Monthly Archives: May 2009

I’m off to Poland

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I might get a job there.

An elderly care unit in a small Polish community has offered to rent out pensioners to locals desperate for the kind of help and love that only a grandparent can offer.

The Silesia University’s unit for elderly launched the project “Grandmothers and grandfathers to be hired and loved” in the small southern town of Raciborz earlier this year and has so far found new families for three women.

So reads an article by Janusz Chmielewski in RACIBORZ, Poland  Reuters Life!

Will you miss me?

Back on the ground

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My Toyboy did well!

He jumped for a Granny & Carelocal.ie

Before:

Darragh in the centre geared up and ready to go, photo by Niamh

During:

Photo taken and tweeted from his mobile phone from the air as the parachute opened by Darragh .

Back on the ground shortly after 2pm:

Not sure he can believe he did it.  Photo by Niamh.

Congratulations Darragh!  You have put smiles on many faces today.

A wonderfully high note to end a very low week!

The tears flowed

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This week I cried.

I cried for three reasons.

Perhaps I should rethink watching videos.

This first video made me cry because it might be me tomorrow.  OR it might be you!  [Give it time (Approx. 85 minutes) – Directed and Produced by Shari Cookson and Nick Doob].  If you don’t want to watch all of it there is an article to accompany it.

http://www.hbo.com/alzheimers/memory-loss-tapes.html

Thank you wise web woman for drawing my attention to it.

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The second time I cried was when I watched this video on Will Knott’s blog.  Will explained:

Michael O’Brien, former councillor and Mayor of Clonmel attended the RTÉ programme Questions and Answers on 25 May 2009 and, after Minister Noel Dempsey, the sponsoring minister of the Ryan Commission report in to Child Abuse allegations spoke, Mr O’Brien spoke to the minister and to the panel.


If you have any difficulty with local accent a transcript can be found here

Below is an extract I wrote in reply to an email I received during the week on the topic of abuse:

Here in Ireland and indeed the UK we are knee deep in articles about, and as a result of, this weeks report from the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse.  For so many it is an opportunity to now openly and for the first time accept and talk about what happened to them in childhood.

In 1996 the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic religious order, apologized unconditionally for the ”physical and emotional trauma” its nuns inflicted on children raised in its orphanages and schools.

I attended one of their day schools in Dublin for five years.  It was new.  They called it a College in order to charge greater fees.  I was a slow learner, a fact I constantly admit to.  On a daily basis I was caned, belittled, invited to remove my shoes and socks to use my toes for counting!  I was told I was stupid and would N-E-V-E-R make anything of myself.  I was extremely thin (6st 12ozs by the time I reached 21!) and this was remarked upon regularly in class, it was considered a cause for amusement.

The report this week does not cover abuse by diocesan clergy who are not members of a religious order, that is separate and yet to come.

If that was not enough we were regularly bellowed at from the pulpit with threats of ‘Hellfire and Damnation’!

Alas, the past week has upset me as I think of those whose lives were ruined; and for myself I feel the pull of the dark clouds dragging me back to the darkness of those early years.

Is it any wonder that Ireland is known as a nation of Alcoholics!

I did know some excellent Catholic Clergy but you could count them on one hand.

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The third time I cried was for a very different reason, they were tears of laughter

Patricia, buxom blonde and alter ego of Paddy Anglican will be aided by an item belonging to Grannymar and once the day is over, and the item freshly laundered, it will be auctioned for charity.  So start counting your pennies…

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Thursday Special ~ An answer to prayer.

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There was a little old lady, who every morning stepped onto her front porch, raised her arms to the sky, and shouted: ‘PRAISE THE LORD!’

One day an atheist moved into the house next door. He became irritated at the little old lady. Every morning he’d step onto his front porch after her and yell: ‘THERE IS NO LORD!’

Time passed with the two of them carrying on this way every day.

One morning, in the middle of winter, the little old lady stepped onto her front porch and shouted: ‘PRAISE THE LORD! Please Lord, I have no food and I am starving, provide for me, oh Lord!

The next morning she stepped out onto her porch and there were two huge bags of groceries sitting there.

‘PRAISE THE LORD!’ she cried out. ‘HE HAS PROVIDED GROCERIES FOR ME!’

The atheist neighbour jumped out of the hedges and shouted: ‘THERE IS NO LORD; I BOUGHT THOSE GROCERIES!!’

The little old lady threw her arms into the air and shouted: ‘PRAISE THE LORD! HE HAS PROVIDED ME WITH GROCERIES AND MADE THE DEVIL PAY FOR THEM!’


With thanks to my Aunt for this one

Bridge Building

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Wise Web Woman should be packing her case in readiness for her forthcoming trip to Ireland.  She arrives in on 30th May and next day she will be up bright and early to take part in the Flora Ladies Mini Marathon in Dublin City.  Oh for the energy!   So, if you are going along to watch the Girls strut their stuff you need two placards, one with ‘Wise Web Woman on it and the other for Patricia Anglican!

Meanwhile procrastinating instead of packing, WWW is gazing at the award she received from Gossamer Woman.

