Clockwise Contrasts in Howth

We went for a walk in Howth on Saturday, and couldn't believe the contrast in the sky surrounding us! Standing in the same spot on the pier, just by doing a 360 degree turn, I got all these different images. Not sure if you'll agree with me, but I think some of them could easily be in different countries! So, to start, not a great looking image, swirling dark clouds are not what you like when you're about to walk down a pier!

looks as though it's about to start raining, doesn't it? no, not a day for walking on the pier...but hey, are they bits of blue I see towards the right hand side?

still lots of clouds, but looking more hopeful

this looks like a nicer vista, yes, we could continue with this walk under this blue sky..

surely this can't be the same place? Was I spirited to a Mediterranean country?

are these clouds billowing in this lovely blueness? No, please don't let it rain!

not quite so blue now

and finally, back to cloudy again. That's Ireland for you, those clouds are never far away!

We did get a little walk without any rain! Phew!

Behind the Parade 2

Apparently, it's now a 10-day celebration! Yea, right, or good for business!

The owner of this flag thinks it's all over! The 10-day message escaped them.

This pub was well decked out, ready for celebrations!

This made me laugh, three tractors IS a parade!

Painting faces for charity, and, in return for a donation, I got to take her photo. Fair deal!

These Shamrock tights were very popular.

This, to me, is a perfect pint of Guinness, a chocolate one!

This guy was popular, there were queues to get their photo taken with him.

Of course, we had to have "Póg Mo Thón" !

A discarded wand, wonder why?Someone else who doesn't realise it's now a 10-day Festival!

This lady got in the green groove.

And the charity shops had the Green theme too!

Behind the Parade 1

I'm soo excited! Did you hear the news?

Barak Obama is coming to Ireland!!! Can't wait till May!
Something weird is happening on my computer- each time I try to open a picture , I get a message denying access. Everyone else is gone to bed, and I've no idea how to rectify this problem. It is a problem cos I'm adding photos without previewing them....

So this is just a taster of my day behind the scenes at the Parade.

I just about caught the wonderful shamrocks on this girl's tights!

More tomorrow!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We finished school a little early today to allow the kids get home for St. Patrick's Day. Actually, it's a long weekend for us, we've got Friday off too!! :).
As it was a lovely, sunny day, I took myself into "town" i.e. Dublin city centre, Grafton St. for a walk around and to see if there was any pre-holiday excitement.
Found the guy above painted onto a wall at the car park- I think it's hilarious.
Weather permitting, I'm planning to go out again tomorrow and take a few photos "behind the parade" as I did last year. So please, no rain dances!!

Because there's so much B&W in this photo, and because it's Wednesday, I'm linking in with Lisa at The Long Road to China for her Black and White Wednesday. Click the link above if you want to see some amazing photography!

The Juggling Act

I feel I've been such a terrible blogger recently. I promised to post the knitting projects, and I'm way behind in doing it.

Normally, even if I haven't time to post, I can get around a few of you and leave a comment, but even that seems to have been too much this week.

Since I went back to work full-time 3 years ago, I find that life is a juggling act. I know I have too many things going on, but if I think about what I would drop, iI realise I can't bear to give up any of those things I enjoy. Playing the French Horn does take up a huge chunk of every week; when you add up lesson time, orchestra and practice, it's a total of about 9 or 10 hours, including travelling time, but I just couldn't imagine giving it up. I love it!

Walking is another of my "pasttimes", and again, even though it takes up chunks of time, about 3 hours a week, I don't want to give it up, because I enjoy it and it's good exercise.

Blogging is fairly new to the mix, but I enjoy it so much, love meeting new people and there's no way I would consider giving it up.

And going out is yet another pasttime that I enjoy, whether with Hubbie (we try to go out once a week for a couple of hours), or meeting friends for a cuppa and a catch-up.

No, I couldn't give that up either.

Then there are the runs to bring the kids to their activities, (though thankfully there are not too many of those, most things happen after school and they're great at making their own way back), and Hubby does a big chunk of all this work too. Also there's aromatherapy, and last but not least, the boring things like washing, ironing, housework, yawn!!

