Tag Archives: Friends

Planning & dreaming

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The last few days I have been “grass-hoppering” – I ricochet from job to job, starting everything, finishing nothing. You can blame excitement.

I am planning a few days in London. At the moment my destination is a secret. I’ll be meeting a fella. A kinda date. I never met him before… only on the internet. I think he is real and not like Mr Moss!

This here mystery man even organised my accommodation before telling me.

Do not worry. I’ll have a chaperone. Not like in the old days… an elderly aunt or fussing mother in a little bonnet, high necked blouse with mutton leg sleeves over her whale bone stays and skirts that polish the floor never mind her button boots. All finished off with a tiny lacy hanky to wipe away her tears or hide her blushes!

No. my chaperone will be young at heart, young in body and with a sense of humour just like mine. He chose well. All will be grand.

I know I still have a few weeks to wait, but I am already planning my packing… only one small cabin bag with wheels. No trunks with mountains of outfits that will never see the light of day.

It will be a case of one to wear, one to wash and one for spare with the undies.* I am praying the weather will be kind and not saturatingly soggy.

Outer layers will all be mix & match – the best idea the fashion industry ever came up with.

No skirts. It will be trousers all the way, I have no intention of advertising my pallid flesh, knock-knees, corns, bunions and more blue veins that a Stilton cheese!

And when the clothing is sorted I’ll need to deal with technology:

My cell phone

.

My phone

My Tablets

My Tablets

Tablets, yes more than one.

Then there in my latest acquisition…

I have joined the world of the pad. NO. Not TENA Lady, stop smirking toyboy techies, I mean something totally different and it works. Bigtime.

My Eye Pad.

My eye pad

My eye pad

Thirty seconds in the microwave and my eyes sparkle!

*  The mention of travel and undies made me giggle. A sudden memory of disposable pants that were all the go when I was a young twenty year old. You wore one for a day and then dumped them, Great for holiday packing but oh so uncomfortable. They were made of the same paper type fabric as the disposable hospital gowns that are in use today.

My finger

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On January 25 a carrot, a sharp knife and my finger were involved in a contretemps.

I saw red.

Pumping red!

I ran to the bathroom for a plaster. It would not stick to my finger.

Pumping hell!

I wrapped the finger in a clean face flannel and that changed colour instantaneously. I rewrapped the damaged digit in a fresh dressing and a cool damp clean face flannel and held it in the air. I needed help.

The health centre is a mile away. No way could I drive one handed, and walking that far would surely leave a stream of blood from door to door.

The kitchen looked like a massacre had occurred. Blood on the counter, the draining board, the cooker and on the floor. The bathroom was not much better. Darn blood thinners – they sure keep the red stuff running! 🙁

💡 I could phone a friend. It might not make a millionaire out of me, but she might save my life.

Emily jumped to the rescue and became my flying angel for the morning. She even arrived with a great big towel to soak up the juice. She sat patiently waiting while I was looked after and on the way home we stopped for a coffee. It was just what I needed before going home to clear up the murder evidence.

So you see from my recent posts, I had plenty of excuses for staying away from blogging over the past month.

PS: No spiders, animals or people were massacred during this event!

Time to do a web search… Does anyone make metal gloves? 😕

Thoughtful friends

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I have some very thoughtful friends.

Clair is one of them.

Even when she goes shopping she has my best interest at heart. She saw a bargain that was right up my street and she let me know.

Not alone the perfect bargain, but at two for the price of one…

AND

With 33% off the price, how could I refuse?

Perfect Man

I might have the answer to my warm cold toes… 😉 😉

A few more Firsts

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First driving lesson.

It was on the firm flat 5 km beach called Dollymount Strand on Bull Island. The island was located on the northern end of Dublin Bay. The island is connected to the mainland by the Bull Bridge, a one-lane wooden road bridge. In recent years, access by car is limited to a portion of the island near the Bull Bridge and two sections reached from a causeway road at Raheny.

I was just seventeen and daddy was my tutor for the day. He showed me the clutch, break and accelerator and how to change gears. Then pointing straight ahead he said:

“I’ am getting out, you drive down to that mound of sand, then turn and bring the car back.” Then added “If you cannot bring the car back, don’t bother coming back yourself!” 

****

First sewing machine.

I always liked playing with fabric. My father worked in the ‘rag’ trade – not selling rags, but fashion fabrics. Latterly he worked his agency from home, so we were surrounded with texture, colour, and types of fabric that would be on the streets, at least six months down the road.

