ROMANCE IS NOT DEAD!

Geoffrey came back from the shops today with a present for me - a thermal vest! - and they say romance is dead!

AUTUMN COLOUR

NEARER TO GOD?

Adam rang me today to tell me what he had been up to this morning.

The roof has just been repaired on one of the churches he is responsible for so he had to go up on the roof with the architect to inspect the work. He sounds like he quite enjoyed himself and is obviously not afraid of heights. I asked if he had felt nearer to God and he laughed.

Who said being a rector is boring!

CLOGGA BEACH, ARKLOW, CO. WICKLOW

I painted Clogga Beach a long time ago and enjoyed painting it. I am known for getting lost and several times I have set out to find this beach again, only to get lost, so today as it was a lovely sunny day Geoffrey suggested that he comes with me to search for this beach!

We set off after lunch - me driving and Geoffrey giving the odd helpful comment "why are you going down there - "you missed the turning" etc. We drove beyond Arklow - that much I managed before - then drove down a few narrow winding roads. I know now why I never found it! It is a little hidden gem and I still say it is difficult to find.

CLOGGA BEACH, ARKLOW, CO. WICKLOW

MY VISITOR

Decided I had to do some housework as the Rector was coming to stay. Hang on a minute thats my son! Forget the housework!

BREAKFAST AT THE RECTORY!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU

ADAM'S INDUCTION

Adam's induction service was a lovely friendly service and in spite of my failing voice I managed to do the first reading. Watching Adam was really very surreal as he took his role in the service. After the service a feast was laid on for everyone and I met a lot of people, everyone is very welcoming and warm and have made Adam so welcome. The family were also made very welcome with a lot of thought and kinds deeds, overall the parishes feel warm and welcoming and I am sure that Adam will be very happy there.

On Sunday I went to Adam's first service as rector and was amazed at his polish and relaxed presentation - remember he is still my baby! He fluffed a few things but turned these into a laugh and had the congretation smiling.

AREA DEAN, KATHY, ADAM AND BISHOP RICHARD

IN THE COUNTRY

Adam's new home is really lovely, big and bright and such a view from the many bay windows.

I stayed with him for a few days and every morning I spent a few minutes looking out of my bedroom window at that view! I am not sleeping well lately so have been up at dawn most mornings.

Around dawn the clouds cover the hills in the distance and the river is black and fast flowing - then the scene changes gradually - wispy clouds floating down the mountain and the river surface gradually turning a lighter shade and reflections of the trees and buildings appearing. Throughout the day it changes, Sligo is a really lovely part of the country.

Since moving in Adam has had so much help from the people around him and it has made his move much less stressful.

THE VIEW FROM THE RECTORY (Adam's new home)

SETTLING IN

Henry and Graham ( the two cats) have settled into their new home with no problem. Making themselves at home and Henry has already started doing his usual act of climbing up and down the bannisters.

When they look out of the windows I wonder what is going through their heads as the scene they see is very different to the one they are used to!

HAPPY IN THEIR NEW HOME

AT HOME

A MOVING EXPERIENCE

Moving house they say is the worst experience you can have in life so Adam's move from his house in Wales to his new house in Sligo was no picnic and I was not much help to him.

In his time in Wales he had made a lot of friends and it was lovely to see his friends pitching in and helping him move.

One friend - from his first parish - took the cats overnight and fed both them and us the following morning before the journey. Another two friends - from Faith and Light - came and cleaned the house from top to bottom on the day it was being cleared out by the movers and another friend - a local pastor - fed us on our last night as they knew we were staying in a hotel and my diet was limited and lastly another friend met us in Aberystwyth (half way through our journey to the ferry) and looked after the cats and us.

The journey was not too bad and the cats behaved themselves very well. The only bad part was when we had to leave them on the ship, their cage had to be left against a wall on the open car deck and they were very frightened, I felt sorry for them but when we came to collect them they calmed down again.

TRAFFIC CONES IN THE HALL

The headline says it all! I am sitting here surrounded by piles of boxes and other bits and pieces ready for the movers.

