Monthly Archives: July 2015

Good and Not so good

The past few months have been busy, but not that you would notice. I have been staying off line for many and varied reasons.

When the weather was favourable I spent time outdoors. Sharing coffee outings and walks with a lady senior in age to me but with a bright mind to compensate for her physical frailty. The challenge was to find somewhere new for our coffee each week and now our list is growing.  Only a few disappointments. One place was no longer trading, another had changed hands and was closed for refurbishment. There are a few earmarked for return visits.

On my travels I discovered a wool/yarn shop that hosts a morning of crafting where we bring the piece of knitting or crochet that we are working on and work away while nattering and sipping coffee. I had not realised how much I missed the camaraderie of kindred spirits and the inspiration we seem to feed each other. **

Last week was a difficult one. I travelled to Dublin at short notice for the funeral of a life long friend. She had lived a few houses away from my parental home for all of her life. The two families have kept close contact since them. This meant I met the grieving family, most of my siblings and several of the ‘old guard’ neighbours, a few of whom I have not met for about forty years! They needed no introduction the greeting was always the same: You look so like your mother! Thankfully they remembered mammy in her younger days, so I took it as a compliment! 😉 That part of the few days was good for my soul!

I stayed with my sister for a few extra days. She had been very involved in the care of our friend for the past four years of illness and would miss her daily visits. The end came suddenly and was a shock to everyone.  May my friend Rest in Peace.

I almost had a passenger stowed away in my car. She somehow dicovered how to self pack, I found her in a bag one morning!

Allanah in a bag

Allanah in a bag

Allanah whimpered all the time I was packing my car. Playing with a ball will have to wait until my next visit.

I moved to Elly’s for a couple of days and Buffy had great fun smelling the messages on my trousers and shoes. We played ball and tug the rope at every chance she got and the head went down when I was leaving.

** On my visits to Parlour Yarns I learned about Marinke Slump from A creative being, known to all as Wink.  A young creative and inspirational force who used blogging in her attempts to fight depression through crochet. She was so talented sharing patterns and publishing a book of her ideas and patterns. Alas the final post on her blog was not from Wink but from her sister… the depression had won.

Design Wars has asked that people pay their respects by sharing a mandala with the hashtag ‪#‎mandalasforwink. Parlour Yarns in Carrickfergus are taking up the challenge with a display of mandalas in the Courtyard on15th of August. Below are my contributions.

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We all know people suffering the agonies of depression, it would be difficult to find a family untouched by this dreadful affliction.

Unfortunately, many people fail to understand the deeply imbedded negative thought patterns that depression has for the individual struggling with it. Fighting the demons of depression when their voices are louder than any of those around, is not easy. Medications don’t help with that aspect of depression; the negative thoughts have to be fought with positive thoughts which have to be internalized to be effective because when one is in the darkness, other peoples voices are not heard over the din inside the head.

It’s hard for those who don’t go through the struggle to understand. It’s like having your wires crossed and certain signals not allowed through. The dark place is real and no one likes being in the dark. The mental pain and anguish is as real as the physical and all they want is to find a way out. Something’s wrong  and the patient can’t understand why.

If you are a sufferer please try to talk about it; don’t keep your feelings bottled up. If people don’t want to listen…find someone who will.

May we together hold hands and circle those who suffer, with our love!

For Irmi

Earlier in the week Irmi left a comment on my About page asking if I could explain the ins and outs of ‘Liking’ on blog posts. Irmi hails from Munich in Bavaria, but does not as yet have a blog of her own. Our paths have crossed on blogs we both visit and participate in, on a regular basis.

Can you tell me the way how one can “like” a comment at wordpress?

like-button

like-button

The Like icon appears at the base of most published blog posts and all you need to do is click on it. Then your avatar will appear with any others already there. I think you might need to be logged into WordPress or have an Avatar in order to use the Like button.

Is there a deeper meaning in ‘Liking’ – besides being nice and friendly?

Likes are a way to show appreciation for a post or a comment. Some people use them to show they have visited without leaving a comment.I notice that some blogs have the facility to like a comment, but I do not use it.

Are there competitions for ‘liking’ a post or does the blog owner for instance get something for being ‘liked’ very often?

Not that I know of. Perhaps it gives them the boost to keep posting on a regular basis.

Thank you for visiting my blog and adding your tuppenceworth at times. We are kindred spirits when it comes to crocheting, I see. The blue scarf you mention stopped me in my tracks.

Did you mean the knitted mauve and white cowl using a random coloured yarn?  ‎ I saw it on Pinterest but did as I often do with 3D objects: work from my head without a pattern. I worked it on a circular needle, decreasing stitches evenly across every eight or ten rows. On most occasions it works out and since I do not sell items, it is not a problem if it is not exactly like the original. As my father was fond of saying: Every fault is a fashion!

I am pleased you enjoyed my trip down memory lane through the wool and craft shops of my (much) younger years.

Enjoy delving into the older posts. If you click on the Categories in the side bar and scroll down to Crafts and click on it, you might find some posts of interest.

A day to remember

A day of bright sunshine
Glinting on my Autumn Glory
And the Love of my life, my anam cara by my side.

1977-07-09 Marie & Jack

1977-07-09 Marie & Jack

Was it really thirty eight years ago?
We were given twenty years,
But looking at that photo, I am back on that day
And still thirty in my head!

There might be wine tonight!

SUGAR!

Well that is not exactly what I said.

It began with S and had fewer letters. 😉

What brought that on?

This:

broken side-arm

broken side-arm

I have ordered a new side but with the holidays, it might be Thursday next week before I get it. Meanwhile the Jack Duckworth look will be the fashion of the week.

I will just have to stay quiet and experiment…

Experimenting

Experimenting

No Trains

But plenty of boats and planes!

I was up early, traffic divertions made my outward car journey three miles longer than the final lap home.

I parked my car and headed for my first bus of the day.

On way to catch the bus_10.40

On way to catch the bus_10.40

The sky was the colour of my jumper and that plane was heading for Belfast International Airport. There were plenty of people waiting for the bus and another joined our throng within a few minutes. We knew each other since Elly started school ‘cough’ number of years ago. He followed me onto the bus and sat together talking our way to Belfast.

Royal Avenue Sky

Royal Avenue Sky

The sun was still high above when I got to Royal Avenue, Belfast.

A cup of coffee later and I was ready to head round the corner to catch the FREE Event Bus at Wellington Place  for the short journey to Pollock Dock. This service ran every five minutes, in my case to Pollock Dock. There were three other Park & Ride points: Boucher Road, Airport Road West and the New, (yet unfinished but open for the four days) Ballymartin at junction 5 of the M2. I could have walked from town but decided to save my energy for the event itself. The ships were spread between Pollock &York Docks, Donegall, Albert and Queen’s Quays and Albert Basin. Another Event bus too people from dock to dock. That was more than enough walking for me on a hot day. A good comfortable crowd, but I expect the numbers to increase this evening and on Friday & Saturday when the last night finishes with a fireworks display.

On Sunday between 11.00hrs and 15.00hrs the ships will form a parade leaving the port of Belfast, hoisting their sails heading for the start line of Race 1 to Norway.

Queueing for bus No 2

Queueing for bus No 2

A flavour of my day Part one

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Part two

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Then I had the head staggers and flew like a bird: Twists, turns and total flip overs, we had smoke everywhere ….  I was hanging on so tight, I could no longer take photos.

Somebody hold my Elly down ….

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I was in a Red Arrows Flight Simulator!

Then it was time for home and a little thank you for my feet!

Aah! A long soak

Aah! A long soak