Impasse...or...A Pointless Post

What does one do when one reaches an impasse with the quilt in progress?

Hmmm, does the Seminole work really go or
 do I need something different in that panel? Hmmmmmmm...

One goes out to hoke at the window boxes...

Is that really the kale seeds germinating or is it just weeds I wonder?
 

...do a spot of much needed weeding, a SPOT, I said...

Golly to goodness, better mind out for lions and tigers and bears ha ha!

...dead- head the rambling rose and discuss with the lovely climber what exactly it is...

Are you a Virginia Creeper because I've
always wanted one of those on my house, I think they're lovely:
 please be a ginny creeper?

...admire the fuchsia which is still going strong and quite a blaze of colour...

...and finally plant out the winter pansies which I bought this week in a fit of extravagance (they were on special offer so I saved €2.50 by buying three, but I could have saved €11 if I'd left them in the shop!)

Yup, those are the old grape punnets re-used! Who's a pretty pansy then?!

I know the middle one is a sunflower! I just put the pansies in next to it for when the sunflower karks it, its called multi-purposing, or maybe thinking ahead...or maybe just stingy!

And finally, several hours later when one has done all that and the solution to the quilt impasse has become clear, one realises that one has been out wearing one's clean sewing jumper and indoor shoes and is now quite filthy.

Darn.

Solve one problem, create another.

Screw it! and one brushes off the worst of the dirt, scrubs the mud out of the fingernails and returns to the quilt, much dirtier but really no wiser.

Opportunities v. Expectations

As some of you know I am, at present, unemployed (and in negotiation with the Welfare Office for some means of support...another story...)

The current PC definition for the unemployed seems to be 'actively seeking work.' That's fine by me- I love work, I can sit and watch it for hours, as the wisecrack goes!

Considering the lists of jobs available online, in newspapers, on newsagents' notice boards, etc I have come to realise how useless I am. I may be a qualified and experienced teacher, but that's it, that's all, and without available teaching jobs what does one do?

So several weeks ago I girded my loins and bearded the owner of the one and only sewing shop in the county...and asked for work experience. Then I tracked down two Garden Clubs and emailed them with an offer to help anyone struggling with an exuberant garden. I have to admit that, although hopeful I felt an awful eejit on all occasions.

Well so far there are three results- two garden owners and  a discussion on Monday with the sewing lady which are all quite exciting for an unemployed teacher (note: really must get out more!!).

The upshot is this though; I find it difficult to see opportunities even when I thought my expectations were almost negligible. I hoped that a couple of people might pay me for the odd half day weeding and tidying, which would help to keep the roof over my head (major concern), but both gardening offers have been in terms of barter, one of which is a great opportunity, and I need to say yippee! instead of panic because it wasn't what I expected.

As a result this afternoon I have been mulling over the difference between opportunity and expectation. How many time does one miss an opportunity because it wasn't quite what one expected, or perhaps it wasn't at all what one expected? How often are we told to 'think outside the box' (mental image of a tiny little anxious grey thinking-bug crouching sadly on the ground beside a huge brown happy cardboard box...)

Not all opportunities are good, or will lead anywhere positive, or are to be taken, or are even right for one at a particular time. But some opportunities are the right ones at the right time and should be seized gleefully.

Long ago I heard a talk about decisions as being forks, or perhaps T-junctions, in the road of life and I recall wondering when my choices and decisions were made because I didn't recall more than a few momentous ones. It seemed to me that my choices have not presented as forks but as side lanes, many taken without thought and others missed entirely. All of you probably feel the same when you look back and wonder how on earth you managed to end up in a particular place'.  One result of that  pondering for me was the decision to believe that at any given point I have made the best choice available to me at the time, so to quit beating myself up over results which may have been less than satisfactory. That conscious decision has given me much peace of mind over the years when things have, very obviously not worked out...at the time I know I did my best, and sometimes the best is just not good enough.

So opportunities versus expectations...learning to bend and turn with the current...deciding to take things as they come and see what happens...being adaptable...

Can an old dog learn new tricks? Not sure.

We'll see I guess!

Gardening-Oh My!!

What IS it with gardening?

What person in their right mind voluntarily goes out for hours on end in order to get dirty, hot, sweaty, burned (wind, me dears, NOT sun), scratched, bitten, stung, blistered (fingers) and end up aching all over?

And yet here we are in love with and possibly addicted to our gardens...out of all proportion to their beauty or usefulness!

Is there any other sport, hobby or activity which causes such bodily discomfort and damage for so little material gain????

Flowering montbretia on the driveway.

Boring old day lily, but so beautiful while they last.

