Mitt liv på Irland, My life in Ireland

A wedding, 2 parties and a New Year.

2012-01-01T22:11:00.004Z

So the brother's wedding went great, a fun day was had by all, and brother and his new wife are now relaxing in Lanzarote on their honeymoon.
We came home tired but happy on Friday afternoon. After a long sleep on Friday night we were ready to face the world again. I went to town on Saturday to return my son's hired pageboy suit and to have a little peep at the sales in the yarn shops in Limerick. My 'yarn-diet' starts on 1st January so I figured I was still allowed to go yarn shopping on 31st of December. Which I duly did, managing to purchase about 16 different skeins of yarn between the 3 yarn shops.
All good diets start with a binge the day before, right???!

Last night, New Year's Eve, another brother invited us to his house for a party to see in the New Year. My children and husband stayed home, due to various prior engagements or assorted coughs, but I went to the party and had a great time! Lots of my own family there as well as my brother's in-laws, so plenty of chat. Plus Yummy food, tasty desserts, a chocolate fountain, (I didn't taste the chocolate and marshmallows, just admired them from a distance) and then a countdown at 12 midnight and champagne or in my case, Sprite! Home by 1pm, to husband and crisp-eating children.
My middle daughter had complained yesterday of a strange and sharp pain in her ribs when she took a breath. Thankfully, this potential 'chest-infection' had gone by this morning, probably just a pulled muscle. Phew.....
And today, off to another party, this time a 50th Birthday celebration for a good friend, and once again the children stayed home together with another friend. They had pizzas and chips, we went to the party and had Jambalaya, Prawn stir-fry, and more delicious desserts.
So now I am feeling very satisified, I have had a very sociable Christmas and New Year. And it is not over yet, there is a niece's birthday on this week and we got an invitation to another very good friend next weekend! Yoohoo!
And now it is 2012. It will take some time to get used to writing the correct date on the blackboard when I go back to school in a week's time.
It is 2 years since I started blogging. I am still here, still blogging away.
I apologise for not having so many photos as I would like, let's see if I can snaffle some photos from Hubbby's camera to add to this post.
To all of you I wish a Happy New year!
Gott Nytt År!
Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir!

a wedding and a book

2011-12-27T23:51:00.003Z

family wedding now on Thursday, so tomorrow Wednesday I will be getting the last bits in town, like a pair of shoes for me, as I realised only today that the pair I have are too small for me.... sigh.... getting us all dressed for a winter wedding is a bit of a chore, but I'm sure we'll have a great time once we just get into the car on Thursday morning...
I'm a bit stressed trying to make sure we remember everything for all eventualities, as we are staying overnight in the hotel, eg, we need spare clothes, warm coats, overnight bags etc, it'll be up to me as Mother in this house to ensure all children and husband have what they will need, gulp....
Just finished a book today by Mikael Niemi, Mannen som dog som en lax, The man who died like a Salmon,
i enjoyed it very much, a crime thriller, but thankfully not too much of the gory details and not too much cruelty, Niemi instead painted his characters well, so I got very interested in how the plot would unfold for them, and there were a few unexpected turns in the story.
A good read, med andra ord...!

Nollaig Shona faoi mhaise daoibh go léir!

2011-12-24T18:39:00.004Z

Nollaig Shona faoi mhaise daoibh go léir!

God Jul till er allihopa!

Happy Christmas to you all,

i hope that you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas,
stay healthy, well and warm this Christmas and
ta god hand om era själva och de dina, take care of yourselves and of your loved ones.

The Julbord has been eaten and now we are off to Mass in the local Catholic church.
Better round up the troops!!!

the shortest day, or is it?

2011-12-21T21:37:00.006Z

I always thought that today, the 21st December, was the shortest day in the year, I mean, the Winter Solstice, with the least amount of daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere. Today I read on the RTE website (Irish TV), that the Winter Solstice occurs officially tomorrow morning the 22nd. Nevertheless today is the day that people usually think of as the Winter Solstice. So today I told my pupils about the Solstice and about Newgrange Tomb, where the rays of the rising sun on the Winter Solstice enters a roof-box over the door of the passage way and the rays then proceed to illuminate the entire passageway and hit the back wall of the inner chamber.

Read more about it here on the RTE website

Imagine that early people knew enough about the sun and about building to be able to construct such a tomb which unfailingly is illuminated on just the few days around the Winter Solstice. Well, unfailingly, if the skies aren't clouded over and sadly today was a cloudy day.

Here is a link to Youtube, to make up for the lack of real sunlight...

it's a short excerpt from RTE News, less than 3 mins, where a professor talks to the reporter about the passage tomb, and they show a simulation of the light entering the roof-box. If you visit Newgrange as a tourist in the summer season, you can enter the tomb and part of the visit will include this simulation whereby they use artificial light to show the visitors what the rising sun would look like on Winter Solstice.
Only one more day left at work, then blessed holidays....

to borrow or not to borrow that yummy photo from the web...

2011-12-17T09:41:00.003Z

just a short comment today,
a friend in Sweden tells of her friend Enannan's experience, whereby Enannan was fined almost 700 euro (yes seven hundred euro ) for borrowing a photo from the web and using it in her blog...
so just to warn you all, maybe especially if you live in Sweden, don't borrow a photo from the web, without the photographer's express permission.
I have now gone and removed any photos from my blog which I did not take myself, I have also gone through my Flickr account and my Ravelry messages to ensure the only photos on both of these are those which I have taken myself.
Just sayin'.....
(Enannan is not a name, it just means An Other, like we say in English , A.N.Other).
On this topic, is there anyone using a programme that puts a digital watermark on their photos on their blog, to protect the photos? Any suggestions on this please?

Snö! Snow!

2011-12-16T23:39:00.004Z

Woke up this morning to a White Wonderland, it had snowed during the night. Here are a few shots of the snow in our garden this morning.

We all got to school and work with no major difficulty, and tomorrow will be a bit milder so the snow will all be melted by tomorrow lunch. That's what we are used to...

2 böcker (2 books) och en stickmaskin som inte samarbetar...and an unco-operative knitting machine

2011-12-09T22:10:00.006Z

Hej allihopa,
nu undrar ni hur i allsin dagar har hon på Irland tid att blogga 2 gånger under 3 dagar!
Det får jag förklara för er, jag har nämligen varit hemma några dagar sedan jag blev väldigt förkyld i tisdags och var då tvungen att åka till läkaren, rösten var alldeles hes och lät så konstigt, inte kunde jag fortsätta att undervisa utan röst och utan energi...
så jag har varit hemma och bara vilat mig... jag sov 3 timmar från kl 10 till kl 1 första förmiddagen, vilan tydligen behövdes.
Nåja, förra helgen läste jag en rolig bok som hette Mitt Liv som Pingvin, av Katarina Mazetti, den var så rolig och tänkeväckande, jag ville bara streckläsa den, ville inte lämna den ifrån mig. Den var en mycket rar och fin berättelse, jag tyckte mycket om den. Jag tror att mitt intresse för svenska deckare har avtagit, nu vill jag helst läsa något som uppmuntrar mig och belyser tillvaron, istället för grymma deckare som får mig att rysa, usch...

En annan bok som jag läste nu när jag har varit hemma, är en bok på engelska, As far as my feet will carry me, av Joseph Bauer, den sanna berättelsen om hur en tysk soldat Clemens Forell, rymde ifrån en rysk blygruva i Siberien och gick i 3 år genom Siberien för att äntligen komma till Iran och komma hem till Tyskland.
Det var spännande, tyckte jag, den kunde inte jag lämna ifrån mig heller, jag ville så gärna streckläsa denna bok med.

Stickmaskinen? jorå, det är så här att jag har en stickmaskin som jag tog fram idag när det var lugnt hemma, men den krånglade, tyvärr, och jag som hade för mig att jag skulle börja på ett stickprojekt idag... pust... ibland blir inte livet som man har tänkt sig.

**************************
Hello everyone,
Now you're wondering how on earth herself in Ireland has time to blog 2 times in 3 days!
I must explain to you, it is because I have been home for a few days. I got a bad headcold last Monday and simply had to go to the doctor after work on Tuesday, my voice was quite hoarse and sounded so strange, I couldn't keep teaching without a voice and without much energy ...
so I've been home and have been taking it easy ... I slept for 3 hours from 10 am to 1 pm on first morning, a rest which was apparently much needed.
Last weekend I read a funny book (in Swedish) called My Life as a Penguin, by Katarina Mazetti, it was so funny and thought-provoking, I just wanted to keep reading it, couldn't put it down. It was a very sweet and nice story, I liked it. I think my interest in Swedish crime fiction has decreased, now I would rather read something that is heartwarming and brightens up life, rather than harsh crime fiction that makes me shudder, ugh ...

Another book that I read now when I was home, is a book, in English, As far as My Feet Will Carry Me, by Joseph Bauer, the true story of how a German soldier 'Clemens Forell', escaped from a Russian lead mine in Siberia and walked (mostly) for 3 years through Siberia to finally come to Iran and get home to Germany.
Another one I couldn't put down either.

And the unco-operative Knitting Machine? Well, I have a knitting machine which I tried to set up today when things were quiet, but it would not play ball, unfortunately, and there I was, so disappointed as I had imagined that I would start a knitting project today ... sigh ...
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip...

December 2011

2011-12-05T22:56:00.004Z

My life has a routine at the moment, work, home, kids and husband, housework, laundry, same old, same old, it sometimes feels like....
Nothing unusual is happening and that's probably just as well, as sometimes exciting times can be very tiring.
Work goes on as normal, I am teaching my pupils the recorder (blockflöjt) which means I am also teaching myself how to play it. I used to play the Irish Tinwhistle, (tennflöjt?), but recorder and tinwhistle have different fingering, so as I teach the children, I am learning myself too. I was delighted with them all last week, they learned Amazing Grace on the recorder and a week later played this song in church at Mass with the older children! And they were good!
Now we are focusing on Away in a Manger and Jingle Bells, and I have a few more Christmas songs I may teach them. It's fun, but they do not always stop playing when I want them to, so I have a little bell to ring to get their attention.
Not losing my voice is very important, so I have purchased a small megaphone for Physical Ed class, especially outdoors, where my voice would just be so strained after 30 mins of giving directions in the big wide open. I have also just this weekend purchased a small portable voice amplifier from Maplin in Limerick, to help project the voice as I am getting quite hoarse after a few days teaching, last Friday I was very hoarse.
All is well at home, sports have died down a bit for now, and I am not constantly driving to matches with children. This time next year my eldest daughter could be driving as a learner! Isn't that a scary thought! She still has 2 more full years in school so I don't think she will be getting a car just yet, but maybe when she heads off to college, she may need one then.
Our weather is quite mild, especially compared to the last two Decembers when frost descended on Ireland and snow, and the cold snap lasted for weeks. Rain and wind at the moment, though from Thursday the forecast is for colder weather.
Let's see how it unfolds.
My spinning and knitting and reading and even walks have all fallen by the wayside for now, no time, sadly.
Bye for now, the pile of Maths exercise copies awaits my red pen!
liz

burning the midnight oil and candles at both ends...

2011-11-15T01:14:00.003Z

what a naughty girl I am,
i really have to get to bed, it's sooooo late....
just finished the following tasks:
1. corrected 30 sum copies, about 6 pages each of lots of small multiplication sums, counting in 2's, 4's, 8's; lots of tiny sums and numbers to decipher and correct...
2. finished and submitted our online tax return; (Yippee, husband wil be proud of me!)
3. used the online curriculum planning tool for the first time to successfully create a Science plan for a very important staff meeting on planning Science tomorrow,
and now
4. i am in here just saying Hello! Hope you are all well,
it would seem to me that winter is already drawing in in places across the Northern Hemisphere, with temperatures of 0 degrees C in Karlstad Sweden as I write and possibly colder in places North of karlstad, there has even been some scatterings of snow, i believe.
The Irish media has lots of ads now for being Winter Ready! there are snow shovels for sale in the local hardware shops, as well as buckets of salt and grit, etc.

It is still mild here, but we are bracing ourselves just in case we get another cold winter. I would really like to buy and install a wood burning stove in our house for the comfort factor and for the independence from the electricity which it would give us, but husband is not so keen, so we'll wait and see how winter unfolds this year.

best part about winter is the 2 week holidays at Christmas, when i get to stay home and spin and knit and blog and stay warm!
anyways,
i have to go to bed now,
night night,
liz

popping by for a sneak peek when really i should be marking copies....

2011-10-20T23:57:00.004+01:00

ooo, sneaking in a quick peek at the blog tonight, i hope all you folks are well out there and are warm in your houses.
Me, I am looking forward here 1. to the weekend,
to 2. an extra day off next Thursday for the Irish Presidential Election next week, and
3. to a whole week off for the October break!!! from 31st October onwards!
yippee!!!
lots of little jobs planned, like decluttering, which will involve giving away or selling on books and toys and clothes,
spinning, walking in the damp autumn air and resting!!!! and knitting, and blogging, and enjoying and cleaning the house and just being free.....
sorry for all the exclamation marks, a good author shoule not have to use exclamation marks to bring excitement to their writing, but i just get so carried away at the thought of a whole week off.
anyway, time to head off to bed, i need my beauty sleep more than ever these days...
Hälsningar till allihopa, hoppas ni har det bra där ni befinner er, och att dem dina mår också bra, det är ju det som är viktigast eller hur?
liz

second last day of September

2011-09-29T00:00:00.003+01:00

By the time I press 'Publish Post' on this, it will be in the early minutes of the second last day of September, 2011.
what have i done this month?
I taught English, Irish and Maths, and other subjects to a class of 30 pupils, 8 and 9 yr olds,
I've written a lot of Yearly Plans for the upcoming year,
I taught my 5 yr old son to cycle without stabilisers on his bike,
I bought a wonderful hammock from Ticket to the Moon, for my 11 yr old, and hung it between two birch trees in the garden and I've been in it! it's yummy!
I taught my class to play Hot Cross Buns and Mary had a Little Lamb on the recorder,(blockflöjt), while simultaneously learning to play the recorder myself, using my mother's old recorder and her old recorder book!
I have stayed up way too late doing all sorts of school plans on computer and have neglected my knitting and spinning...
I have managed to wash and tease some wool samples from Långbacken, in Sweden, oh the joy of the feel of the soft curly wool...
I have burnt all my midnight oil and both ends of many candles...sigh...
I have realised that Sunday is truly a day of rest and should be left as such! A day to meet people and chat, and stay home and swing on a hammock and push a boy on a bike!
I have been busier than I have ever been in my life, but it feels fine so far.
Oh and I have almost lost my voice...
Hope you are all well out there,
regards till same time next month,
now itäs off to bed for this little Cinderella (Askungen), at the stroke of midnight my eyes close and i have to hit the hay, fall into the loppelådan(Flea box!)
liz

last day of August, last day of holidays,

2011-08-31T14:23:00.002+01:00

It's 31st of August, the last day of the school holidays.
Tomorrow a new academic year starts.
I'm afraid to say that this will be my last blog post for a while, as I anticipate that my time online will be severely curtailed.
I am leaving the blog up online, and may manage to post a short update now and then.
I may even manage a photo or two, or a comment on your blogs,
but don't hold your breath waiting.....
The classroom awaits and with it all the other running and racing and ferrying and doing,
so Good night and see ye all soon-ish folks!

August tipping away, slipping away...

2011-08-15T22:55:00.002+01:00

Vad fort tiden går!
Doesn't time fly!

