Grannymar

It arrived and I never really noticed.  I should have been asleep.  I am nursing a cold… but who cares if I can wear these….

The boots are back!

The LBCers will be back at 3pm GMT too!

Happy Twenty Ten!

Go Gcuire spiorád ná Nollág

Suaimhneás I do chroi

Agus ceol ar do bheolá

May the spirit of Christmas bring

Peace to your heart

and music to your lips.

Since this is Friday the Loose Bloggers will be around later for some Mince Pies and trifle.  See you then.

Today I reach Post No. 1,000.

I have been plodding away at this blogging lark for almost three years now. On two occasions during that time I almost stopped, like the grandfather clock, never to go again.  Once, not that long ago, I had even written a final closing post.  I saved it in draft form and slept on it for a night, knowing that if I had hit the publish button, the stubborn mule in me would not let me change my mind.  Two days later I deleted it.

Some days it is a struggle to find a crumb of inspiration, yet on others, ideas come tumbling forth as quickly as the weeds grow.  It is a rare day that there are no comments, a fact that constantly amazes me.

A question hangs over my head like a migraine.  How and why?  Maybe there are actually two questions and not one, so I will ask them again.

HOW and WHY did you find or manage to end up here in the land of Grannymar?

I know that at the very beginning Elly did plenty of plugging and pushing to get me the sympathy visitors.  Some were weaned off, but most lurk about in the background adding their tuppenceworth when the mood or topic catches their interest.  It is the people who have since trundled along from places far and wide that I am curious about.

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not looking for platitudes of praise.  I don’t want them!  I am actually trying to understand ME - myself, and what works and what doesn’t.  When I set days for particular topics it was great, I only needed to dip inside my head and pull out a recipe or a handful of handy hints that I learned at my mother’s side.  The barrel of tips and hints is almost empty and my days of entertaining seem few and far between so the experimenting with recipes somehow lost its gloss when cooking for one.  No need to worry, I do cook everyday and eat a good mixed diet.  Dishes for two, four or indeed six are still made at times, a plateful eaten when freshly cooked and the remainder portioned for the freezer.  That way I usually have a decent easy meal for days when the energy is low.  I never understood people who do not cook because they live alone.  It is the shortest road to depression and ill health.

So without further ado, let the singing begin, after all you can’t have a party without a song in your heart. While writing these words I heard ‘Jewellio the Glazier’ singing his little heart out about ‘all the girls he loved before’ (the greedy so-and-so!), and it inspired me to pen these words….

To All the friends I’ve made this way,
Who travelled here, I hope you’ll stay
I’m glad you came along
I dedicate this song
To All the friends I’ve met each day!

To all the friends I have addressed
And may I say you are the best
For helping me to grow
I owe a lot I know
To All the friends I’ve made this way

The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I try to stray
The comment box continues filling
Then I know I want to stay

To all of you who share my life
You keep me cool and save me strife
I’m glad you came along
I dedicate this song
To All the friends I’ve made each day

To all of you who cared for me
Who comment here so free-el-y
You live within my heart
I’ll always make you part
Of all the fun you share with me

The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I try to stray
The comment box continues filling
Then I know I want to stay

To All my friends you’ve made my day,
You travelled here, I hope you’ll stay
I’m glad you came along
I dedicate this song
To All the friends I’ve met each day!

To All my friends you’ve made my day,
You travelled here, I hope you’ll stay
I’m glad you came along
I dedicate this song
To All the friends I’ve met today!

Thank you, everyone!

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!

March was a month I always looked forward to for many reasons.

The days were stretching and the worst of the winter was over and signs of spring were everywhere.  Buds appeared on trees and shrubs and the flowers popped their tiny heads above ground level to show us they survived all that the winter had thrown at them.

