25/10/2006, 14:32 - Living in retired style
If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day
You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And watch the sun go down on Galway Bay.
Just to hear again the ripple of the trout stream,
The women in the meadows making hay,
And to sit beside a turf- fire in the cabin
And I to watch the barefoot Gossoons at their play.
For the breezes blowing o' er the seas from Ireland
Are perfumed by the heather as they blow
And the women in the uplands diggin’ praties,
Speak a 1anguage that the strangers do not know.
For the strangers came and tried to teach us their way
They scorn'd us just for being what we are
But they might as well go chasing after moonbeams
Or light a penny candle from a star.
And if there is going to be life hereafter,
And somehow I am sure there's going to be
I will ask God to let me make my heaven
In that dear land across the Irish sea.
We're off to Ireland until late next Monday, so this'll probably be the last blog until we come back.
The car is packed, the good gear safely bagged, and even the shoes have been polished.Two days in the north and two in the south. Fair coverage. And a first for us both in going to Dublin's fair city. We'll bring back plenty of photographs and no doubt bore you all to tears with them on the web.
Hope you all have a great week-end!
Slainte!!
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11/07/2006, 06:55 - Living in retired style
Six thirty on the morning of our departure from Troutbeck
We've been away for eleven days, somewhat longer than we'd planned, but that's us,plan A became plan D and then R.Nothing new in that.
Our travels took us south to Didcot in Oxfordshire where we caught up with Joan's elder son and his family. We were amazed at how much the girls, Nicole(6) and Simone(4) have grown up since we last saw them in January. As ever we spent some quality time with them, having outings and tea at their favourite restaurant and buying them one or two bits and pieces for the coming summer holidays.
It was HOT in Didcot, too hot to even consider the planned visit to wimbledon.Maybe another year.
It was even HOTTER in Peterborough where we trundled to in our wee touring caravan that hasn't had an outing since last September.We watched some wimbledon on our little tv, nicely cooled by our ancient fan and some chilled drinks from our highly efficient caravan fridge.
After a spell of inactivity our wee caravan needed some DIY. Our whale wasn't working, so we ventured forth to the nearest caravan accessory shop and purchased piece by piece until we got it working again.Cold water again coursed through the veins of the caravan, although hot water was still stubbornly refusing to be tapped in. Our DIY skills didn't quite stretch that far.But who needs hot water when there's a perfectly good supply of it in the shower block literally a stone's throw from the door.The winter service would identify the resolution to this wee problem.
DIY completed, we ventured to explore further this area of the midlands which we'd visited only last September. There is much to see. The fens are quite beautiful, with an abundance of wildlife that invites twitchers and fisherfolk in their droves.The towns of Stamford,Oakham and Crowland are worth visiting, as is the man-made lake at Rutland Water which is renowned for the wild birds that it attracts in huge numbers.
Sadly, the steam train wasn't running during our stay, so that particular activity will have to await a further visit.
We had once again got the caravan 'bug', so decided to venture to another site further north where it wouldn't be quite so hot.
We found an excellent site in Troutbeck, Penrith, which we will almost certainly be returning to either later this year, or in the springtime. Set amongst the hills of the lakes in England, it is probably the best site we've used so far. Its position offers access to any part of the lake district in a relatively short time. Views of hills and forests are there to wake up to, and sunsets after sunny days are quite magnificent. The best part of it all for us was the breatheable air, clear and refreshing after the stifling humidity of points further south.And it was good to see hills again. Made us begin to think of home.Unfortunately, the rain that had been absent thus far, caught up with us here. It certainly encouraged those thoughts of home as we watched deluge after deluge descend. But we were on holiday, and it never rains on holiday, at least not enough to keep you in. By the time we'd packed our waterproofs, the rain had cleared, the sun came out, and we were off on our wanderings.
Since we know the area quite well, favourite places were sought out. Lakeland in Windermere,the pencil factory in Keswick,the paper factory in Burneside,Upfront Gallery,and the riverside wood at Rydal were all given time.We entertained the McDowall clan one evening in our caravan, played golf with two of them between showers on Saturday, and Joan visited another relative while I spent a morning painting on Sunday. We watched both Wimbledon finals, saw Italy claim the world cup and enjoyed a meal out at a local pub.And then we packed up, left the midges behind, and headed home.
And here we are, and here we'll stay until we get the urge to hitch up and trundle off again.
The joys of born-again-caravanning!!
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07/07/2006, 10:52 - Living in retired style
It was HOT in Peterborough, so we've moved north to Troutbeck in the lake district for a cool down! Hope to be home on Monday in time to go to the Scottish Open Golf Championships at Loch Lomond.
Painted a little. Hope to paint more before coming home. Bought a new supply of delicious paper at the paper mill in Burneside.
Dying to catch up on all the news in cyberworld!!
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19/06/2006, 13:02 - Living in retired style
This morning I've been looking at various ways to display paintings and drawings on my web pages.I had a request from a friend to do this on her new weblog, so I thought I'd set it up first myself.
PHEW!!!There are so many ways to do it.I suppose it's just a matter of taste.
Anyway I've spent enough time in front of the screen for now, so with lead in hand I'll encourage my wee dog to take me for a walk. He'll jump at the chance! And fresh air will do my lungs a lot of good.
Back later............
Last night we headed for town to see the filmThe Da Vinci Code . Having read the book, there were no surprises.
It was good to see and hear the subtitled French, given that most of the action took place in Paris.The flashbacks in history were well done,most particularly the crash that claimed the lives of the heroine's brother and parents.
As to the overall theme and questions raised? I have no problem with Jesus as a man and father, whose blood-line might still be with us today.He was a jew, a rabbi, and as such would probably have been married.That makes him no less divine. He came to earth as a man, and lived a life that was entirely earthly.Wasn't that how it was supposed to be? His divinity is surely most apparent in his resurrection.
Watching the film after reading the book has not altered my faith.It was a good read and a good watch and as ever offered some questions to ponder over. Nothing outlandish.Nothing mindblowing.
But I will have a closer look at the two pyramids at the Louvre next time I visit Paris.
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17/06/2006, 09:49 - Living in retired style
Today I've been up since six thirty writing and fiddling about with slideshows and words. This is a direct consequence of finding some wonderful flash poetry on Michael's blog earlier this week. I have not in any way mastered the art form, but I intend to.It is an amazing way to link image and word and brings out the creative in me. All I need to do now is find the right tool for the job; one that offers flexibility and ease of use.
Yesterday passed in a rush. We delivered our house-guest and budding blogger home, headed for Braehead and an eye test and new glasses for Joan, before meeting mum and taking her for lunch in Bearsden. As we were eating, my young brother made a surprise visit much to my mum's delight. After a bottle of bubbly and much banter we headed back to Braehead to drop mum off, collect Joan's new specs, then do a little book and dvd browsing before disappearing down our road home. It was surprisingly late, a fact that hadn't escaped our canine companion. His stomach must have rumbled the last few miles before turning into our driveway. And he wasn't fed immediately! How could we forget such an important task! I THINK he's forgiven us now. He got an early breakfast to compensate and seems quite content having a wee morning snooze as we blog and surf STILL dressing-gowned at almost ten o'clock!
Well what else is there to do on such a dreich morning
And we bought a few books and a couple od dvds.......some things never change!
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