This has a lovely yellow flower, but I can't remember what it is called, apparently I've been calling it the wrong name for years so of course I cannot get the correct name into my head now!

I've just spent hours on a stint of very satisfying destructive gardening, and the cherry on the cake was discovering a rose I thought was well deaded alive and flowering merrily under all the weeds!

I WorkWorkWorkWork...

....work the whole day long...

Isn't that the dwarfs song from Sleeping Beauty?

Well believe it or not, there have actually been enough dry spells in the last ten days for me to get some work done in the garden! A few drenchings too when I had my head down amongst the weeds and didn't notice the growing blackness of the sky, but maybe if I stand in the rain often enough I'll grow.....? Faint chance at this stage!

Firstly I weeded all along the montbretias, front and back, and was a bit disappointed when I realised how much of the growth was weed, not flower! Oooops! However in the last five days they have come along beautifully and are now just about flowering.

The grass and weeds along our verge were almost waist height as the strimmer is banjaxed. I took out the good old 'slasher' and hacked them down to a reasonable size. Its still all weeds, but its tidy weeds- a step in the right direction!!

 The blackberries are flowering ever so late; if we don't have an Indian summer nothing will ripen, but if we do we'll be inundated. Last year's crop was very patchy so we could do with plenty for jam!

 And I detest pulling up thistles even worse than nettles as they always seem to get me. Mind you, I was plenty stung too- anyone would think I was growing a nettle farm here. I lined the thistles up to put on the fire in the hopes of killing off any potential seeds, so alas alack but this fella is no more!

It doesn't look much does it, but the growth this summer has been something else with the wet and warm temperatures. I've done a fair bit of work around the patio and the beds along the walls but you can't really tell.

Oh well, I know everything is a bit tidier!!

A Peculiar Week

Its been a peculiar sort of week in the Beckety Home, more like the end of the Old Year than the beginning of the New.

The older two childers left to resume their usual pursuits and the Hub returned to work, leaving Youngest and I feeling rather bereft. Middlest needed alterations to a very posh evening gown she'd bought for this weekend, which took much swearing last weekend; it was way too large in the bust, and several inches too long...with three layers to hem, the top being chiffon...Grrrr....

The garage hasn't yet managed to get the Hub's car road-worthy due to dealing with so many emergencies, and since the weather has turned bitter again, its not feasible for him to cycle, so, no car for me. (Meh! as eldest says when she feels short-changed.)
Loads of housekeeping to catch up, really exciting stuff, like laundry- I'm pretty sure that the girls came home with no clothes of their own and wore Youngest's all hols...how else to explain the amount of laundry needing to be done?

So many half-formed ideas swirling round my head waiting to be considered and designed properly, it makes for a rather split personality interaction- wise. I'm making lists though.

Youngest has, finally, received her Christmas present, better late than never! She asked for a 'Gothic' style doll and wanted it to look sad, which caused me some grief as you can see! ( sorry for the pun!!)

The Christmas Tree needs to come down today, should have been yesterday, traditionally, but the folks offered us a day out to Enniskillen so we jumped on their band-wagon and went! They needed the company, you know?! Photos next door, it was a beautiful winter's day.I really am trying to balance out family and everything else, but my head feels like there are windmills inside. Its difficult to concentrate when so many things need immediate attention...whoops, and the dog just got his paw caught in the flex of the good lamp- golly! but that was a good save missus!!

Joined the GIY site before Christmas as it consists of local growers and gardeners, and have found the most wonderful writer- Mícheál O Cadhla. His posts are awfully witty, very well written, and the humour is pure Irish. (In my next life I'll be able to write like him! Dream on, Buster!)

Despite the low temperatures (or is it because of them?) its a beautiful day today, incredible blue sky with hardly a cloud in sight, light bone-disintegrating breeze, and the frost and snow dusting is melting in the sunshine. Sunny days in Winter are so truly beautiful!
(Apologies for any odd spacing, blogger won't let me organise this post, it keeps deleting things. Ah well!)

Just Diggin'

So there I was this afternoon, digging away quite happily in the hole which will hopefully become a pond (a very small pond!), and I pull out a rather large bone.

Huh? sez I to myself.

Dig some more and behold! another bone!

So I shout to the Hub asking if he put them here as a joke? Nope!

So I carry on digging some more and unearth a few more, by which time I'm wondering what they are from...animal or human.....

The Hub came over and said they are from a cow. Whew!!

So that was my interesting afternoon- how was yours??!!

Time Out!

Helloooooo! Did ya miss me?? Was it all very quiet on the western front? Did you think I'd gone with the wind?
Well fear no more as I'm back! Not that I actually went anywhere but the Hub was on leave for two weeks and since it was two years since he'd spent leave with us I didn't want to miss time with him.
Bit pathetic after 22 years of marriage but there it is.

