Monthly Archives: March 2011

Thursday Special ~ Eric

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As we Silver Surfers know, sometimes we have trouble with our computers.

I had a problem yesterday, so I called Eric, the 11 year old next door, whose bedroom looks like   Mission Control and asked him to come over.

Eric clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.

As he was walking away, I called after him, ‘So, what was wrong?

He replied, ‘It was an ID ten T error.’

I didn’t want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, ‘An, ID ten T error? What’s that? In case I need to fix it again.’

Eric grinned…. ‘Haven’t you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?

‘No,’ I replied.

‘Write it down,’ he said, ‘and I think you’ll figure it out.’

So I wrote down:

ID 10 T

ID10T

😡

I used to like Eric, the little….. &*$T*%@!

θ

θ

Thanks Brighid for this weeks contribution.

Miss Buffy

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Miss Buffy bringing me the bargains!

This little bundle moves so fast, it is almost impossible to take a photo of her.  She has wormed her way into my heart and my house seems quiet without her company.

Travels with my Aunt

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I am not talking about Travels with My Aunt the1989 comedy adapted by Giles Havergal from the Graham Greene novel of the same title. No, I mean a few days travelling through Ireland with my aunt who is almost like a second mother to me.  I have already mentioned the hotel and location in Limerick here.

Today I want to talk about the people.

We had a very special evening and dinner at the famous Collison table, often on view in the blog posts of our wonderful hosts for the evening, Lily and her son Tommy.  The chat was so easy that we all forgot about recording the event with a photo. Photo or not, I will treasure every moment for many a long year.

Gabriela – Dr Gabriela Avram – to use her correct title, found time one morning from a very busy schedule, to give a guided tour of Limerick University and take us back to her own office to see some videos of recent projects.  It was a whole other world to that which my aunt and I grew up in.

This photo of my aunt Mo and I was twitpic’d round cyberspace as we chatted to Gabriela.

During our tour we crossed the living bridge twice. The link is from an animated film that was produced by Gabriela’s department as a fundraiser for the project.

A view from the living bridge.

The Mosaic on the internal walls of one of the buildings.

The Flip Side

We were entertained by music from the Trio Birgit Burhenne, Joe O’Callaghan and Peter Hanaghan, members/teachers of the Limerick Jazz Workshop, while we had lunch.

Meanwhile outside:

Horse outside by Rubberbandits was the inspiration for one students campaign in the race for president of the students union at Limerick University.

On our journey back to Dublin a road sign jumped at me and We decided to follow the arrow.  It led to a sleepy village that will not be sleepy for long.  It had two churches – not remarkable for Ireland – and at lest one pub!  The pub had a plethora of flags at the front of the building and my aunt asked if perhaps there was going to be a wedding.  I think the event will have a little higher profile than that…

We were in Moneygall.

Now we will be able to say we were there before President Obama.  Suddenly my aunt was all interest so I sprung another surprise on her.  I drove to the Rectory to meet Canon Stephen Neill.  Stephen I know from his blog Paddy Anglican.

We were given a great welcome and heard all about the church records that prove Barack Obama’s connection with Ireland. His late mother Ann Dunham was a descendant of Fulmouth Kearney who left Moneygall, Co Offaly, for the US in 1850.  The excitement is mounting in the village as they prepare for the forthcoming visitors from The White House in May this year.

Yours truly with Paddy Anglican

I think my aunt is beginning to see my ‘blogging’ in a new light.  Thank you my friends for being so wonderful and making the short holiday a memorable one for her.

Would you believe it?

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The last Friday of March came and went for the LBC, Conrad our leader had dipped into the hat and drew out the topic for the day.

Conspiracy Theories

There are many theories going the rounds about Grannymar:

  • She has keeled over and fallen off her perch.
  • She has tired of the LBC group and stomped off in a huff.
  • She has gone toyboy chasing.  (I wonder if toyboy chasing might be the new Olympic sport?)

Let me assure you that none of the above are true.  I took my aunt on holiday for a few days. The holiday for me has stretched into a week and since I am having such a good time who knows when it will end.

Now scotch that rumour…

I did not wear out any Toyboy!

I saw him in action earlier…

These guys were in the grounds of the Castle Oaks House Hotel located 7miles north east of Limerick city on the banks of the river Shannon in the parish of Castleconnell. It is surrounded by gardens and wooded walks along the river.

Hotel garden.

A walk by the Shannon

Rush hour in Castleconnell!

Irish Harp Centre Music School Castleconnell, County Limerick

On my travels I managed to catch up with some bloggers in their own space.  That is a story for another day.  I’ll be back.