Now I like the sound of that…. reaching out and building bridges!

In the true spirit of blogging she passed the baton on and shared some bloggy goodness to people who in her own words:-

I admire and who reach out across boundaries with their sparkling honesty and truth:

Her list of nominees are:

I think she made a mistake…. ’cause my name appears on that list among some wonderful people whose blogs I enjoy.  Thank you Wise Web Woman for the honour.

Sitting with thinking cap in place I scroll through my list of virtual friends to choose a half dozen deserving of this accolade…. It is so difficult as so many of you reach out and build bridges…

My choice this time are:-

Damien Mulley the father figure of blogging in Ireland, who shares time, information and link luv on a daily basis.  He is the brains behind the Irish Blog Awards and the Irish Web Awards, events that don’t just happen over night, but take months of planning and preparation to bring so many together for a fun filled evening in recognition of their peers.

Darragh Doyle alright so I am biased!  Darragh had the ‘Obama’ spirit long before we heard of Obama.  I sometimes wonder if he was born saying “Yes we can!  Yes I will!”  There are no doors in Darragh’s lexicon, if he wants to meet someone he walks right up there and says hello.  He meets people.  He introduces people and most of all he enjoys sharing people with all of us through his blog.

Lily’s Blog makes a refreshing read on a wide variety of topics and it is difficult to believe it only arrived on the scene in the last twelve months.  Lily, a busy wife & mother to the Collison Clan was the last member of the family to join the blogging world.  The boys keep her on her toes baking, blogging, twittering and following their escapades across the globe.

From the Magpie’s nest proves that nagging works. 🙄  Magpie11 has been a regular visitor here for a long time now, and from his observations and comments I felt he had what it took to feed a blog of his own.  Thankfully for once I was listened to and proved correct.  I particularly enjoy his cookery hints they are always tasty and tempting.

Stretching my long arms wide I will pick one blog from and easterly direction and one from the west to comple my half dozen.

Ramana’s Musings reach us all the way from Pune in India.  Ramana is an avid reader of everything from heavy tomes to the frivilous fripperance of Grannymar.  His blogroll stretches across the globe and he acknowledges every comment that he receives.  He has brought many visitors here to join in the fun and I have discovered many new blogs.

Leveraged Intelligence with Conrad (who hails from Kansas and now lives in California) at the helm is a fun place to play.  He introduces the subject and we are all invited to join the conversation, at times the visitors take over and Conrad can hardly get a look in.

Now it is your turn… go reach out and build six bridges!

Food Monday ~ Scones

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In my post last Tuesday I mentioned scones.  Some of my American friends are unsure of what Irish scones are like or how they are made.  Well Grannymar aims to please, so I called on good old YouTube and found this:-

Everyone has their own recipe and below I give you mine.

Scones
Preheat the oven to 200°C

8ozs Plain Flour
2-teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
½ teaspoon Salt
2oz Butter or Margarine.
Approx. ¼ pint of Milk
A small Egg, beaten

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar together.

Rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and then mix to firm-ish dough with the milk and about half of the egg.

On a floured surface, pat the mixture out to a thickness of about 1in and cut the scones, either with a knife or a circular cutter.

Place on a floured baking tray and brush the tops with milk mixed with the remaining egg.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes.Cool on a wire tray.

Variations:-

Fruit scones – Add 2oz sultanas.
Cherry Scones – Add 2ozs cherries, halved
Cheese Scones – Add 2ozs cheese, grated
For a special treat try Raspberries and White Chocolate.

Small?

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Recently we had a discussion about bugs, flies and mosquitoes.  Several of you suggested solutions to deal with these little pests.

The next morning while sitting up in bed with my constant companion (the radio), the following line from ‘Thought for the Day’, caught my attention and I just had to share it with you.

“If you think you are too small to be effective,

You have never been to bed with a mosquito!”

~ Rev Roy Jenkins

Silence is Golden!

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I never enjoyed a beach holiday.

I think I would applaud that guy!

Thanks Ramana for the link.  Is he saying I talk too much? 🙄
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On a serious note for a moment….
I love Blogger/Twitter/Photowalk Meet-ups.
I always seem to have conditions for my attendance. How close can I park my car?  Will we be walking a great distance?  How many flights of stairs are involved.  These questions are not because I am an awkward ould biddy, but because of my health.
In younger days I walked for miles, ran up stairs two steps at a time and seldom worried about where I parked a car.  Things have changed!  In my head I am still thirty and want to do all the things I did half a lifetime ago, alas that is not possible.  I need to plan ahead and if I know a ‘busy day’ is planned I rest on the days before and after an event.  I am not ready to hang up my life just yet.
My problem is that my energy drains suddenly just as in that video, it is like a plug has been pulled.  I am used to it, but for those around me it can be a little frightening.  If it should happen when you are around, just sit me down and stay calm.  Fussing and getting excited only adds more stress.
Elly & George are quite used to seeing me in ‘Victorian’ weakness moments.  With all the items that Elly carries in her bag I have yet to see smelling salts,  Do they still make them?
This video made me think…
Will it give George the idea to roll me up and put me in the nearest bin. 🙄