The cats have been introduced to their travelling cage, if they only knew what they were in for! Wednesday is going to be interesting, not only have the cats not travelled in a car they have not been on a boat either! I will not be able to travel over with Adam to Sligo as I would have liked and am hoping that the cats do not make too much of a fuss on the journey.

Moving house is a nightmare, Adam has found that with his job he will have to move occasionally but he has moved three times in four years!

Roll on Sligo.

GOODBYE TO WALES

I am over this weekend to "help" Adam with his move from Wales to his new parish in Sligo. I say "help" as I am really only supervising as I am still not in the whole of my health!

Today I went to church - which I don't do very often! Adam gave his last sermon and as usual choose an unusual theme which skilfully linked into the reading for the day. Towards the end of the service the assistant minister was reading the blessings and I promise I was listening when I suddenly heard him mention Adam's mom, mentioning that I was there and wishing me and Adam well for the future, its the first time I have been greeted in church like that and it was very nice. Afterwards there was tea and chat in the church hall and Adam and I were surrounded by people wishing us well and saying how they will miss Adam, it makes your heart glad and says something for Adam's time there.

LIFE DIET

I am still struggling to get back to normal - eating wise. Because I have to stick to a bland diet with small portions my energy level is not what it should be.

Adam is coming back to Ireland in a few weeks and I am doing my best to get my energy levels up so that I can help him make his move but so far it aint looking good! The one good thing in all of this though is that I am loosing weight and continue to loose weight which I have been trying to do for some time - there is always a silver lining in everything!

I am very happy that Adam is coming back to Ireland to live and work, he will be over in Sligo which is a wee way from here and it is going to very interesting when I try to drive over to visit him as I have a habit of getting lost.

MISSING

For the the first time in years I will not be taking part on the railings in Wicklow, displaying my art. This week Wicklow celebrates the Wicklow Regatta and the town will be full of visitors of not just the sailing kind. I have been trying all week to get back on my feet but this infection has knocked the stuffing out of me and I have no energy.

I will miss the craic as we say in Ireland.

LIFE'S LITTLE BUMPS

well - I hit a rather large bump last Wednesday and ended up being rushed to hospital by ambulance! It was very painful and scary and I HATE HATE HATE hospital.

I am now thankfully on the mend and being looked after by Geoffrey who wishes we lived in a bungalow!

CHURCH VIEW

DUTY

As a condition of taking part in an exhibition each artist has to do desk duty, usually an hour or two which I am always happy to do. I always find that I learn so much by spending time with other artists and looking at the work on display.

Last night I did desk duty in Greystones where I am taking part in an exhibition in St Patrick's Recreation Hall in Church Road until Sunday. I really enjoyed the two hours I was there and I had a great chat with my fellow volunteer and other members that came in.

There is some really fantastic pictures on display and it was also great to look around with other artists and study and comment on each individual style of painting. Asking where other artists source their materials is very useful too.

I went home happy with my fill of artistic knowhow!

COMING HOME

Adam is coming back to live and work in Ireland. He has been living in Wales since he went to college there when he was 20, a long time. It is great that he has finally found a position here and I hope he will be happy and fulfilled here as he puts his heart and soul into everything he does.

I have been trying to search out different things for him and this morning I spent online searching out what he has to do to transport his two white cats.. As he has lived in Wales for such a long time he has accumulated such an amount of stuff it will take a bit of sorting out but his move will not be immediate which will give us time to get sorted.

ENJOYING IT

Went for a stroll along the pier in Wicklow Harbour the other evening with my sister who lives in landlocked Kilkenny.

It was one of those warm windless evenings. There was a haze in the distance and those dark ripples on a flat calm sea, just great. My sister remarked how lovely it was and how lucky I was to live near such a fantastic place and I agreed.

The pier was full of lots of people strolling up and down just enjoying the evening and after the horrible winter we had it is just what we need to boost our spirits.

SUMMER'S EVENING IN WICKLOW HARBOUR

WINDBLOWN

Went out to the garden this morning to photograph the poppies that are bursting into flower and found that the wind overnight had blown almost all the petals off so I consoled myself by painting instead.