Food Monday ~ Sausage & Tomato Patties

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Sausage & Tomato Patties

450g sausage meat
½ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato chutney
Oil for frying
English muffins
mustard for serving

In a bowl, mix the sausage meat with the chilli flakes (if using) and tomato chutney.  The easiest way to do this is with your hands.  Then form into 8 patties and chill.  When ready to cook, fry over a medium heat for about five minutes on each side, until cooked through*.
Serve  with toasted muffins, extra chutney or a dollop of mustard.

* You can bake these in the oven if you wish.  Preheat the oven 200°C and cook on a lightly oiled baking sheet for 15 minutes, turning halfway through.

The Party’s Over Part 11…..

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Oh no it isn’t.

I have been busy.  Very busy!

Six bloggers in four days.  At this rate by the time I visit all of you it will be the end of the decade before I get home! 😉

Don’t worry, I will be back playing catchup and writing posts very soon.

Details with a photo or two I promise.

Special Day

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Some times you read something that someone has written and instantly bond with them.  That has happened to me in the last couple of years.  As soon as I see their name in print, I hear myself say ” Great! More jam for my bread!”.

I have yet to meet in the flesh, the Lady I am referring to, but I have had the honour of speaking to her in the Bosom of her family via Skype.  Although we were on different sides of the pond, it felt like we had been next door neighbours all of our lives.  Not quite neighbours though as she hails from Abilene, KS.

Today this wonderful person celebrates the milestone of 80 years.  Others who share the milestone this month with her are:

  • Mikhail Gorbachev
  • Rupert Murdoch
  • Hal Linden
  • William Shatner
  • Sandra Day O’Connor
  • John Astin
  • Rolf Harris
  • Peter  Marshall

Eighty years of stories from the wonderful life of Corky.  That in itself is a book title and she has more than enough to fill several volumes.

How did I meet her?  She is the mother of Conrad, the leader of our Friday Loose Blogging Consortium.  To have produced a son like him… the woman deserves to be canonised! 😉

Congratulations Corky, and have a wonderful day.  My glass will be raised to you this evening.  May you have many more happy years with Joe.

Lán grá & hugs

Grannymar

Thursday Special ~ Dinner Dates

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A couple is having dinner in a restaurant when their waitress,
standing a few tables away, watches as the guy slides all the
way down his chair and out of sight. The woman across from him
seems to not notice.

The waitress comes over and says, “Excuse me, Ma’am, but I
think your husband just slid under the table.”

The woman says, “No he didn’t, he just walked in through the door.”

♣

♣

♣
Anon-y-mouse constantly sends me good stories.

Irish Blog Awards 2011 Roundup

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Been there, done that, but got no tee shirt!

No. Don’t feel sorry for me.  My day was full of surprises and I came home on Sunday, laden down with goodies, I thought George was going to charge me for excess baggage with all the booty he packed into the car. He had to carry all the bags because my arms ached from all the hugs!  Even the lovely Karen @stwidgie and Mr Karen brought me birthday gifts from Chicago.  It was wonderful to meet then and only sorry that we did not have more time.

So, as the song says, Where do I begin?

How about a link to the winners of the 2011 Irish Blog Awards.  The months of preparation and organising by Damien Mulley and his army of helpers means that this part of the proceedings is always casual and great fun with lively participation from the audience.  It seems to pass in a flash and then it is time for the party, the pints and the stories to begin.  A hot buffet provides sustenance for the hungry hoards.  This year we had the added bonus of delicious cupcakes.

In the past few years the Irish Blog Awards has become more like a weekend of events. This year they began at noon on the Saturday and continued until Sunday afternoon.

I was unable to attend the Bestest Photowalk in the world – The IBA Belfast Photowalk organised by Davy McDonald began at noon.   The man is a real trooper also organising a two hour Bus tour of Belfast with lunch all courtesy of the Belfast Tourist Board.

There was another pre-event meal called Blog Awards Bites at Cayenne in Belfast.  This was organised by Walter Higgens.

The Ladies Tea Party organised by Sabrina Dent and sponsored this year by BAGglitz.com included food, wine, dessert and swanky swag bags was a smaller affair this year, but it gave us the opportunity to really get to know those who attended.  As a result of that event we have at least one new blogger on the map.  I felt like a child at Christmas when I opened my Swag bag.  We had treasured that included

I am surprised that the services of Fire Brigade were not needed at the Ladies Tea party for all the candles on my cupcakes

Do you really want to know what I was up to at the Awards?   I shared my musical talents and dancing skills!

I told you already that I wanted to meet Ike, and I did.  I am sure that you would like to meet him too.


Ike out of harness came to say Hello.

Ike keeping my feet warm.

As I was leaving the hotel on Sunday look what happened

Toyboys trying to escape!   Not really, it was a 130ft abseil down Belfast’s Europa hotel in aid of charity.  All the photos are courtesy of Digital Darragh and Ike