taking a break...

24th August 2015: I will be back at work in a week’s time. I will be cutting down dramatically on my use of social media, including blogger and blogspot and reading blogs. If anyone needs to contact me, it is best to email me. If you need my email now, then quick, message me this week, before 1st Sept 2015.
This blog is going into hibernation as of 1st Sept 2015.

second guest post on Weave, Spin, Dye, Ireland

here is a link to the second guest post I submitted to the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, about some aspects of the history of Spinning and the wool trade in Ireland,
http://weavespindye.ie/2015/02/09/history-of-spinning-in-ireland-part-two/

my guest posts on History of Spinning Part 1

here's a link to my guest posts about the History of Spinning in Ireland, as seen from my own personal viewpoint so far, on the website of the Irish Weavers Spinners and Dyers Guild,
www.weavespindye.ie
part 2 will follow

long time no speak

Well, people. it's been a long time;
Christmas came and went. so did January.
Now it's February! amazing...
Where does the time go?
I am working, trying to get walks done, spinning, knitting, reading and  back at yoga.
I am hoping to start a Weaving course this coming week, we'll see if that happens.
All are well here in this house.
The Swede is at home, having taken redundancy from D*** last year.
All the kids are at school or in one case, University!
I am back at school, busy, busy....
Lots of kids to teach and I am trying to also give them experiences of yarn, weaving, pompoms, braiding etc, also.
Spring is about to spring here, there are snowdrops and in one place, daffodils, in bloom. IN other places, the daffodils are about to come to bloom.
The days are getting brighter.
I like Spring, I like the early signs of Spring we get in Ireland, much earlier than in other places further north, like Sweden, for example.
It is still cold, but at least there are no crazy storms like last year, yet anyway...
Oh and we got a new steel shed instead of the little wooden garden shed that blew over in Storm Darwin  February 12th 2014.
We are alive and kicking , and that, dear people, is the definition of Success for now!
Be well , take care.

Sunday evening awe

Wonder and awe and beauty:
standing yesterday in the early evening quiet, outside the car-park of a GAA pitch in North Co.Meath, before me to the east, the rise and fall of the drumlins of this county, the tinge of dusk off to the east, pink and purple shades to the sky,
above me, powder blue sky, and to the west, the few clouds had taken on hues of peach and cream, touched by the rays of the setting sun.
I am standing beside a bus, from the hall in front of me comes the sounds of people laughing, singing, dancing;
These are  the sounds of joy from the supporters of our Ladies Football team; our lovely young women, our daughters and grand-daughters played a most wonderful game of Gaelic football and conceded not a single point to win by 1-13 to no score.
So I breathe in the damp cool air, rejoice quietly in the beauty around me, the November countryside, the fog beginning to lift from the wet fields, the last few crows flying home, the stillness of the Irish countryside and I give thanks for it all, the fire and fitness of the girls, the commitment and the determination, the managers who give of their time voluntarily, the supporters who travelled for 4 hours to watch a match, the generosity of the people in the North Meath club who fed us and were so dignified towards us, even though their own daughters must have been so disappointed to lose.
I give thanks  and I am struck by how absolutely beautiful it is to be in Ireland in that spot at that moment and to be witness to all these wonderful things. And in I go to rejoin the celebrations in the hall.

going to handMaid craft day tomo, maybe Bunratty on Sunday!

I'm off to Dublin, the Big Smoke,  to handmAid craft day tomorrow, in aid of Laura Lynn Hospice, can't wait, very excited.
Just about to pack the bag now, taking some knitting and crochet and spinning stuff with me, as I will be at the venue all day, taking two classes and inbetween classes hoping to mingle, and craft together with other knitters/spinners/crochet-ers.
Have a look here: http://handmaidcraftday.com/news/

Then, a little secret, I may even get to Bunratty Castle outside Limerick on Sunday for some demo spinning, gulp, I just rang up earlier this afternoon and asked if I could!
check out Bunratty Harvest Day here: http://www.shannonheritage.com/Events/AnnualEvents/TraditionalHarvestDay/
The only thing that remains is to get 'permission' from the family to go Missing and Crafting two days in a row!
been a very bad blogger, I know, so very sorry, life catches up on me!

wouldn't I love to have time to write in this blog

Indeed, wouldn't I love to have time to write in this blog....
Instead of which I have to spend my time writing up the End of Year reports for the pupils in my class, all 30 of them...
I have a basic outline done for each report, but I need to go back and reread and correct them now, today.
I am also tempted to spend some time spinning on any of of my 4 spinning wheels, but no, that particular joy is denied to me while these reports remain unfinished.
Wouldn't I also love to have time to take photos and  upload them in here in this blog, photos of plants and wool, and wheels and weather in Ireland.
But no, I am quite tired now from staring at this computer for last 4 hours, so I'm off for a little siesta, a nap to restore the batteries and then later I will get up and deal with these reports again.
And all the time I am thinking, wouldn't I love to have the time to write in this blog.....