We have had a visitor from Sweden for the past 2 weeks, and we crammed lots of sightseeing into the 14 days.
We went on several day-trips, eg to Fota Island Wildlife park in Co Cork, to Bunratty Castle, to Clare Glens and Glenstal, to County Clare and the Burren and Poulnabrone Dolmen and Fanore beach, to Dingle and Camp and Conor Pass and Slea Head and Gallarus and Kilmaelkaedar, to Ballina and Tountinna and Killaoe and Scooops Ice-cream shop and Lough Derg, to Craggaunowen and Knappogue and Quin Abbey, and of course to town, shopping.....
phew, I get exhausted looking at the list of it all, but it was great fun at the time, and a great opportunity to show my own children a bit of our Irish history and heritage and nature.
How I would love to have photos to show you all, maybe i can get a cd of the photos from hubby's camera and put some in here for you to see.
Now it's back to reality, I just spent a few hours at school tidying my old classroom. And I have almost finished the online Teacher's course i am doing this summer. Next planning and preparing for school for myself as a teacher, and for my children.
Then just to enjoy the last 2 weeks and hope the weather gets better, it's drizzly here, cool, overcast....

photos

2011-08-03T22:24:00.004+01:00

Here are a few photos from the past months,
just a few snapshots in time.

This wool came to me as a gift of fiber from a raveller, Stitchlily. The wool came from Kerry Woollen Mills originally, near Killarney. Here it is as spun by me.

Four donkeys in a field, beside Mr Binman depot, Ballyneety, Co Limerick.

Cows on the road being herded home for milking, near Ennistymon, Co Clare, photographed on my way home from a spinning Skills Swap, mid June.

More spinning, this time of Angelica fiber, purchased from a raveller in UK. This was supposed to be my spinning project for February or March 2011, but I didn't spin it till June.

the Irish summer continues, den irländska sommaren bara fortsätter

2011-08-02T00:41:00.003+01:00

so the Irish summer continues, ie, it is drizzly and overcast...
The difference between summer and winter in Ireland seems to be that in summer it's drizzly and overcast and a bit humid, whereas in winter it's raining and overcast and quite cold. wet and warm vs wet and cold.
I would not be able for hot temperatures anyway, so I do not complain. I like overcast days. I like the challenge of trying to get clothes dry outdoors in these conditions. I like the way one can think clearly in this weather. I do not like the way my brain melts in heat.

I am about to stop blogging very soon. Work will demand more of me this coming year and I will need to give more of my time to planning and preparation.
I have enjoyed reading your blogs enormously, and wish you all the best of luck in your endeavours. Thank you to those who have stopped by to comment.
Those of you who need to contact me probably already have my email address.
regards
liz

back in Ireland again, hemma på Irland igen

2011-07-20T16:51:00.003+01:00

Nu är vi hemma på Irland igen, sedan i fredags egentligen men det tar sin lilla tid att vänja sig vid att vara här igen, efter nästan 2 veckor i Sverige.
Vädret här på Irland har varit mulet, regnigt och t.o.m. kallt ibland! Idag har solen kommit fram men inte har vi blå himmel inte, nej fortfarande molnigt. Men det gör mig inget, jag klarar inte av varmare väder ändå.
Ja så nu börjar det vanliga sysselsättningarna igen: tvätt, dammsugningen, köpa skoluniform till de 4, köpa skolböcker till de 4, och sedan planera själv inför det kommande skolåret, nu när jag ska ha 3e och 4e klass måste jag planera en hel del.
Inte kan man ställa sig framför 29 barn på den 1e sept och inte vet vad man ska göra med dem!
Och så vill jag hinna att sticka och spinna en del med, innan det blir dags för skolan igen. Och jag måste visa er bilder på den fina garnvindan jag köpte på loppis i Sverige, samt ett par handkardor, en stor stark slända, och en Knifty Knitter loom, och den lilla disktrasan jag virkade när jag var på semsetern, min allra första virkade objekt!

Now we are at home in Ireland again, we're back since last Friday actually, but it takes a little time to get used to being here again, after almost two weeks in Sweden.
The weather here in Ireland has been overcast, rainy and even cold sometimes! Today the sun came out but we don't have blue skies, oh no, it's still cloudy. But it doesn't bother me, I can't cope with warmer weather anyway.
So now it's back to the usual stuff again: laundry, vacuuming, buying school uniforms for the four kids, buying school books for them too, and then planning myself for the upcoming school year, now that I will have 3rd and 4th class, I will have to plan a lot. I can't just stand in front of 29 children on the 1st of Sept and not know what to do with them!
And then I really want to make time to knit and spin before I go back to school again. I also have to show you pictures of the yummy wooden woll Swift I bought at the flea market in Sweden, and a pair of hand carders, also a chunky spindle, and a Knifty Knitter loom, and the little dishcloth I crocheted while I was in Sweden, it's my very first crocheted items !

sommarstängt! closed for the holidays

2011-07-08T19:10:00.005+01:00

well, not really closed, but just wanted to say that I am far from Ireland this week, we are on our hoildays in Sweden! usually this would have meant no access to a working internet connection, but luckily this year we have internet access and so here i am on my holidays writing a blog post.
Weather: mixed, as in cloudy morning, bright afternoon, rain shower in the evening. So far so good, we have been able to go swimming every day since we got here (here equals Karlstad)
so we swim and shop and eat yummy food and swim and read and relax.
wonderful.
enjoy wherever you are this summer!
liz

växlande väder...., changeable weather

2011-06-18T01:10:00.005+01:00

men mest regn, blåst och kyla....
så har juni varit än så länge.
nå, allt går vidare ändå,
dottern fyllde 16 och har gjort färdigt sina tentor, Junior Certficiate heter det, nationella prov.
sporten fortsätter, lite camogie, soccer och Gaelisk fotboll.
Lillpojken är allergisk mot någon slags pollen såhärårs, och behövde till och med, steroider för att svullnaden kring ögonen skulle gå ner.
Jag jobbar vidare, drömmer om garn och stickning om nätterna. har precis tagit den första av mina stickmaskiner till en kille som kan laga och reperera den, och jag kanske stickar nåt under helgen på den. annars fortsätter jag att sticka för hand som vanligt.
Jag åkte till Doolin i lördags och var med i ett Spinnträff, där jag fick mycket inspiration för spinningen och för färgning av ull. mycket intressant.
Nästan klar med skolan, dock inte förran den 30e juni.
Tyvärr måste jag byta klass på jobbet, det kommer att bli 3e och 4e klass nästa år för mig. Hoppas att jag får inspiration och stamina någonstansifrån.
Annars, så kör jag hit och dit, med Ulf Lundell på stereon, och med an sång i mitt hjärta, eftersom livet är verkligen så underbart.
'Vi ses, vi ses, i Connemara, där livet kan vara så underbart....' Ulf Lundell.

Swedish to English translation
Changeable weather, but mostly we've had rain, wind and cold so far this June.
Well, life goes on anyway,
Our eldest daughter turned 16 and has finished her exams, the Junior Certficiate, which is a state exam.
Sport continues, some camogie, soccer and Gaelic football.
Our little fella is allergic to some kind of pollen at this time of the year, and has had steroids to take the swelling around the eyes down.
I'm working at school during the day, dreaming about yarn and knitting at night! I've just taken the first of my knitting machines to a guy who can service it and repair it, and I might knit something over the weekend on it. Otherwise, I continue to knit by hand as usual.
I went to Doolin on Saturday and was at a spinning gathering, with 4 very experienced spinners, where I got a lot of inspiration for spinning and dyeing of wool. very interesting.
I'm almost finished with school, but not until the 30th June.
Unfortunately I have to change class at my job, I will teach 3rd and 4th class next year. I hope that I get the required inspiration and stamina from somewhere.
Otherwise, I drive back and forth to school, to training sessions, to matches, to the shops, with Ulf Lundell on the stereo, and with a song in my heart, because life is really so wonderful.
'Vi ses, vi ses, i Connemara, där livet kan vara så underbart....' Ulf Lundell.

'See you, see you, in Connemara, where life can be so wonderful ....' Ulf Lundell.

our summer, all in one day...

2011-06-08T21:44:00.002+01:00

summer came and it was gorgeous while it lasted, all 48 hours of it!
back to windswept wet and cold weather now,
let's hope the summer comes again before last day of August!

summer is coming, tomorrow!

2011-06-02T22:37:00.002+01:00

yes, dear readers, you heard me right, summer is coming tomorrow, up to 22 or 24 degrees Centigrade is forecast for tomorrow, and sweetest news of all, i have the day off!
Our staff decided back in darkest November to take tomorrow off as one of our discretionary days, and now it feels great! tomorrow we will be off! and the sun will shine!
this Summer of which I speak, is forecast to last for about 48hours, so that's from 2pm today, when the sun came out at last, to 2pm on Saturday, so we are going to enjoy the good weather while we have it. It has been a long cold wet windy May.
Thank you to all the visitors who have popped by, from near and far, please do leave a little comment, it would be greatly appreciated,
regards to you all
from liz

so proud to be Irish today

2011-05-24T00:00:00.002+01:00

A Uachtaráin agus a chairde,
Is féidir linn!

(with apologies to an Banríon, HRH Elizabeth and President Obama, oops, O'Bama)

translates as:
Dear President and friends,
Yes we can!

the above phrases are a combination of the phrases spoken in Irish, as Gaeilge, by 1. the Queen of England, and 2. President Obama, in this most momentuous week for Ireland.
No prizes for guessing which phrase was spoken by President O'Bama ....!

the spring and some famous visitors

2011-05-17T22:24:00.004+01:00

Well, you may all be expecting that I will say that the lovely warm sunny Spring weather we had during Easter break turned into a wonderful early Summer, but....no.
The Spring turned cold and wet and windy on Monday the 2nd of May, and it has remained cold and wet and windy since then. I had to dig out the winter type clothes again, as going to school and freezing in open-toed sandals and cropped trousers was NOT an option. I do not like being cold, especially when I am on yard duty. I really need to be warmly dressed those days, nothing worse than freezing out on the yard with 70 to 80 pupils milling around you!
Would you believe that we were on a beach on Sunday 1st of May? We drove to Barna, near Galway, that day to get some Boiled Linseed Oil to paint the wooden exterior of our (Swedish) Scandinavian house, from Lars, the Swede who owns Scandinavian Homes. After picking up the oil, we drove a short distance to the beach at Silver Strand. The kids went into the water, I didn't, but they don't feel the cold as much as I do. There were lots of other families there too, kids digging sandcastles and hopping in and out of the water. The tide was coming in, and when it had come up so far that it covered the sand, we left and drove home.
That was the last good day we have had this month, weatherwise. Let's hope that we get more summer weather soon...
Life here goes on, sports and school and study and housework squashed in between all the other activities.
The Queen of England came to visit Ireland today!! and she wore GREEN! I was so moved that tears came to my eyes when I saw her getting off the plane wearing green, I just think that's so sweet...
And President Obama is coming in a few days, aren't we lucky to have these famous visitors in Ireland this month.
Jedward did their best for Ireland at the Eurovision and we came 8th.
And our school got the Green Flag, what great news.
I will be going to Thomond Park, the stadium in Limerick which is considered the Home of Munster Rugby, on Friday to be presented with our Green Flag. WooHoo, never been to Thomond Park before, although my elest daughter has been there twice in the past year to see Munster play. Lucky girl! I gotta ask Santa for a present of Munster match tickets next Christmas.

a beautiful spring day

2011-04-27T10:21:00.002+01:00

it is a beautiful spring day here, 10.22 am and the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the breeze is warm, and we're all still on our Easter Holidays, what more could one ask for?
hope you are all well out there,

shopping, a match and knitting

2011-04-26T00:56:00.002+01:00

So, my eldest daughter is going to a disco for teenagers on Thursday night coming, and of course, there was nothing to wear!!! Her cousin is also going and so I volunteered/was volunteered by my daughters to take my 3 girls and the cousin shopping for clothes today. Luckily today was a Public Holiday so my husband was off work, and he got some quality time with our son, while I went off shopping.
We came home about 5 hours later, wrecked and hungry, but there was no rest for the wicked, it was a case of eat up, and get sorted, because eldest daughter had a match in Gaelic Football, and as eldest daughter is a true Swede, being late was not an option! (none of this Irish 'no worries' attitude for her, no...)
The match turned out to be one-sided enough, our young ladies won, although it looked a bit scary in the beginning.
The knitting? well, i am now the very proud owner of at least 2 more knitting machines, (not saying how many really), I spotted an ad for machines for sale in the next county and I was very lucky to manage to buy the machines, one for chunky wool and one regular machine. The chunky machine is the one I will use first I think, just to get the time and space for it now...
Hope all's well with you all out there, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom here and my apple trees also, there are still primroses and cowslips to be seen, shy little violets have self seeded in a flower bed outside, and my lilac bush has come into bloom. I love plants.

Gaelic Football and Camogie

2011-04-21T23:33:00.004+01:00

Kristie in Canada suggested that I explain a bit about the sports my girls play, ie Gaelic Football and Camogie, so here is a little snapshot of those sports.
Gaelic Football first:
Ladies' Gaelic football (Irish: Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a team sport for women, very similar to mens' Gaelic football, and co-ordinated by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. It is increasing in popularity in other countries around the world, often by members of the Irish diaspora.
The game is very similar to the male form of Gaelic football, where two teams of 15 players kick or punch a round ball towards goals at either end of a grass pitch.
Although most of the rules of the game are parallel to those for men's Gaelic football, there are some differences. The main ones are:

* A player may pick the ball up directly from the ground, so long as she is standing
* All matches last 60 minutes.
* Kickouts may be taken from the hand.
* It is permitted to change the ball from one hand to the other
* All deliberate bodily contact is forbidden except when "shadowing" an opponent, competing to catch the ball, or blocking the delivery of the ball.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia, they say it so much better than I can manage right now!)
The kind of actions I see my daughters using in play include blocking down the ball, catching the ball, hand-passing it to another player, and defending by putting 'One hand in', as you cannot put both your arms around an opponent. You can also solo, which is running with the ball, every 3 steps you have to either bounce the ball to yourself, or do a little kick of the ball back to yourself hopefully, as the opponents will be trying to intercept the ball while you are doing this. It's a fast game, lots of running and quite physical, as there are lots of moments when you are face to face with the opponent, as opposed to depending on footwork as one does in soccer.
The aim of the game is to score as many goals and points as possible in the given time. In Gaelic football and in hurling/camogie, a goal (in the net) is equal to 3 points and a score over the crossbar and between the 2 uprights is called a point, and just gets one point. Hurling/camogie and Gaelic Football use the same H shaped goalposts, with the net for the goals in the lower part of the H, and a single 'point' being scored above the crossbar.
Here's the link to the official website for Ladies Gaelic Football in Ireland

Photos can be found on the web, I am no longer borrowing photos from the web for copyright reasons

Camogie next, Camogie is the name given to the game Hurling as played by ladies.
Back to Wikipedia again:
Camogie (Irish: camógaíocht) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women; it is almost identical to the game of hurling played by men. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and world wide, largely among Irish communities.[1] Matches are contested by two teams of 15 a side, using a field 130m to 145m long and 80m to 90m wide. H-shape goals are used, a goal (scored when the ball goes between the posts and under the bar) is equal to three points and a point (scored when the ball goes over the bar) is equal to one point.
The rules are almost identical to hurling, with a few exceptions.[5]

* Goalkeepers wear the same colours as outfield players. This is because no special rules apply to the goalkeeper and so there is no need for officials to differentiate between goalkeeper and outfielders.
* A camogie player can handpass a score (forbidden in hurling since 1980)
* Camogie games last 60 minutes (senior inter-county hurling games last 70)
* Dropping the camogie stick to handpass the ball is permitted.
* A smaller sliotar (ball) is used in camogie - commonly known as a size 4 sliotar - whereas hurlers play with a size 5 sliotar.
* If a defending player hits the sliotar wide, a 45-metre puck is awarded to the opposition (in hurling, it is a 65-metre puck)
* After a score, the goalkeeper pucks out from the 13-metre line. (in hurling, he must puck from the end line)
* The metal band on the camogie stick must be covered with tape. (not necessary in hurling)
* Side–to-side charges are forbidden. (permitted in hurling)

Camogie players generally wear skirts or skorts rather than shorts.

