Momentum

The last week has been a whirlwind, and with this weekend shaping up to be an Annual-Report-a-thon, I am grabbing the spare moment while I can!

A friend asked today how my weekend had been.

Me: "Good. Yeah, busy, but good. I learned to woodwork. Made a coffee table. Drove to West Cork to help a friend emigrate. Got shortlisted for a great Vodafone thing, and had to prep a presentation, which was kinda major. Little sleep. Anyhoo, we drove up, made it to the interview in time; he left for a teeny bit of French territory beside Canada this morning..."

Friend: "I knew you wouldn't let me down. I'm off to my office now to think about what I did this weekend. I'll let you know later."

:-)

For those who asked, my little whittled-with-love coffee table looks like this:

I *loved* the wood course - easy-paced learning in an idyllic sunshiney wood, with a young horse called Summer looking on with interest. At lunch we talked pre-Columbian artefacts and I think I actually heard my mind stretch a little :-) *And* while chatting with the other person on the course, I realised that his father happened to be up in Dublin, on my street, working on the cottage opposite mine.

Small world.

The weekend's keywords were emigration and Presentation Prep -- thanks for all who helped, with ideas and care and support and photos and deeeeelicious lemon meringue cake and a variety of coffees. So busy that I didn't even make it to the shore to look for mermaid's tears... And yet, Baltimore cannot but delight: there was a sublime birthday party to share in, and brief-but-lovely catch-up with friends, and a friend's art to explore, and some stretchy yoga to the sound of a beautiful heavy rain shower.

And then we whirled on, to Dublin and interview and Job the First and Job the Second.

I'm tired just typing that!! Time for candles and curling up :-)

Doorway

My walk home from town sometimes takes me past this door. From a distance it looks like a blur of white graffiti. It takes me a second for her form to appear...

I love her pose, folding forward... a graceful presence in an ordinary side road.

What lies beneath

This was top of my list for Bridge Photos: I noticed it first on Fr Mathew Bridge, but I think it repeats on a few :-)

Crossing to Job the First of a morning, with the river at an ebb, the thought of a troll hunched under stone and metal, finding its balance on seaweedey rocks - love it!

I had to look up the name of the bridge (in my mind it's called The Bridge that goes across to Church Street). Apparently it's called Father Mathew (yes, with only the one 't') Bridge - named after a superabstemious teetotaller.

I'll raise a glass to that :-)

Cross with care

I love over-water-bridges, from a little stepping stone slab to the massive Mackinac bridge that disappears into mist before your eyes can make out the other side. Love the idea of them as things that join, that traverse... a place of boundaries over a constantly moving channel.

They're just fab.

Anyhoo, there are oodles of photos I have been meaning to take of Dublin's bridges. The following were not on the list - they came by surprise. Earlier today while I was walking home in light rain, I decided to cross at the Ha'penny Bridge. And noticed something different about it.

How intriguing is that...

And on the other side...

And when I went to cross into Temple Bar, it turned out that the enigmatic little messages weren't limited to the bridge at all:

I have no idea of the who or the why. I do love them though - little sparks of thoughtfulness and wonder in the most everyday of settings.

Storage Solutions

Over this lovely weekend, I met up with a friend I hadn't seen since Michigan days: we exchanged about two sentences before she said "Oh my God you haven't changed *at all*. Did you watch Eerie Indiana? Foreverware..."

And there we were, straight back into our regular pattern of chat. A treat.

Ah, Foreverware: "Vacuum-seal yourself for 8 hours a day and keep the wrinkles away..." Eerie Indiana was so kooky-with-gusto.

And it had Elvis in it. Can't beat that.



Meanwhile, amongst the chatting, a little girl took some pictures with my camera. There were oodles of faces (none of whom I asked permission to use their photos, so all of those omitted for now). But humans aside, I enjoyed her more random shots of life above and below and around. Nice colours & textures :-)

I'm resisting the urge to start streaming Eerie Indiana in earnest. Back to my day's To Do Guide...

Sweet thoughts

Caller: "You're the nicest person in the world. And you spell your name right."

Me: "Well, I can't really take credit for that. My parents filled out the form..."

Caller: "You're wonderful. They've done such a good job of raising you. Tell your mum and dad that when they die they'll go straight to heaven. You're the proof of the pudding."

(And quite apart from the myriad reactions to that...)

It got me thinking: if I was a pudding, what pudding would I be... 

Tough call. Something chilled certainly - unless I was a delectable profiteroles served the warmed chocolate sauce... maybe a slice of zesty key lime pie or a dish of raspberry & mango sorbet; a serving lemon cheesecake perhaps...

Hungry now. Ready for something decadently treaty!

Summer Colours

Loving the non-humid weather... energy boom! After the oddly autumnal couple of weeks, little pockets of flowers around the Cottage encourage belief in summer :-)

I meant to post this a few weeks back: the dramatically lovely stage curtain from Noel Coward's 'Hay Fever' in The Gate. Never have I been so happy for intermission to continue...

And this, the single chilli that my little chilli plant produced this year. That little bundle of heat spiced up some zesty lemon & coriander hummus :-)

Life soundtracks

The EverFab Beatles demonstrating why music matters :-)



Been a nestley day in (as in, day of nestling, rather than a day associated with Nestlé). Little black cat is getting around on three paws, and seems 'herself' except for the limping. I'm concentrating my efforts on trying not to fuss over her.

I think I'll nip out now and get her some treaty milk. In a nonchalant kinda way...

First class

One of my favourite images from Sunday's March for Marriage in Dublin. Such sassiness; such pride. Delightful.

All that glitters...

Photos from the weekend's course in jewellery making, run by the fab Clare & Laura over at twojewellers.blogspot.com.

Day One was about getting used to the basics. We started out sawing and drilling copper - mine ended up being a little plaque that will hang outside someday and go a lovely verdigris. Yes, the design is made up of those random swirls I doodle all the time, teased outwards to create nice curves.

We played with some effects: if you put metal sheet through the Squodging Machine with some netting or material, the resulting textures are lovely. I did a little triptych which took on a lovely effect after going through the Squodginator with some plastic netting. (The idea is that it will be threaded with copper wire and will hang from some worn, textured little old branch).

And we tried our hands at soldering: this ring was a rectangle of copper Squodged with plain muslin cloth.

Day Two was going to be all about silver. I was trying to figure out what to do, and it happened to be a full moon... which made me think of a pair of moonstone earrings that I never wear...

Apparently, it's called Upcycling :-)

I made a ring and a pendant: cutting out silver circles and hammering them into cup shapes with little wave edges; making teeny settings for the moonstones and soldering on.

It was an easygoing learning environment with great teachers and lovely company. And sparkley results - boy, when that ring catches the light, it's a little glow-ball!

Delightful :-)