I wonder if you need to get a job at Grafton, or a Mortgage in order to visit Edward James?

We have all heard of a BLT - bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, but do you know what a BTW is?  They are quite common in Ireland.  The island of Ireland is a relatively small place.  It is possible to travel from one end to the other in one day, or indeed a half a day if you drive like the clappers and the traffic allows (in your dreams!), so an invitation or suggestion of a BTW can be very tempting.

BTW stands for a Blogger-Twitter-Whatever meet-up.  It gives those who live alone and work alone all day, the opportunity to meet face to face with like minded people, relax have a chat and some banter & craic over a pint.  Pints are not obligatory, a soft drink or coffee is quite acceptable.  The group can be as small as one couple or as large as a venue can hold.

Normally a date and time are selected and this info is passed about on Twitter.  People let the organiser know if they intend going along and then an area in a venue is booked for the group and it is usually somewhere that food or snacks are available.  There are times when you have advance notice and others when someone has had a rough day and just needs a listening ear for an hour, so twitters to see who might be available for a pint after work.  Some of these impromptu meet-ups have turned out to be great evenings - the problems and tensions of the day worked off and everyone goes home at a reasonable hour refreshed and ready to face the world again the next day.

Elly often Twitters when I am going down to Dublin and the meet-up might be round her dinner table.  All she wants are the numbers and she cooks a meal for all.  It is a great way to touch base with people. Alas, there are times when I must cancel or am unable accept an invitation, and as we all do say those words “Sure we will do it next time!”  Alas for one person, there will never be a ‘next time’!

At Christmas, @debbiemet suggested we meet for a lunch or coffee.  With the awful weather I refused to drive on a new hip.  I was whisked down and back up again in a short few days.  I only saw family ~ Elly and her in-laws ~ I did not have time to catch up with my own siblings or indeed my friends.

On Friday we were notified of the sudden death of @debbiemet and the Irish Blogger-Twitter world were stunned.  A Young married woman with so much to live for taken from us, yet an ould biddy like me who has had and lived a good life, is left to carry on.

Today Debbie’s funeral will take place in Dublin and in true Irish style a BTW has been organised by her on-line friends for later in the day, in her honour.  There will be people unable to get to the actual funeral but now have the opportunity to meet together in this way.  It will not be all about boozing, a whip around will be made for Aoibhneas Women’s Refuge, (in lieu of flowers) It was one of Debbie’s favourite charities.

I am unable to be in Dublin today, so I will be there virtually and raise my glass at my fireside.  No doubt Twitter will keep me up to speed with all the Craic at the BTW.

Our grief at Debbie’s passing is but a drop in the ocean to that of her husband and family circle.  I pray that they will find acceptance and inner peace in the dark days of loss.

Before

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and

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After

Who’s Who?

Thankfully I woke in my own bed on Friday morning! It was a lovely feeling to know there was somebody else in the house and a morning hug was waiting for me.  Elly, who had brought me home from the hospital on Thursday, was staying to keep an eye on me and watch for the hazards that might disrupt progress and also to make sure I behaved myself!

A good internet signal meant that she was able to work for a couple of hours while I pottered about at my leisure.  At one stage I heard her talking to somebody and thinking we had a guest I went to investigate.  It was a delivery of parcel post.  One package for her and one for me.  I had ordered nothing so I was like a child at Christmas all fingers and thumbs while I undid the tape and wrapping.  It was a wonderful unexpected surprise.  Thank you Fran!

Elly cleared her virtual desk and said she would take me out for a couple of hours.  I did want to call to Tools for Living in Ballymena, to see their sock and stocking aids.  I want to see which one is best and start practising now so that when I have the hip replaced I will be able to put my own socks on.  Alas the place closed early on a Friday so we picked up Hails from Coffee Helps and went for a girly giggle and cup of coffee at Junction One.

Ordering coffee

Thats not me in the middle!

I didn’t realise that Elly & Hails were meeting for the first time, they were like kindred spirits and we managed to catch up on all our news as well as all going home with little treats.  We left Hails back to where we found her as she had another appointment and we headed for home.