The hurleys used are made of wood from the Ash tree, therefore the expression 'The clash of the ash', to describe hurling/camogie.
The aim of the game is to score as many goals and points as possible in the given time.
Fast and furious sometimes, especially when played by more able players, who can rise the ball from the ground with the hurley, and who can strike the ball with the hurley while running. At the level of my 10 yr old, there can be a lot of ground hurling, because the players do not yet have the skill to rise and strike the ball, nor are they able to carve out the space they need to do this.
Needless to say, helmets are compulsory in hurling/camogie, and it is also compulsory for child players to wear shinguards.

photos

2011-04-21T00:10:00.002+01:00

say what you will, but dandelions (maskrosor) have a lovely bright yellow colour!

wood-sorrel, Oxalis, growing in the dappled shade at the edge of a forested area in Glenstal

a view of the beach at Clonee, near Dungarvan, Co waterford, and a solitary wind surfer walking back along the beach after riding the waves.

my son standing in front of a very vigorous Rhododendron bush in Glenstal, and this photo is taken about a month ago, we had great weather in Ireland last month.

a month has gone by

2011-04-17T22:08:00.002+01:00

yes indeed, a month has gone by since last I wrote in this blog, and all I can say, is Mea Culpa, my fault, my bad, ...
the time goes very by quickly and i just don't have the time to sit and write for this blog, nor get the photos ready for posting in blogposts.
Potted history of the last month:

Eldest daughter was struggling with a hamstring injury, and had to drop all sports and training sessions, to allow it to heal. Glad to report that she is 99% better and has taken part in 2 matches this weekend.

School has been very busy, lots to do and lots to prepare/think about.

Matches have started again in Gaelic football for 2 eldest daughters and in camogie also for all 3 daughters. Plenty of training sessions and matches to drive to, leaving me little chance to grapple with housework.

House is like a pigsty at times, winter clothes haven't yet been packed away and some lighter clothes are making an appearance, so Spring cleaning is on the cards for the next 2 weeks. I need to sort out what clothes to keep and which have been grown out of and absolutely won't be worn again.

Spring is well and truly here, the daffodils are fading now and the celandines too. The hedgerows are full of dandelions and their bright yellow colour is wonderful.
I have spotted some of my great favourites, cowslips, (which are gullviva? or is it vårviva?) growing along the roadisde too.

I plan to put up a few photos to make up for my prolonged absence from this blog, but not tonight, i can't keep my eyes open, good night to all!
regards
liz

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T22:56:00.002Z

Well, I wish a very Happy St Patrick's Day, to one and all, !
I had a lovely day, relaxing and invigorating.
Stayed home from the parades, did a bit of cleaning, hung out laundry, it was a great day for it, and then went to visit my friend K and her 3 children and hubby D.
We had a great laugh, and a great chat, and it was a gift to have an extra day off in the week, where there wasn't a tight sports schedule to follow, just peace and quiet. I usually don't get to see K that often, the weekends are so busy with sport.

Later in the day, I took out my new-to-me Toyota knitting machine and dusted it off and am now in the process of figuring out how it works. Takes me back to my teens when my mother bought a knitting machine and taught me and my sister to knit uniform jumpers for ourselves for secondary school. I got this knitting machine for free, along with a ballwinder from someone who had been given it, but who had no idea how to work it. I count myself very lucky to have been given this machine.

That's it for now,
see you all again soon,
Tack Lambergsfrua för hälsningen, precis i tid!
liz

sheep, Spring flowers and the President of Ireland

2011-03-03T22:20:00.007Z

Today I met real sheep! (I’ve met sheep before, but not since getting my wheel in September, and starting spinning has changed my perspective a bit.)
Today at the petrol station where the pharmacy also is situated, a farmer pulled up his car and trailer, with 4 pure bred young Texel ewes in the trailer and 6 little lambs. My 4 old son was delighted and I spoke briefly to the farmer, that’s how I found out the breed. Made me all proud inside to at least recognise the breed name and understand the term ‘long staple’ !
anyway Mr SheepFarmer was taking the ewes and lambs to their spring grazing and on the way, picking up a prescription for antibiotics for the sheep…
I asked him about the wool, he said he sells it to the wool merchants, I didn’t ask to buy a fleece from him when that time comes, I was tempted but i think it would be too much for my long-suffering family to bear, ie sharing their bathtub with a big raw fleece come summer. The fleece looked really fluffy and thick and it’s only the 3rd of March! How thick will it be by the summer?!!
so that’s my news, photos below.

Come to think of it, if I wanted to I would be able to contact Mr SheepFarmer, as it’s the local pharmacy and I could leave a message there for him. I did mention to him that I had a spinning wheel, so he'll probably remember me from that detail.
Otherwise, Spring is here, photos of daffodils and primroses below also as well as the last of the snowdrops.

Also some roadsigns in the village where I saw the daffodils, it's called Doon, Dún Bleisce in Irish, "the fort of the chief Bleisce"
it's where my girls now go to secondary school, where I also went to secondary school as a boarder and where my mother comes from, so she went to primary and secondary school there, and finally my dad bought a small farm outside this village about 20 years ago, so all roads lead to Doon!
The road sign shows the name of two other nearby villages, Cappamore and Cappawhite, 'the big fort' and 'the fort of the de Faoite clan', respectively.

The President of Ireland? well she visited another local village recently, but hey, I've blabbered enough tonight already and so I'll give the President her own blogpost in the next few days...
Hoppas ni mår bra allihopa, det blir så mycket med jobbet och barnen och min nya favorit sajt Ravelry nuförtiden att jag knappt hinner att skriva alls i bloggen, ni får ursäkta min frånvaro...

I sponsor a sheep, How about EWE?

2011-03-02T11:40:00.006Z

Hi,
I now sponsor a sheep in Långbacken, Söderhögen, near Rätan, Jämtland , Central Sweden!
A Raveller by the name of Renee Darley (British originally) who now lives in Sweden has a group on Ravelry called Longbacken. She is a spinner among other things and had a flock of sheep in Denmark, before she moved to Sweden. Some of her sheep were with another person in Sweden for a while, now it turns out that person has let her down, the sheep have been neglected, the Swedish police had to take them. Renee discovered that almost 70 sheep were taken by the police from the other person, some mixed race, some a rare breed called Spelsau, an old Norwegian race.
The sheep were going to be put down by the police, unless somebody wanted to take them, and paid the police the cost of maintenance so far, and the cost of transport.
Renee lives 700 miles from the where the sheep are(were). All told the cost was high.
Renee told us, the readers in her Longbacken group, about her dilemma, whether to try to save the sheep or not. Amazingly, the word spread and people have helped financially by placing orders for fibre in Renees webshop www.thewoolbusiness.com also www.enuldenaffaer.com
and/or by contributing to Renee via Paypal to sponsor a sheep. All money paid in this second way will be repaid as fibre in a year, minus shipping costs.
The good news is that the sheep arrived at Renees farm last Thursday and the photos are up on the Ravelry group Sponsor a Spelsau Sheep.
Anybody wanting to read about the rescue can read more on Ravelry, www.ravelry.com at this group: Sponsor a Spelsau sheep.
If any of you spinners or knitters out there would like to support Renee in this, by buying fibre from her shop or sponsoring a sheep, it would be great. Every little helps.
I have myself ordered wool and paid a small amount of money to Renee via Paypal to sponsor a sheep.
There is a link to Ravelry in my sidebar, click groups and then search for 'Sponsor a Spelsau sheep', where you can read all about the amazing sheep rescue. Here's a direct link to the Sponsor a Spelsau group, I hope it works...

Renee herself will be at the Fårfestival(Sheepfestival) in Kil this weekend, say Hi to her there!
Hope you are all well out there, long time, no speak... my bad...
regards
liz

P.S. If you want to know where I've been for the last few months, I've been online on Ravelry... sigh...wonderful way to spend hours online...sigh... leaves me no time to spin or knit though...

snowdrops and daffodils...

2011-02-14T22:08:00.005Z

daffodils coming up

more daffodils above and also below

Snowdrops on the roadside ditch beside the cottage where my father was born and reared, about a mile from where I live now...

"Snowdrops and daffodils,
butterflies and bees,
sailboats and fishermen,
things of the seas,
Wedding bells,
wishing wells,
early morning dew,
all kinds of everything remind me of you..."

This song was sung by the Irish teenager, Dana, aka Rosemary Smith, in the Eurovision when I was a child. Dana won the Eurovision that year, and we all were taught the words of the song, by our teacher, who incidentally was my mother!
The lyrics of this song spring to mind as soon as one says the phrase: 'Snowdrops and daffodils', which in itself owns a magic all of its own!
I love snowdrops and daffodils, love watching the patches of grass and garden from early January onwards to see if the spears are beginning to show and watching the flowers peep out and brave gales and wintry showers..
Here are my long promised Snowdrops, photographed Saturday 13th Feb, 2011.
At school in front of a south facing wall, we even have a few daffodils which have just come into bloom, but for some reason I can't transfer the photos from my phone just now, gotta wait till tomorrow till my teenagers can tell me what I'm doing wrong!

I love snowdrops!

a wet and windy weekend

2011-02-06T21:53:00.002Z

so we had a really wet and windy weekend here in Ireland,
some roads were flooded, nothing serious as far I've heard,
unfortunately it was too wet and dull to take photos of the snowdrops which are growing on the ditch outside the cottage where my father was born and reared...
Otherwise, matches were played and matches were won and lost,
and it was a sociable weekend, I met up some very good friends on Friday night and met other friends and acquaintances over the weekend.
Enjoyable, but in the end, weekends are too short!! another free day would be good, sigh...

St Bridget's Day

2011-02-01T19:44:00.002Z

First day of February and it's St. Bridget's Day, also considered the first day of Spring here in Ireland.
Here are a few photos from a walk on Sunday.

almost end of January!

2011-01-26T21:44:00.003Z

Where does the time go?
It's almost the end of January,
and I have allowed this poor blog to go unattended and unloved for weeks!
All is well here, if pretty much the same old, same old...
School, sports, dinners, homework, housework,
and weather varies between cold and dry and cold and wet...
We have no snow, we haven't had snow since the thaw came on the 26th December, weäve had some frost but not as severe as in December.

Spring is on its way, the snowdrops have begun to grow, but no flowers yet, also there are daffodil shoots coming up, but only a few inches high.
The evenings are getting a bit brighter and the mornings too.
It is comforting to know that we are past the worst of winter, and that we are heading towards brighter and warmer months.
I hope all is well with you out there, not much new to report here.
Ha det så bra!
liz

last night of the holidays...

2011-01-10T00:11:00.002Z

so that's it, Christmas 2010 and New Year 2011 well and truly over...
sigh.....
it's late on Sunday night here and we've all school tomorrow, we'll be up early around 7am and off to schoolbuses at 8am and back to get two small ones ready, and get myself ready and will we ever get there in time at all...
and once we're back it'll be like we were never away,
and all the homework and study and housework and training sessions and matches will start all over again, and I love it, and it wears me out, and I will keep on doing it and next thing you know it'll be February midterm break and the daffodils will be out...
but for now, a good night to you all,
and I'll let you know when the first snowdrops peep out, not long now...
another Spring around the corner, on this green damp island...
regards
liz

Little Christmas 2011

2011-01-06T22:57:00.004Z

I've been blogging for over a year now, so I wrote about Little Christmas, Women's Christmas, aka the Epiphany this time last year in this post.
In practical terms, today for us is the day we take down the Christmas decorations. We can go to Mass if we choose to mark the day this way. And tomorrow would normally be the first day back to school after the Christmas holidays.
So we took down the tree and decorations today and it is wonderful to have that gone from under my feet!
However, we are not going back to school until next Monday, the 10th, that decision was made by the Dept of Education early last year and as it turns out it is just as well... The forecast for tonight is for snow and ice and frost in our province, Munster, and I am glad that I will not be worrying tonight about driving conditions tomorrow for the trip to school for all of us...
So I will rest and be glad of the extra day.
My chest has finally improved and I feel much better, although I still have a dry cough, but it would appear half the country has this problem too, so best to just get on with it! (In fact a lot of people have the swine flu, it says in the news...shudder...)
The daughter's chest has also improved, with modern medicine, and the son, who developed a double ear infection with temperature yesterday, is also imbibing his own little bottle of pink wonder elixir, also known as antibiotics, so we should all be good to go on Monday morning.
So in the meantime I am knitting and spinning and getting back on my feet, ie doing laundry, doncha know... also visiting my sister's house for 2 separate parties on 2 separate days. She and I even took our combined offspring to the Ice-skating in Limerick today.
All happy now.
Stay well and stay warm!
liz

Gott Slut och Gott Nytt År, Enjoy New Year's Eve and Happy New Year

2010-12-31T13:10:00.006Z

Happy New Year to you all,
here are photos of how green it is here today, thankfully.
and photos of my first and second attempts at spinning these past few days,
the olive green is very soft, the orange/yellow/brown has lots more character and has even been plied, just needs that final wash now...
also photo of what the original fuzzy wool looked like, before spinning.

meds and spinning baby steps.

2010-12-30T21:21:00.003Z

Got to the doc eventually and now on more medicine, hoping it works fully this time.
I opened the box that has been living in our study and unpacked my spinning wheel on Monday evening, and started spinning.
I managed to spin! and then the following day I managed to ply what I had spun, and now I believe I need to wash the yarn to get the twist to set and then I can knit with it!
all very exciting...
not really overflowing with energy at present, so no pics today, but tomorrow, I'll take some photos in sunlight, and hopefully have them up tomorrow.
be well
liz

Spinning wheel nr 5

2010-12-27T20:45:00.001Z

Spinning wheel_4819
Originally uploaded by liz65oconnor

oh and I bought a pair of Louet carders at the same time.

Spinning wheel nr 4

2010-12-27T20:44:00.001Z

Spinning wheel_4820
Originally uploaded by liz65oconnor

B included some wool for me to spin too, and that's Angora in the bag at the back right of the pic

Spinning wheel nr 3

2010-12-27T20:43:00.001Z

Spinning wheel_4821
Originally uploaded by liz65oconnor

close up

Spinning wheel nr 2

2010-12-27T20:09:00.002Z

Spinning wheel_4822
Originally uploaded by liz65oconnor

here it is out of the box

Spinning wheel nr 1

2010-12-27T20:08:00.004Z

Note: in this and the next 4 posts I am experimenting with using flickr.com
please excuse the repetitive nature of the posts....

from white to green, overnight!

