Replica time

This I love and hope to replicate from all my wool scraps and I have lots to get to work on

The Katie Taylor cake

Whilst in wexford during the Olympics, Katie Taylor done Ireland proud by winning gold, so to celebrate I made a Katie cake......




I set out the caravan table with good coffee and cake what better way to celebrate

This was the before picture, I forgot to take an afters, SORRY

New completed knitting projects

Yes I have been busy this past few weeks , knitting for friends new babies. I have finished baby pink booties and cardigan for a beautiful little girl.

Baby pink matinee coat and booties, I loved the challenge of knitting the booties and choosing the pearl buttons to complete the project

 A baby hoodie for a little boy in the localfootball  club colours, blue and yellow, I had to adapt another pattern to complete the hood.

Mam demonstrates the true art of jam making

hi there
I have been missing for awhile, sorry for that, after my best summer in a vest this year. I returned to work and was so busy that I have neglected my blog. But my  mam put a stop to that, by paying a visit to conduct some serious supervised rasberry and strawberry jam making. All 84 years of her arrived to whip us all into shape, she top and tailed the rasberries, heated the jars and the sugar, the jam was boiled and stirred, then the jam was tested.

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She overseen everything with pride and was thrilled to see the finished products. 18 pots in total.

Summer in my vest, raincoat, jeans and runners

Yes summer in my vest is what happened this year, Pat and I set off on our travels for 12 days to tour the south-east in our caravan, we soaked up two days of sunshine that was interrupted by nasty winds and rain, we visited our beloved Wexford on to Waterford down into Cork on to beautiful Kerry, Killarney was magic muckross house was splendid, Pat rode his new bicycle around there with pride, we danced in the Gleneagle hotel, managed to have one barbecue under an umbrella."Such fun" tasted lovely.......... 

 Pat decided to relive his school days by sitting in and old school desk that we came across in Kenmare

The old Honda 90 looking its best in Listowel

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 John B Keane stand tall in Listowel, we visited his pub and had coffee, viewed the pictures of many treasured memories on the wall. I secretly hope that some of his writing skills may rub off on me when I undertake the long awaited challenge of writing a book..........

Ballybunion Beach not looking its best in the absence of the sunshine

Connor Pass "Magic spot"

Two new friends we made

Stonehouse Restaurant

Heading for home back through Limerick,
have  a feeling we will return soon

Latest crochet project..... popcorn

This crochet blanket I was lucky to come accross at a localcraft  fair day, this prompted me to  researched the stitch, its popcorn, I hope to be able to complete ablanket for a new baby due soon.
 My daughters friend is expectiong triplets in January so the needles will be clicking big tiime.....
Cant wait to get staarted, I just cleaned up my craft den and all is ready to undertake this project yippee!

Do keep and eye out for the finished masterpiece, I will take pleasure in showing them to you.

Its lighthouse time!!

Yes hope you have guessed I stayed at a lighthouse with a good friend for the night, it was amazing, got some pics to share with you. But I am conscious that I could not have captured this bit of magic on camera. My bedroom was on the third floor up with the galley kitchen on the top and sitting room next floor down, then the second bedroom and the bathroom in between. the ground floor of the lighthouse had a settlebed just inside the entrance door
  How beautiful was this the sun shinning radiantly through the window on the fish pots, the winding metal stairway that reached all the way to the galley on the top floor...

I was lucky enough to feel the heat of the flags that were warmed by the sunshine that shone in through the window.








knock knock, whose there???

Its me coming to spend the night  ..... open the door and let me come in, "I NEED A BED FOR THEE NIGHT"  Open the door and let me come in.

The kitchen galley, goodness did I love it even had a Cath Kidston tablecloth, so it ticked all the boxes. Take note of the curtains,  they were made of canvas like the sails of a boat, then I looked up and there were my friends hiding (cobwebs). I felt right at home.

It was time to say goodbye, I was sad to go but, I will always remember the beautiful night that I spent at the lighthouse, I will leave this post  and share an image that I have in my mind each time that I think of my adventure to the lighthouse.

The beautiful Irish sea in the reflection of the sun rays that June morning

Thank you friend.

A very special night

Where o where did I lay my weary head????????

Still wondering where I am, maybe take a peak out the window

Shhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new friend I made along the way, say Hi to Freddy!

