BLOOMING MONTH

 

As you all know my favourite pastimes are English, (reading, teaching and visiting sites from lives of authors or novels) and gardening.  Every June I visit Dublin on 16th June, Bloomsday, to follow the meanderings of Stephen and Leopold.  Next blog will be about this I hope, But this year I thought I would also like to visit Bloom, (the garden festival). As we were planning a family trip for the bank holiday weekend (another blog perhaps), I thought I would not be able to go, but on Tuesday as I left work I met the gardener from the centre’s organic gardening section and she asked if I would like to visit BLOOM!!!! there were places on the minibus and the centre had tickets! (A freebie!!!)

  On Thursday 2nd June we set off for Bloom. the weather was great, we got the best weather so far this year.  The food there was also great, not forgetting the plants!  The gardens were brilliant. The two photos above are from Bloom. I didn’t buy anything cause I didn’t want to lug plants home and the man at the Friday market in Askeaton has good plants. I bought some from him the next morning.

Now for a tour of my garden. Thanks to my friends and family my garden is looking good this year and will be even better in a month’s time. The first photo is of the pathway and tree borders that Joseph built. The one on the right is of my chicken run. the chickens posed for the photo, or maybe they expected food!

time.

These next two are of my vegetable patches that the youth from the church helped me to prepare. I have had spring onions and rhubarb so far and the rest are doing well, unfortunately the weeds are thriving too!.

Here is the seat under the willow that Mairtin designed and made. This is the best spot to sit on a hot day, many of which we are about to get this summer. On the right is the latest section I have planted and set some summer flowering seeds also. The patch is a bit bigger that the came out in the photo, photography is not one of my hobbies.

This is the front of the house with Kevin trying to tidy quickly before I took the photo. Lovely red jumper to stand out against the white background. He waters the baskets and digs when put on the pressure, not an enthusiastic gardener I am afraid! but a good laundry worker, (no photos included of the clothes line as I do not air my clean washing in public).

The View from our bedroom is my favourite and this section is the first we worked on. Kevin and I dug out the pond and Elaine’s dogs dug the liner up so we filled it in to make a bog. Two of our dogs, Bonny and Gromit are buried in this section, Bonny is under a Sally and Gromit was under the Eucalyptus but it died this winter and Jaf cut it down the other day so now he is under the gap in the lawn. My cat Pishwish was buried in a rockery that has since been covered by the garage and drive. The clematis on the archway died this winter. Most of our hedging died also.

This overgrown shrubbery below is also one of the first things planted. Joseph and his friends picked out stones and I paid them 50p a bucket full I think, Then I planted the shrubs and Alec has trimmed them a number of times. The past two really cold winters we had killed some of them and the rest seemed to grown faster then usual!

Sorry to anyone not interested in gardening, but that’s all for now. Now that I know how to add photos I will write soon. Bye.

Hi everyone,

I have finally got around to doing this. My intention is to write a variety of things, maybe mostly memories. If you find it extremely boring then don't read it! It is primarily for me and those I love or who love me, (I assume that the two groups are the same). Sorry everyone there wont be any secrets in it so I am going to invite lots of people to read it and I will delete them if I get bored. Although you will all probably be bored long before me.

I will add photos when I figure out how!

I am inspired to do this by Susanne's 'Coffey' blog. I love the blog album they gave me for Christmas.

So to start with today.
22nd March 2011.
According to my car, it was 16 degrees and I had to struggle out of my lovely warm coat while I was stopped at traffic lights on my way home from work. I had time to stop at B&Q on the way and pick up some plants. At about six o'clock when it was beginning to get cold I overcame my exhaustion and planted up some pots. Feeling the joys of spring!

Last week on St. Pat's day Kevin, Andrew and myself tidied up the garden a bit and got some of it ready for planting. Andrew actually cried because he was forced to work. He usually gets pains and hunger and sick when he has to help out.


Back to last night!
I dreamt again of Mam. We were at a kind of pier sitting looking out to sea when the tide began to come in very quickly. I was carrying a baby. Mam was slumped half lying down and I tried to pull her up. I tried to carry and make her move fast away from the tide that was going to catch us. She was crying cause it was too painful for her to run, (I was only half carrying her as the baby was on one arm). We managed to get into the car and sat safely watching the boats bobbing. Anyway that was it! I have lots of ideas about interpretations and I don't want anyone else's opinion on the meaning, thanks.

Anyway today was a good day. My classes this morning was easy, they were a bit exhausted! Last night I had 12 students sit paper 2 of the pre-leaving cert exam. There were 10 men and 2 women. A couple of years ago it was always mostly women and hardly any men. The recession has seen the increase in men wanting to upskill, not just unemployed men.

CHEAP MEALS.

We had a roast chicken on Sunday. When I cook a chicken I cut out the breast and put it in the fridge for another day, for enchilladas or something else nice. I hate reheated meat. I put stuffing in where I have cut out the breast and pull the skin over it. In the mixer I put:
1 onion
1 small carrot
3 slices of bread
herbs and seasoning.

Then on Monday I cook the left over chicken in sweet and sour sauce for Andrew and Kevin. they like it, I don't, it is really easy to do with rice.
So I get three meals from 1 chicken.
Sometimes I freeze the breast fillets.

So there is the first blog. Is it as disjoined and as jumbled as a conversation with me? If not I promise it will be as I go along. I dont intend to be orderly.

I phoned Mark to ask how to do this and setting it up is easy, expecially when you have an IT expert as a son!