When the new season’s samples arrived, mammy and I would spend several evenings helping daddy to record the details of each fabric blanket in his little black book. There might be up from twenty to forty colour-ways on the one blanket. Occasionally we drifted into conversation:

Me: I would love a dress/skirt/coat in this colour.

Daddy: If you would sew, I could get you the fabric.

Me: If I had a sewing machine I would sew.

Daddy: You will have to wait until you leave school, for a sewing machine, You do not need any distraction from your books. (Somehow helping him was not seen as a distraction!)

The morning after I finished my final exams, my first ever sewing machine was delivered to our house. It was a Brother straight stitch. I was in heaven. By the time daddy came home for his dinner, I was wearing a new fully lined sleeveless dress! That machine cost all of £24 sterling and well paid for itself, with the dresses, tops, trousers, suits and even a tweed winter coat that I made during the twelve years I had it.

****

My first formal dance.

Nowadays it would be called a School Prom.

Unlike today, our school Formal Dance was held after we had finished all exams and the final term completed. We left school in June and the dance was in September. The evening consisted of a dinner and dance in an hotel. I no longer remember which one or if it still exists. There were no gatherings in the hours before the event, parents stayed at home and each couple arrived on their own. When the dance was over we returned home, often around midnight.

I spent a couple of days making my own full length dress. A princess line in a beautiful shade of blue with a motif, Dupion fabric.

My beau for the evening was Ray, a regular visitor to our home, a part of the gang and good friend. We had a Dress suit/tuxedo in the wardrobe for the use of all the lads in turn. I offered it to Ray for the evening, He might have been working and studying at night, but pennies in those days were hard come by. He accepted my invitation and offer of the suit.

On the night in question, he arrived in the suit and bow tie, with an orchid and the biggest box of chocolates that I have ever seen. It was the shape of a casket with six tasselled drawers. It became my first work box for sewing!

Ray & Marie

Ray & Marie

We had great fun and we are still friends to this day!

Life is good

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Maybe I should up that statement: Life right now is a wonderful high!

Yesterday, my friend Emily brought me out for the day and treated me to lunch at Il Pirata. No. We did not fly to Italy for lunch, we travelled to Ballyhackamore, in East Belfast. We eat slowly and talked plenty.

Back in the car, our mystery tour continued.

Some months ago, Emily mentioned a sculpture that whetted my appetite and I was anxious to see it for myself. Yesterday was the perfect occasion and I was introduced to the work of two wonderful creative souls.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I will introduce you to a wonderful sculpture, if I manage to sort my photos.  The second piece should be ready for Wednesday. The latter was right up my street and I fell deeply in love with the work.

I suddenly realised about mid morning today that the air bubble in my eye had disappeared. I was like Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. Yes. I can see clearly, but I am limiting my time at the laptop for a few more day.

Slowly, very slowly I will get back to my routine of blog reading. Again I plead for your patience.

Good and Not so good

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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

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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 long catch-up updated.

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We have talked about it for six months.

Yesterday was the day and we had six years to catch up on.

First time round we were part of a larger group so the chat was general. Six whole years yet it felt like it was only one single day since we met. Just the two of us with no interruptions so the conversation flowed. Easily.

I was meeting fellow blogger Nelly, from Nelly’s Garden.  She suggested we meet at Clotworthy House where we had coffee before wandering the grounds of Antrim Castle Gardens.

I love this place and have visited and blogged about it on several occasions.

We walked and talked we sat to enjoy the scenery and talked until we talked ourselves dry so we needed another coffee before we parted and went our separate ways. I hope it will not take another six years before we meet again.

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Some of the photos were from a visit a few days earlier.

It was a very good day!

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At 06:30 I was making a cake, well actually two cakes.

While they baked, I showered and made myself beautiful prepared for the day.  As I finished breakfast, the phone calls began… at one stage there were toyboys on the landline, the mobile and on Skype all vying for my attention. Don’t tell them. I didn’t.  You know they all think they hold the number one spot!

My date for morning coffee had to be posponed until today (Wednesday), so one of the cakes will be grand to bring with me and extend the party.

The skies cleared and the sun danced in my honour. The Postie serenaded me on the doorstep and the window cleaner brightened my world even more. A day not to be wasted, so I headed out in search of fun,

Carrickfergus Harbour

Carrickfergus Harbour

Look how smooth the water was.