“Are you hungry Mum?” asked Elly.  “Do you fancy eating out, that way we have no dishes to wash” she added.  We discussed where to go and we decided on a Chinese restaurant.  The food was good and I eat well.  By the time we reached home I was ready for my bed.

That night I would not be lonely…..

My Toyboys come from Hollywood!

That is Made In Hollywood

My Toyboy did well!

He jumped for a Granny & Carelocal.ie

Before:

Darragh in the centre geared up and ready to go, photo by Niamh

During:

Photo taken and tweeted from his mobile phone from the air as the parachute opened by Darragh .

Back on the ground shortly after 2pm:

Not sure he can believe he did it.  Photo by Niamh.

Congratulations Darragh!  You have put smiles on many faces today.

A wonderfully high note to end a very low week!

Wise Web Woman should be packing her case in readiness for her forthcoming trip to Ireland.  She arrives in on 30th May and next day she will be up bright and early to take part in the Flora Ladies Mini Marathon in Dublin City.  Oh for the energy!   So, if you are going along to watch the Girls strut their stuff you need two placards, one with ‘Wise Web Woman on it and the other for Patricia Anglican!

Meanwhile procrastinating instead of packing, WWW is gazing at the award she received from Gossamer Woman.

Now I like the sound of that…. reaching out and building bridges!

In the true spirit of blogging she passed the baton on and shared some bloggy goodness to people who in her own words:-

I admire and who reach out across boundaries with their sparkling honesty and truth:

Her list of nominees are:

• Tessa at Nuts and Mutton.
  Twilight at Twilight Starsong.
  Verna at Out of the Cube.
  Nick at Nickhereandnow.
  Grannymar at Grannymar.
  and
  Conor at Conorjte.

I think she made a mistake…. ’cause my name appears on that list among some wonderful people whose blogs I enjoy.  Thank you Wise Web Woman for the honour.

Sitting with thinking cap in place I scroll through my list of virtual friends to choose a half dozen deserving of this accolade…. It is so difficult as so many of you reach out and build bridges…

My choice this time are:-

Damien Mulley the father figure of blogging in Ireland, who shares time, information and link luv on a daily basis.  He is the brains behind the Irish Blog Awards and the Irish Web Awards, events that don’t just happen over night, but take months of planning and preparation to bring so many together for a fun filled evening in recognition of their peers.

Darragh Doyle alright so I am biased!  Darragh had the ‘Obama’ spirit long before we heard of Obama.  I sometimes wonder if he was born saying “Yes we can!  Yes I will!”  There are no doors in Darragh’s lexicon, if he wants to meet someone he walks right up there and says hello.  He meets people.  He introduces people and most of all he enjoys sharing people with all of us through his blog.

Lily’s Blog makes a refreshing read on a wide variety of topics and it is difficult to believe it only arrived on the scene in the last twelve months.  Lily, a busy wife & mother to the Collison Clan was the last member of the family to join the blogging world.  The boys keep her on her toes baking, blogging, twittering and following their escapades across the globe.

From the Magpie’s nest proves that nagging works. :roll:  Magpie11 has been a regular visitor here for a long time now, and from his observations and comments I felt he had what it took to feed a blog of his own.  Thankfully for once I was listened to and proved correct.  I particularly enjoy his cookery hints they are always tasty and tempting.

Stretching my long arms wide I will pick one blog from and easterly direction and one from the west to comple my half dozen.

Ramana’s Musings reach us all the way from Pune in India.  Ramana is an avid reader of everything from heavy tomes to the frivilous fripperance of Grannymar.  His blogroll stretches across the globe and he acknowledges every comment that he receives.  He has brought many visitors here to join in the fun and I have discovered many new blogs.

Leveraged Intelligence with Conrad (who hails from Kansas and now lives in California) at the helm is a fun place to play.  He introduces the subject and we are all invited to join the conversation, at times the visitors take over and Conrad can hardly get a look in.