The religious season of Lent always seemed to cover the month so as a young lady it involved fast and abstinence.  One full meal and two collations was the norm for the forty days.  For the collations fish & or eggs were allowed, but no more than four ounces!  The fasting was between these meals and the only exception was to have a cup of tea or coffee and two plain biscuits!  The law of abstinence required a Catholic from 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday.

The first three of us in the family were unlucky enough to have birthdays during lent.  The middle guy of those three was late Feb so sometimes missed the cut.  Lenten birthdays were celebrated with a special meal (cake with a candle in it) on the nearest Sunday evening!  Since two of us had birthdays in March just two days apart, we even shared the one cake!  What was I saying about abstinence?

Back in those far off days before Hallmarkfests we were lucky to get one birthday card from all the family.  It never saw a stamp or Post Office since the last person going to bed left it in the hall below the letterbox!

The Hi-light of the month was St Patrick’s Day, feast of our Patron Saint and a national holiday.  The penetential fasting was lifted for the day and a fatted calf turkey, ham or joint of pork was roasted with all the trimmings, anyone would think we had not seen food since Christmas!  For the folks who had abstained from chocolate for the duration, St Pat’s Day was a welcome break.

I never remember going to see a Parade in my young life - I was probably in the kitchen peeling a ton of spuds for the big feast.  Parades were for other people.

When I moved to Northern Ireland the St Patrick’s Day parade had political connotations so I kept well away.  It was a normal working day here and Miss Elly had to attend school.

The celebrations always seemed a little over the top in New York with green beer, three quarters of the Irish Government in attendance and every Tom, Dick and Uncle Harry wearing a chest full of weeds.

In recent years the celebrations have returned to Irish soil and that is where the Patron should be remembered.  This year we have again, the Irish St Patrick’s Festival it runs from 12th to 17th March 2009.  Pixie has been working with the organizers 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.

Besides all the above, Marcus from Pix.ie has announced a fantastic opportunity for Photographers, Photobloggers and Bloggers in association with The Saint Patricks Day Festival organisers, Canon and The Guinness Storehouse.

To make things a little more interesting, we’ve 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

Not only are they giving away these beauties from Canon, but Marcus has managed to get lots of ways for photographers to take some pictures from special locations, and after all that hard work the reward is  inviting a group of photobloggers to the Guinness Storehouse for a pint of the black stuff.

Woo hoo to Marcus and the team at Pix.ie, for all the effort

Since my new motto is:- The only way to have a friend is to be one and the only way to enjoy a party is to join in!  I am joining in with my entry for the competition.

I am all dressed up and ready to go… wearing my bow on my hair.  You will have to take my word for it, it is a green Bow & dress,  I know because my mother told me many, many times over the years and the photo was taken long before we had colour films or digital cameras.

No, I didn’t take the picture myself I am not Rebecca

Hails at Coffee Helps tagged me for a Photo-story.

The idea is to rummage around in your photo folders in the computer, dust them down and tidy up the shelf ready for inspection.  Then open folder number four and select the fourth photo. Insert said photo  here and tell the story behind it.

Since Today is not the fourth but the sixth of February, I cheated and chose the sixth folder.  It was still up there in the ‘B’ section.

Sixth folder… sixth photo… Voila!

I know some of you have seen it before.  It was taken post Irish Blog Awards in March of last year.  That is me - didn’t I look young?  The camera never lies! ;)  Now no rotten tomatoes please, you are supposed to be nice to old ladies!

On the table beside me are my computer hard-drive that George my Son-in-Law had updated for me, The Champagne I won at the Irish Blog Awards 2008 and some beautiful flowers that arrived the following morning - Mother’s Day.

Towards the end of February last year I wrote the post Flower Power, it was inspired by Eamonn of Flowers Made Easy who was hosting a bloggers competition with a prize for ‘the best blog post about your mum‘.  Since my mother was dead, I told the story of another mother’s great love.  My post was not a winner but I was!  Elly wrote a post about me and told dreadful lies said nice nice things about me.  Honest, I didn’t bribe her… I didn’t know she had written it.