2010-12-27T18:59:00.005Z

So for the last 2 weeks or more Ireland has been in the grip of a cold spell which has meant record low temperatures, as low as minus 10 C for us, but as low as minus 17C in other parts of the country. This lasted up to and including Christmas Day, it was all white and frosty, the frost was so thick on the trees it looked like snow, see the photos in the previous post.
But then on the morning of St Stephen's Day (26th December), ie, yesterday, we awoke to something we hadn't seen in 2 weeks or more, green grass, green fields, the Atlantic air had once again worked it's magic on us. I like this kind of weather, I am not really so enamoured in snow and ice, especially when it comes to driving in it.
Admittedly, the roads in some parts of the East were still dangerous, as they had gotten most snow and the thaw spread from the SouthWest, so it took longer for them to experience the thaw, the compacted snow became worse before it melted fully. However here in Limerick, the roads were fine and I even ventured into town with 6 kids, 5 teenagers who wanted to go ice-skating and my 10yr-old daughter who had a burning desire to spend her Christmas money on a Wii game.
Ice-skating went fine, some shops were open for the sales and daughter purchased 2 Wii games and the traffice wasn't bad so I wasn't too stressed, so all went well.
However I think I probably wasn't really ready for that trip as regards my health, as my throat and chest got worse, but a good night's sleep has helped and I don't feel as bad today as yesterday.
Took it very easy today, plenty of web-surfing and bit of housework.
Two of the daughters are gone to a friend's house, so it's very calm here today.
Enjoying leftovers and homemade Christmas cake, so all is well with the world.

God Jul! Happy Christmas!

2010-12-25T21:24:00.010Z

Happy Christmas to all out there in the ether...
God jul! (god fortsättning, borde jag egentligen säga..)
Hoppas att dagen gick bra för allihopa, att det åts och det firades osv.
Här har vi det ganska bra ställt, vi har vatten, (en del är utan), el (en lättnad efter elavbrottet igår kväll) och torra vägar, som det går att köra på, (en del vägar är livsfarliga att köra på just nu), så vi räknar våra välsignelser...
kommer med en liten redovisning av de senaste 2 veckorna.

Först några bilder...

photos taken by the Swede yesterday and day before, along our road

12e december, det töade, som jag sade i ett tidigare inlägg
13e december, jag åkte till Dublin med 65 skolbarn och 3 kolleger, för att delta i en stor konsert, Hallelujah Konsert på RDS, där sammanlagt 3500 skolbarn deltog och sjöng. Det var väldigt roligt, men jag var såå trött dagen därpå, bussarna kom inte 'hem' till skolan förran kl 1 på natten, och sedan hade jag en vanlig arbetsdag dagen därpå. Frosten kom tillbaks samma kväll.
14e december, frosten och den stränga kylan kom tillbaks, även om vi i Limerick inte fick någon snö.
16e och 17e december, sjukskriven pga lunginflammation, åt penicillin och steroider, tog det lugnt även över helgen... kallt var det.
19e december, Äldsta dottern var med och spelade i en final i Schools Camogie, och de vann!! Munster finalen! häftigt!
20e dec till 23e december, tillbaks på jobbet, dock med en ny hosta som jag inte har blivit av med och nu har medicinen tagit slut, tyvärr. Frosten och kylan fortsätter...
21e december årets kortaste dag, om ni förstår vad jag menar, och en Lunar Eclipse...
23e december, halvdag på skolan, för alla av oss, Jullov börjar!
24e december Julafton, åt svenskt julbord med Wasa Husmans knäckebröd nyligen levererat av ett par hem från Örnsköldsvik
25e december Christmas Day, åt kalkon och skinka (och rester av svensk julmaten! en härlig blandning!)
Imorgon, ska det töa ordentligt sägs det... då löper vi risk för frysande regn och sedan översvämningar...

Happy Christmas to all.
Hope you are all well and safa and warm tonight.
Review of last 2 weeks:
12th Dec, the thaw
13th Dec, trip by bus to Dublin with 65 schoolchildren and 3 colleagues, to take part in a giant choir, in a show. Great fun, but sooooo tired following day... and the frost came back...
16 and 17 Dec, off sick with chest infection. The frost also got worse.
19 Dec eldest daughter was in the winning team at the Munster Schools Senior Camogie final!
20th to 23rd Dec, back at school, but coughing, meds are finished, so not much I can do right now. Still very cold, we have freezing fog and the trees are crystally with thick rimefrost.
23rd Halfday, all got holidays at last, yippeee! still very cold.
24th Dec ate Swedish Christmas food, freezing fog, no sun.
25th Dec ate turkey and ham dinner for Christmas Day, visited my parents house...
the sun shone but the frost was still here...

looking forward now to my bed, we were woken up by a determined child this morning at 4am, she was determined to see if Santa had come and left the presents yet, but she was persuaded to go back to bed for another while...
I'm not good if sleep deprived...
Enjoy the rest of the holidays,
regards
liz

Roll on the promised thaw tomorrow...

det töade, the thaw came,

2010-12-12T12:03:00.005Z

Det töade, nu är det slut med all snö och frost hos oss, inga farliga vägar nu, men, kylan kommer tillbaks imorgon, och det kommer att bli ännu kallare frampå torsdag...

The thaw came, the roads are fine again, and all snow and ice is gone, only thing is the cold is coming back tomorrow and it is going to get colder by Thursday.

Edited to add: I've just been over to Lily's Blog, Lily is currently in Minneapolis and has posted some amazing photos of snow in Minneapolis, from Dec 12th, as well as Christmas trees, even an Irish themed tree, here, and Lily pointed me in the direction of a site dealing with Irish weather, which is giving a Severe weather warning for Ireland and UK later this coming week...

The link below is to the site called Irish WeatherOnline, and it looks like absolutely terrible weather is coming next Thursday, ooooh, eck!
words like 'huge polar hurricane over Svalbard' and 'very strong Arctic outbreak' and 'very strong northerly of sub-freezing temperatures' and 'an epochal cold spell for Ireland and Britain in the next 20-30 day interval' make me shiver...
Severe weather alert for Thursday

enjoying a nice morning here, trying to avoid thinking about snow and shopping and the need to shop.... shudders at thought of Limerick and traffic and crowds...

hope you enjoy your weekend...
liz

a welcome day of rest

2010-12-08T20:48:00.002Z

Today was a holy day in ireland and lots of the schools choose to close to observe the day, which unofficially has become known as Farmers' Shopping Day, it's when all the farmers and their wives head into the cities to do Christmas shopping.

Needless to say with the weather and road conditions, I never even contemplated leaving home, certainly not to join the hordes in Limerick city, I do not like shopping in crowds, or trying to get home with traffic jams and queues.

It was a great day at home, the daughters helped to clean the house, sorting laundry and washing floors and washing dishes, and then the Big Treat, putting up the Christmas tree and our Swedish Adventsljusstake, (known as candle-bridges here).
So happily the house is relatively tidy, the Christmas tree is up and we are all rested after one sweet day off, one less day having to drive on dodgy roads.

It'll be cold again tonight, but the thaw is coming, thank Heaven! It may even get to plus 7 degrees Centigrade on Friday, oh please, Mother Earth, let that be so.

I really want to have our usual Irish winter back, bit of wind and rain and mild temperatures. However it looks like we will need to get used to cold like this, it looks like we could have more cold weather from the middle of next week. And who knows how long this weather will last? all the way till January? maybe...
hope all of you are staying warm and taking care out there,
liz

mince pies

2010-12-05T17:32:00.006Z

Well, I don't unfortunately have the time nor the talent to be a domestic goddess, and cooking or baking isn't my strong point, but here's a link to someone who does a lot of cooking and baking and makes it all look very lovely and very easy.
It's Jaz on her Octoberfarm blog, and she has a new giveaway as well on this post:
http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2010/12/mincemeat-recipe-and-new-giveaway.html

Here's a bit of background to the origin of Mincemeat!

The origin of the word 'mincemeat' is often of interest, especially as it does not appear to contain any meat whatsoever. Up to Victorian times, the mince(meat) pie would have actually have been a spiced meat pie with some dried fruit. It has evolved to the point where the only meat in the pie is in the form of suet, an historical throwback.

The filling is nowadays made from fruit mincemeat (fruitmince to North Americans) containing dried fruit such as raisins, currants, cherries, apricot, candied peel; spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg; nuts such as walnuts or chopped almonds; suet; and some kind of alcohol, usually either brandy or rum. Although no longer a meat pie, the mince pie is suitable for vegetarians only if the suet is replaced by vegetable fat.

(Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie )

How well-behaved is your snow?

2010-12-04T22:35:00.005Z

The so-called Big Freeze continues, but really, the coldest temperature measured so far is minus 16C, which is nothing compared to Sweden.
Funnily enough, Ireland in my childhood used to be almost always snowfree, or at least most of Ireland. We got well-behaved snow, which fell overnight, ensured schools closed the following day and then had the good manners to melt during the day so we didn’t have to worry about icy roads etc… oh and this all used to happen on one day a year in maybe February or March, at least in the Southwest of the country, which is where I live….
However, last year’s 'cold snap' lasted 3 weeks and caused chaos, if it wasn’t snow that was the problem it was the frost that froze the last of the snow and made us Irish sit up and realise the need for gritting roads, and insulating water pipes correctly!
Now this year the cold and snow has come even earlier than last year, and we are once again struggling to deal with it. Last Thursday Dublin Airport was closed 3 times in the one day, as the snow was falling faster than they could clear the runway. Dublin suffered a combination of thunder and lightning and heavy snowfalls, and other parts of the East coast were also badly affected. At least this year the local authorities probably have enough salt and grit, and at least this time it's not the Christmas holidays when it's happening, like last year which really messed things up.

Honestly, we rarely gritted our roads before this, and we do not use studded/winter/all-weather tyres, why would we need to, snow only ever lasted until noon, on one day in, say, February...
[edited to add for clarification: I sincerely wish we did have winter tyres, and enough salt trucks and grit trucks to go around, and enough sand and salt for every schoolyard in the country ...]
So how well behaved is your snow? and how do you deal with it?
regards
liz

we are lucky so far...

2010-12-02T19:56:00.007Z

Vi har faktiskt haft tur med vädret :-),
det råder snökaos i Europa och östra delen av Irland, men här i Limerick och Tipperary så har vi bara lite snö, och det mesta har smält bort nu, det var lite halkigt några mornar i rad på väg till jobbet, med det är inget emot det som Dublin och Monaghan har fått erfara denna vecka.
But i think our good luck is now coming to an end, the forecast for tonight is for a Low Pressure coming in from the Atlantic, that'll bring precipitation (nederbörd) and when the Low Pressure system meets the cold air over Ireland, then there'll be snow and this we cannot escape, we are right in the line for this...
So who knows what we'll be waking to tomorrow morning...

a few pictures at last, äntligen några bilder

2010-11-29T18:15:00.006Z

The first photo is of the school which is right next to our house, the snow was pretty much as it had been all day, as the school was closed today, due to the weather/roads. I thought the light and the sky were lovely.
The other three show my daughter's 'snow fort', built by herself yesterday and today with the light powdery snow we got.
The builder herself is in there too, accompanied by her able assistant, her younger brother!
It was about 4.45 when i took these shots, so I had to brighten the one with the kids in it, so it wouldn't be too dark.

Kids stayed at home today, but tomorrow I think it'll be back to normal again.
regards
liz

Dessa bilder är tagna med min mya mobilen, tack o lov så har dottern en likadan, så jag behövde inte läsa manualen, utan frågade henne bara hur man gör för att föra över bilderna till min bärbara.

first snow...

2010-11-28T20:30:00.002Z

The first snow of winter came to Ireland a few days ago, but we didn't get any until last night, and then only a light dusting.
However, the weather stayed cold all day so the little road is now treacherous and slippy with compacted frozen snow which melted a little during the day but has been freezing again since 6pm.
The cold weather is forecast to stay for the next 4 days, and we'd be just fine if we hadn't gotten the fall of snow, I drove to Adare today for a match and a training session for the daughters, and there was no snow after the first 3 km! I wouldn't mind frost if it wasn't for the snow which will now make driving on this little road not very nice....
Our road is so small it's not a priority for gritting, so we will hardly see any grit trucks this way, although possibly the fact that there's a primary school on the road may mean they will come this way and grit.
Here's hoping that we all manage to get where we need to go tomorrow, safe and sound.
Hope you're all safe and well and warm out there.
regards
liz

sports results and the national financial crisis

2010-11-21T18:00:00.004Z

Won the first match, lost the second and won the third, thereby winning the Shield also, see the photo above !!
Thanks to all the time and effort the coaches put in...
now to clean this house and get the last of the clothes dry for tomorrow.
It was a lovely day otherwise, sun shining, cold, crisp, clear.
I guess by now you all know that the IMF and the ECB are in Ireland, I'm relieved the 'adults' are in charge now, fingers crossed that we get get through this....
regards
liz

sports taking over my life...

2010-11-20T17:08:00.003Z

this weekend:
Sat: 5 hr Football Blitz in Cahir (45 mins away) with one daughter, other daughter has soccer squad training from 6 to 7.30 followed by Youth Club;
Sun: 3 separate soccer matches, one per daughter.....
nuff said....

a hard frost, match called off...

2010-11-15T00:13:00.006Z

Written late on Sunday 14th November: There was a hard frost last night, (Saturday) and the first planned match for today Sunday was called off, daughter nr 1 was all set to go and play with the local Ladies Soccer team at 11 or so, but their match was called off, due to a frozen pitch!
Daughter nr 3 went to her soccer match around 12.30, and I'm glad to report they won. Jubilation all round and a trip to the shop to celebrate!
Daughter nr 2 got her Irish homework done, with a bit of help from myself and went to her Gaelic Football Development Squad training at 3.30, whereupon I headed off to the shops and got the last few bits and pieces for the week ahead, milk, bread, ham etc.
(There are no school canteens in Ireland, it's 'medhavd matsäck' all the way, ie, bring your own packed lunch to school.=
Det är ett tag sedan jag skrev på svenska senast, ni får inte tro att jag har slutat med svenskan, det verkar bara att alla som bloggar på svenska förstår engelska väldigt bra, och jag underlättar för mig själv genom att skriva på engelska för det mesta härinne, det tar tid att skriva ut allt jag vill säga 2 gånger, en gång på engelska och en gång på svenska!
nåväl, imorgon dagar en ny dag och därmed en ny vecka, få se vad denna ny dag och ny vecka bjuder på...
ha det så bra ni som kikar in hos mig, tack för att ni är trogna läsare! och välkomna hit till dem som har nyligen hittat hit, ni är hjärtligt välkomna!
hälsningar
liz
Kameran glömdes hemma idag den med....suck....

match and tax return

2010-11-13T17:55:00.003Z

so as usual I've left doing the tax return until the last minute, the only change this year is that I've pretty much left it until the last LAST minute, and this necessitated a mad search this morning for a particular document, which thankfully was duly located and in the process I managed to find a few other things I had put in a 'safe place' and promptly forgot... sigh... This forgetting is getting to be a bit of a habit, I put it down to having so much to do and so much to juggle that I cannot possibly keep it all at the forefront of my mind. That's my excuse anyway.
So the other activity today was taking daughter 1 and 2 to an U16 soccer match, which was a draw, happily for both sides and both sets of mothers and daughters...
Reminder to self: I must start taking photographs for this blog!!!!
Now I can sit and relax for a bit, then head off to Youth Club with one youthful daughter, and later it will be so nice to get home and get cosy in front of the laptop again! :-)))
regards
liz

a good site for weather info

2010-11-12T17:08:00.003Z

Friends and familymembers in Sweden recommend the website of the Norwegian Metereological Service for uptodate and accurate weather forecasts, so I started using it and like it very much for its graphics and constant updates. I thought I'd post the address of it so here's the link to it now:
http://www.yr.no/

I like this site, (did I say that already??), go and have a good click around it, you can choose anywhere in the world to view, and you can choose to have it displayed in English, if Norwegian is not your forte!!