POPPIES

I LOVE CATS

It is a long time since we lost our lovely cat and I miss him so when I see other cats I always go over and "talk" to them.

Today I was down in the recycling centre and noticed in amongst all the bins and noise a tabby cat sitting like a king on top of one of the bins. He looked so serene it amazed me as the building is very noisy with lots of people coming and going. I went over to him and he accepted a pet from me. He was one very laid back cat!

WINDOW DRESSING

The two paintings below have been displayed in two shop windows in Wicklow Town as part of the Arts Trail for the Wicklow Arts Festival. Taking a stroll around the town it is lovely to see such a large range of pictures on display and all for sale!

I spent a lot of time painting the Asgard and it is something I had not tried before, as they are watercolours I had to make sure that the windows they were displayed in were not directly in the sun. One side of the main street in Wicklow Town never gets the sun (something that not a lot of people know!).

POOLBEG POWER STATION, DUBLIN

THE ASGARD 11 IN WICKLOW HARBOUR

IT'S THE SMALL THINGS .......

Like most people today life for us is a bit of a struggle - no point in going into it - its too boring for anyone to listen to but it is amazing how one little thing can lift your spirits.

All day today a male blackbird has been singing his little heart out to his sweatheart who from the volume of his singing is some way away! It is really lovely to listen to, he is making - I think - about four different notes and starts at the back of the house on the roof of our neighbour and then goes round to the front of our house and sings and jumps up and down in the hedge there. It has really put me in a happy mood and I do hope he gets the bird!

WORK?!

I have been busily painting these last few weeks, something I had not been doing lately as I havn't been feeling great. Now that I have got the bit between my teeth so to speak I am enjoying it and am delighted with the last two pictures I have produced which is unusual for me as I am rarely happy with my efforts.

One picture is for a local arts trail and is a subject I had not attempted before, fingers crossed that someone will like it and the other one is of Poolbeg Power Station in Dublin, a subject I have painted many times. I painted Poolbeg a bit different this time and I like it, it is going into an exhibition in Dublin in July - if I don't sell it in the meantime!!

As I sit here I am surrounded by pictures, some framed and some still waiting to be framed, I am lucky that Geoffrey is good at putting my pictures together as this allows me to paint a picture for an exhibition and have it ready for the next day if needed.

ARACHNOPHOBIA

What! Yes I know - as my sister would say "I had one of those and the wheel fell off!"

The frightened and informed people amongst us would know that the big word above means that some of us are frightened by spiders.

I grew up on a farm and wasnt afraid of any of the animals I had to take care of, no matter how aggressive they were and had been bitten, stamped on and chased by many an animal but silly me I am afraid of spiders.

So picture the scene - I had just washed my hands and picked up the towel to dry them and there was a plopping sound and when I looked down at my feet there was this HUGE SPIDER, I nearly died of fright and there was nearly a Helen shaped hole in the ceiling!

DRIVING LESSONS!

We had a full house last weekend which was great as both boys are rarely home at the same time. They both lead such busy lives and Adam particularly catches up with friends when he is at home - just one problem he does it in my car!

Simon spent some time over the weekend getting driving lessons with Geoffrey - just one problem he does it in my car!

Seriously - I don't mind - maybe just a little!

SLEEPING BABY

BLUE SHOES

WHAT FUR

The garden is strangly quiet now that the birds no longer require feeding and have gone off to build nests and things, so I was surprised to see another visitor to one of the feeding dishes we had left out.

At first I could not make out what exactly the moving object was, but as I studied it I realised that it was a very small dormouse. A sweet little thing with big ears and a tail longer than its body. It sits and feeds not even bothered by us going to and fro to the garage, I just hope the grey tabby that comes into our garden does not have it for lunch one day.

SPRING!

HAPPY EASTER !

MAKING A CAKE

Its well known that I am not a good cook but I am also a very bad baker too! My cakes turn out flat and rubbery - not nice! So when Geoffrey had a milestone birthday yesterday I decided to make him a cake in the only way I knew how.

The outside was cardboard but the inside was sponge like a cake should be - a natural sponge of course! He was tickled pink and I can honestly say this is the first successful cake I have ever produced!