Now it is your turn… go reach out and build six bridges!

I wrote earlier about a Toyboy who will reach great heights before rushing back down to earth on 30th May in aid of CARELOCAL

#~#~##~#~#

Next I want to draw your attention to another one (yet to receive his badge) who will go the extra mile in Dublin on Monday 1^st June.

Paddy Anglican or perhaps I should say my alter ego Patricia Anglican is running the Flora Womens Mini Marathon in Dublin on Bank Holiday Monday 1^st June 2009. We are not sure yet what she will be wearing but below are a few of the possible looks we might go for.

He will not be alone; no he will be bringing part of Grannymar with him! Now I will say no more for now… You will just have to go along on the day to see how he does it!

Patricia Anglican will be running in aid of the parish school – Cloughjordan No.1 N.S. Any funds raised (after pantyhose allowance) will be used towards the purchase of Interactive White Boards for the school. In light of the worsening economic situation there is little prospect of state funding for the school ICT program in the next few years which will put our young people at a huge disadvantage when and if things get better in the world economy. The interactive white boards retail at around €4000.

With all the heart wrenching news of how children have been abused and defiled in schools in our land for most of the last century, we now have an opportunity to show in a small way that we care for the students of today. They are our future.

(())-(())-(())-(())

My third Toyboy in the news this week is a real High Flyer.  

Visitors to my blog may not be familiar with Robin Blandford, but you all know Steph his very proud mum. While Steph has struggled with her own health issues she has continued to support and encourage her son.

It was only a year ago that Robin an award-winning technology blogger, returned from Singapore where he was on placement with Thomson Reuters, to concentrate full time on his own project.

Robin was identified early in his graduate recruitment cycle at Thomson Reuters as ‘one to watch’ and was placed on an accelerated management programme with the company. Robin has worked professionally in digital media since leaving university, forming strong industry contacts in London, Dublin, and Singapore. Robin is a volunteer cliff rescue climber with the Irish Coast Guard. A proven innovator with strong technical ability and team leadership.

At just 25 years of age he has flown from Digital Media Engineer at Dublin City University through to ByteSurgery company founder. Well done Robin.

Further Reading:- http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0522/1224247099748.html

You all know I like Toyboys.

I will admit to being biased about one of them.  The trouble is that he has flipped….

Well soon he will have flipped BIG TIME!

He never stops moving, working or thinking.  Finally Mulley found a deceleration device to really slow him down, once and for all.

Mediacontact.ie are organising a MediaDive. They’re getting brave souls to go up in a plane and do a tandem skydive from 13,000 feet. That’s just off four kilometers.

So the brave Darragh will be scared stiff, have fun and help others all in one go.

Darragh has agreed to jump out of a plane for a Granny.  No!  I did not say for Grannymar, but he will do it for people like me who live alone, are perhaps frail and in need of visitors, treats and the odd outing.  Living alone is fine when you are fit and healthy, have family nearby and are able to get about and see friends.  It is totally different when you are unwell.  Not being able to get about, you are very soon out of the loop and forgotten.  Intentions are good but people are busy and they become friends with the phrase “I/we must invite/visit/phone (insert name)”.

You may be kind to your Granny, you may not have one, but one thing sure before you realise it, you will be that old person wishing for a visitor.  Today you can do something to show you care - visit here and donate the price of a couple of drinks or that packet of fags that are bad for you.  I guarantee you will feel good if you do.

In anticipation, (as they used to say at the end of letters)

On behalf of all the Grannies out there I say thank you!

Hail, glorious St. Patrick, dear saint of our isle,
On us thy poor children bestow a sweet smile;
And now thou art high in the mansions above,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

St Patrick certainly smiled down on Erin’s green isle on Tuesday. Dublin was festooned in a sea of green, bright sunshine & high spirits.  Elly & I traveled in to the city by bus and it was a delight to see people of many nations, colours and creeds join us at every bus stop.  All the children had some token or green decoration in honour of the day, clothing, hats ribbons or wigs!  Many old and young sported painted faces.

