Mixed Bag, Valentine's Day. 14th February 2010

Jim and Buster admiring the view across Lough Graney.

Where do I start? OK, only yesterday, but it seems like a long time ago now. Jim started the day by removing the other kitchen cupboards from the wall. Oh, it was a lovely mess behind them!!


Today he has spent re-building them and putting them in the opposite corner of the room. They're not quite finished yet, but look good already.

We knew we were going out Saturday evening so thought we'd better take Buster for a good long walk through the woods and past Lough Graney - and you all know what that means. Photos. And we both had our cameras! I'll be as economical as I can with the photos:

Jim's photo showing Flagmount with half a reflection and the rocks, now almost totally uncovered as the water in the lake is quite low.

The sky was super and the sun even shone occasionally.

A rather dramatic sky reflected in Lough Graney.


As we walked through the wood, it was heartening to see the new mosses and ferns starting to grow. Do click on this photo to enlarge it and see all the lovely details.


The sun shone up on the hill and lit up the wind machines.

The bull rushes are looking very sad now. I wonder how many will grow this year?

Another great sky, hills in the distance, taken through the remaining grasses by the rocks.

Jim took this shot of ivy, moss, a gnarled tree trunk with holly behind. I love all the different greens.

This fabulous lichen caught my eye on the path.

On the walk back, we spotted a fox, but it was too fast and far away for our cameras. Then we realised what it had been after. There was a small flock of Greylag Geese in the field. We have never seen any around here before:

They were quite a distance away from us, so the photo isn't the best quality. The fox would have made a good meal of one of these.

Jim took this photo of me taking photos for my blog!

And this one of Buster, which he called 'give us a kiss'!!

So back home we went, showered and got ready to go into Ennis. Before our trip to The Glor theatre, we were picking up an ebay purchase Jim had made for me. A chap was selling a huge load of curtain samples as he ran a shop and these were now surplus to requirements. We had to be there for 5pm and after a bit of difficulty, we found the place. I can't tell you how wonderful some of the pieces are - and how expensive! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I might make bags and one piece will certainly hang in the Sun Room as a tapestry on the wall - it's wonderful. Photos for another day.

We then parked at The Glor and went to our favourite Hotel to eat. They do wonderful, hearty meals there and it's one of the first places we ate when we visited Ennis several years ago. It was packed as the Ireland v France rugby game was on - Ireland were hopeless and lost by a margin! I had quiche with cos lettuce, pine nuts and a wonderful dressing with chips and Jim had home made burger. The plates would hardly fit on our table for two. I even had a dessert of fresh fruit with meringue and honeycomb ice cream.


Inside Out

Then it was off to the theatre. The foyer was brim full of people and there were sandwiches and all manner of biscuits, plus tea and coffee! Of course we were full. There were some people we recognised, including our neighbours Sandra and Pete. Inside the auditorium it was packed. I've never seen it as full. They had invited everyone from the Parish of Killanena and Flagmount. I hadn't realised these two places made up one parish before.

The film is called 'Inside Out' A Portrait of a Parish. There were various little speeches before it started including one from Hilary Dully, our neighbour. It turns out she was the main force behind the film and received many accolades as the evening progressed. The back cover of the film says:

'In early 2009 a group of young people from Lough Graney Youth Club began working with film artist in residence, Hilary Dully, on a film project about their community. They decided to explore their home place, the small parish of Killanena/Flagmount in East Clare. They young film crew conducted numerous interviews with their neighbours and fellow parishioners, and filmed the comings and goings of their rural community, over the summer months of 2009.'

'The result is the documentary Inside Out, a timely meander through a small rural parish on the cusp of change. The sense of place in the film is particular, yet the memories and stories could emerge from any number of similar communities, whose traditional way of life is under pressure. Inside Out is a gentle and poignant testament to the joys, hardships and passions of rural life in the mid-west of Ireland, as seen by the inhabitants, old, young and newly arrived.'

I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed the film, although the sound was far too loud and distorted some of the speech. Our farmer neighbour Kevin, he who lives by the lake, was featured and made us laugh talking about the island in Lough Graney which he said 'should be his'. Apparently it was given away by one of his ancestors as part of a dowry! He said 'I'll get it back though', with a wry smile.

The older residents who were interviewed talked of walking to school in bare feet, and how marriages were arranged. A suitable girl from a village outside their own, would be invited to meet the eligible lad, they would be sent into the back room of the pub and left together to get to know each other. That was about it!

Of course there were quite a few references to the catholic church with interviews with the Killanena parish priest, a larger than life chap in all respects, who is a very good speaker and quite amusing.

We did wonder whether Buster might appear in any of the shots, but somehow they managed to avoid him!