Weather now in East County Limerick, as observed by my good self, from the vantage point of my kitchen table: clouds rolling in from the SouthWest, looks like a heavy shower is on the way, it just got all dark, the day was blustery and showery, so it looks like more of the same for now. There is a half-moon hiding behind the clouds to the south, behind the 2 tall bare beech trees across the road from my house. I never know when the moon is waxing or waning, maybe someone out there can tell me, though I guess I could always go check this online too. Anyway the moon is bright on the right half this evening, now is that waxing or waning, or what is it called? Anyone? anyone?

Today's schedule: soccer training 5pm for daughter 2, 6pm for daughter 3, then home and staying cosy for the night.
Tomorrow: U16 match in Bruff. Both daughter 1 and 2 playing in that.
Sunday: Ladies soccer match in Adare, (Limerick's cutest village, must get some photos for ye) daughter 1 playing in that. Also U10 match for daughter 3.
Inbetween? an online tax return and assorted paperwork for work...
oh yeah and some R, R and R, rest, relaxation, recreation, I hope....!

tempis fugit.....and weather talk.

2010-11-09T23:12:00.005Z

Time flies...
It is now 9th of November 2010.
The days go by so fast.
I haven't written much in here recently, and getting sorted to post photographs seems to be a mammoth task, beyond me at present.
All is well, children are going to school as they should, I am going to school as I should and the Swede is going to work, thankfully, as Ireland is suffering high unemployment at present.
The clocks changed to wintertime, there is less light in the evenings and soon even the extra bit of light in the mornings will be gone too. The winter solstice is about 7 weeks away, so even if it feels dark now, the bad news is that it is only going to get darker for the next 7 weeks. Sigh....
The leaves have blown off the trees, especially with the wind last Sunday and Monday. Tonight the weather is cold and skies are clear, there will be frost tonight. Tomorrow will start bright and cold, but then some very strong winds are forecast for tomorrow evening and Thursday.
I read just now in Lambergsfruas blogg that they are expecting snow in her county, (same place my husband is from) anything from 5cm in the city of Karlstad, Sweden, up to 15cm in northern areas of Värmland. The Cottage by the Cranelake blogg has already had snow since this morning and has lovely snowy pictures up on his blog. And Cloudberry blogg from Norway has had snow already also, since last week I think.
Ireland will not get snow until Christmas at earliest, we generally don't even get snow for Christmas, but after last year I hesitate to make any such claim this year...
For now Ireland will take the brunt of the low pressure systems rolling in from the Atlantic and that means rain, wind, gales and more rain.... Up to yesterday afternoon, it felt like we had had 10 days of non-stop rain, with just a brief interlude on Sunday morning before it all started again on Sunday afternoon.....The rivers are high, no flooding, yet, but last November some areas of the country had very bad flooding and I am certain that there are householders out there who are very worried about the next few days, with a lot of rain forecast.
For now it is time to hit the sack for me, or I won't be able to function tomorrow, and it is only Wednesday tomorrow, so I need energy for 3 more workdays before I get to the oasis of the weekend!
Good night and take care all you out there in whatever weather you may find yourself in!
regards
liz

a little video about a little hummingbird!

2010-11-05T22:25:00.005Z

have deleted the video from my blogg,
just to be safe not sorry, etc,
to be sure,
to be sure...

oh my poor neglected blog...

2010-10-29T21:33:00.003+01:00

Indeed, my poor neglected blog!
midterm break almost over and it's been great!
Went to Ikea last Tuesday, loved that and met some very helpful staff, particularly the kind man who helped me to lift the stuff into the car, twice!!
Today I put up the 3 drawer chest of drawers for son Sean. Eldest daughter helped by putting together a 2 drawer bedside cabinet for her sister.
The old chest of drawers we had up to now went to a project in town where the youth learn woodwork etc by repairing or remodelling donated furniture in need of work.
Baked chocolate caramel squares with my 10 yr old daughter just now, waiting for the caramel to cool, maybe it'll take until tomoro.
4 matches over the weekend coming up now, Cahir Co Tipperary, Murroe Co Limerick, Buttevant co Cork, and Holy Cross Co Limerick.!!! Then Halloween on Sunday night, but it'll be quiet cos there's school next day...
So back to school for the children on Monday but I have one more day off, so I go back on Tuesday, nice....
I've lurked around in other people's blogs, but I've not been great with the comments... sorry...
regards
zileoco

lov......

2010-10-23T22:17:00.003+01:00

nu är vi på höstlov, och det känns såååååå skönt, ....
jag planerar att åka till IKEA i Dublin på tisdag och jag sitter nu och kollar IKEA+katalogen på webben och ordnar min shoppinglista, ååå vilken underbar sysselsättning på en lördag kväll....
Planning my trip to IKEA on Tuesday, sitting here and checking out the IKEA website sorting out my shopping list for Tues..., what a delightful project....
My brother from Monaghan was here today with his wife and daughter, (3 yrs old), and my sister from Cork also visited with her husband and their 2 children, (3 yr old boy and 1 yr old girl), so we had lots of fun with the cousins and it was a dreat day for it.
My door which has been causing me grief by not being properly sealed and letting in a draught, has been fixed by a very good carpenter and my tap which was gushing and splashing has also been tamed by a friend who knows about taps etc. Unfortunately another tap has taken it upon itself to act up and needs to be replaced, so one more item to look for in IKEA...
I am repotting my Busy Lizzies (Impatiens) and geraniums (pelargonium) and bringing them indoors. So I can now face the winter happily.
I really need to get my camera back in action and take some photos of the Autumn colours around here, and in Glenstal, maybe even in Clare Glens.
The clocks go back in a week, it'll be interesting to see how the change will feel again.... sad that another summer is now definitely over, glad to be facing a new season...
Hope all is well with you out there,
regards
liz

soccer and more soccer...

2010-10-16T18:47:00.003+01:00

I'm in Kilmallock again, second time today, this morning 11am for a girls Under 16 soccer match and now again at 6pm for a training session for the U16 girls County development team,
The thing is it's about a 30minute drive from home, so this is a bit of a trek today, but I have the laptop and the knitting, so I'm cosy in the car and enjoying a lovely sunset....
tomorrow brings 2 more soccer matches, (U10 and Ladies) and a training session in Gaelic Football for other daughter!
Luckily we'll have Midterm break in a week!! A whole week off...
The anticipation is wonderful!!
Hope all well out there, have yourselves a good day and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

where does the time go?!!

2010-10-11T22:45:00.003+01:00

So, people, far and near, I can't quite believe how fast the time is going...
September came and went and it's already the 11th of October!!!
We will have a week off from Monday 25th of October, that will be very welcome. The challenge will be to use the time wisely... possibly the best use of the time would be to do as much as I can beforehand, and not leave any major things to do for the week off, coz life has a way of getting in the way!
Needless to say work on the knitting and spinning front is going very slowly, I do love the feel of knitting a few lines, it relaxes me, but I'm not getting to do that often enough.
I'm stuck on the same novel since August, and I still see things around the garden that I thought I would have sorted out during the summer but didn't. Ah well, the winter will kill the weeds..... and the cow and bull who are grazing in the next field have trimmed my hedge beautifully for me!
Autumn weather now, the nice kind, a big High Pressure parked over Ireland giving us a foggy morning this morning, a real pea-souper of a fog, and then a gorgeous afternoon when it finally cleared. the evening was lovely, I went out for a walk along our road, armed with a hurley, in case those two barking dogs up the road jumped out at me, I hate new dogs that bark at you!!!
We are going to benefit from this High Pressure for the rest of the week, instead of the usual series of Low Pressures that sweep in from the Atlantic Ocean, bringing rain.
Week ahead not too bad, in relative terms, but gotta go to the Dentist and the Hygienist on Thursday, that'll be fun (not...)
plenty of sports on with the kids, but that's ok, I'm happier out in the air than inside looking at laundry to be sorted!!!
I haven't had time to do much web wandering, I peek at your blogs, but feel too overwhelmed to begin writing sensible witty entertaining comments, so then I don't leave any comment, oh the pressure to be clever!!!! (only joking...)
Hope you are well, my 'regulars' know who they are,
Apologies to L'frua in K'stad for not replying sooner, I hope the new TV is great!
good night
liz

slow to get going again...

2010-10-02T20:17:00.004+01:00

This time last year we painted the house, here are some photos from last September...

Hello all!!
The laptop is fixed and updated to Windows 7 and all is well. I have installed parental controls so the daughters can only use the laptop for 1 hour a day during the week and I have changed passwords, and given the daughters a separate non-admin account so there's no way they can access my stuff, or change passwords, or change programs etc so I get to use the laptop more, if I had time that is! I'm not blaming them for the laptop breaking down, cos it was a separate issue, I'm just saying that now that they're all back at school and have lots of homework to do that it's best to have the laptop locked to them so they aren't tempted to use it especially in the evenings when they have to do schoolwork and then get to bed early.
I am kept busy with work and housework and taking children to and from training and matches. I love getting out to the matches actually, it's fresh air and a change from being indoors. When the weather is fairly ok I take the younger ones as well with me, for the break. This weekend so far I took 6 children to a soccer match yesterday, which we lost, that cost me a bit in the shop afterwards (chocolate consoles!!!); today I took daughter #3 to a camogie match with her friend, while my other two girls got a lift with their friend to another soccer match. Tomorrow, the eldest daughter will be playing with the local ladies team in a soccer match on the other side of Limerick. So it's all go....
I'm finding it a bit slow to get back up and started blogging again, I have been lurking in here and reading your blogs, but haven't left many comments at all. Also I feel like I should have more photos for you, but I don't and tonight I thought, well, forget the photos, just write!!! I've to get back into the habit of carrying the camera with me again, and having it charged of course!!! For now I am using photos from my archive...
Today is the second day of October, can you believe it??? Apparently it's 12 weeks from today to Christmas Day. More importantly and more immediately, it's 3 weeks until the Midterm break and I can't believe where the time has gone...
I am now the very proud owner of a Spinning wheel, which has come to me via a German lady I 'met' on Ravelry.com. I've been thinking about buying a spinning wheel since 1994!!! Of course now that I have it I discover I am in a very busy period of life, but I console myself that I will have the wheel for a long time so there's no rush!
Hope all is well with you and please do leave a comment, I see from the Flag Counter that there are people from all around the world visiting in here, any comment you would like to leave would be gratefully appreciated and returned!
regards
liz

back online

2010-09-26T20:43:00.001+01:00

back online again,
but caught for time now,
back again in a day or two...

How to make your computer speak Swedish!!!

2010-09-25T15:38:00.002+01:00

i have added Swedish as a langauge in my computer and then all I need to do is go to the lower taskbar and click on the little EN button and choose Swedish as the keyboard language instead of English, the åäö are then available as follows:

ö is the button to right of L, which on my keyboard is ; :
ä is to the right of ö which on my keyboard is ’ @
and å is above ö and ä, the button to the right of P, which on my keyboard is brackets { .

The capitals ÅÄÖ are available then as soon as you use the Shift key with these buttons specified above. Only problem is that the original symbols ; : ’ @ { all shift to different buttons when you change to Swedish language, not only that but practically all the symbols have shifted. But at least you don’t have to use all those codes.
I have used this to write my Swedish and it works well. You get used to it quickly, also I am including a link below from wikipedia showing what a Swedish keyboard looks like so you can find the symbols that have shifted. I have a copy of this beside me for quick reference.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/KB_Swe...
and read more about the differences between keyboards here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout

Finally, and before I forget, most importantly how do you add a language?
copied from Windows Help:
To show the Language bar
Right-click the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click Language bar.
Once the Language bar is displayed, you can right-click it to display options for changing its settings, including docking it on the taskbar or displaying it vertically instead of horizontally.
Note
If the Language bar is not listed in the Toolbars menu, you do not have multiple input languages installed on your computer. You need to add additional languages using Regional and Language Options in Control Panel. For more information, see Add an input language.

and
to add an input language I open the Control Panel and choose ‘Clock, Language and Region’ and then Regional Languages, then Change the Region then Keyboards and Languages, and follow the prompts.

Add an input language
You can edit documents in multiple languages by changing the language (the input language) in which you type. Input languages are included with Windows, but you need to add them to your list of languages before you can use them.
Click to open Regional and Language Options.
Click the Keyboards and Languages tab, and then click Change keyboards.
Under Installed services, click Add.
Double-click the language you want to add, double-click the text services you want to add, select the text services options you want to add, and then click OK.

I hope that makes sense, if not, get back to me…
regards
liz

been offline, but not by choice...

2010-09-13T19:27:00.003+01:00

laptop has crashed, necessitating vital open hard-drive surgery...
been offline for a full week and it's not over yet...
borrowing my mother's computer to write this and check my emails...
I got a spinning wheel today, from the Netherlands via a German lady!!! also lovely wool to spin and a pair of Louet carders! bliss is me...
School is as busy as can be, home life is also very busy.
matches and training and trials...
Eldest daughter played with her club in the County Minor (U18) Final in Gaelic Football at weekend and they won!!
gotta go, daughter nr 2 is at home baking Brownies and is after ringing me to get butter for her!
best of luck people,
talk soon,
liz

back at school and wrecked...

2010-09-04T15:04:00.003+01:00

Title says it all,
I'm back at school since Wednesday and boy am I wrecked....
Tired from getting up early and not getting to bed early enough, gotta change my surfing habits!
Tired from keeping all these children on track and ready for school, also driving them to their assorted sports activities...
Tired already from the mental stress of having a lot of pupils to deal with this year, and a lot of learning and behavioural difficulties to deal with...
blaaaaaa......
well, on the bright side, the weather is great, the clothes are out drying, and the sun is shining...
not to worry, my good spirits will be back in a few days...
regards,
liz

photos

2010-08-31T09:40:00.007+01:00

3 great knitting books, Knitting without tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann, Respect the Spnidle, and The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns, my 3 latest acquisitions, (that website play.com is just toooooooo easy, and postage is included in the euro price stated, what more could you ask for!)

My 15 yr old daughter S knit this sweater in first 2 weeks of August this year, we got the yarn from Aunt E in Kristinehamn, and daughter just took off with needles when she got home. This is her first sweater, she has knit scarves, bags, tubular socks, hats and a cushion cover before. She is now teaching herself crochet from one of my many books and doing very well.Well done S!

only 2 days left to 1st Sept

2010-08-29T12:18:00.002+01:00

Only 2 days left to 1st September, that's when I go back to work (school, I teach)!
One child goes back tomorrow, 2 more start on Tuesday and me and little son start back on Wednesday.
Back to the routine, which is not a bad thing, actually, I get more done in an average workday than I'd get done in 3 days during the holidays, well it feels like that anyway, I suppose what I mean is I achieve more when I am under a deadline. When I am on the long summer school holidays, there's no deadline and days flow into each other.

