A little change of scene here, I was getting bored of looking at the post below.

Martha is 10 months old today and has just returned from her first holiday to the Dingle Peninsula. She went for houndie walks, explored and stood without support. A good holiday.

I busied myself with a spot of knitting and I hope to have it finished before Martha grows out of it.

I have a new hobby – sleeping during the day. It is brilliant! The dogs love it too, we all pile up on the bed and rest a spell.

If it is quiet here it is because: I have been away; I am sleeping; I am working; I am talking about bathrooms; I am knitting; I am walking the dogs; I am eating my dinner.

I am slowly gathering together all the basics I will need for the arrival of my baby. Some stuff is bought and some is made. I threw together a quick homemade version of this. Dave wasn’t very impressed by it, his attention was only held for a couple of seconds. He reckons a boy would never be engrossed by something so silly. I said, just you wait to see your wee idiot son playing away with it! Actually, I didn’t really say that, I said something a lot less PC and had myself a hugh, wobbling belly laugh.

Needless to say our holiday was very pleasant. We stayed in a cabin in the woods in the Dordogne. It was bliss. We ate tasty food, we relaxed, we rafted on our little lake, we fed carp our leftover bread.

On our return we stopped over a night in London, where we visited the Cybercandy shop near Covent Garden (Hannah would love this place). We bought Hot Tamales, Jelly Belly Jellybeans and Watermelon Jolly Ranchers (which proudly proclaim on their packaging that they are both ‘Naturally and Artificially flavored’, so they are twice as good as other sweets!)

We ate lunch/dinner in Wahaca and then went to stay with London Aunt. The following day we were treated to a delicious brunch with London Aunt, her hubby and Ganching. A very pleasant morning was had.

I started the bank holiday weekend a little early by taking the afternoon off work on Friday. I used the time to cook the ‘no knead bread’ I had started the night before and to go for a photowalk in Top Wood with Dave and the dogs. Gracie was in fine posing form and Maya was just having a brilliant time.

Later, for dinner, I made omelette with a goose egg and hen eggs I had got from my Mum. I added chard and thyme from the garden and we ate it with the bread I had just cooked. For pudding we had vanilla ice cream with stewed rhubarb that our neighbour gave us.

Saturday was spent knitting, walking the dogs, playing Frisbee with Dave and Gracie, tidying the house and eating tasty food. We had scrambled eggs (from Mum) and bacon (from Hillstown Farm Shop) for lunch. For dinner we had sausage and bean bake with a pile of buttered ‘no knead bread’.

On Sunday we went walking – a fine stroll, into the wind, along Portstewart Strand. Back at home we dozed, then we ate pasta with aubergine (cooked by Dave), then back to sleep.

Monday we took easy – I made oatcakes for lunch, which we ate with melted cheese and more of our bacon. It was a rainy day so we just went walking to Waterfoot Beach – nothing too strenuous. Then I visited my Granny. Later we had lightly smoked salmon, béarnaise sauce, mashed potatoes and puy lentils for dinner. All cooked by Dave and a marvellous job it was! I ate until I thought I would burst.

Last night I dreamt that there was something wrong with daylight – it was broken – and everything was the colour of a film negative but 3-dimensional.

So, that is what I have been up to. What is coming up is a week away in France, happy me! We leave on Saturday for a week in a wooden cabin in the Dordogne. Sadly, the dogs aren’t able to join us on this trip and will have to spend a week in the Leighinmohr Dog Hotel. On our return we will stop over in London for a night and maybe take in a few sights. I can’t wait!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just to prove that I am not a Christmas grouch, I give you Gracie and Maya frolicking in the winter snow in their Christmas hats. No dogs were harmed in any way in the making of this photo.

Gracie hopes that she will get a Big Bone from Santa Paws and Maya wants Sausages and a cuddly toy. Santa Paws, if you are listening, I can vouch for the fact that they have both been very good girls.

Happy Christmas!

So, I have just had a week off work and it has been great. I could do with another month off just to get properly caught up with everything, but the week will have to do for now. There is so much that I had hoped to get done that I didn’t get around to (sorry I didn’t get to visit my Granny – I blame the ice!)

While I have been off work, Dave has been away scuba diving in the Red Sea. I think he will get a bit of a shock when he gets home to the big freeze. I am off now to make a big batch of buns for his welcome home. We missed him terribly.

Day 2 – Eat smoked haddock for breakfast then climb Ben Nevis. Get drenched at top. Gracie barks loudly that she wants to go down again because she is cold. We attract the attention of a handsome Spanish man with very white teeth and travel back down the mountain with him. Back at the guest house we turn all the heaters on to dry our clothes and open the windows so we can breathe. Retire to bed with blocked sinuses.

Day 3 – Chase the Harry Potter train trying to get a decent photo. Take ferry over the sea to Skye. Arrive in Portree and purchase Tourist Hats from the Tibetan Fair Trade market so that locals know to treat us like idiots. Go for walk to the Old Man of Storr. Gracie thinks it is the best bit of the trip because the place is hootchin’ with rabbits. Eat in fish restaurant which is out of fish and chips. Very yummy mackerel instead.

Day 4 – Pissing with rain and wind howling. Put on Tourist Hats and drive around Trotternish peninsula in rain visiting many pleasant places. Arrive at campsite in lashing rain, drive around, eventually pick a spot. Man at campsite says that camping in this weather will be a true test of our relationship. Survive camping on the rainiest, windiest day of our holiday. Must be true love.

Day 5 – Plenty of opportunities to wear our Tourist Hats with visits to the wind-battered Neist Lighthouse and a dander from Glen Brittle. Tourist Hats had to be removed for a large section of the day in order to eat Magnums and bask in the sunshine.

Day 6 – Tourist Hats hardly on at all as sun blazing all day. Took a boat trip to Loch Coruisk, went for a walk, had a picnic. On return to campsite had showers as totally minging from days of camping. Put on skirt. Went out for very, very fancy dinner at The Three Chimneys. Gracie guarded the car while we ate.

Day 7 – Another Tourist Hat free day. Visited Coral Beaches but couldn’t get access to the turquoise water as it was surrounded by seaweed and shells. Paddled to cool our feet. Walked around the Quiraing on the Trotternish Peninsula. Gracie thought the Quiraing was great because it was hootchin’ with rabbits. She was disappointed not to be let off the lead, this was because she couldn’t be trusted after her visit to The Old Man of Storr.

Day 8 – Looked like another Tourist Hat free day, until we left the Isle of Skye and arrived by the not so bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Pitched our tent in a campsite then changed our minds and erected it on a beach by the Loch at about 10 pm. Midges a real problem here and had to wear both Tourist Hat and Midge Net Hat. Slept in Tourist Hat.

Day 9 – Woken by Park Ranger telling us that we couldn’t camp where we were. Depressed by unwelcoming officials. Curse their midge-ridden-rotten Loch. Should have stayed in Skye! Get dressed and go for a walk along part of the West Highland Way. Then ferry back home.

…Like taking Granny out for a spin to the new museum in Ballymena.

I started off this bank holiday weekend with a huge list of things I wanted to do. Now it’s Monday and I feel that I haven’t done all that much. But the things I have done have been very positive, like seeing my granny, sowing seeds for the cold-frame and knitting. Knitting keeps me calm and not so bothered about the stuff I haven’t done.

I had seen Heike’s site before but not all the pictures of Ireland loaded properly for me, now it is working – photographs of Ireland.