I`ve been tagged by Dee :0)

Still not quite "with it" when it comes to technology , it took me ages to work out that I`d been "tagged" by Dee from the fantabulous "Lucys Lounge" (DO check out her blog its fantastic!)...so here goes...
(a) 5 favourite songs:
1- anything by Enya
2- she moved through the fair (traditional)
3- raglan road (traditional)
4- i got you babe- sonny & cher
5- amazing grace

(b) 5 favourite films
1- the shawshank redemption
2- the bridges of madison county
3-billy elliot
4-shirley valentine
5- my fair lady (musical)

(c) 5 random things i like:
1- tea
2- chocolate
3- journal/diary writing
4- knitting
5- wildflowers

(d) 5 favourite books
1- wb yeats collected poems
2- can any mother help me ? by: jenna bailey
3- angels in my hair by: lorna byrne
4- angelas ashes - frank macourt
5- the snapper - roddy doyle

(e) crushes...
(1) huge crush on my maths teacher in school !
(2) tom cruise (I know..long time ago)
(3) my husband...when I met him and now...I fall more in love with him every day xx

well, there ya go...now ,I choose (to tag) Annah, Ciara, Jennifer,Sana, and anyone whos checking in that wants to give it a go :)

Prepare to party...

Our compost will appreciate all this lot...enough to make at least one bale of hay I reackon :0)

Red-currents, ready for picking !

Daisy`s magnificent eyes !

It`s Daisy`s 2nd birthday on Sunday, and we`re huge fans of the good old-fashioned kids party at home, including home-made food, home-made decorations etc...so today we`ve been busy doing just that ,after supper , as we spent most of the day in the garden weeding ,etc...honestly the rain has made the weeds and grass grow SO quickly ! I`m a fan of "weeds" myself, or wildflowers as I prefer to call them and wont pull them until they`ve lived their full life ,and flowered...it was a long day but we`re getting there...this evening Aideen also finished sewing (by hand) her present for Daisy...a little teddy bear...SO cute, and what finished me off was when she was stuffing the bear she put in a little heart-shaped button inside the bear, how sweet is that ??? Well heres some pics of whats been going on today , off for a cuppa now...see ya`l tomorrow ;)

Light a candle...

whenever family or friends or anyone asks me to keep them in my thoughts and prayers and always promise to light a candlefor them...and I do...its my way of "praying"...I light the candle in my bedroom window so the light can "shine" out for them...and although not very religious ,i`ve always, since I was a child ,loved lighting candles in the chapel! When we were home in Wexford, Aideen lit 5 candles in the village church, herself and Shauna LOVED lighting the candels at home as the candles are real ,not fake lights like the ones in most town chapels (obviously for safety etc)...they sed to call the candle sconce "Gods birthday cake" :o)

Heres a poem thats printed beside the candle box in the chapel at home ,I wrote it down to make copies of it...somehow it covers why we light candles for each other , whether for religious reasons or not...(Dee I`ve lit a candle for you Hon ,so sorry you had water damage in the shop...can`t wait to see you and so glad you enjoyed the letters!)...

SO lucky to have laughter

I`ve always considered my self to have been SO lucky to have parents who had a wonderful ,and fun relationship...even though hard up ,they were never afraid to laugh...as you can see by this (my favourite) photo of them...it was taken on their 25th wedding anniversary...and they obviously couldnt hold in the giggles :0) also I`ve posted a photo taken of Daisy tonight who , as usual went to bed laughing !!! I`m sure God intended for us to laugh loud and often :0)

Also tonight I finished crocheting a simple shawl for myself...its cool in the evenings out in the garden , yet too warm for a heavy top...so hopefully this will do the trick...

A country garden...

My brother, Michael has the MOST beautiful garden ever...its a real haven...I adore being there , this morning I was up at 6 am , taking pictures of the mist evaporating off the Blackstairs mountains that overlook this little piece of Heaven that Michael has created...he gets it from my Dad , who God rest him, was a huge gardener too...and he also did up the old cottage , you`d never think to look at it that it was an average country cottage...truly he is one talented guy ! I think I`ll let the pictures do the talking...and to crown it all he cut me a massive bunch of flowers to bring home , they are on my table to remind me of "home"... as you can see, his attention to EVERY detail is astounding...this is the place where my ideas for writing come flooding !

Country roads, take me home...

Wel, at last here are the photos I`ve been promising you all for SO long , spent a wonderful night in my big brothers house (it was my Fathers Homeplace) , and today spent the whole morning walking around the village of my childhood, Ballindaggin , in Irish "Baile an Dangin" ,which translates as "town on the (river) Daingain". And while photographing my old school , my principal called me in ,it was the last day of school, and would you believe it her last day as shes retiring !!! I`ve had such a hard time picking the photos to share...I literally took hundreds ! We also visited "Granny Jordan" ,the oldest person alive in the village ,aged 97 and still on top form, a grand lady. Its always SO hard to come back ,but we promise ourselves that each day that passes is a day nearer to us being able to move "home" for good...enjoy the photos !

As time goes by...

WHERE does the time go??? Is it true it goes faster as we grow older? Heres my "baby" who will be the grand old age of 2 next Sunday (5th)...and I just Can`t believe it , I truly can`t !!! Look at her ,she was smiling when she came out this one !!!! Her eyes have a permanent twinkle ,that remind me SO of her sister Shauna who passed when I was just 2months pregnant with Daisy...but I have a beautiful story to tell Daisy of how her big sister picked her name just before she died...and you know the name suits her to a tee :)
Without her I don`t know how Sean, Aideen and myself would have coped when Shauna passed...is`nt it funny the way things work out all the same ??? Imagine today, this "baby" told her dad while we were all sitting outside wating our supper that he "did too" when he said he did`nt do something !!!! Character is the one word that I think would truly cover this little one`s personality...as the old saying goes she`d make a cat laugh :) Her party will be a VERY small affair this year , as lots of friends, etc are away ,etc so it`ll be just us and maybe one or two more...but we`ll still put up the balloons and have a cake...also we`re heading to Wexford tomorrow to my brothers ,and we`re having a small "do" there for Daisy and Sean (who is 40)...I really can`t wait to get home and I hope the sun shines, I`d love to take some photos of the village where I grew up and share them with you all...