After the film, we bought the DVD and Jim has been watching it this evening on his computer. He says it's much better with the sound at a lower volume, and easier to understand. I shall have to watch it on mine. What a wonderful achievement for the youth of the parish. They were, of course, lucky to have the input of Hilary and husband Joe. Their son Danny was the 2nd Director and I think their other two children, Cassie and Tom were both involved at some stage. A big well done to the Comerfords and the youth of our Parish.

14th February

Today's date is memorable to me in several ways. Of course it is Valentine's Day and Jim gave me an unusual card, which I had to 'do' myself:


It's a jigsaw puzzle! We didn't do chocolates this year as I am trying to lose some weight!

14th February is also my niece's birthday (my brother's daughter), Rachel and today she is 30. It seems hard to believe. She has grown into a super adult and I am very fond of her:

This is Rachel with her long term chap Chris. I have yet to meet him. Time they took a trip to Ireland I think. Happy 30th Birthday Rachel.

On a sadder note, 14th February 1980 is the day my mother died. She was in Australia at the time, on holiday with my sister. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in the previous October and went out to visit Trudi (my sister) and see the children and where Trudi lived, as she hadn't been out there before. She was meant to come home, but in the end, was too ill to make the trip. My sister nursed her at her home until she died. One day I will do a blog about her. She was a real character and lived a full life - she used to tell us some great tales of her days as a dancer.

Artist Trading Cards/ABC

I made my 'F' ATC in the early hours of this morning, as I couldn't sleep and got up before it was light. Here is my 'F' for Flowers:

I cut the motif from an old t-shirt then sewed it to some soft packaging paper. I stuffed the centre to give a quilted effect and hand sewed around the flowers and ribbons. Finally I glued the whole thing to a blank ATC for stiffness. Oh, I also used my sewing machine to go around the edges and to make the little pink 'F' in the left hand bottom corner. It reminded me of Spring.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend.

More Kitchen Renovation, Trip to Galway

We headed off to Galway on Wednesday to buy things for the kitchen. Mainly we needed a new worktop and were going to try and get one to match the existing worktop already in situ round the sink.

We didn't leave until quite late, as Buster disappeared, but then returned just in time for us to go. I tried to take a couple of photos out of the car window but they didn't work very well. The sun was peeping out behind the clouds and the beams were reaching down to the ground.

The photo didn't work very well, but you get the idea!

I rather like the next shot I took, travelling along the road:


We didn't manage to get our worktop, though, but we could order one from B & Q so we're having a think about it. We also needed tiles, but couldn't find any we liked! Jim did buy some wood and a couple of other bits and pieces so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Afterwards it was a quick trip to Tescos for supplies then we headed home in the dark.

Yesterday, Jim removed all the doors from the kitchen cupboards and I spent some while giving them a real scrub. When I told Jim I was going to do a mini blog as I hadn't much to write about, he said 'tell them what a good scrubber you are'. Typical.

This morning Jim removed all the contents of the cupboard over the cooker and took it off the wall. Now we have the cooker there, it was too low, so he raised it up about 5 inches.

You can see what a bright yellow the kitchen was! Not my taste at all. Those green tiles have to go too as they never did fill the gap twixt worktop and cupboard! We painted over the yellow with our new green and it looks much better. The cupboard and shelves are now back and it's much better, and the cleaned doors are back on the lower cupboards.

The other half of the kitchen looks like a bomb's dropped there! I tried to take a photo of it but Jim ran off - he said it was too messy:

I still managed to catch him!!

On the left, the cupboards are without doors. In fact they're stacked below and all clean, being left to dry.

That's about it for kitchen progress - you always seem to take a backwards step before making progress. Tomorrow those wall cupboards will be split. One of them will become a floor cupboard and the other will go on the wall plus the middle one and a shelf underneath. I'm not sure how far we'll get as we have to head into Ennis in the early afternoon.

Our dishwasher has gone wrong and leaves all the dishes soaking wet, so we're taking that to the menders. Also we are going to the Glor theatre at 7pm to watch a film. This film has been made by the local people around Killanena and Lough Graney and was made by our friends down the road, Joe and Hilary Comerford. I'm really keen to see the film, which is about 45 minutes long I understand. Joe is a film maker of some repute and Jim and I have already seen one of his art films on DVD. Hilary is the main influence behind this film. Joe just 'advised' I think.

So a good day in prospect. I have just watched 'From Popstar to Operastar', the semi-final and it has amazed me how well some of the pop singers have performed the most difficult of arias. The two in the final are Darius Campbell and Bernie Nolan. I'm looking forward to the final next week.

That's it for today. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

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.