Black and White Wednesday

Aren't the colours of nature just wonderful?

Sometimes I take them for granted, they are around us every day, so I don't notice them, but imagine if they were taken away?

These were taken on our recent trip to Pisa, this was the view from outside our hotel (though not from the balcony, there were trees in the way!). Can you see the Leaning Tower and the Duomo in the distance?

For more B and W click on the link at the top to go to Lisa's blog. You will see some amazing photography there.

Summer Stock Sunday

I know that to some of you, this might not look like much of a summer picture, but it was not a bad day (for Ireland).
This was taken on a recent visit to Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland. Newgrange, or Brú na Bóinne (Mansion of the Boyne) is a prehistoric passage tomb, 5000 years old. Yes, it pre-dates even the Pyramids and Stonehenge.
I'm planning to do a full post on my trip, soon. This was the view from the hilltop where the tomb is located
And an interesting twist to this post is that it was Robin, who hosts Summer Stock Sunday who made me aware of the significance of Newgrange, following her post on it when she visited Ireland! even though I've lived one hour's drive away from it, and my friend lives 20 minutes walk from it, I had never been.
Through Robin's eyes, I saw my own country differently.

"One does not see anything until one sees its beauty" Oscar Wilde

For more Summer Stock or to join in, click on the link at the top of this post, and you'll be transported to Robin's tropical island.

The break

We had a wonderful few days in Tuscany. Totally relaxed, had lovely meals, walked, walked, walked, took lots of pictures, walked some more. Oh, and cycled!

Here are just a first few pics, more to follow. This was just beside the leaning tower, flowing water keeping the fruit fresh and cool. Wouldn't need the water for cooling here, not this week anyway.

But the forecast is that "it will pick up" - at 11 degrees tonight, it would need to!

Summer Colours

We went on a little trip last week, to Avoca.

I particularly wanted to visit Avoca Handweavers, and thought we might get in a nice walk in the area too.

Well, it was an unexpected kind of day. Couldn't find a walk at all, other than through the village. That wasn't what I had in mind.

While we were driving round, looking for the walk, we spotted, just outside the (very picturesque) village, a sign for Avoca Recycling Centre. I knew that I had a couple of pairs of shoes in the boot of the car, ready for dropping off whenever I'd be passing a recycling centre, but never expected it to be in the Vale of Avoca.

What a place...it must be the most picturesque recycling centre in the world. We drove up a huge avenue, on the edge of a forest, and there were containers for all kind of stuff.

When I opened the boot to get out the shoes, there was an old duvet that I had thrown in there last night, after doing a mini-clearout. And, sure enough, there was a container for old bedding. Score!

After getting rid of that stuff, and abandoning the idea of a walk, we headed to have a look at Avoca Handweavers Mill.

These pics are all from there, taken by hubby. The noise of the machinery meant that those spending a lot of time in the "weaving shed" had to wear ear muffs!

The machinery was clacking away in the background

making beautiful patterns of tartan for the rugs, capes and scarves they sell in their shop.

They had several racks of these cones of wool, and the minute I saw them, I knew they'd make a great blog post, especially for those bloggers who are into wool and knitting.

I've been a fan of Avoca Handweavers for a long time: both their clothes and the food they serve in their cafe are high quality, handmade, not mass-produced. But this visit gave me a new insight into the intricate process that is involved, and I enjoyed it very much.

Getting ready for summer

Went on a shopping spree today.

No, not really a spree, just got a few bits for my holidays- hubby and I are going away for a few days towards the end of July, so I thought I'd get myself organised in plenty of time.

As we'll be travelling with Ryanair, and they only allow one bag (and they are very strict about it), I got this little item, which can go across body under any jacket. I hate having to lug down my bag from the overhead locker to get out money for food on the plane, so this is the perfect solution.

Then I spotted a rack of belts, and couldn't resist these two. The black one will go perfectly with my black patent sandals, and the flowery one is lovely- not sure if it shows in this picture, but it has loads of tiny sequins. (sorry, order of photos is wrong, blogger is being funny again and I had to go to firefox to publish, grrr!)

Total cost of the "spree".....€10.

Got to love Dunnes Stores! And the sale hasn't even started yet, these were regular prices!

We're flying into Pisa, will go to Florence for at least a day. If anybody has any tips on the area, they'd be much appreciated.

Looking forward to the trip. This will be our first time away without the kids, ever!