The girls have been around a lot, which is lovely, so there has been much racket and feasting- I'd forgotten the continual snacking when there's a houseful! Constant trails of breadcrumbs- I tell you, Hansel and Gretel had nothing on my crew!
Also Youngest has taken a vow of non-cleanliness and declared every day National Pyjama Day so the creative insults have been fairly flying...

I've done loads of work in the garden too, and the Hub has cleared more of the jungle. Even Youngest spent an afternoon building a stone wall across a new flowerbed. I've planted tree seedlings and basically the place is starting to look like someone lives here, rather than a neglected dump-site!!

So nothing exciting, apart from a brief excursion to Boyle for lawn-mower parts, just time out. Much needed time out though!!

I hope yous are all well, and I'll get caught up on your newses over the week!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday strikes again! Please visit Greg's to read his Thankfuls as they are always worth reading!

I think today's Thankfuls are a bit of a mixed bag...

1. Thankful that I've had some or all of my girls at home recently, on and off, now and then, occasionally- you get the gist! They ebb and flow like the tide but its just so good to have them around.

2. Thankful for my garden even if it remains mostly uncharted jungle...you know on Medieval maps when they wrote over the unexplored territory 'Here Be Dragons!'? Well they may have been referring to my garden you know! Its hard work but really good for the soul.

3. Thankful that the Hub has two week's leave at present and I get to spend all of every day with him. He's catching up on his weariness and also doing heavy work in the garden, and its just really good to have him at home.

4. Thankful for the rain this last fortnight, even if we seem to have moved rather abruptly from 'Summer' to 'Monsoon season'...bet you didn't know there was a monsoon season in the west of Ireland!! Ha! Ha! There isn't normally!! But the rain is good, very good.

5. Thankful for ripe raspberries! Straight from the bush...odd how seldom there are enough for everyone to have a good serving! Only a gardener knows the real delight of grazing the veg patch on a summer's day- ask Greg! He frequently says the very same thing!!

6. This is an extra, and a bit of an odd one perhaps:

Yesterday afternoon the Hub was working in the Cathedral so I went along and did some clearing in the Graveyard. Our Church is right in the middle of town but it was really peaceful working there despite cars and people on the other side of the wall.

As I weeded my way round slabs and headstones and crypts and doors I was thinking of the history of the place and all the people who have gone before us; the folks who have worshipped in the Church, who have mown the grass, who have carved the headstones, who have wept, laughed, feared, prayed, trusted; who have entered that place since 1245 to speak to God and been heard.

The first Rector was appointed after the Reformation in 1625, prior to that its possible the Church was served by the Friars from the Abbey, records are a bit sparse. Consider 1625 to 2010 as a modern Parish Church? That's a lot of people- that's some tradition we follow folks.

So then, I'm thankful for the past Parishioners of our Church who kept it in good repair and have preserved it so that each Sunday we can follow their footsteps and worship there.

Oops! and Oops Again!

So there I am with the cloth, carefully cleaning the kitchen table so that I can fold and sort all the clean laundry without getting grubby marks on anything...

...and then I think 'Oh I'll finish gathering the amaryllis seeds first!'...

....and in the course of detaching seeds from seed heads what do I do?

First of all I knock over the pot of carefully collected seeds, which are very fly-away and spray across the table...

...and then I knock over the amaryllis plant, which sends compost all over the table, chair and floor....

Back to square one- ho! hum!

On Saturday this lily came into flower- isn't it amazing? I think I must have let the pot dry out at the crucial time because of all the other flowers the petals have been holey; so you can imagine my delight! That night we had a ferocious storm and on Sunday morning my lily was destroyed...such a shame.

I'm sure there must be a lesson in that somewhere?

Yesterday we worked in the garden all day and boy! did I ache by the evening! Since I'm still at the stage of opening beds, digging, and doing mostly ground work it was pretty heavy going. I'm thinking of entering Mrs Universe Body-Building Competitions with all the muscles I must be acquiring- whacha think???

Today its bright and dry and windy so I began building a low dry-stone wall but now I'm huffing a break!

So, another wildly productive day at the coal face!

Hope springs eternal- as does the garden!

Harvest Service

Here's something to amuse you: I went out to empty the ash bucket into the compost bin this morning and, as usual, knocked on the bin to evacuate the mice before lifting the lid. You can often hear them skittering away but this morning the skittering was somewhat stampede-ish and I could feel it reverberating up through my feet! 'Janey!' I thought, 'some mouse!' Then I realised there was a cow behind the tree behind the compost....its OK Heckety, the mice haven't grown overnight!!!