I found a Toyboy

I found a Toyboy

I found a Toyboy

Brendan was on holiday from the US with his mum and aunt. I met them at the Castle taking photos… you know the routine

“I’ll take one of you two, then you can take one of us and….!”

I approached and asked “Would you like one of…..

A chorus of “Oh yes please!”, came back before I finished the sentence, and I was handed an iPad.

I took several at different angles to make sure they had a worthwhile selection.

Job done, I asked for payment…

Well it was my birthday and a photo with a Toyboy was not much to ask, was it? I handed over my smart phone and Brendan’s mum took the photos, then followed hugs and another rendition of Happy Birthday. They were next headed for Ballycastle and invited me to join them. I had to decline the invitation, so we said farewell and I headed off for my walk along the promenade.

I had not gone too far when there was loud tooting of a car horn. Turning round I saw my new found friends driving along Marine Highway with arms outstreched from every window  of their car, singing Happy Birthday to me!

The remainder of the day can be found in the slide show.

 

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Barbara, I was just about to light the candle on my cake when the phone rang, it was your dad. Growing up we always shared our birthdays, his being two days before mine, so he sang Happy Birthday as I blew out the candle!

For all my knitting friends, I found the extreme knitting at Parlour Yarns, Carrickfergus,they do have a Facebook Page. The piece was sitting in a basket with an invitation to knit a few stitches, a row or half the rug! It was very heavy, the yarn was carpet wool in four colours with two strands of each colour. You would need a tub of good hand cream to sooth the fingers after working on it for any length of time. I once used carpet thrums to make a 10 ft X 6 ft Mister Men rug for my kitchen floor. It was back in the day when I had a little doll to play with – then she grew up and ran away for her own adventure!!!!! I do love you Elly, REALLY!

In all I had a very good day.  Thank you to all who played any part in my celebration, with calls, texts, postings, cards and song singing.

You all rock.

 

UPDATE: What a difference a day makes:

The Sky has a hangover today

The Sky has a hangover today

We are back to whistling winds and driving rain. Did yesterday really happen? Was I dreaming?

16:30 hrs

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Two weeks ago today I had a phone call from my sister at this time. It was the second call of the afternoon.

The earlier call, which lasted about an hour, was to tell me one of her four legged companions for the past fifteen years and fifty days, had been put to sleep two days earlier. Cariosa, a Golden Sheltie, had led a very comfortable life and returned the love by being a faithful friend. Over the past eighteen months, her health had slowly deteriorated.

At Christmas, I drove my sister and Cariosa to the vet. We were sure she would not be coming home. The vet suggested some medication, that worked for some, but not every patient. My sister was prepared to try and over the next few days she seemed to rally, find her appetite and show interest in gentle play.

In the early hours of the previous Friday morning, things went downhill. Fast! It was obvious that this time it would be a one way visit to the vet. That extra month was a bonus.

Cariosa and Alanah

Cariosa and Alanah

Cariosa& Alanah

The second call was so very different. It put life in perspective for both of us.

It was news of the tragic death of the son of one of my childhood friends. The young man would have been a few years older than Elly and a similar age to one of my nephews. A quiet fellow who I did meet a couple of years ago. He had been brutally attacked in his own home. Murdered.

As in all such occasions, the work of the Coroner, Forensics team and the law seem to go into slow motion while family and friends are left in limbo with no answers and not allowed to take the first steps through the grieving process with a funeral. The slow process of thorough examination of the body, the surroundings and checking of all movements take time. Journalists were the only people in overdrive, clutching at straws and a few snippets of news, enlarging them or indeed making things up as they went along.

Late on Thursday the body was released and permission given to go ahead with a funeral on Saturday 14th February. Extended family and friends from all corners of Ireland joined the bereaved to pay respects and bid farewell to the young man. I and most of my siblings were able to be among them.

We expect to outlive our parents, there is a chance we might outlive our spouse, but to lose a child is not something any of us are prepared for. My heart goes out to this family.

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to hug my Elly before she flew out to Israel on Friday morning for a work visit. We are in contact via social media on a daily basis, but I long to see her and wrap my arms around her. Stay safe and hurry home my darling!

My sister does have another four legged companion: Alanah. She too was feeling the loss of her golden haired pal, She had become very quiet and lost all interest in food.

My visit seemed to help her turn the corner. She followed me everywhere. We played with a ball, went for walks and she kept my knees warm! I think my sister was worried I might be bringing home a furry friend today…

Fifty shades of Grey

Click to enlarge

Fifty shades of Grey