Well you can imagine my surprise when on Wednesday last I had a new comment on Flower Power.  It was from Eamonn telling me about another competition, this time for St Valentine’s Day.  All the details are below.

So, on with the thinking caps, and out with the pencils… if you are not in then you can’t win!  Stop and think for a moment ,about when you first realised that you were truly madly deeply in love with the light of your life; then sit and write about it.  Wouldn’t it be worth it to win the 12 Red Roses, a Bottle of Bubbly and a box of Chocs!

Now if only I had a Truelove… well I might have had a go myself!

Go gcuire spioread na Nollag

Suaimhneas i do chroi

Agus ceol ar do bheola

May the spirit of Christmas bring

Peace to your heart and music to your lips.

Office Christmas Lunches are ten a penny so I decided it was time I had mine.

Old Speckled Hen was left to mind the show while I toddled off to celebrate.

The menu was simple

I didn’t fancy being the old maid!

It is enough to bring on a bout of SAD!

First of all we heard it on RTE

Then The King confirms it

It is spreading like the plague so be careful or before you know it, we will reach the point of no return. So what is my fevered mumbling all about? Have you not guessed?

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.

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Christmas is Cancelled

Now I’ve said it! That young whipper-snapper at Dec’s Rambling spells it out in no uncertain terms, go read it!

Hang on! Hang on!

Before you go galloping off, spare a thought for The Queen of England with that enormous house with 775 rooms to heat. I think she is finding it tough at the moment.

Would you agree?

UPDATE: A comment added on 11th August 2009 from Andy McKinna tells me he did this picture for b3ta.com.  Thanks Andy!

Alexia Golez posted about a Qik video that Jason Roe prepared in advance of the Moviestar.ie Irish Web Awards Ceremony in the Radisson SAS Hotel on Golden Lane behind Dublin Castle last night. I watched it at lunch time and it was fine. Later in the afternoon I went for a walk. Well I knew I would be glued to my chair and computer screen to follow the events in Dublin as they happened. There would be at least three people live streaming the event on Qik. I bumped into a friend and she suggested we go for something to eat, it suited us both as she had places to go later on and I had people to see (on the net)!

When I returned home it was time for lights on and the action to start. Steph was online so I IM’d her and asked if the show had started. She sent me a link, but it was the one I had seen earlier in the day. I Twhirl’d my pals in Dublin for an up to date link. By return I had several replies, but alas each worked for a couple of seconds and then stalled. It was becoming very frustrating. Steph was wetting her britches! Well who could blame her, son and heir Robin was a finalist in three categories.

So there we were, Steph in Dublin and yours truly in Norn Iron, twiddling and clicking for all our worth and getting nowhere. Our know-all tekki offspring’s were at the event and unable to come to our aid. Then my darling Darragh came to the rescue! He was live twittering the event from his N95 Mobile. As each result came through I copied and pasted it into the IM conversation for Steph! At one stage there were more bells and clangers going off here than at a Campanologist Festival. I had Twhirl pings, IM rings and email buzzes! I was still hearing them in my sleep.

Somewhere I still had a Qik running and every now and then a loud cheering could be heard, it only lasted a few seconds each time but it added to the excitement. The whole thing had a Keystone Cops effect at this end but the excitement was mighty. I even had Davy Mac congratulating me because Elly got an award. I put him straight, she was only collecting it on behalf of some non-attendee.

To all those who now have an award to polish I say hearty congratulations! I won’t list you now as I am sure to leave someone out and that would not do. To Damien for the inspiration, the Sponsors for the means and to all those who gave of their time to work in the background I say thank you. No doubt this event will become part of the annual Irish Awards Calendar.

A very special thanks go to Darragh Doyle for keeping us all up to date on Twitter/Twhirl and it is to be hoped that you were presented with the Anti RSI Thumb Award and didn’t have to put your hand in your pocket all night at the bar!