I'm not so bothered about going back to work, it's just the amount of work one has to do at home before you get to work and then the work you have to do after you get home from work!!!
all will be well...
I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.
liz

an autumn feel to the day...edited to incl English

2010-08-25T01:30:00.006+01:00

Wind turbines,in Vänern, off Hammarö, Sweden, July 2010

Idag kändes det som höst tyckte jag, dvs, höst av finare sort, det var blåsigt, med regnskurar men mycket solsken, och lite kyligt i luften.
Fram på kvällen var det klar blå himmel, man kunde se hur långt som helst, och jag kände hur sommaren har börjat avta nu, och hösten gör sig hemma hos oss,
jag väntade vid fotbollsplanen på att dotterns träning skulle vara klar, och jag ville inte sätta på radion i bilen, bara lyssna på naturens ljud, känna brisen på ansiktet och känna hur skönt det var att ha på mig en varm kofta och ändå känna kylan omkring mig. huuuuu...
Solen går ner tidigare för varje dag, man märker det nu, även om den stora skillnaden kommer i september.
Today felt like autumn I thought, I mean of course the nicer type of autumn, crisp, breezy, a few showers but bright and sunny and with clear blue skies. It got cool in the evening and standing at the side of the football pitch I could see for forever, the air was so clear. Wonderful to just be there, listen to the birds, feel the breeze and feel the chilly air, even if I had a lovely warm cardigan on to keep the chill out...

Bara några få sköna ljuvliga bittersweet dagar kvar tills skolan börjar igen. Idag var jag och röjde i mitt klassrum, nu ser det ut som om upp till 16 barn skulle kunna få plats därinne, tack och lov, så skall det se ut,
det finns förstås mer att göra men det tar jag allteftersom...
de sista skolböckerna förväntas imorgon, imorgon ska jag också betala skolans 'frivilliga' avgift, för de två stora tjejer (gissa om det egentligen är frivilligt eler ej...)
och nästa vecka är det skola igen!!! för allihopa!!! NO!! YES!! NO!!
bra att komma in i rutinen igen, bra att få något vettigt gjort med dagen, inte så bra att ständigt vara på väg nån annanstans...
så är det...

Just a few wonderful bittersweet days left until school starts again: Today I went and cleared out my classroom, so now I have space for 16 children to sit in there, which is how I want the room to look.
There is of course more to do, books to arrive in the post, 'voluntary' registration fee to pay at one school, (it's up to you to decide whether the volunary contribution is really voluntary or not!)
and next week it's school for all of us again! Nooooo!!, Yessssss!, Noooooo!
it will be good to get back in the routine again, and one achieves something each day, but I will be run off my feet, always rushing to the next place! Such is life right now...

återkommer kanske med kort engelsk översättning
God Natt, mycket sent, har precis avslutat den där översättnings grej jag gjorde åt Cappamore Youth Club, gäspppppp.... trött, nattenatt....

Good night, I got back here with the English translation, after all, and now it's late, translation work for the Youth Club just finished and I'm off to bed, yawwwwwnnnn, so tirrrrreddddd.... g'night!

lekplats safari, Swedish playgrounds, playgrounds galore...

2010-08-20T10:04:00.005+01:00

The train at Mariebergsskogen, Karlstad

Plikten Slottsskogen Gothenburg
This is pretty much how we spend our time in Sweden, if we're not in a lake swimming...

Plikten in Slottsskogen, GBG, in the evening

Plikten again

a trip to Mellerud, a parcel and a prize!

2010-08-13T14:25:00.008+01:00

Hi all, a quick update,
I've been very busy this morning, at 11am this morning I drove to the nearest large village and spoke for almost 2 hours to a small group of teenagers from the Youth Club there, who will be going to Mellerud, Sweden for a cultural visit at the end of August. A friend of mine had spotted a small notice in the local paper, the Limerick Leader, about the group going to Sweden and possibly needing some help with translation, basic phrases etc, so my friend told me, I called the contact number and there I was this morning, spouting forth on Sweden, the food, some of the traditions, etc. I even had typed out some basic phrases and how to pronounce them phonetically.
I go back again next week and will meet with a larger group, 20 more children and their group leaders to possibly give a similar presentation and to do some translation.
I have even found a reference to the visit online, see this edition of Melleruds Nyheter
Very exciting!
EDITED TO ADD: the link to Melleruds Nyheter seems to go to the most uptodate version of the newsletter, and so the bit about the Irish visit has already gone, but I'm leaving the link up, as at least one of my readers and possibly 3, are nterested in what happens around Mellerud!!! (L i Vänersborg, S i torpet, och K i Killaloe)

The postman arrived this morning before I left, with 2 parcels for me! One was a spindle and some gorgeous yarn called Northern Lights 3, (how could i leave that behind me, with a Scandinavian name like that?), which I had ordered online from THis is Knit in Dublin.

Ashford spindle, top-whorl, and Northern Lights 3 wool, to spin on the spindle...

The other was a skein of incredible hand spun wool which I won , yes , repeat that, I WON, in a competition on Ullmaja's blogg, see the link down to the right...

the wool is partially hand-dyed, you probably can't see this in the photo, but there's a lovely dusky pink in the yarn too...

Klipp från själva blogginlägget....
Andra garnhärvan från vänster är ett entrådigt, tunt garn, helt i egen ull, delvis färgad.
Hamnar hos Liz, på Irland!
Jag blev överlycklig när jag läste att jag hade vunnit, jag har aldrig vunnit nåt på bloggen förut, och nu tycker jag att av alla de saker man kunde vinna att hemspunnet, hemfärgat garn är det bästa man skulle kunna tänka sig!
Tack så mycket säger jag till Ullmaja! Jag ska verkligen sticka mig något roligt med detta garn!
Now I need to get the camera sorted to take some photos, but it's raining outside and I'd prefer to take the photos outside for once.
regards
liz

Images of Gothenburg, bilder av Göteborg

2010-08-12T10:41:00.005+01:00

Så här levereras posten i GBG!

Järntorget, kl 7 på morgonen

OskarFredriksKyrka

ett imponerande hus på Linnegatan, kan det vara korsningen Olivedalsg eller var det Prinsgatan?

IKEA

2010-08-09T12:50:00.003+01:00

A short note:
Jag sitter hemma i Limerick och äter kanelgifflar, ser fram emot köttbullar och lingonsylt senare, med lingonsaft till, varför det? jo, jag körde till IKEA Dublin igår och köpte bl annat svensk mat!
Edited to add photos:
Here's a few pics of the food that has been purchased:

Fläder saft, lingonsaft, hjortronsylt, kanelgifflar, pepparkakor, och Ikea kex.

Elderflower cordial, lingonberry cordial, Cloudberry jam, cinnamon rolls, ginger biscuits and IKEA biscuits.

apple pie and custard

2010-08-05T23:03:00.009+01:00

Here are a few more pictures from our holiday in Sweden:

Husband was delighted, his favourite second hand record shop in Gothenburg was still alive and kicking, 16 years later, Dirty Records.

After 2 nights in a hot humid Gothenburg, we got the bus and train to Karlstad, where we stayed in a house in Hammarö, which is actually the neighbouring district to Karlstad.

The following days were spent doing out favourite activities when in Sweden, ie, swimming and eating Swedish food, visiting Ikea, visiting the library in Karlstad, meeting M's mother and his friends and family, and generally taking it easy.

swimming

the stone bridge in Karlstad

more swimming

Farmors födelsedagstårta den 14e juli

jumping on the trampoline

a very happy bunny....

2010-07-31T20:49:00.006+01:00

that's me!!! the very happy bunny, I mean!

Got some wool(both yarn and actual wool to spin) from 2 ladies today, yippee!!!

wool to spin

yarn to knit

***********
Tidied out some of son's clothes and gave them to a lovely lady with a 2 yr old son, and then bought my son a new jacket for September and school.

***********

Bought a game of Numero, which should cost more than 10 euro , for 70 cent at a charity shop! (Numero is a card game that uses maths skills, great fun, look it up online, it came from Australia originally. We have a few games of it at school, now I have one for home!)

game of Numero

*************************************

Got lots of plants, reduced, some for only 50c and 1 euro and 2 clematis for 3 euro each, at Atlantic Homecare, all they need is a good drink of water, plenty of that in Ireland from clouds these days....(too late to photo them outside)

***********

Treated myself to some yummy squishy wool on sale from a wool shop and some startling red wool for a winter scarf

the red wool,

the squishy wool,

and finally bought not one but TWO knitting magazines!

*********************************************

the cup for the tea!

had 10 minutes of sheer bliss at home when i sat down to a nice cup of tea, with buttered brown soda bread and cheese, with total peace and quiet in the house, and 2 knitting magazines in my hand.....
scrumptious.....
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh..........

raindrops keep falling on my head.....

2010-07-31T10:51:00.004+01:00

our brand-new trampoline

regn, regn, regn.... det regnade igår, och det regnar nu igen,
a nice soft day, thank God, som vi säger på Irland...
det gör mig inget, jag gillar inte när det är för varmt ändå, hoppas bara att solen kommer fram lite senare idag och att vi kan komma ut i trädgården...
barnen vill så gärna hoppa på våran splitternya STUDSMATTA!!

själv ska jag till biblioteket och lämna tillbaks böcker, kanske hämta ull att spinna med från en tjej som inte vill ha ullen längre, och sedan gå i stan lite...

det är långhelg denna helg, Värmlänningen är ledig nu på måndag oxå. Barnen och jag är lediga till slutet av augusti, så skönt...

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, it's a long weekend here, Monday is a Bank Holiday, so M is off on Monday, of course me and the girls and son are all on our holidays till end of august, what utter luxury...
it's raining here, like yesterday, but i don't mind, maybe it'll improve later and i can hang some laundry and the kids can jump on the new TRAMPOLINE!
regards
liz

igång igen, on the blog road again...

2010-07-28T23:37:00.009+01:00

Nu är jag tillbaks i bloggsvängen igen, men det får bli en lugnare takt denna gång, jag har tänkt mig att jag uppdaterar härinne max 2 ggr i veckan.
Först vill jag visa er några bilder från vår semester i Sverige i juli. Vi åkte till Göteborg och sedan Karlstad.

mina 4 sitter på en bänk på Järntorget i Göteborg, medan en spårvagn rullar förbi bakom dem.

utsikt över göteborgska tak, från en lägenhet på Plantagegatan

sonen i röd t-troja går framför mig på Haga Nygata, GBG

Bältesspänneparken, GBG, här doppade mina barn sina fötter i fontänen, det var såååååå himla varmt denna dag...

och sedan åkte vi spårvagnen till Linnéplatsen till Slottsskogen lekplats Plikten för att träffa några av mina gamla tjejkompisar från 90-talet.

Dagen därpå regnade det och vi gick till Naturhistoriska Museet, det var ju inom gångavstånd..
Senare denna dag åkte vi buss och tåg från GBG till Karlstad.
Återkommer imorgon om jag hinner...

Hiya all, I'm back (I think) for another bit of blogging, but I'll be taking it easier this time, not updating as often.
including a few photos of Sweden, from our holiday in July.
From top, my 4 sitting on a bench at Jarntorget, Gothenburg, with a tram in the background.
A view over the rooftops of Gothenburg, we visited friends in a penthouse apartment;
My small fella in his red t shirt walking ahead of me along an old cobbled street in Haga;
Kids dipping their feet in a fountain in the centre of Gothenburg;
back at the huge city park Slottsskogen where I met up with some of my friends from the good old days...
a trip to the Natural History Museum the next day, as it was bucketing down outside...
Good night,
hope you all sleep well..
regards
liz

back from hols, hem igen

2010-07-26T21:02:00.003+01:00

home again, and glad to be home, though I always have trouble re-adjusting to being back in Ireland after a holiday in Sweden.
The weather here is not as good as it was in Sweden, it's humid and overcast, gotta run again now and bring in the clothes!!
glad to be home where my laptop 'remembers' me and knows all my log in names and passwords!!!!
developing a serious love of Ravelry.com and Jumbletown.ie, and knitting as much as I can when not reading about knitting!!!
off to get those clothes in now and then to collect a daughter from a match.
back in a day or two with some photos I hope

holidays..., semester....

2010-07-16T21:24:00.001+01:00

nu är vi på semester i Sverige!!! 2 nätter i Göteborg först, sedan 9 nätter i Karlstad..
det var sååååå varmt och kvavt i Göteborg i måndags och tisdags, men det är bättre väder här i Karlstad, soligt och varmt, med en lätt bris, som gör att man fungerar som en normal människa och inte känner sig lamslagen av hettan...
vi njuter av följande: bada, äta varmkorv, bada, sola; åka till Mariebergsskogen och bada, sola och äta varmkorv och glass; åka till Getinberget och bada; låna böcker på biblioteket, kvällsdopp i Sundstatjärn, (hoppas att vattnet inte var förorenat, andra badade samtidigt, det var ett gott tecken), gå på Gengåvan, köpa böcker hos BokBob, äta pyttipanna, äta köttbullar, bada.....
Vi ska till Kristinehamn imorgon, då återstår att åka till Ikea, äta Calzone, träffa vänner på Råtorp och Älvåker, och gå på museet eller klättra upp i vattentornet kanske, och gå i garnaffärer för mig...
det är så roligt att vara på semester i Sverige nu igen, så skönt.....
Jag är fortfarande på Time Out från bloggandet, men jag ville bara säga det här: Sverige är fantastiskt!
vi kanske hörs till hösten...
liz

taking a break...

2010-06-10T23:27:00.003+01:00

Hello all, it's almost 6 months since i started blogging. Not a long time but long enough to have dipped my toe in the water and to begin to get a feel for the whole enterprise.
It has been very interesting to get to meet and know you all, it has been a great journey.
However, I feel that the time has come for a break for me from blogging. Having the time and energy to write and add the photos is one issue, as is the growing 'addiction' to the whole checking the blog thing, and living my life at one remove from reality.
Is it really important how many visitors the blog has had, or if any new flags have appeared on the Feedjit thingummy , (these are the questions I'm asking myself.)
For now, I can honestly say that I will miss being a part of the online blogging community, but I feel I need to give myself and my kids that time back and I need to see if I can live happily for the next 6 months without blogging....

Hej på er allihopa,
det har varit intressant och givande, det har varit roligt att lära känna er, men nu känner jag att jag vill ta en paus i bloggandet, och jag kanske kommer att radera hela bloggen. Vi kanske ses igen nån annanstans, nån annan gång, jag kanske kikar in hos er av och till, men just nu är det dags för Au Revoir...
hälsningar
liz

wildflowers, vildblommor

2010-06-06T17:38:00.009+01:00

Fläderblom, Elderflower, Sambucus nigra

Hi.
I was up early this morning, at 7am (yes you heard that right, 7am on a Sunday morning of a bank holiday weekend!) The eldest daughter who turned 15 yesterday, had to be at a training session for camogie at a place about 30 miles away (about 48km) and training started at 8.45am. So early rise this morn, but the reward for me was an hour long walk down country roads, in the beautiful morning air, just birds singing and me taking photos of wildflowers along the way. I used my camera, so not sure of the quality.
Here's a few...

Ovan: Ox eye daisy, prästkrage, Leucanthemum vulgare

Ovan: Meadow vetchling, Gulvial, Lathyrus pratensis

ovan: BirdsFoot Trefoil, Käringtand, Lotus Corniculatus, tror jag

Senare så såg jag de här växa vid vägens kant. Jag stannade till och tog en bild. De kallas för Ragged Robin, och de verka vara sällsynta, så jag blev så glad att se dem i år.