Yesterday Morning the Children's Harvest Service went pretty well I think. My singers sang fine, and although they didn't all turn up, and there were several minor hiccups, I think they enjoyed themselves. I didn't manage to get a photo in between all the hopping on and off the organ stool and sorting out of queries, but I did get a few photos (when they were rehearsing) of a modern parable which Sos and B presented:
The Parable of the Gardeners.
Once there were two Gardeners who went out and got fine seed and good tools and came home and planted everything.
After planting, the first Gardener sat down for a cuppa tea, watched gardening programs on TV, and read gardening magazines to find out all about gardening. The second Gardener watered the plants, built shelter for them, and weeded around the seedlings.

At the end of the summer the first Gardener came out to inspect the plants and was dismayed to discover his were dead, but the second Gardener had a fine harvest from his patch of earth.

'What happened to mine?' asked the first Gardener.

'Its all about nurturing,' explained the second Gardener, 'you have to nurture your plants if you want a harvest.'

I think the Youth Worker wrote the script, and it was most effective as well as entertaining the children, as, needless to say, Sos and B played to the gallery somewhat!
The Youth Worker then gave an Address which was her 'Top Ten Things to be Thankful for'. She involved the children and they appeared to be paying attention throughout. She comes to teach in the school and the Secondary school, so they all know her and respect her which helps I think.

I hoped to get some more photos of the Church which was beautifully decorated, but there were people to speak to at the end and things to sort.

Today is a lovely bright, cold morning. I've just been outside and soaked my good shoes due to the heavy dew on the grass, gumboots would have been a good notion!

P.S. Lastnight when I got into bed I found two odd socks (not mine) and a stapled together Spanish vocabulary list. Since the Hub is away I did a Papa Bear impersonation, and the items were claimed in short order- but why my bed?

Busy, busy!

You can tell how much Sos wants her Deb's dress done in time since she has been working hard at making the place ready for a string of expected visitors. Yesterday she finished the first coat of varnish on the staircase, which has been waiting for several years!
Then she varnished the guest bedside table, and three quarter shelves for the sittingroom, which you can just about see behind the table.
She has also been dealing with a lot of laundry (goodness knows where it all comes from) and somehow managed to get her head stuck under the sideboard when reaching for a new bottle of fabric-softener! Mum was sitting at the kitchen table pinning the guest curtain hems, heard a squawk and a giggle and looked round to see Sos wriggling out backwards, very red in the face.


The garden has gone to pot since the Hub has been finishing the shed, then painting the guest room. I haven't been out to weed this week as I've started doing battle with the Deb's dress, which is proving a slow, tedious job. There are a few poppies and cornflowers in between the weeds... This is how bad it has become, but as soon as the dress is done I'll be out there.
The onions look about ready to keel over and then they can be harvested I think.
This is the lining partly pinned together. I have sewed on the under flounce now, and also the bones into the bodice. I started the dress bodice with the overlays of net and satin, but it was 8 o'clock and I was getting tired. I worked on it for six hours today, but there seems to be some sort of dressing in the net which is making my skin go numb, hands and face. Have you ever heard of that? Weird. Sos and B are shouting at the TV at present, I guess they don't like the way the programme has been done! Either that or they are having a cushion fight. They have been doing chores and tidying and cleaning upstairs all afternoon, so they've earned their 'down time'!

Sorry for the boring post, chores and dressmaking just are boring!

Beginning!

Well I've grabbed the bull by the horns and have started a blog- I think it could be a swift, steep learning curve, but as long as I don't fly off into hyperspace I'll be OK. My children are the computer fundis (experts), but I like to pretend I am sort of competant.
With the lovely weather that's been in it this last fortnight the Hub condescended to attack part of the garden at the weekend so that I could plant out part of the plant nursery taking up the driveway...the part of the driveway closest to the front door where he would like to be able to park on wet days! He chopped and swore through weeds and long grass, then hacked everything out in chunks...including ALL the spring bulbs. Then he spent another few hours retrieving the bulbs from the compost bin. Great start! Or as the eldest daughter would text, 'Urr'.
I've been dress-making in the evenings over the last fortnight as the youngest daughter, B, was going on a week's School Trip and didn't have enough clothes to last a whole week. School uniform has many advantages, but it turns holidays into laundry nightmares. Two skirts she needed; I made one with blue patchwork in a band around the middle to eke out the fabric. The second skirt was made using two pairs of torn jeans, ripped apart and resewn in panels. Both turned out ok.
Now I have begun a green knitted dress for the eldest against winter smart-wear, its tough being a student and having to fund one's own wardrobe so I thought I'd help out. She chose the wool herself and its a lovely soft shade of green.