THE CAKE!

GEOFFREY'S "SPONGE" CAKE!

BUSY BUSY!

Havn't had much time for blogging lately as I have been away in Wales with Adam. It was my first long visit since he moved to his new parish. His vicar is away on a break and he is in sole charge of a big parish and seems to be doing ok. As his mother it is fascinating to watch him work. His two white cats have settled in well into their new home and he has plenty of offers to look after them when he is away.

I had an awful crossing on the ferry on my way back. Big seas and every so often a wave that seemed to twist the boat. I am a good sailor even in bad weather but this time I was very tired and what with a few people getting sick all around me, I did hold onto everything but only just!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

HERE COMES THE SUN!

Got up this morning and the sun was shining! I swore I would not moan about the weather but I am so fed up with being cold so it was just fantastic to see the sun this morning and to feel the warmth coming through the glass in the patio door. I sat for some time looking out at the garden watching a blackbird and a chaffinch warily eying each other at the feeding tray quite content with the day.

It just goes to show - the simplest things in life are the best.

I LOST MY HEART!

I don't paint very often in acrylics as I prefer watercolour but every so often I try my hand at it. I painted the fiery heart you see on the site and liked it so much that I was going to hang it at home but when I saw the beautiful valentine window in the gallery decided to put my heart into the window. The girls in the gallery insisted I put a price on it which I did. When I went down to the gallery on Monday I found I had lost my heart!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL

I have just come back from Lanzarote, having spent a week there with Adam. It was lovely to get away from all the snow and ice but not without first falling the day before I flew out and twisting my knee!

Lanzarote is a really unusual place. The island is volcanic having had 2 large eruptions in the 1870's, although the islanders manage to grow vines in the middle of the lava fields! Thanks to a man called Cesar Manrique the island is one big artistic backdrop. Only two storey buildings (with one exception) are allowed on the island and no billboards are allowed which gives the island a lovely unclutted clean look. Cesar Manrique's house itself is amazing having been built within two volcanic tunnels - see the two pictures below.

The week went so fast but I was able to catch up with both my sisters (who live there lucky things!) and it was a nice winter treat with Adam.

THE WALL SCULPTURE

The Courtyard of Cesar Manrique's house

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD BULLY!

You know how people say Robins are the bullies of the garden scene well......

We have a large shrub growing on our back wall which this year was full of berries but as the winter has been so severe all the berries have gone so we have started to feed the birds. I put down fruit, a fat ball and water, I also scattered bird feed in several places as we are visited by quite a few birds. Guess who is trying to hog the lot - yes you guessed it - Mr. Robin! When he is not stuffing his face he sits in the ivy on another wall and creates such a racket, obviously to frighten off the other birds. The amazing thing is that birds eight times his size sit there cold and hungry and let him take over.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

We spent Christmas with Adam in Wales as usual. This year he has moved to a new parish and Christmas morning was my first visit to one of the churches in his new parish. This visit did not make a good impression on me I am sorry to say but not through anyone's fault.

A few days before the pipes had burst on the heating system and of course on Christmas morning there was no heating. The church is a fairly big building with a high ceiling and I have never been so cold in my life! The poor organist's fingers kept going numb from the cold.

If you look at the picture below you can see the hunched cold look on the people's faces, I hope they get their heating fixed quickly.

A COLD AND FROSTY MORNING!

THAT LOVING FEELING!

How do you know someone loves you?!!


I was getting the dinner the other night - yes I said I WAS GETTING THE DINNER! I just could not open a jar of pasta sauce no matter how I tried so I yelled out CAN SOMEONE COME AND OPEN A JAR FOR ME and all three of my menfolk came running!

Of course I could be sceptical and it could just be that they were hungry and wanted to make sure their dinner would be ready soon!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

MY SLAVE

It had to happen one day.....

Geoffrey is officially a slave! He is taking part in the production of the opera "Aida" as a slave which is being held this weekend in the o2 Arena, Dublin and the Odyssey Belfast and in true slave tradition is unpaid!