So, each day, something suffers, and I try to alternate the thing that suffers!

And now knitting has been thrown into the mix!

The scarves for the 3 kids are finished, and worn regularly, and I started on socks with the beautiful yarn in the first picture. It is a joy to work with, and I look forward to wearing them when(ever)they're finished!

We have a little "study area" beside the kitchen that turns into a laundry area every weekend, and this is what it looked like 20 minutes ago! I've tidied it up now, and folded the laundry, but that means that I'm typing this post at 00.52! Agh!

Any suggestions? Am I just disorganised or is it just this stage of life with 3 kids? And I can't afford to go back part-time!

Upbeat

Sorry that I haven't been around for almost all of February, at least in terms of posting.

It's been a busy month, I've been doing lots of knitting, and I've been eating the delicious stuff that you see in the picture!

Busy month - 2 lots of exams (not for me-yay! Mocks!) eldest daughter was doing Mock Leaving Cert and Son was doing Mock Junior Cert.

School for me has been very busy, with some intense and difficult meetings. To say that we were ready for mid-term break is an understatement!

But what a lovely break! I went to Brussels on Sunday, to visit my friend C and in particular her daughter Ais, who has been very sick for a year now. I wrote about the terrible thing that happened to her here. Ais has been making great progress in the Rehab centre that she is now in, but she still has a lot of breathing problems, and was re-admitted to hospital on Monday with a respiratory infection. She is such a brave lady who works very hard at her recovery. She is inspirational.

But, in spite of that, we had a lovely time for my three days there, I was able to give both Ais and C some little foot massages each day, and we had some delicious meals. The family are great cooks, and they also all enjoy sitting around the table over a leisurely meal. We had long chats, caught up with other mutual friends and some good arguments too!

And on Tuesday, C and I went to a favourite restaurant in Brussels, where the chef is a very talented Irish lady. Little Ais insisted that we go ahead with the planned meal even though she was now in hospital, and we were able to reward her with a takeaway of mixed appetisers and one of these chocolate mousse creations!

And tonight, another Opera!

Eldest Daughter and I have gone to all the Met Live in HD this season, courtesy of the Sunday Times (until tonight- they changed from first-come-first-served free tickets to lottery, and we didn't win their lottery!Boo!) ; we've enjoyed it so much that we were unable to contemplate missing this treat, so we bought two tickets. Placido Domingo and Susan Graham were the leads in Iphigénie en Tauride and both were suffering from colds, but they gave wonderful performances. I think it's safe to say that I'm completely converted to Opera.

And as I sit typing this, the result of our General Election is coming in. There has been a seismic shift in Irish politics, the likes of which we haven't seen since 1915. About time too.

Listening to Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael, who will probably form the next Government in a coalition with Labour, I feel some confidence that the country will be able to get out of the mess that Fianna Fail led us into, and that we will be proud to be Irish again. I haven't heard Eamon Gilmore yet, but I'm sure he must be delighted with the huge vote his party got. Looking forward, for the first time in about 2 years, to tomorrow's papers!

So much to be thankful for. Update, with photos, of knitting in the next few days.

Phoenix Park

Thought I'd share with you some of the beautiful views I am privileged to enjoy on my journey to and from work each day. The Phoenix Park has lots of these benches dotted around, and they are very inviting!

On the other side of the road the view is something quite different, all office blocks and commercial activity.

Often, there are cars parked along this stretch, but I can never see where the occupants have gone! They certainly are not sitting on the benches!

I pulled in on my way home on Friday and just took this out of the open window, cos it was a pretty miserable day. But sometimes, I do get out and have a little walk, then continue on my journey.

"The Park", as it's known in these parts, is 1752 acres of beautiful open space and is one of the largest parks in any European city. It is home to lots of wildlife, and to 450 deer. It is also where President Mary Mc Aleese resides, in Áras an Uarhtarán. Dublin Zoo is also in the Park, as is the Garda Headquarters, so it's a busy place. You wouldn't think it to look at these photos!

And, from the website, I just discovered that they have a Knitting and Crochet Group which meets every Wednesday morning! Now, if only I didn't have to go to work!!