The St Patrick’s Festival team can be justly proud of their efforts…

The 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Parade saw over 675,000 people lining the sun drenched Dublin city streets to enjoy one of the best St. Patrick’s Day Parades ever. Thousands of performers and characters joined together in a carnival of dancing and music as they wowed on-lookers with uniquely commissioned original pageants accompanied by marching bands from Ireland and across the globe

The Winner of 2009 Best Pageant was awarded to CITY FUSION with The Conference of Birds. The award for Best Marching Band in the Parade went to German band, SIMSEGRÄBSLER from Hofstetten, Black Forest, South West Germany.

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Part two of our day was at the Guinness Storehouse where the welcome was mighty and it was possible to pull your own pint!  I sat and watched the fun as the young folk played at being Barman and were awarded with certificates for doing so!  There were plenty of photo opportunities here but with my camera enclosed in my little hand I was rather intimidated while surrounded by camera lenses as long as my arm. :sad:  No I was not sad really.  No seriously!  I was happy to watch and listen.

Now steph are you paying attention, a Black Velvet is Champagne & Guinness…..

Guinness mixed fifty-fifty with champagne. This famous drink was invented in 1861 at Brooks’s Club in London. Prince Albert had died, everyone was in mourning, and the story goes that the steward at the club, overcome with the emotion of the occasion, ordered that even the champagne should be put into mourning, and proceeded to mix it with Guinness. The taste was so delicious, Black Velvet became extremely popular.

But do you know what the following are or how to make them?

• Tumbril
• Midnight
• Wasp Sting
• Red Head

Now you all think I was drowning in a vat of the black stuff when in fact I was very busy.  Well…. it takes time to try out all these exotic combinations!

Go on I know you want to try them.

In a post ten days ago I was bouncing about like a March Hare.  There was mention of things penitential, parties, parades and photography.  Now I am older but alas no wiser, yet still each day brings humourous cards suggesting the dubious benefits of aging.

Today in my in-box I found a surprise……  I have a DATE!  In Dublin.  On Tuesday.

Congratulations - We would like to offer you the opportunity to come and watch the 2009 St Patrick’s Festival Parade from Grandstand on O’Connell Street, Dublin 1.  The parade takes place from 12:00 until 14:30 and this year the crowds are expected to exceed 1.2 million people.

Pixie has been working with the organisers of the Irish St Patrick’s Festival on a huge photo sharing project to help document this year’s festival in photos from the perspective of those attending. The aim is to invite everyone bringing their camera to this year’s events to contribute their photos to the official St Patrick’s Festival group so that the experience can be shared with people from all over the world.

To make things a little more interesting, they have created a competition and will be selecting three lucky winners whose photos capture the spirit of the festival. Canon have very kindly offered to sponsor some of the best prizes we’ve seen in a photo competition and with a total value of just under €1,800, these are very generous prizes!!!

• 1st Prize – Canon EOS 1000D digital SLR camera, Selphy ES3 photo printer, 150 Euro photography training course, adding memory card and photo printing paper. Total value €1,050
• 2nd Prize – Powershot E1 digital camera and Selphy ES3 photo printer. Total Value €480
• 3rd Prize – Selphy ES3 photo printer. Total Value €240

So when the parading and waving are over the real party begins…

To celebrate the Guinness 250 year anniversary, the Guinness Storehouse are inviting 250 Pixie users, bloggers and photobloggers to continue the Pixie Party after the parade and join in the fun at the Storehouse’s annual Paddy’s Day festival on March 17th:

“On St. Patrick’s Day, Guinness Storehouse will host an electrifying global celebration of Guinness and the Irish national holiday with over 250 entertainers of every description. Prepare for a barrage of rock, soul, roots, swing, jazz and traditional Irish, as well as international street performers and marching bands. Learn how to Pour the Perfect Pint of Guinness like a true Dublin connoisseur, savour the taste of Guinness variants and try some food with a Guinness twist.”

I have the camera ready.  Now where did mammy leave my bow!