Must get to my bed now so I will get back to this post another day.But  in my absence please stay guessing,"Where did I lay my weary head"

Emily had a birthday cake request

Emily had a birthday request for her favourite cream sponge cake with fresh fruit, I made an extra effort to make it on gluten free flour, so I could share the cake with her and yippee it was a success

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The proof of the pudding is in the eating, this picture was taken before seconds were offered and Emily decided to take the cake and run, yes off she popped to visit her friends for a barbecue and guess what the cake disappeared with her.

That was the end of seconds but it was a nice thought for a while.............

Happy Birthday Emily xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bealtaine craft display

The best day of my working life this year was during the month of May "Bealtaine month" (The month of the aged), to celebrate I organised a craft display of older peoples craftwork and this was my favourite piece of craft. A beautifully carrickmacross lace veil, wow I loved this piece and was privileged to have learned the craft Mountmellick embroidery from her many years ago a very special lady, she also thought me the craft macramé, yes  the knotting of cords and twines,  I will introduce you all to my macramé pieces at a later stage. 

Take a look at my display table, a real mixed bag of needlework of all shapes and sizes 

The finished giftcard display that I had great fun with, lots of people came and participated, they made special cards for special people in their lives.

My VW Campervan-itis

Yes my secret is out, not just I want, but I must have, I love and adore this van and I hope some day to drive one when I retire. I have the days counted so - keep up and watch this space for an update.

Spring cleaning

The day mam commissioned my daughter and I to spring clean the heirlooms, each one had  a special story to tell. Mam told us both about each one with pride, a very special day..............

The golden Hen ta never laid an egg in  the past 45 years, a present for my mam from one of the many holidays that we had in Galway

The globe off the oil lamp that my ma had in Leitrim 73 years ago (It has a little crack in it) sh!! 

The beautiful glass cake cover that my Granny Canning had when she first moved from Co Leitrim over 70 years ago, now a treasured heirloom for the family

The green glass cake stand that my mam still has on a shelf in her kitchen, this piece I have fond memories of as a child. It miraculously appeared when some important people came to visit us. Sandwiched with no crusts were placed on it, some cakes and cookies. Mam won this at a field day in the 1940's on a wheel of fortune ticket!! How lucky was she, I adore this piece........

The old plate that adorned my granny's dresser in her kitchen

The brass kettle that I brought her from my honeymoon in Spain in 1981

The original milk bottle that we all miss, the bit of plastic never came up to scratch, I miss the bottles and the noise of the milk-man in the morning rattling the bottles as went around early to collect them and leave new full bottle, a lot of work, but well worth it, yes they were the days!!! 

Thank you for sharing my spring cleaning day with my Mam and her special little bits and pieces, they al sit in her kitchen glistening from the scrubbing that  they got recently.  

Nasty weather and an empty cupboard

What to do with an empty biscuit tin and empty cupboard - Bake! Bake! bake
Yes a miserable night in and nothing to munch on with my white tea so............... out comes the Kenwood Chef, crack the eggs, flour everywhere and a bit of magic.

Yes!!! The end result an apple tart, shortbread cookies and lemon drizzle cake and its gluten free, I am thrilled with the cake, has been awhile since I have had a lemon drizzle cake, a real treat.

 I now realise that someone has helped themselves to slice of my apple tart, not funny.
Wonder who that was??

Now maybe Mr Pat visited and maybe not, do drop by and enjoy looking at my bake in, just remember that you only get to look....

Salad Time

This is the remains of my lunchtime salad, (nothing like fresh greens) it was enjoyed by all with poached salmon and home-made chips, thanks for that family!!
Bon Appetite.....

The survival of the Basil Plant

This is a major accomplishment for me, I have tried so many times to grow basil and alas it departs my good company for some reason or other, I usually blame it on over watering or wrong area for sunlight capture, anything and everything.
This time I was a little selfish and made no effort at all and look what happened, it looks so well I am afraid to use it, hence the size of it and getting larger, this week I will use it in my soup and pasta dishes and if it departs my good company, I will update you....................

Bathroom update

Yes at last, I got around to making some changes to the bathroom, my new accessories were enhanced by my treasured lavender candle that my good friend Margie gave to me. We had a memorable experience last week concerning a certain 4 wheeled object, "Dear Landy"  Margie's landrover had a bad day and needed some TLC.

I think that the new white crockery adds to the dull windowsill, I have purchased some nice new ivy that I hope to train and trail from the windowsill to give a whole new dimension to the bathroom.