28/ 02/11. Apologies to my readers for the long absence but I've been sick for the last two weeks. It all started with the DIY in the attic. What with all the dust and fiber glass particles floating around in the house I developed a sinus infection which very quickly turned into a chest infection which I am having difficulty clearing. Today is the first day in two weeks that I've actually been able to smell anything. Still struggling with a cough and my head hurts when I have a coughing bout. Am on the tablets but just have to be patient and let it pass. I have to say I've have not had such a bad chest infection for a very long time, to be honest I cannot remember the last time that I did. I am prone to sinus infections but not chest infections. I have cut out a lot of dairy out of my diet and it has certainly helped with the sinuses problems.
Well let me bring you all up to speed on what has been happening in the Ryan household in the meantime. The DIY in the attic is still a work in progress, but it has made vast progress to the extent that there are now new book shelves installed and all of my school resource books and folders of notes and worksheets are now up there. This means that Donnchadh now has more room in his bedroom for his stuff. Next to go up will be a selection of books from the music room which I use for reference when working on Celtic Spirituality and the Celtic Calendar. Also my therapy books and holistic books that I like to read and of course some books that I have read but will never give away. Do you have any books like that. My most favorite book is one called ' I will not die an unlived life' written by Dawna Markova and I dip into it all the time especially if I find myself unmotivated and down in the mouth a bit. She always manages to give me that lift.
My two beautiful girls have made the short lists for the Irish blog awards, Aisling in the music section and Éadaoin in the photoblog section. I am very proud of them both to make it so far and wish them well with the finals which are being held in Belfast this year. http://awards.ie/blogawards/ 19th March is the date. Whatever happens now it is good that they made it this far. I put links to their blog pages in my last post so you can look in there if you want to see their work.
Today is the last day of February, two months into the new year already and where has the time gone. In the garden the bees are flying every day now from Liam's hive and they are busy collecting pollen from the snowdrops, coccus and other spring flowers. I have to say they are hugely interesting to watch and I could easily spend an hour watching the activity around the hive. There are two more hives at Liam's sister's house about five miles from us here and he checks up on them most days. They love the heather that is growing in her front garden which is in flower at the moment. There is no Saint listed in my book for today, but the pilgrimage associated with the month of February is one to Penmon Priory. http://www.castlewales.com/penmon.html It is in North Wales. Each month has its own particular related pilgrimage which I will give you all as the year progresses.
The knitting projects progress. I have just finished a pair of socks which Aisling has claimed for herself. I will put up a pic of them on her when I deliver them to her. I enjoyed knitting them and will make more. My nephew who was here last week on holidays from London was well taken with them so I will knit a pair for him. I promised not to knit them in pink fluffy wool. Maybe I will put in two pair letting on that the pink fluffy ones are for him. My sister may like them. His birthday is coming up in May so I will try and have them ready for then.
Toby continues to grow each day. He is still losing his teeth, sounds funny when I am referring to an animal. He is a bit out of sorts so his mouth must be a bit on the tender side. He is also molting at the moment and his hair is all over the place. I gave him a good brushing on Saturday and Aoife did it yesterday but more will have to happen me thinks before he is finished.
I was supposed to go for an interview this Wednesday for a teaching job in Spain. I cancelled it today and withdrew my application. My dad had a stroke nearly two years ago and is being cared for at home by my mum and my brother and sisters. I thought that I would be able to up and leave for work, but the reality of it is different. I don't think that I can go and it was perhaps foolish of me to think that I could. We take our turns to look after him and someone would have to take over my share if I was not here. There will be plenty of time to do other things in my life, for now my place is here at home where I can be most useful.
We have had an election here in Ireland over the weekend. The voting happened on Friday and there was a good turn out. One of our main parties Fianna Fáil were made to pay the price of their type of politics by losing most of their seats. From a party that would normally poll anywhere from 70 to 80 seats previously they only have 18 at the moment with three more sections left to be counted. It is a sad day for their political party. I do not feel sorry for them because they were the authors of their own downfall. Their best friends in Irish life for the last fourteen years have been the bankers and developers. They have not been friends to the ordinary people here in Ireland. Now it is the ordinary people of Ireland who are paying for the sins of the bankers and developers. Not one banker or developer has yet been made accountable for what they have done and it is this that angers most of us here. If it was in America they would have been jailed by now. It is a sad reflection on us here really when we allowed our political leaders to ride us into the ground and make little of us. They did not have any regard for the people who put them into power. Sorry for the rant but it is partly because of the new policies introduced to try and pay back European bankers the money they had to loan us, that I am having such a difficult time getting work. They raised the pupil teacher ration here and a lot of school lost teachers. Some lost up to five in one go. This means that there are bigger numbers in the classes and it will also mean that eventually there will also be less of a choice for students. Defeats the purpose in my opinion.
Heading now, going to catch up on some of my fav blogs. Sending love and light to you all.
Mary
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