillons' Wood as the water had receded. The alder trees have started to produce new catkins and they're a pinky colour.


Is Spring around the corner?

The lake was pretty still and Flagmount looked like its usual patchwork quilt of colours:


We passed an old, gnarled tree, covered in lichen:

Some of it was pink. I don't know whether it's the new or old growth:


As I had my wellington boots on, I was able to keep going along the shore and, where the shoreline disappeared, I paddled in the water to reach the next piece of dry land. These are the next 2 inlets:


The sun even had some warmth in it. It was a good day to be walking by Lough Graney and Buster thought so too, exploring new smells as he ran along.


Buster loves to run along the rock promontories

I just managed to catch this shot of him jumping along the rocks!

Around another outcrop and this view appeared:


I paddled my way around both these outcrops and turned back to see that the fishing stand was way back in the distance! If you enlarge the following photo, you can just see it:

There was no turning back, so I ploughed on and hoped I'd be able to strike inland and get up to the road if I needed to.

As I clambered by another old tree, I saw this fresh fungi - another sign of warmth:

As I reached the next inlet, I realised where I was in relation to the road. From the road, Jim and I have always been fascinated by what appear to be a couple of little ponds that look man made. Well, I was right there. This is what it looks like from the road, using a telephoto lens:


So I had walked around that sticking out section on the right and came upon the little wall, which Buster walked across, but I daren't! I had to come inland a bit and plough through the thick mud! I managed to get my rather stuck wellingtons free by wiggling them and reached the other side - it was a bit hair raising! I must ask the farmer Francee what the ponds were made for. Maybe the wall was to keep the lake back and now it's fallen into disrepair.

Here are the little ponds from my level, as I came round the corner. The diagonal wall is the one Buster climbed across.
Now I'm on the other side, which took about 15 minutes through the mud! Still, I made it and Dillons' Wood was in sight. I knew if I reached that, I could go up through the fields to the road, and walk back that way.


I passed another little inlet with a large rock in the centre of it.

I made a photo merge with a view of the ponds and over to Flagmount:


Do click on it to enlarge the view.

I was then able to walk across the first field until I reached another of Martin's fields, which is next to the wood. Buster ran across the fields like a puppy. At the bottom of Martin's field are the remains of 2 cars. When we first moved here, you could see them from the road and they were quite whole. Now they are in bits. What a mess:


As you can see, Buster was curious as always.

What a contrast - the mess left by a human and nature's beauty - Lough Graney behind.

Buster disturbed a load of ducks we had heard as we walked and they all swam out towards the safety of the lake centre. It was a veritable convoy!

They made such a racket! I love the different shades of the water in this shot.

Nearly there now. Buster and I headed up the steep slope to the top of Martin's field and the road. He wanted to carry on through Dillon's wood but I told him my legs were just too tired and he happily followed me along the road and back home. It only takes about 20 minutes that way! I had been out 2 hours.

As we passed the O'Brien's bungalow, where there are 2 of Buster's doggy friends, another little chap appeared, keen to make friends too:

Isn't he cute? He was desperate to say hi to me too, but Buster wouldn't let him. He is such a jealous thing at times.

Well, considering I took 185 photos in total, I think I did quite well to cull them to only 20. I do hope you've enjoyed our adventure. I don't think I'll go that way again in a hurry as the boggy part was too difficult to cross, but I'm glad I managed it once.

Today we went to Tralee - but that's another story.

An Award, Still Sorting Stuff... 2.2.10

Lovely to find I've won an award from Carol today, passed on from DJKirby! A Circle of Friends award, which I find most appropriate on here.

The gorgeous Carol is over at Not Only In Thailand. As always, there are rules attached so I have to write five things that I like to do and then pass this award on to ten friends....well, I've never been very good at rules so I'm going to pass this to all the lovely bloggers who visit me regularly - you know who you are! Or, come to that, anyone who fancies doing it!




Right, my five things

1 Take Buster for walks by the lake (as you might have guessed)

2 Spend time in the garden, preferably tackling big clearing jobs, I'm not so keen on the fiddly bulb planting stuff!

3 Visit my Grandchildren (oh, and their parents I suppose)! lol.

4 Make rag rugs, raggy bags, ATCs

5 Have a good old sort out. Whether it be re-arranging contents of drawers, sorting out bookcases or cupboards, sorting out my office space, you know the kind of thing.

I could go on and on, there are far too many to list here. Read a good book, Listen to music, play scrabble online, visit new places, take endless photographs, etc, etc....

Jim has been moving all his office things from one end of the cottage to the other. In the meantime, I've been moving all my things from his end to my end - if that makes any sense at all. I've had loads of boxes to sort out. Some were buried so deep I'd forgotten what was in them.

All my material is now in colour sorted boxes and most of it is being stored up in the tank room (Jim's old office) which is very close to my office. It's been hard work but we've almost finished.

Now I must go and make a couple of ATCs for my ATC Group. I need to do the 'D', which should have been done for last Sunday and the E for next. Oh, I'm all behind, but my inspiration deserted me this week.

Not one photo - that must be a record.