I'm linking in with Robin at Around the Island for Summer Stock Sunday. If you'd like to join in just follow the link.

Where do I begin? This blog has gone to seed

Tried to get a post in before a month had gone by. Failed.

Life has been hectic, even a bit chaotic. I began a few posts, but abandoned them before I could even hit the "post" button. Then Blogger wouldn't let me post this, so I had to type in all in again.After a look around, i'm now on Firefox instead of IE. Here goes...

Enough excuses.

Another school year is over here, and school year end is always hectic. This one was no different, exams, corrections, reports, graduations, prep for state exams. It all just takes over, in the same way that Christmas shopping and cooking take over. A couple of late nights getting corrections finished, but got there in the end.

And we've had state exams in this house too. One Leaving Cert and one Junior Cert. Our lives have become a "who's on this morning and at what time", 2 timetables permanently on the kitchen counter, days being ticked off. Some exams start at different times to others, you have to be constantly on your toes! In fairness to Son, he was willing to make his own way home most days, which was a big help.

And Middle Daughter had a job! Attendant at the exams, which involved making tea for the Superintendent and bring candidates to the toilet. She loved it!

It seems an eternity since I was posting about my own French Horn exam. Thanks for all the good wishes. I'm glad to say that it all went well, and I'm thrilled with my result. The accompanist was wonderful, and the experience of rehearsing with her in the Peppercanister Church was amazing!

We've had an 18th Birthday in the house too! And a party! Lots of fun.

So, Happy 18th Birthday, Zoe. I'm so lucky to be your Mom, and even though I knew that from the first time you were placed in my arms, I have been reminded of it many times since then. You were so tiny and so vulnerable in those first days that I wondered if you would survive at all.

Survive you did! And you thrived. You have grown into a confident, capable young woman; you are willing to take on a challenge and see it through to the end. You have had some fantastic experiences through your school years, and they're not over yet! You have loads of friends, from many different groupings, and they all love you to bits. You love to travel (where did you get that from ?) but you're also happy at home. You are trustworthy, reliable, fun to be around, calm, witty, intelligent, hard-working, adventurous, kind. I hope I haven't forgotten anything here.

Most of all, you're Zoe. We all love you so much.

That went well, phew!

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, left Ireland yesterday, and the concensus is that the visit was a huge success. I want to record a few thoughts of my own here:

We expected to welcome her, to give them the Irish Céad Míle Fáilte, but we didn't expect to fall in love with her. But, if the papers (and my friends!) are anything to go by, that is exactly what happened. We started off thinking she was great, at 85 years of age, to undertake such a visit, but by the end of it, we were charmed, even though she didn't taste our Guinness. Reporters in the Storehouse say that Prince Philip looked longingly at the pint, but didn't partake.
I honestly don't think I've ever seen the Queen laugh as much as in this photo (courtesy of Associated Press). Apparently, Pat O'Connell, the fishmonger, was telling her that he was 30 years married, practically to the day, and the last time he was this nervous was on his wedding day.

In spite of the huge security risks, she looked relaxed and happy to be on Irish soil. And, in spite of the fact that, in Dublin at least, we couldn't get within a few streets of her, again because of the security risks, we felt the impact of her visit all around us. The most important thing was that she would be safe, so we didn't mind not being able to shake the Royal hand.

Looking at this photo of the pair of them, walking across from the helicopter to the Rock of Cashel, I realise that they are old but remarkable people. I have the height of admiration for the fact that they undertook this visit. Their schedule was gruelling, and they must have been exhausted by this stage (day 4), but they never once slumped, in any sense of the word. I don't think I would have had the energy for shaking 170 hands on night 3!

The big losers in all of this were Sinn Féin and those who refused to move on from the past. We don't forget our history, and let's not forget that the Queen's cousin was killed by an IRA bomb, but it's time to create a new history, and that's what happened this week. Led by our wonderful President Mary Mc Aleese, and together with the Queen ,we opened a new chapter.

I felt such a relief when the last day came and went without any incidents, as my biggest worry was that somebody would do something stupid. The Gardai did a fantastic job of keeping trouble-makers at bay, and although there were only a handful of them, they had the potential to cause trouble, throwing bricks and pushing barriers.

So, a momentous week.

And guess who's coming to dinner next week? Barak Obama, with Michelle.

It' just can't get much better, can it?

(all other photos are by Bauer Griffin)