Rathlin Island 29/10/2011
At the beginning of October we headed off to Rathlin Island off the north coast for a long awaited first visit. Oh boy, we were not disappointed!  The Manor House guesthouse that greets you on arrival. We had a choppy crossing going over, with torrential rain on our first evening. We were staying in a gorgeous house for the weekend, with a view over the harbour. We relished the rain beating against the window, whilst we were warm and comfy inside. We woke on Saturday morning to a dry day. Off we headed to explore and discovered that everything (the tourist information centre, gift shop and RSPB centre) were all closed. The season finishes on the 30th September and we had arrived on the 1st October. Dooh! We had luckily got an information leaflet at the ferry terminal, so knew that there were 3 lighthouses at various corners. We wandered off down one of the single car width roads and visited the East Lighthouse, which sits on the edge of a cliff. There are caves below where Robert the Bruce is proported to have hidden and watched the spider trying over and over again. The only sounds were birds and the wind and we just met one person in two hours. Stunning.  C and the barren and windswept landscape. At sunset on Saturday evening, the sky suddenly exploded into bright pink, orange and red. It only lasted about 10 minutes - but my word what a sight. The picture below was taken by me hanging out of our 1st floor sitting room window.  The view from our holiday home on Saturday night. Breathtaking!  The promenade On Sunday morning, we woke to a beautiful blue sky and the calmest sea imaginable. The water was so clear around the harbour area, we just sat on the promenade for ages, enjoying the quietness before our return home. We are already looking forward to a return trip. I loved the remoteness of it and have been dreaming of moving there since we came back. Fingers crossed! Add Comment On my mind 28/10/2011
Rhonda at Down to Earth has been doing a Friday photo feature for some time. She says on her blog: "This is a Friday photo feature that anyone with a blog can join. To take part, post a photo on your own blog, write a short caption explaining it, and link it back to here from your blog by saying you're part of "On my mind". To visit her fantastic blog go to http://www.downtoearth.blogspot.com 
Just in time for the cold evenings, I have finished my first crochet blanket. It was such a brilliant way to get to grips with this skill which has totally evaded me up until now. Repeating the same stitch over and over again has meant that I am sure I could do it in my sleep now! I wouldn't use the red or yellow wool again but other than that I am very happy with the outcome - the rest of the family now want one, for snuggling under whilst watching tv. Better get busy! Firewood 24/10/2011
 Over the last few years we have gathered firewood during the summer whilst out walking in the woods. Somehow we managed to get to October this year without any wood having been collected. With the weather having got colder and energy prices continuing to soar, it was the kick up the backside that we needed to get some in for our nightly fire. So yesterday, when there was a very short break from the heavy rain, M and I headed off down the road to our nearest wood with 4 old reuseable bags. There was loads of fallen wood, that broke fairly easily, so we filled our bags and headed home quickly, as the downpour recommenced. After we dried off, we put all the wood in our fireside basket and put beside the radiator. Should be dry enough to use in a couple of days. There is enough there to do probably 3 evenings. maybe 4. It is immensely gratifying to get some heat for free. Bags of logs cost around £5 now for approx. 8 pieces. Why would we pay that money out when for 20 minutes of our time, we can have free heat, locally sourced. It feels right both financially and environmentally. I did momentarily think that if the neighbours looked out and saw us walking up the road in the rain with wood sticking out of the top of bags they would think we were completely barmy. But then I pondered 'who are the crazy ones? Us, utilising a free resource, enabling us to stre-t-c-h our monthly budget??... Diesel costs 4 14/04/2011
I think I swore out loud at the petrol station, when I looked up to see the price and noticed it had gone up ANOTHER 1p since Monday. Oops. Thursday 14 April - £15.00 @ 139.9 Since last top up I had travelled 101.2 miles. I would normally put in £40 each time I go to the petrol station, but it is really useful to just be putting in the small amounts, as I am noticing the prices creeping up. When will it stop? Little Princess 14/04/2011
R goes to her first school disco tomorrow. The theme is Royal Wedding, so I contacted J who makes wedding dresses to see if she had any ideas. Never thinking for a moment that she would offer to alter a mock-up dress that she had at home! So kind. R is over the moon and is counting down the hours until Friday 6pm. I went to Primark to see if I could find some glittery shoes for her to wear and found a lovely flat pair for £2.50, along with pearls for her wrist and neck for £1.50 each. Always love a bargain! J also made her the cutest little crown to finish the ensemble. She has a little fur jacket that she will wear going there.   How dinky is that crown! I wanted to get more detailed photos of the dress - the back has a bustle and is tied up with criss-cross of ribbon, but my little model became camera shy, bless her. My gorgeous princess - she is growing up sooo fast (sniff!) Weekend picnic 14/04/2011
 Last Sunday we had a lovely picnic beside Scrabo Tower. It sits high up overlooking Strangford Lough and Newtownards, so you can see for miles. It feels like you are at the top of the world...  So R felt the urge to fly...  ... and pretend that Newtownards was her own toy town. Diesel costs 3 12/04/2011
Yesterday bought some more diesel. Monday 11th April - £15.00 @ 138.9 in Asda. Up another 1p - crazy. From the previous tank of £15.02 I drove 103.1 miles It is official, I have turned into a total anorak... Here comes the girls... 12/04/2011
 May I introduce you to Bluebell - her name and breed. She is a pretty, quiet and demure lady. She recently found her voice and spends her days calling out to me for corn and mealworms.  The terrible two, Daisy and Lily, are our Blackrock girls. They are fiesty adventurers and spend their time finding ways to escape. I'll be honest and say I really can't tell them apart - peas in a pod! Our hens are great pets and we always feel like the eggs are a 'brucie bonus' and not the sole reason to have them share our garden. (I just wish they would poo slightly less!) Apologies for photographs - I don't think our girls stand still for more than a milli-second and I find it impossible to get their best sides! Dandelions 11/04/2011
 Don't know if it is a local oddity, but there are fields of dandelions everywhere at the moment. I don't ever remember seeing so many. I have become intrigued by these flowers (yes, I know, I need to get out more!). We were all told as children not to pick them because they would make us wet the bed. I know that they are a dieuretic, but really could they affect you if you picked them?? Their plus sides are that my chickens absolutely love the leaves (think this is where my worrying interest came from), you can put them in salads, make wine (looking forward to trying it Sis!) and they change into clocks which make wishes come true (wink They are quite beautiful - like bright rays of sun. Is it because of their commonplace-ness that stops us really appreciating them? I am off to pick a bunch to place in a jamjar on the kitchen table and call the first meeting of the dandelion appreciation society. Fingers crossed the old wives' tale isn't true! x Diesel costs 2 06/04/2011
Wow - that diesel didn't last long. Admittedly I would never normally put just £10 in the car. I have only done school runs over the last few days so was surprised when orange light came on. 6th April - £15.02 @ 137.9p at Asda I have reset my mileage gauge, so will be able to record that too next time. | AuthorHello and welcome! ArchivesOctober 2011 CategoriesAll |
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