EXHIBITION

Below is one of my paintings which you will find in the exhibition opening at the Kilmantin Art Gallery in Abbey Street, Wicklow. You will also find a fantastic display of paintings and craft items, all by local artists.

We are having a gathering to open the exhibition at 5 o'clock on Saturday and if you are passing and see a happy band of people enjoying themselves do drop in and help yourself to some wine and mince pies and hopefully take something beautiful home!

MY FAVOURITE SPOT

NATURE

Nature is really cruel.

Our blackbird had returned to our garden and he had a "wife" Geoffrey and I have been watching them these last few weeks bouncing between the shrubs and chasing each other through the long wet grass and making quite a noise. All that came to an end this afternoon. Geoffrey was watching the male blackbird hopping through the grass when suddenly there was a flurry of fur and a lot of noise and a cat shot out of the grass and bolted over the fence with the blackbird in his mouth, it happened so fast we could not do anything to save it. The poor female is just sitting on the top of the wall being very quiet, we will have to keep a good eye on her so that she does not go the same way as her mate.

SUPERSTITION

As I was saying recently - bad things come in threes - they don't - they come in fours. After the heating failing and Adam's car mishap we have now been hit with two jolts in life and I am keeping them to myself!

I must now think positive and get in the right frame of mind to sell my wares on Sunday at the craft fair held every year in my home town. The fair is held every year in a local hotel in a big room with a (closed) bar in one corner of the room - guess who bags the bar every year as it is in a good position with good lighting and lots of space to hang pictures!!

WICKLOW HARBOUR

MISERY

Its been a horrible week. First Adam rang to say that his car was a right off after an accident with a bollard. He was ok thankfully but in dispair as he needs his car to get around his parish. Then the heating went - again.

I have spent all week chasing heating engineers who made all kinds of promises and then simply did not arrive, all the time getting colder and colder. I was so cold that I could not paint as my hands were just too cold. Finally I asked a fellow artist friend if she knew someone and she gave me a name and we rang him on Sunday (yes I know but we were SO COLD) and he CAME AROUND a few hours later AND GOT THE HEATING GOING, the relief was mighty.

Then Adam rang to say that he had found a car, at the right price and would be mobile again in a week.

There is only one niggling thought at the back of my mind - I am superstitious, don't things come in threes?

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

This time of the year,getting ready for the Christmas craft fairs I take part in, I knit more than I usually do. This year I am making bracelets with a thicker wire which is very difficult to knit with. The wire is quite stiff and my hands are quite sore so I have taken a break and am enjoying painting my favourite spot in Wicklow - the harbour.

Apart from being busy with my crafts it has been a busy two weeks. Adam was home from Wales for a week and then Simon came home for the weekend. Geoffrey and I rattle around the house when we are here on our own and when the boys come home it takes a bit of getting used to! Our heating had packed up on us so it was a cold visit for both boys, although thankfully heat has been restored in the last few days.

AGE IS RELATIVE

Yea, they say age is relative but not when it relates to you!

Adam is home this week as it is his birthday, he will be 36 today and it makes me feel ancient! It seems only a sort time ago when he was born, it certainly does not feel like 36 years.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

You know when they say "Don't try this at home" when showing a stunt or something, well I can now say the same about a stunt of mine.

We have had a mouse in our attic space and I had put a radio loudly playing opera and when everything became silent I presumed that the mouse had moved on. Well,I was wrong, and the poor thing has died. How do we know it has died? I will leave that up to your imagination but suffice it to say we now have to sort out the roof space - pronto.

MUSICAL TASTES

Well it worked! Our mouse does not like opera! No sign or sound from the roof space thank goodness. I wonder do all mice not like opera or would it have been the high notes opera singers get up, I suspect the latter.

DO MICE LIKE OPERA?

We have a mouse in our roof space, I live in a dormer bungalow and our "attic" is a space that runs down each side of the house under the roof space and a mouse has just moved into one side. The space is full of my youngest son's toys which he will not part with along with a lot of other stuff of his and it is impossible to find the mouse in all of that. It might also be a field mouse which are protected and I would not kill so I have resorted to an unusual method that my father tried in our old farmhouse. He used to put a loudly playing radio into the attic to get rid of the mice and it always worked!

