A Home for Hubert the Hippo

Do yous remember my Hubert the Hippo?

Well he obviously made an impression on my friend's brothers who helped me move the heavy stuff into the wee hoosie, as last night I received a text from same boyos, 'We can bring over the hippo Thursday!'

I'm telling ya, there's nothing like the ambassadorial attributes of a Hippo!!!!


SO! Another friend's husband's uncle has an empty flat in town and as of yesterday morning I am its new tenant! It's beside the river, between two pubs, over an accountant's office and about 30 seconds walk from the studio...God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform!

Youngest loves the flat, to me its ok; affordable and available.
Monday I've to pay the deposit, sign the dotted line, etc and on Thursday will move. In between, the place needs scrubbing to within an inch of its life and the wee hoosie packing up. Youngest is rounding up all her friends to help load and unload the boyos' van, with the promise of dinner at 'The Swagman' as payment...might as well turn it into a party while we're at it...sure isn't it the week before Christmas?

Saturday I've to turn in the keys of the hoosie and collect my deposit.

Miracles happen, I'm so lucky!

So is Hubert the Hippo!

Heckeva Week...

You know the sort of week when you wonder what else could go wrong?

Present concatenation of disaster:

parking fine
house sold, discovered by accident, can't get answer as to when I have to leave but soon
car broke down...twice, rent money used for repairs
subzero temperatures again and house heating not yet repaired, landlord not accepting my calls
front door slammed locking me out
flat stony broke
got mad with my Principal and resigned....
....he shredded my letter, isn't it SO ANNOYING when your friends know you better than you know yourself?

Then this afternoon a friend rang me up and said 'Come around right now for tea.' I was so thankful and grateful to her. Her husband cooked supper too before I had to return to school to do some work with the book-keeper on the accounts, soooo nice.

And THEN, listen to this, a lady in the queue behind me at the supermarket passed me a €10 off voucher which she said she didn't want when I was checking out! I'm telling you I nearly cried from gratitude...wasn't that just the kindest thing?

La Belle Maison d'Eckety!!

Ok, not so bella bella, but...well, see for yourself!

Before I show you some photos I just would like to set one record straight: when I was telling yous about my mad boomerang shaped house I certainly wasn't crying 'poor me'! I like it, and it likes me. I am very far from the poverty line here and although modern places would be more into the 21C convenience-wise, thousands of people in Ireland live in old-fashioned hoosie-homes like this, both in rural areas and in older sections of any settlement/ village/town/city. We rented a similar place in the country for seven years while we were getting our own place- even the carpet here is the same as it except brown instead of blue, the girls were highly entertained!

Bah! I can't get these into the correct order...

Kitchen, nice size, bright, NO HEAT!



Sunset over the yard- there's an old orchard beyond the shed,
 no access but lovely to look out on trees in the middle of town.

Sitting room, less than 9foot wide so this photo is deceptive.
Note the fab 1970s carpet and fireplace?!

My Christmas cacti survived the move and are perfectly happy!

Much MUCH more virulent shade of turquoise in reality!
Raggedy Ann hides a huge carpet hote I kept tripping on...

Upstairs landing- stairs not steep at all, but all very narrow.

And there you have it- the wee boomerang hoosie!