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?

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!