So now I have a radio blaring out opera in the hopes that the same trick will work on this mouse. I don't know what I will do next if I find that he likes opera and stays!

KILMACURRAGH WOODS

Went for a walk to one of my favourite places last Saturday. Wandering along the flower border it was lovely to see plants I remembered from my childhood. It is never crowded there - lets hope it stays that way!

PINK POM POM

MEET GEORGE!

A RIGHT LEMON!

I havent been blogging lately as I have not been feeling very well.

I had realized that I have been grumpy and Geoffrey has been very patient with me but I did not realise how short a fuse I had!

I was getting the dinner the other night - grumbling as usual - salmon cutlets. Getting them ready for the oven I was trying to open a lemon squeeze bottle and just could not open it no matter how I tried. I finally lost patience and flung the bottle across the room, it bounced and bounced again and ended up in the front room on the carpet spilling out all over the carpet and a rattan mat in front of the fire.

Today when it finally dried I found out that lemon does not stain!

Phew!

A SUNNY MORNING

Saturday morning was lovely, warm and sunny and the butterflies thought it was a lovely day too.

Our front garden was full of butterflies flitting to and fro through the shrubs and I got some lovely shots of some of them, they were so happy feeding that they did not fly away which was great

OUR GARDEN VISITOR

IN A CORNER OF OUR GARDEN

NATURE'S SURPRISES

We do not use any artificial sprays or fertilisers in our small garden so that the wildlife visit us in safety. We do daft things like letting our onions and sage go to seed and the bees love this and on a sunny day the buzzing of bees can be heard. But we have noticed that in spite of planting shrubs that butterflies like we have had very few visit in the last few years so there was much exitement when a peacock butterfly landed on the sage. Unfortunately by the time I got my camera it had flown off, I remember some years back coming home from work and seeing the front of our house covered in red admiral butterflies! I sat in wonderment and counted them and got up to the figure of 35! Of course when I opened the car door they flew off but I have never forgotten that sight.

SUMMER

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

These last few weeks have been busy in our household and I do not know where July went!

My day on the railings in Wicklow was very successful and it was a happy day for all of us selling our wares. Its lovely to chat to like minded people, sharing ideas, where they get their framing etc. I always learn so much. The weather was very kind to us and there were lots of people looking at the pictures which was great.

Simon moved into his flat and has just made a few fleeting visits to us, we have just had some friends visiting from New Zealand who left yesterday and we have finally got the house to ourselves.

I now have the task of updating my filing system which I have neglected since the beginning of the summer so that when Geoffrey yells "where's the ESB bill" I can hopefully put my hand on it!

A MAD WEEK

This last week has been busy and a little mad.

Simon has been very unwell all this week but had to keep going as he had appointments to keep and was also busy packing and setting up his new flat with his girlfriend. In the middle of this he also found time to help me set up a web page for a small business we have, but it has been a gruelling week. The web page we did has already produced results with gives me great satisfaction.

Tomorrow I hope to go out on the railings in Wicklow to sell my art(weather permitting) and I had hoped to have a new small painting but have just not had the time.

CARE FOR THE CARERS

Adam rang the other night "just to talk to someone" - he had just come back from conducting a funeral for a baby and had struggled to give the parents some comfort which of course is impossible and he just had to talk to someone to settle it in his mind. I am glad I was there for him to talk to.

PAINTING

After looking at the painting below I decided to take out the waves. This style of painting is not my usual style but I decided to try to paint in brighter colours as I love bright colours myself, its hanging in the gallery in Wicklow, lets see if someone likes it!

WICKLOW HARBOUR

RAILING AGAINST THE RAIN

The Leinster Fleadh is being held in Wicklow Town this weekend and as the town is full of people us artists were invited to show our wares around the railings on the main street by Wicklow Town Council.

Myself and a half dozen others spent today anxiously watching the weather - anticipating rain and having plastic sheets ready to cover our pictures when it rained. We made it to around 3.30 when the heavens opened and then we had to call it a day.

The streets were full of people and some artists had quite a few sales (including myself) so it was not a total washout!