Lychnis flos-cuculi, also known as Ragged Robin, på svenska Gökblomstret (Silene flos-cuculi).

För att fastställa namnen på blommorna har jag dessa två böcker till hjälp...

Jag har börjat att sticka en kofta, så här ser det ut. Jag stickar fram och tillbaks med runtnål, det är så smidigt, man tappar aldrig ett nål!

Jag lånade en bra bok på bibblan, boken ovan, den innehåller mönster för t.ex. en vanlig kofta med flera olika typer av garn så man behöver inte leta efter olika mönster. Jag får hålla tummarna, att det fungerar för mig...

a school tour, en utflykt...

2010-06-03T23:49:00.005+01:00

Today I took 23 children, aged roughly 7 years old, to the Hunt Museum in Limeriick and then on to a children's play centre, called Delta Adventure Centre.
The museum is not based on hunting, but on the combined donated collection of the Hunt family. It is based in the old Custom's House in Limerick, right by the river. It was a wonderful day, the setting was lovely and the museum was very interesting. I really must take my own children there some day soon.
Delta had lots of activities for the children including Bungee trampolines, climbing walls and a giant Pirate play ship.
We were all wrecked by the time we got back, tired, but happy...
let's see if I can find a few pictures for ye from the net...

This is a photo of the museum from the water, taken at night. The house faces the water, so it's more imposing side is towards the water.

This is the back if the house, which faces the street and this is the entrance for the public.

We saw these crucifixes and were told that the one on the right belonged to Mary queen of Scots.

This alabaster vase was so gorgeous, it's Egyptian and very old. We were told that John Hunt and his wife used to use some of the items which later became the collection in this museum - this vase was used by Gertrude Hunt for her cut flowers!

Delta Adventure Centre - lots for children and we were the only school group there so we had it practically to ourselves for a couple of hours...

God natt, vi har en extra dag ledig imorgon, nu gäller det att gå å lägga mig så att jag får nåt vettigt gjort imorgon!

alive and kicking..., jag lever,

2010-05-28T18:08:00.005+01:00

couldn't resist this clematis catching the rays of the evening sun...

Indeed, I am still alive and kicking, although I haven't posted on the blogg for 10 days! School, life, kids, etc, combine to make my time busy. Hayfever and a cold added to the need for sleep, so the laptop remained closed after 9pm most nights. I may have posted comments on your blogs, but my own has had to wait. I'm off again shortly to deposit a child to a youth club, so this post will be edited later tonight...

Later, phew, thank goodness it's Friday and we can take a break for 2 whole days....
Off shortly to collect child 2 from her friend's house.
Just did a few maths questions online for the course, phew, they were not easy, complex numbers a + ib, and that sort of thing...

I got to see the giant blanket made by the art student Eilish Tuite in Limerick last weekend. I was even able to spot some of the patches I had knitted for it!

Last weekend was very warm, up to 24 degrees. My 4 year old got his allergy last weekend, it affects his eyes and I had to give him anti-histamine and eye-drops, as well as steroid tablets prescribed by the doctor to reduce the inflammation. This is his 3rd time getting this reaction, he got it early June last year and the previous year. Looks like this is part of his picture for now...

My 2 teenagers have only one more week in school, they've all their summer tests next week. Plenty of study this weekend then...

I have more than a month left till I get holidays. But it'll be almost a holiday not to have to get the 2 eldest girls up early for the school bus every morning. Plus they can help out more during the day! (That's the plan, let's see how the reality works out... blackmail and bribery may also play a part - no housework, no credit for the mobiles!)

Plenty otherwise to keep me busy, the last of the maths course, paperwork for school, cognitive psychology to read, housework, gardening, and knitting... I've started a blue and cream cardi top, self designing a bit.... we'll see how that goes too... pics to follow...

_____________________
Hej på er, jag lever...
Vi har det bra, det knallar och går, måste tyvärr kila nu, för att hämta en dotter, men återkommer säkert under helgen...
hoppas ni har en bra helg alla dem som kikar in här hos mig...
liz

my first Award, min första Award!

2010-05-18T18:29:00.006+01:00

I was delighted to be nominated for an award from Irish Mammy on the Run, so thanks to Irish Mammy for this 'Kreativ Blogger' award!
As part of the award, I have to share seven interesting snippets of information about myself and then pass it on. So here goes...

1. I have a saxophone in the attic, and I know how to use it! I always wanted to play the saxophone and I finally went and got lessons in 1994, 1995. I bought myself my own saxophone but then in mid-1995 I had my first child and the saxophone has taken a back seat since then. It is now waiting with the accordion, the tinwhistle and the Irish flute, which are all also in storage. Their day will come....

2. I worked a few summers as a Youth Hostel Warden in my twenties, in a youth hostel in Dublin, in a hostel in Killala Co Mayo and in a hostel in Arthurstown Co Wexford. I got free board in a Sydney (yes, Sydney, Australia) youth hostel in exchange for cleaning.

3. I met my husband-to-be in a youth hostel on Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland in 1989 and we are still together 21 years later.

4. I've had 3 big trips in my life: first one was interrailing in Europe aged 20; second one was to Thailand, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand Hawaii, San Francisco and JFK NY on a round the world ticket, 11 months away all told; and the third one was a holiday when I lived in Sweden, to Norway, Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney Islands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland and home to Gothenburg via London, using only ferries and road transport.

5. I like observing wildflowers and I like to know their names in Latin as well as English and sometimes even Swedish.

6. I am forgetful, disorganised, not a good cook and not good at keeping time.

7. Other jobs I've had include working as a shop assistant in Roches Stores in Limerick, a cleaner for a dentist in Gothenburg city centre, a teacher of English to Swedish adults and a home language teacher in Gothenburg to children with English as their mother tongue. I worked in a hospital in Randwick, Sydney. I also taught English to young Chinese adults in Sydney too. I even tried to be a housekeeper for a rich Australian woman and her 16 yr old daughter but that wasn't my best monent.... I lasted 3 days, I let the swimming pool overflow, I let the pet dog escape, I couldn't get a lizard out of the house, and I forgot to defrost the chicken kebabs in time(see nr 6 above!). I quit that job.....

Thanks for the award Irish Mammy, you'll be glad to know that it's going to Sweden next.

_______________________

Nu orkar jag inte översätta allt detta till svenska, vi har uppemot 70% luftfuktighet och jag håller på att gå upp i ånga....

Jag skulle vilja vidarebefordra denna Award till följande, vars bloggar jag har läst ändå sedan jag började blogga själv:
Skogsfrun på Dal
Lambergsfrua
Soffie69
Bagarbertan
och
Cottage by the Cranelake.

Torsdag kväll och inga matcher, bara läxor, barnen sitter på altanen och läser läxorna.
Vi hörs till helgen,
liz

four legged guests next door, fyrbenta gäster

2010-05-14T21:38:00.010+01:00

Hej!
Vi har dessa 2 skönheter som gäster i ängen bredvid vårt hus. De tillhör min bror och hans fru och äter upp gräset så att min far inte behöver slå det med lie!

Hello all,
These 2 beauties are on their holidays in the meadow next to us, for a few days, to eat the grass so my dad doesn't have to worry about scything it later. The horses belong to my brother and his wife.

Jag gick runt lite i trädgården och tog några bilder. Först syren, (syringa), en purpurfärgad sådan, som blommar för fullt nu.

Here's a photo of my lilac bush,(above) with lovely deep purple flowers.

Looks like I need to weed the grass from this little plant, below...

Ser ut som om jag behöver rensa ogräset här...

this is my weeping birch and a flowering cherry, followed by my cherry tree which should produce some cherries with a bit of luck...

These are the hurleys, resting after camogie training.

dåså,
vad glad jag är att det är fredag, hela helgen ligger framför oss, och inga matcher, för en gångs skull!
ha det!
liz

a soft evening, thank God...duggregn idag

2010-05-13T21:52:00.004+01:00

Indeed it did turn out to be a 'soft' evening, which means it rained, softly and slowly, but nevertheless rain, and that's fine with me.
If you ever asked my dad what the weather forecast was, he would always answer "Fine and wet". Which is spot on, really, one way or another, for Ireland...
I'm feeling a bit mellow this week, not really ready to climb any mountains or anything. I haven't gotten out for any walks much, just a short stroll with Sean the 4 year old, he wanted to cycle his bike a bit so we went along the road a bit and then the drizzle came down, so we headed home again. We had the company of Trixie, a dog from a neighbour, for the stroll. But he didn't like having his photo taken, the flash scared him.

My cherry tree is blossoming beautifully at the front gate, pity it just got dark with the rain on the way.
________________________________________________________

Dåså, nästan en vecka till över, tiden går fort trots allt...
Det kom regn idag, regn och duggregn om vartannat, det vi kallar för en 'soft day' här på Irland.
Jag känner mig ganska trött denna vecka, har liksom inte lust att göra mycket, det är antagligen en reaktion mot all den körande hit och dit jag har gjort de senaste veckorna.
Jag gick ut en kort sväng med sonen Sean, 4 år, han ville cykla lite, vi hade sällskap av en grannhund, Trixie, som tyckte inte om när kameran blixtade. Och blixten behövdes, de annalkande regnmölnen gjorde att det blev mörkare, så jag tog bara 2 bilder, den ena av Trixie, den andra av körsbärsträdet vid grinden.
Torsdag ikväll, snart helgen, födelsedag i huset imorgon, det är värmlänningen själv som fyller år. Få se vad jag hittar på åt honom!
Annars går livet vidare, och nu tänker jag gå lägga mig snart....
liz

"det är gott att leva, gott att finnas till..."

2010-05-11T23:08:00.004+01:00

Hej, jag har inte haft så mycket tid att blogga den gångna veckan, det var varit många matcher och träningspass för tjejerna och jag har helt enkelt inte haft tid.
Jag har försökt att lägga in fler bilder tagen av min man i Glenstal för 10 dagar sedan, men det fungerar inte ikväll av någon anledning. Suck...
Det har varit soligt men kallt på Irland, det blåser kallt norrifrån och ibland österifrån.
Jag jobbar på som vanligt. Barnen går i skolan. Värmlänningen jobbar. Katterna har vant sig vid varandra och tål varandra nu.
Det är skönt och grönt omkring oss, jag får gå ut med min egen kamera imorgon och ta bilder så att ni kan se hur det ser ut. Värmlänningen klipper gräsmattan varannan helg, det blir snart varje helg det behövs, till hans förtret....

Jag hoppas att kunna komma till stan imorgon och kolla lite i en garnaffär och se om inte jag kan hitta några bra mönster och lite extra garn.
Nu på torsdag ska den jättefilten som består av 3000 stickade lappar i A4 storlek visas upp för publiken för första gången. Jag kanske kommer dit till helgen och tar några bilder av den med. (jag stickade 9 lappar till den).
Ryggen mår bra, en av anledningarna till att jag inte har bloggat är att jag har försökt att låta bli att sitta vid datorn sent på kvällen. Jag har försökt att gå och lägga mig i vettig tid istället!
Jag hoppas att alla ni som är härinne och läser har det bra. Jag bloggvandrar imorgon och svarar då på de kommentarer jag inte har svarat på än.
Må bra!
Kom ihåg: "det är gott att leva, gott att finnas till, trots allt..." Så sjunger Ulf Lundell i alla fall!
liz
________________
Hello all,
Apologies for the delay in not blogging before this, I haven't had much time to blog, the girls have had lots of matches and training sessions, they've kept me busy, and I've been trying to go to bed early enough, so I haven't been allowing myself to even turn on the laptop after 9pm.
All is well here, work and school keep us out of mischief every day!
All is very green now, unfortunately I cannot get my laptop to cooperate with the disc of photos my DH took recently in Glenstal so this is a pic free blog tonight.
I'll have to get my own little camera and take some shots for the blog to show you just how green it is.
The weather is cold, the wind can be very sharp and cutting, although we have a lot of sun and it's very dry. I hear we may have showers on the way, rain even on Thursday! maybe 'a soft day' in store on Thurs?
So it's midnight almost and like Cinderella, I have to leave the party, time to hit the sack. Looking forward to a little yarn shopping tomorrow and maybe a sneak peek at Eilish Tuite's giant blanket as it is being installed at present in a building in Bedford Row in Limerick City. If it's not visible tomorrow I'll have to wait till Thurs or after to see it.
Good night, whoops, there goes my carriage....
Live well, remember 'it's good to be alive! '(translated from work of the Swedish songwriter and novelist Ulf Lundell)
liz

a new camera and a public holiday, en ny kamera och en röd dag

2010-05-03T20:17:00.005+01:00

My DH (darling husband) got a new camera, and so it was off to Glenstal with us to take a walk and use the camera.
Here are a few shots taken today, there'll be more during the week.

Mannen min köpte sig en ny system kamera och då åkte vi till Glenstal abbey för en kort promenad och för att ta bilder. Här ser ni några bilder som togs idag.
Glenstal har stora rhodendron buskar och många mindre azalea buskar, de blommar så fint.
liz

ont i ryggen, back pain

2010-04-30T21:34:00.003+01:00

I was laid low yesterday and today with muscle spasms in my back, but modern medicine is wonderful, the anti-inflammatories and pain killers have helped hugely.
The Knit Crochet Blog week went by the board, when I couldn't sit in front of the laptop.
Long weekend in Ireland this weekend, we have a public holiday on Monday 3rd May.
Sad news today, one of our best known radio presenters, Gerry Ryan, died unexpectedly at the age of 53. His voice has been part of Irish society for 22 years.

Valborgsmässoafton ikväll i Sverige. Jag kommer så bra ihåg Kortegen i GBG. Första maj imorgon. Hoppas att vädret är skapligt och något sommaraktigt!

Det lär stå en stor snövall på Sandgrundsudden i Karlstad, annars hoppas jag att snön är borta, glömd, kommer inte tillbaks!
Ha det bra imorgon.
Liz

knit and crochet blog week day 2

2010-04-27T18:13:00.006+01:00

So it's time for day 2 of knit and crochet blog week!

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

I've never knitted a shawl, or a pair of socks or a blanket, though these last weeks I have been knitting A4 sized patches for an Art Student in Limerick, who will use 3000 patches to make a giant wall hanging which will be hung in a public space in Limerick. So I guess I could tackle a shawl, a pair of socks (are they not itchy and too thick with shoes?) and a blanket.
What do I aspire to otherwise? - deciding what exactly to knit with the yarns I have in my knitting box and knitting them! that blue cotton, the lime-green slubby wool, the dark brown homespun wool I bought from a spinning teacher, and the blue,red and white cotton I've had for a while...
I also would like to do a bit of spinning, but that might get too addictive, also time- and money- and space-consuming, not to talk about what to do with the yarn I might spin.... best to wait a bit to realise that dream...

Annars så går livet vidare...
jobbet, matcher, tvätt, psykologikursen och en långhelg nu till helgen, mumsfilibaba!
dåså, dags att stå upp från datorn...
ha det bra
liz

Knit and Crochet Blog week, Stickning och Virkning BloggVecka

2010-04-26T23:14:00.007+01:00

Hello all, here's an idea from eskimimi, try this link for more info.

eskimimi

I read about it on Cloudberry's blogg, which is here

Let's tackle question 1:
Starting Out

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

I started knitting when I was in primary school, in about 2nd or 3rd class. My mother was our class teacher and she taught all the girls to knit, at that time boys were not taught to knit. I remember vividly the shape of the first piece I knit, it looked almost like a triangle, I must have unknowingly increased stitches as I knitted and the top was decidedly wider than the bottom.
I went on to develop a love of knitting and my mum took me and my sister to buy wool to knit a sweater. I remember that long baggy grey sweater. I also knit an Icelandic sweater in my early teens. I found the pattern in a bag of knitting stuff last week. I love knitting and am now getting back into it. I love the way I can do it anywhere, it's very calming, it's forgiving, you can always rip back a bit and change your mind. Today i knit at home over breakfast, at lunch at work, after work listening to my children's homework, in the car, in front of the computer and on a short walk!!! That's a first, I've never knit whil out walking before...

