A blog by an Irishwoman, written in both English and Swedish, depending on what humour is on me....
En blogg av en irländska, skriven på svenska och engelska.
Just scroll down to find the English bits among the Swedish, or vice versa.

Ta Gaeilge agam freisin, más é an rud é go bhfuil éinne eile le Gaeilge ag léamh mo bhlagsa.

Ich verstehe auch ein bisschen Deutsch, je parle un petit peu francais och klarar av lite norska med.

Wondering about the background of the blog? They're the Cliffs of Moher, in the neighbouring county, County Clare, 8km long, 700m high, and magnificent. Well worth a visit if anyone is around the West of Ireland



Saturday, January 18, 2014

internet connection not good these days

Living in a house on a small country  road in rural Ireland has its charms. Strong internet connections, however, are not one of those charms...
There is gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair here regularly, as the modem stops working and the  websites we would like to view, open very slowly, if at all.
We do not have good enough internet access on the telephone lines yet, so we have a plug in modem, which gives us wifi, if you are sitting in the right place and if the Gods of the Web are smiling on you at that moment. Often it would appear that those Gods are carousing elsewhere and we resort to disconnecting and re-connecting, using the trouble-shooting options, resetting network adapters on laptops and unplugging and replugging in the modem over and over again. Suffice to say that it is unsatisfactory in  the extreme.

On the other hand, if we had perfect wifi all the time, nobody would do anything, or talk to anybody else!

I am sitting here with a head-cold, which will get worse before it gets better, if my husband's cold is anything to go by. I do not need this cold this week, I have to meet parents for parent-teacher meetings on 2 evenings this week, and on a third evening I have to go the Parent-teacher meeting for my second daughter. This week I need to be on top form, but it's not looking too good right now.
Has anyone else had a problem with the cursor suddenly hopping to a totally different part of the page as one types a message online and continue typing in that spot? and even highlighting and deleting words. phrases, whole sentences ? I have to watch this cursor  like a hawk, it jumps all over the place. rather  annoying.
Heading to bed now, plenty to do tomorrow, so I need my sleep now.
Good night to all, stay warm, stay well!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

back to basics after the holidays and storms

So, the Christmas came and went, and the New Year, and both brought storms, with very high winds and high seas. Luckily we do not live near the sea, or a river, as there was a lot of flooding with the storms. We did have some trees down along the little road we live on, and at one point, (8.50am on Friday morning, 27th December, if I remember correctly), I had to clamber through the branches of a fallen tree, along with Dear daughter, in order to get her to work that morning. My mother was able to drive us from the far side of the tree to the shop where DD works, otherwise, well, no work for DD that day.
Our trampoline (studsmatta) was blown across the garden and over the hedge into the next field. We manhandled it back into our lawn after a day or two, it seems to have survived, but we will have to buy a new safety net and net-poles for it.
The storms caused major damage all along the west coast, there are some amazing and downright scary photos on youtube of the waves as tall as 2 -storey houses crashing over Lahinch sea-front.
People in the West had a few sleepless nights in a row, worrying about floods, tides, and wind damage. Roads were washed away, or totally submerged. Tractors had to take people in and out of areas cut off by the floods. Luckily, we escaped all this, bar for one sleepless night, listening to the wind howling like a banshee around the house.
 We're all back at work and school now, it's not easy to get to bed early each night, but I know the price I pay if I don't get my sleep, so I will toddle along to bed soon.
I did lots of spinning over the holidays, yes, I will post pics.
I want to do lots more, but time is hard to find.
Ireland as usual is beginining to show little signs of early spring already and I love it!
Tiny spears of snowdrop and daffodil leaves beginning to peep above ground. Wonderful.
Bright skies. Cold but fresh. No snow, bit of frost and ice maybe, but mostly just more wind and rain, but that's ok with me. I was born under a cloud (mid November baby, that's me,) and this time of year has its charms I believe!
Take care all!