Tomorrow I am thankfully indoors - on duty at the Greystones Arts Exhibition where I have three pictures.

RED SAILS

I went round by the harbour on my way home after the dentist this morning to cheer myself up and found the harbour full of red sails. It really is a lovely sight. The red sails belong to a sailing school and I love to watch them sailing to and fro around the harbour under the watchful eye of their instructors.

I quite forgot to feel sorry for myself!

SAILING SCHOOL IN WICKLOW HARBOUR

WICKLOW HARBOUR

This boat with the lighthouse in the background is one of my favourite scenes to paint

THE FLOWERING BOAT

BACK TO PAST

Geoffrey is doing his extra bit in the new series of the Tudors, poor thing had to get up at 5 o'clock this morning to be on set early, it will be a long day and very tiring especially in the heatwave we are having at the moment. I have had to pull up my socks and get back to housework and cooking, I will try not to grumble!

MR AND MRS ROBIN

Our pair of robins had disappeared a few weeks ago but are now back flying to and fro to their nest in the ivy with beaks loaded with worms. We wondered if robins reared two families.

It is really interesting and funny to watch them as they have got quite cheeky and do not fly away as much now when they see one of us in the garden or at the window in the kitchen. Most of the time they fly to the nest in stages, flying from shrub to post to shrub until they get near the nest, although the other day I saw daddy robin on the grass in front of the nest with a huge worm in his beak and when he took off vertically up to the nest he was not able to make it and had to reverse and fly back around in stages until he was near the nest and could fly in to it. They have also chased off all other birds and when some poor birds do venture into the garden they fly at them and create such a noise the visitors soon fly off.

SELLING ART

I spent Saturday and Sunday on the boardwalk between O'Connell Bridge and The Halpenny Bridge selling my pictures and cards - with Geoffrey's help. It was not a successful weekend for me, only selling some of my cards. This was only the second weekend for this venture and I hope it picks up in the future. The weather was not very kind to us but I met some interesting people and got to talk to fellow artists and pick up tips from them, which is no bad thing.

Monday was spent recuperating!

ON THE LIFFEY BOARDWALK

GEOFFREY ON THE LIFFEY BOARD WALK

WILD LIFE

Growing up in the countryside I am more aware of the wild life around me than city dwellers and love to see the antics of our animals friends.

Coming back on the ferry from Wales the ship was surrounded by a pod of dolphins a really lovely sight, but the image that has remained with me from my trip to Wales was the daft duck on a lake in St. Fagan's Folk Park. Watching this black and white duck lying on his back flecking his webbed feet, gently floating in amongst his upright brothers and sisters was funny to see.

JUST DUCKY!

MOVING HOUSES

Simon and I are just back from Wales having gone over to Adam to help him move houses - his new home and church.

His new house is much bigger than his last house but full of steps with a marble one leading from the hall into the diningroom which interested me. There were boxes everywhere as he has gathered a lot of stuff over the years and it will take some time for him to sort himself out. We (mostly Simon I admit) worked very hard but only made a small difference to the house. He has moved into a small terrace opposite a hugh grave yard, his two cats have settled in well but next door has five cats and there is much swishing of tails when they see them from a window!

His licensing service was a low key service which was fine as it was not too long! One of his friends from theological college came down from Bristol for the service and sat with Simon and myself during the service and it was funny to see how many people only talked to him (as he had his dog collar on) and ignored us! A coach full of parishioners from his "old" parish came to the service which was lovely.

His new parishioners are very friendly and laid on a spread for us in the church hall after the service. Watching Adam working his way through the room chatting to his new parishioners amazed me - a bit like the queen, he had a word for everyone!

ADAM AFTER HIS LICENSING SERVICE

ADAM WITH ANDREW, HIS VICAR AND ROBERT, HIS ARCHBISHOP

MOVING

Am off today to Wales to give Adam a helping hand with moving to his new house/parish. I usually travel over to him on my own but this time Simon is coming with me as he is needed for the heavy stuff! It will be nice to have a travelling companion.

WICKLOW HARBOUR - SUNSET