Man kan vara med i Knit och Crochet Blog Week utan att man skriver på engelska, läs mer om det hos eskmimi.
Jag vet att många av er som stickar eller virkar redan har ett stort nätverk i bloggosfären, men det här kan vara roligt att vara med i.

God natt för nu,
good night,
codladh samh...
liz

den stora resan, eller spring pics, vårbilder

2010-04-25T23:30:00.006+01:00

Hej på er!
Jag skrev när jag började blogga att jag skulle skriva om resor, men jag lurade mig själv bara, jag kommer nästan aldrig utanför ens Limericks gränser....
Istället så får ni stå ut med bilder och små berättelser om livet i den mindre skalan, så som jag lever det.... Tack till er som återvänder och står ut!
Imorse så vaknade Irland till regn, det första riktiga regnet på veckor. Det var ljust och soligt och det doftade fint i den lätta brisen, (håller jag på att bli för 'diktsam' av mig, så ropa bara!), och jag tog en morgonpromenad, och passade på att ta några bilder längs vägen.

ash tree next door,

remember this little cottage? it's being renovated very nicely...

my lilac in bud, syren håller på att blomma

I loved the colour of these cyclamens, had to buy them...

another cottage along our road...

Now I can go to bed, I got my assignment done and sent off for the psychology course, got my paperwork for school done, and got an assignment completed for the Maths course. phew... time for bed. The photos were taken this morning when I went for a walk along our road, everything was so fresh and clean and newly washed after the rain during the night...
good night, sov gott, oiche mhaith agaibh,
liz

an extra day off, en extra ledig dag imorgon

2010-04-22T22:02:00.004+01:00

Tomorrow I'm going to be off for one Extra Personal Vacation day, yippeeee!
As a teacher if I do a 5 day course in the summer I get 3 EPV days during the year which I can take through the year. So tomorrow is the first of my EPV days this academic year. I plan to study my Psychology and Maths, but already I have a few errands to do, so I must not let the day slip through my fingers...
Errands:
My car has to go back to the National Car Testing Centre, it almost passed the NCT (our obligatory car test) last week, except one sidelight was dimmer than the other and so I had to get bulb changed and now I've to go back tomorrow for a visual retest.
I would also like to get to the health food shop and to a good supermarket, to buy some tahini, brown rice and vegetables.
I joined up with Weight Watchers tonight, my neighbour A is going there already, I need to get fit and lose weight. I need to have the proper food in the house so I don't get stuck with the unhealthy options.
But mostly tomorrow, I have to study...
in the meantime, a few pics,

this old wall is the west wall of a ruined cattle shed, beside a thatched cottage on our road, I liked the texture and the light

These buds are on an Ash tree near our house, though the photo is a week old, I must revisit the tree, see how it looks now and compare the ash buds to my lilac buds...

My 3 latest patches for the art student in Limerick, I'm making myself use up my odds and ends of yarn, amazingly the patches look ok. I particularly like the one with all the 'neon' colours at top right, it looks like candy...

Jag är ledig imorgon, har en extra ledig som jag har valt att ta imorgon, måste läsa psykologi och skriva en inlämningsuppgift. Matte finns oxå att läsa, om jag så ville...
Tyvärr har jag också några ärrenden att utföra, jag hoppas att dagen inte försvinner på en massa bagateller.
Bilen ska tillbaks till besiktningen, det var minsann någon lykta som inte stämde förra veckan, annars hade bilen fått godkänd.
Jag tänker åka förbi hälsokostsaffären, för att köpa lite nyttig mat, jag har nämligen gått med i Viktväktarna ikväll och måste omskola mig i konsten att äta sunt och att låta bli att äta för mycket och för osunt...
Mest av allt förstås måste jag hinna att läsa...

Är det någon förresten som har en blogger(blogspot) blogg som min, som vet hur man sätter in en fast signatur, och hur man kan få in intressanta bakgrunder gratis? eller om ni pekar mig åt rätt håll till någon länk eller webbsida, det skulle jag uppskatta mycket!
Dåså, god natt,
oh vad jag älskar torsdagar, man har hela helgen framför sig, nästan inom räckhåll! bara att klara av fredag...
hälsningar,
liz

buds, knoppar...

2010-04-21T22:46:00.004+01:00

The Blackthorn blossoms appear before the leaves, tiny white flowers on black sharp stems.

Buds of a bush I can't name, such a gorgeous translucent green colour...

A signpost, near where the girls get their schoolbus and where I collect them after school, around 4pm in the afternoon...

Jag låter bilderna tala idag. Högst upp ser ni små vita blommor på en buske som vi kallar för Blackthorn, jag tror det heter Slån, eller slånbärsbuske på svenska, Prunus Spinosa på latin. Dessa vita blommor dyker plötsligt fram överallt!
De små gröna blad vet jag inte vad det är för buske de växer på, men vackra var dem, där de växte fram, medan jag satt i bilen och väntade på att skolbussen skulle komma kl 4 på em idag.
Och slutligen en skylt på vägen där mina stora tjejer och skolkompisarna går på och av skolbussen. Det står både den engelska och den gaeliska varianten av ortnamn på skyltarna på Irland.
God natt,
vi 'ses'
liz

helgen är över...., the end of the weekend...

2010-04-18T23:18:00.005+01:00

I spotted these Germander Speedwell flowers carpeting the ground under a tree

Come in and see how our ancestors lived, in a 2 room cottage, with a sleeping loft and an open fire...

This old 'dresser' caught my eye. My father's uncle made chairs like this one, the seats were made of 'sugan', ie twisted straw rope.

more daffodils, I love them...

I even love dandelions, very enterprising flowers, true survivors, with their strong taproots which break off if you try to pull them up and each piece of which gives rise to a new plant, also their excellent use of the wind for seed dispersal, and boy, so many seeds....

So the weekend is over, sigh...
My girls played a soccer match this morning, a cup final against a team with some very good players. At halftime, our side was a goal behind, 2 to 1, but they equalised at the beginning of the second half. Then it ended 2 all, so it was extra time 10 mins a side, still even score so it went to a penalty shoot out. Unfortunately the other side scraped through by scoring 1 more goal then our girls in the shoot out, so disappointment for our ladies, but still they played very well and the result just showed how close the teams were. Losing is part of it, too... it builds character, my Swede would say, and losing together as a team is not as harsh as losing as an individual. So that's the soccer season over for now, the camogie and Gaelic football is in full swing...

Annars så har det varit en riktigt fin helg, sol och värme, men lite kyligt i skuggan bara. Jag har hängt tvätt så det knakar...
Tillbaks till jobbet imorgon, det blir nog bra det med. Det är bra med rutin, man får så mycket mer gjort, tycker jag, och det är bra för barnen, bättre att gå upp tidigt än att slösa bort dagen i sängen!
Hoppas ni har det bra under veckan, vi 'hörs'!
hälsningar
liz
Enjoy the week, I'm off to my bed, I need all the beauty sleep i can get just to preserve what ever bit of beauty I've got!
Above are a few photos taken last week in Kilmallock, the house is a little cottage where one can walk in and see how people lived 80 or 100 years ago.
Good night!
liz

Happy Friday to you all! Glad fredag!

2010-04-16T17:41:00.006+01:00

Hej, nu är det fredag igen... pust....
Det fina vädret fortsätter, dottern sitter i solen på altanen och äter och gör sina läxor, iklädd i T-tröja och kortbyxor! Termometern säger att det är 16 grader, men det är ännu varmare i solen och i lä. Det ska fortsätta några dagar till tror jag.

Tänk vilket stort problem denna volcano på Island har skapat för flygtrafiken, är det fortfarande helt stopp för flyg i hela Skandinavien? Det är nästan så här på Irland. Det går inte att förhandla med naturens krafter...

Bilden är lånad från webben, den fanns på National Geographic ursprungligen.

Det har varit en bra vecka på jobbet, våran skolpsykolog var hos oss i 2 dagar och hon har hjälpt oss med 5 barn med svårigheter, och det känns bra, det är ju det jag sysslar med, i och med att jag är stödlärare för dem med dyslexi och läs-och-skrivsvårigheter. Jag trivs jättebra med mina arbetsuppgifter. Det är så givande när ett barn börja läsa bättre och bättre och får mer självförtroende.

En annan sak som jag är mycket intresserad av är matte och hur barn lär sig matte och varför problem uppstår. Jag gillar den där känslan när man ser ett barn förstå vad man menar. Jag skulle kunna tänka mig att studera det där med matteinlärning mer.

Jag har också sysslat med energi och miljövetande i veckan, jag försöker uppmuntra barnen och lärarna att återvinna mer och att bli medvetna om behovet att vara energisnåla. Jag tänker ta med mig en stor grön hatt och en grön nallebjörn hemifrån att ha med mig när jag går från klass till klass med min miljöprat! Det skulle fånga deras uppmärksamhet åtminstone! Jag har alltid varit lite av en miljötok, har till och med läst kurser om miljön med The Open University vid sidan av jobbet - att ha dessa uppgifter nu på skolan passar mig nog så bra...
Dåså, dags att åka till nästa träning med ett par döttrar...

I may get myself a green teddy and hat to use when I'm giving my Green Thought of the day to the pupils at school!(borrowed photos)

Hello all, and a Happy Friday to you all! TGIF, Thank God it's Friday, I even love Thursday, anticipating Friday!
Weather is still lovely and fine, daughter sat out on the deck in shorts and t-shirt, at 4.30 this afternoon after school, eating and doing her homework. It was 16 degrees, but our deck faces south and it was particularly warm there and protected from the wind.
Mother Nature is flexing her muscles in Iceland, it's amazing to see the shots of the eruption, the force of the spew and the blackness of the material being shot into the air... It seems like all flights in Scandinavia have been cancelled, and most in UK. In Ireland, there were limited services to Scotland earlier today and transatlantic flights to US were operating from Shannon, outside Limerick City, as far as I know.

this shot is borrowed from the web, from The Mirror.

I've had a very productive week at work, our new educational psychologist was with us on 2 separate days and offered either assessments or advice on at least 5 children, which is a great help.

I also went to a talk being given by our psychologist and another psychologist about the provisions which can be made in secondary school exams for children with sasepvial educational needs. Very interesting.

As well as this I have started to see 2 more little pupils, aged 7, who need help with reading and phonics, all very interesting. I really enjoy working with small groups of children and seeing their progress in literacy as well as self-confidence.
I am also interested in how children learn mathematics and more importantly, how some fail to progress in Maths, I'd love to study this some more.

Finally, I've been running around giving mini pep-talks on recycling and energy conservation to the children in the different classes. It's my post of responsibility, as well as being something I've always been interested in. Bit of a greenie, dontcha know...
I may even get myself a green hat and a green teddy (I have both at home) and use them next week when I give my environmental pointers, it'll definitely grasp their attention!
Enjoy the weekend!
liz

the fine weather continues, vädret fortsätter varmt

2010-04-13T00:02:00.007+01:00

Hej på er!
en snabb genomgång av helgen: sol och mer sol...
vädret är bra och alla är glada, det märks...
Det var lite matcher och träning under helgen. Jag tog en snabb promenad i en ort som heter Kilmallock, medan flickorna var på soccer 'trials', här ser ni några bilder därifrån.
Hello all, a quick summary of the weekend: sun and more sun!!! matches and soccer trials, a few photos of ruined churches from Kilmallock in Co Limerick, see below...

information about Blossom Gate, below, one of the remaining gates in the old town wall of Kilamllock

King John's tower, below, I believe

Information above, on the ruined Dominican Church in Kilmallock, below

I söndags var det så varmt att barnen tog fram plaskdammen och plaskade i vattnet. Nu är minstingen lite snuvig idag efter för mycket plaskande, men det går snart över, säkert.
On Sunday it was so hot that the kids wanted to get the little paddling pool out, which we did, now of course our 4 year old has a runny nose as a result, I hope it passes soon...
Jag stannade uppe för länge igårkväll med en matteuppgift om integrering som inte ville ge sig, men som jag fixade till slut.
I stayed up late on Sunday with a Maths assignment which was difficult to solve, but I got it eventually.
Jag har lämnat och hämtat hem igen 3 cyklar till en kille som fixar cyklar i närmaste byn. Skönt att kunna cykla igen, det är bara det att det saknas cykelbanor och våran väg är smal och krokig. Det gäller att cykla försiktigt och att se upp för bilar.
The weather is great and I finally took the bikes to a local retired teacher who fixed them for me. It's such a pity that Ireland has no proper cycleways, and our road is narrow and bendy, so we don't cycle as much as I'd like.
Tillbaks till jobbet idag, alla var tillbaks till skolan. Skönt med rutin igen.
Jag åkte och hämtade mina 2 stora tjejer från deras träning efter skolan. I denna skola har jag och min syrra gått oxå, till och med min mamma och hennes systrar gick där med.
Back to work this week after 2 weeks of Easter holidays, it's good to be back in a routine again. I get more done!
Today after work I had to collect the 2 eldest from their school, in Doon. They were at training. This is the school that my mother and her sisters and my sister and I all went to. I was there as a boarder from 1977 to 1982.
While we were waiting for the girls to finish training I took a photo of my little son, and of these bright red tulips. I showed Aoife and Sean where i Played tennis, and hockey, where the nuns had hens and where the boarders slept and ate.
Jag visade mina 2 yngsta barn var jag sov (det var internatskola förut), var jag åt, var de hade höns, var jag spelade tennis och hockey, för 30 år sedan.
Jag tog denna bild av min 4åringen utanför skolan.

30 years ago, did I ever expect to be here as a mother of 4? I count my blessings...

Röda tulpaner, gula celandiner, och en annan blomma, okänd för mig
Det finns planer på att en ny skola ska byggas, och att denna skola ska då slås ihop med 2 skolor till i den nya skolan. Jag återkommer om detta om 5 år, få se om det har blivit av då...
There are plans to build a new school and amalgamate 3 schools including this one. I'll let you know if it ever happens!
regards to all
liz

a birthday in the family, en födelsedag

2010-04-09T23:27:00.002+01:00

Hej på er,
vår son Sean fyllde 4 idag! Min syster kom hit med 4 barn, min mamma och pappa kom förbi ett tag, och min väninna K med barn och man hälsade oxå på hos oss idag.
Tänk att det är 4 år sedan han föddes, den lille. Jag brukar kalla mina barns födelsedagar för mina 'labour days' och jag tänker tillbaks på hur de föddes. Jag kanske tar ett glas rött till och med, som belöning för ännu en Labour Day idag.

Hi all,
Our son Sean turned 4 today. My sister was here for the day with 4 children, and my mum and dad called by, and my good friend K was also here with her two pretty little girls and her husband.
I call my kids' birthays my Labour days, who knows, I may even take a glass of red to celebrate one more Labour Day today!
It's been a busy day, maybe tomorrow I'll put up some photos from today.
Good night
liz