Verra Dodgy

Now as a staunch Christian I'm pretty sure I shouldn't voice this opinion buuuuuttttttt....do you ever wish for another couple of arms and hands? Isn't there a Hindu goddess with six arms? Wouldn't six arms be dead handy?

If I had six arms/ hands then right this very moment I could be knitting, blogging and drinking soup all at once.

My children give out yards because I like to listen to the radio, watch television and catch up on emails simultaneously and that's with just two ears and two (not so good) eyes, imagine what I'd achieve with two heads....actually, not such a fab idea as I wouldn't have to stop talking then...ha! ha!

Its not that I actually want to be a Hindu goddess, you understand, I'm just commenting on the advantages of multiple arms....

...Come to think of it, is she the blue one with the elephant trunk?

Hmmmm, back to the drawing board.
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Over the last few weeks I have been knitting a slouchy cardigan. Its easy TV knitting, which suits me fine. I've a 'thing' for warm, shapeless cardigans, they are so comforting. Anyhow I've attached the collar and am now knitting the front bands so am almost there. I tried on the partly assembled garment last night and discovered several pins I'd missed removing!! A regular habit of mine!

Also I ran out of wool part way through and so the sleeves are different to the back and sides...also a regular habit of mine!!! Its what comes of generally working with odds and ends and never managing to buy the required amount of anything for any one particular project....ha! that sure sounds Irish!
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Was at the doctor yet again this morning and he said I wasn't to return to work till next Monday. I don't know whether that's a relief or a worry. All three of the girls are sick, two of them are staying with me at present. Youngest is pretty much over the bug and starts her Leaving Cert Mocks tomorrow (lucky dude, NOT) and Eldest is waiting until she is well enough to travel back to Dublin. This winter seems to have been the worst in years for general sickness and impaired health across all ages.

If anyone has some spare sunshine please post pronto?????

Wacky Wee Fillum!

IRISH FOLK FURNITURE.

Gail included the link to this in The Monday Bluesbuster from The Fennel Shed. Quite apart from the interesting subject matter, there's something truly hilarious with all the furniture whizzing around. This is joining my list of gigglers for sure!

Ode To A Friend

Today I attended the funeral of a friend. Like so many, she passed on too soon for too many of us, but after the years of illness it is ourselves we pity, not her. She has gone to her Lord, for which everyone who loved her is thankful. A family friend read out the eulogies from her husband and daughters and she did it most beautifully, bringing back to all of us, I think, the impish vivacity of C. when she was in her full health.

C. had grace in adversity, and boy! has that family had adversity. She was a glass-half-full person. When she had to start using a motorised wheel-chair to get around she was told off for whizzing up and down the corridors of the nursing home. One time, between her enthusiasm and my ineptitude we managed to get the chair (with her in it) wedged in the corner of the bathroom and laughed so hard we were crying (...note- we weren't aiming for the bathroom in the first place...) When she could no longer drive I used to collect her and we'd go places- grocery shopping, just shopping, to the beach, to the pub for coffee. On our return her husband would ask, 'so what happened this time?' and guess what! there was always a story!

I think its the measure of a person when they make a dent in ones life, when they help one see things from a different angle, when they listen with wisdom, without judging and yet without compromising their own ideals, when they don't let their illness define them but laugh and tell stories and encourage friends to do likewise, when even bed-ridden they can uplift others.

C. was special, I knew it when I met her, I know it still. And I am blessed to have shared in her too short journey, her grace, wisdom, wicked sense of humour and shoes with yellow soles!

Tea and Bliss

Its the middle of the night, I woke and can't sleep again so FREEDOM! up I got to make tea and catch up on emails, blogging, and...ahem...tomorrow's Music teaching preparation...

The flat is warm and I can boil the kettle as many times as I like without being in bother. Bliss!!

Still wrestling the bug I went down with Christmas Eve, real pig this one, and children who were unwell last term are still not at their full health either. Hopefully the present cold snap will bump off a few germs, would be good....did you ever read the E. Nesbit book 'The Wouldbegoods'? Lovely writing and wicked fun, especially for an Edwardian lady novelist.

Last week I bought a purple duvet cover, five feather butterflies and a frying pan!
Weird combination I know, the lady at the checkout was laughing at me. The butterflies are nifty- they have double magnets so attach to curtains, and as the living room curtains are plain dark brown its so pretty. The lack of a frying pan was really annoying me, and the purple duvet cover? It was half price and I've stuffed all my oddments of blankets and old bed covers into it so hey presto! bienvenu dans le boudoir d'Heckety!

Now I had better decide where to begin with 5th and 6th Class Music tomorrow...at the beginning perhaps?!
I thought we would study Ballads this term as it would be good for their memory and also introduce the concept of telling stories through song. I'll have to be careful not to teach any Rebel or political ones though as that would go down like a lead balloon!!

Ho hum...another day in paradise!

Country v City...uh...Town?

There's a moral to this story somewhere...maybe...possibly...
...nah! Its just a story!!

Last time I lived in a town was when I was in College, and before that was as a teenager when I lived for three years on the outskirts of London. Which adds up to a total of...SIX WHOLE YEARS by golly!

So basically I am NOT a town girl, and never wanted to be.

Back in October I took the wee hoosie in town in anticipation of not being able to afford to run the Noddy car, ergo I needed everything to be within walking distance...ditto the present flat which I moved into before Christmas.

But d'you know what? I LIKE living in town!

In fact, I like it so much that I am very much afraid that I must be the most terminally nosey person in the whole of the West of Ireland!!
I like the noise and commotion of people all day and half the night.
I like watching and listening to the antics which spill out of the pub downstairs and the hilarity of people having fun.
I like listening to the pounding music.
I like hearing when crowds start singing and take over the riverside with their own entertainment.
I even don't mind walking into my kitchen and having the back wall practically bulging with sound from the Night Club adjoining my flat.
And I really like that when I am tired of my own company I can simply tuck my laptop under my arm, run downstairs, cross the river, through the door of my favourite cafe and carry on working, 30 seconds door to door....which is where I am right now!

Whoda thunkit?

The ultimate country bumpkin actually becoming a town mouse?!

(But I bought ear plugs too, just in case I need to sleep!)

Got There!

I survived the jolly season.

Let me tell you that that alone is an achievement.

I decided I couldn't bear to be an add-on to another family's Christmas, so despite the fact that three friends were kind enough to invite me for Christmas Day, I declined. They said they understood. Church was fun in the morning, and since my girls were all there I got to see them then.

New Year I listened to the annual RTE Concert from the National Concert Hall which is always fun.

Still, tomorrow things return to normal. You may be sad, I can't say I am.

Now I need to get on with some paperwork and sorting out the usual junk...like finances!!


Just to put a positive spin on the outlook, I was thinking about next summer. Part of the privilege of being school secretary is that the pay is barely over the minimum wage and I don't get paid for nine weeks in the summer, so as well as needing to save up for rent and signing onto the 'dole' I have zilch hope of getting away for a break. SOOOOO I was thinking of volunteering somewhere and then...I remembered reading about the WWOOF site...I know its kinda more a young peoples' thing but I could work to travel couldn't I?

A change being as good as a rest and all that...as long as I didn't lose my nerve at the last minute...

Any opinions or experiences?