-
100 DAYS: DAY 1 to 10
I knew it would be a challenge more than a project doing the #100DayProject but I didn’t realise how much I would get caught up in the “must do” rather than the “want to do”. Obviously I was missing the point altogether, despite having it explained to me in detail by Paparali – who by the way has been sticking to her “Less” themed project like glue. I got off to what I thought was a good start. Making little videos of my creative efforts and enjoying the new experience, never having done so before. In a sense that learning was my first creative effort for the project. Day One I set aside a notebook to doodle and plan. I’m a little precious of decent notebooks and hate starting something in them and not seeing it out…
-
TINY
“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.” Henry David Thoreau.- These little guys were so tiny when they joined or family 3 weeks ago that Dasha’s shoulder only came up to the top of this Diet Coke can. They’re growing of course, but as you can see not a whole heck of a lot.
-
CROSSROADS
Have you ever set out to do something, fully sure of what it was you wanted to achieve, only to find yourself on the road to that achievement without a map or signposts? I’ve found myself in that unenviable position when it comes to this blog. I intended it to be a potpourri of thoughts that flow through my mind from time to time and to share these notions with other travellers through the blogosphere. Obviously I’m doing that (you’re reading one of those thoughts right now), but I don’t think I banked on how eclectic my tiny mind actually is and how following it down the rabbit hole could become more like rummaging through the town dump than browsing through a jumble sale on a warm summers day. (Sorry I got distracted there for a moment while three dogs engaged in…
-
DANCE AT YOUR WEDDING
My niece got married the other day. It was a relatively small wedding by todays standards with about 120 guests in attendance. The church ceremony went well – except for that one occasion when the priest got the grooms name wrong…oops!- and even the weather turned back into a glorious summers day with sunshine and unseasonably high temperatures. You know how it goes, the women dress up and the men dream about when the bar will open. A million photographs are taken, but only a small percentage of them will be worth keeping, and the Happy Couple will get a literal pain in the face before the cake is even cut from responding to the command “smile”. I long ago gave up taking my SLR to weddings because I tended to forget the reason for being there…
-
THE WRITER’S BLOCK
Way back in 2001 my Ban Chéile gave me a present of a little book by Joan Rekulak called The Writer’s Block. The blurb on the cover announced ” 786 Ideas to Jump-start Your Imagination”. Now I wasn’t sure if she was dropping a hint or lending me a helping hand, but either way that little book has been good company ever since. The idea is you can either work your way from cover to cover using each item on each page as a stimulus for your writing or you can randomly flick open a page and Viola!, inspiration guaranteed. Some of the things you will be treated to might be an image or a word or a downright challenge with directions to follow. Such as: “Visit a nearby cemetery – the older the better. Sit down…
-
LIFE IS…
-
THIS IS THE WEEK THAT WAS…
Ever think “darn it but my life is boring”! Or words to that effect. Well here’s the précis version of my week and I present it as my evidence that mine is of mild interest but only to me and possibly chronic insomniacs. Sunday We arrived home to Ireland from France onboard the Oscar Wilde and drove out of Rosslare towards Dublin through countryside that would do any tourist board proud. No matter how much I like to get away I love coming home even more. Monday Back to work and I have my usual trouble revving up my brain to anything approaching full steam ahead. A sad week for me because I’m relocating to another area and leaving my team behind after 6 years. Tuesday A packed work day catching up on things. Trying hard to…
-
THE LAURALYNN HOSPICE FOR CHILDREN
LauraLynn Ireland’s First Children’s Hospice opened in September 2011 and that was a significant milestone in the life of not only Jane McKenna the founder of the LauraLynn Foundation, a brave woman I had the great pleasure to work with for a short time, but in the lives of many children and families who are in dire need of the service and care LauraLynn House provides. The hospice receives no state funding and relies entirely on donations. Jane describes the function of the hospice as- “For parents, it will give that much-needed break – often as simple as a decent night’s sleep. It will also support healthy siblings, who are very much left out when a sick child needs 24-hour care. It will offer families a choice when the end comes and ongoing support for the family when…
