Pics of our snow

Update: Schools closed today and tomorrow! Yippee! More time for all to enjoy this Winter Wonderland!

The snow has slowed us down, made our lives move in slow motion, made us prioritise our journeys.

"No unnecessary travel" is the mantra.

So instead of a New Year shopping frenzy before the return to school (tomorrow, if weather permits), we're spending time together, calmly looking out at a pure and pristine landscape, undisturbed by the usual rush of daily life.

Sustenance for the soul.

Amen!

What a wonderful start to 2010.

Pictures courtesy of Hubby, taken in our local park.

Ruby Tuesday

I was wondering what to post, if anything, for Ruby Tuesday, then inspiration arrived from Stephanie in Canada! She has posted a lovely tea cosy that she knitted...

I bought this tea cosy on Etsy just before Christmas, but when it arrived decided it's way too nice to use only occasionally as a tea cosy. So it has become a hat, it's really warm, which is exactly what's needed at the moment. On my head, not on the teapot!

So I'll knit a tea cosy instead, it will also get rid of some of the yarn I have stashed in the attic. I'll try to incorporate red, and then I can post it for another RTwhen it's finished (probably next January!).
Mary T hosts Ruby Tuesday, click on the pic at the top to go visit her and get more inspiration like I did!!

Mellow Yellow Monday

This was the scene here on New Year's Eve, just after midnight.

It's not a great photo, but I don't want to crop out the pole in case of ruining the light and the snow. Or even the memories! Can't you just feel the stillness?

The snow is still with us, and the weather forecasters say they can't see anything but snow and ice for the next week or so ! Yippee!

Drowsey Monkey hosts this fun meme, and you can click on the logo at the top to go over to her place.

Happy (White) New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!

I hope 2010 is a wonderful year for you all, bringing health, happiness, lots of fun, and a bit of wealth too!

Here in Dublin, it's SNOWING!!!!! That has to be a good start to a year. Just about ten minutes to twelve, it started to bucket down, and we had about 4cm in a few minutes.

So we've just come in from a snowball fight on the green beside us! And that green is now adorned with 2 snowmen-believe me, that doesn't happen very often in Dublin.

I think this is just what the country needs at the moment- a fresh start, a clean slate, white and untarnished. And that peace, hope and freshness that an untarnished snowfall brings to the landscape. Here's to 2010!

Ruby Tuesday

May as well end the year with another Dublin pub, seeing as they were popular! Do you like that I caught the window-cleaning in progress? And his red bucket? And I do believe that's a blue sky reflected in the middle window- not a sight you see too often in Dublin!

This one is just off Grafton St. the main shopping street in Dublin. It was taken one morning in August. I decided I needed to get organised if I was to continue blogging in term time. So I got together a bank of photos, and put them in a file marked "blog".

This probably seems very basic to most of you, but to me it was a big step, in terms of forward thinking and in terms of computer skills. In the rest of my life, I'm an organised person, but I use the computer on a "need to know" basis.

So, thanks to blogging, I've learned some new computer skills and upgraded myself.

But, much more important, I've made some lovely friends in blogosphere.

Thank you one and all for a wonderful adventure in 2009!

And thanks to Mary T for hosting Ruby Tuesday- click on her name= link to see more images or to take part.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

To all my blogger friends, in whatever way (or none) you celebrate this day, I wish you a very Happy Christmas, or December 25th, or Crimbo.

Just a few photos from our day, which has turned out differently than expected.

This morning, we got news that Longford Cathedral, the church where I was christened, had my First Communion, Confirmation, Funeral Service of both my parents, was badly damaged by a fire that started at 5am. I often fantasise about going there for Christmas Day Mass, which would bring childhood memories flooding back- being a little girl who has just got her doll and pram from Santa, being surrounded by brothers and sister on Christmas Day, looking forward to Christmas dinner, going to visit the Baby Jesus in the Crib. You get the picture.

It was a bit of a shock to hear of 2 million euros damage to that church, the Gardai (police) have been called in, arson is suspected. Some of the damage is irreparable, stained glass windows were blown out, the organ is damaged. I'm presuming the choir gallery, where my family sang on many, many occasions, is also gone.

We have had a quiet day, just the 5 of us, with a couple of visits from friends, and a visit to church for myself. Some other plans had to be shelved, as middle daughter wasn't feeling well.

I'll leave you with a couple of dessert photos, the first is a vegan sleigh that I made and filled with vegan chocolate truffles, and the other one, much less impressive though also delicious, "bought in cos of time shortage"- God, I hope those of you who cook up lovely things don't forever stop reading my blog! Honestly, it was needs must!

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a quiet day at home, maybe a walk if the paths are not too slippery, and maybe a bit of baking. That's the way it is here, because I make lots of aromatherapy hampers and products, prior to Christmas is very busy, and the baking is done in the days after. But the goodies are no less welcome for it, and the Christmas Cake and Pudding taste really good in those lazy days between Christmas and New Year.

Hope you all have a really lovely, lazy holiday, wherever you are.

The truth about the tree

I've been putting off telling you, but I ditched the artificial tree.

I tried, really I did, but my heart wasn't in it. I couldn't even bring myself to put any decorations on it, and nor could anyone else. So I asked my son what he thought of getting a real tree, and he jumped at the chance. Before you could say "tree", the two of us were at the shop round the corner, the tree was bought and up.

And then I did begin to enjoy decorating. I love getting out the old things that the kids made when they were small, and I love hanging stuff in the same place as it hung last year. And remembering where we bought some of the others.

The knitted socks were made by my son, for hubbie and me, when he was 9. His teacher got her mother to travel down from Donegal (about 3 hours from Dublin, where we live) and stay for a few days to teach the class how to knit! I helped with stitching on M on mine and P on hubbie's. On top of the tree are 2 angels, made by the girls round about the same time.

We have a gold bauble bought on a trip to Disney, some painted eggs bought in Salzburg, and some lovely silver decorations, made here in Ireland by Newbridge Silverware- a church, a Cinderella carriage, a carousel. These were all gifts, one per year, from a friend.

One of my Christmas traditions is that I send these Newbridge decorations to my 3 nieces who live in the UK. I picture them opening them, and perusing what each one got. And I picture them helping to decorate their tree each year by hanging their own decorations on the branches. I hope they enjoy them, and that it gives them some sense of their Irishness. My own children, however, scorn the idea - they think my nieces would prefer to get money than decorations. Maybe now, but in the future they may appreciate them, and tell their own children about the Irish aunt who annually sent them - who knows?