Booming Banter

It’s impossible to explain how much the help of friends means when you need them most.

When I arrived on Sunday the task of clearing and cleaning the house and getting it ready to handover on Friday seemed almost impossible.

Fear not, almost immediately Carol, Liz, my cousin Anne and her husband Maurice arrived and by the end of the day major progress was already made.

Monday morning first thing Paddy swung into action and ordered a dumpster (aka as skip) to be delivered immediately. Carol was back with Liz as well as Lorraine, Phyllis and Maureen.

Each person took on a particular area. Boxes for the auction filled quickly and when the dumpster arrived there was enough trash to fill it to the brim.

On Tuesday the team from Bangor  Auctions worked so hard. They had to do two runs with their big van completely full to take away all the items for sale. In total we will have 65 lots!!!

Rooms started to clear and once Wednesday was over and McGimpseys Furniture Removals had safely packed up all the items of sentimental value to ship to the USA all that was left to do was clean.

So just as the keys were being turned for the final time on a very empty and a never before so clean house a magnificent sunrise gave us the thumbs ups on our terrific teamwork.

Blessing #133 – Friends to the Rescue

 

On the flight to Chicago the United Hemisheres magazine fell open at an article on Boy George.

He is about to release a new album after many years. This reminded me of my Daddy and how much he loved Boy George and his first hit song.

My Dad would sit in the kitchen every morning with his little electric radio plugged in and after the news he’d listen to our local radio station Downtown.

”Girl” he would say to me as he listened to Carma Chameleon “that lad has a powerful good voice”.

He didn’t care a jot that George wore make up or a dress when he was performing with Culture Club. All he did was appreciate his great talent for the genius that is was.

Blessing #132 – Lovers of Diversity

Aaron, Dad and Dibley dropped me at the airport. So before departure I sent a text to see if they got home safe.

They did and they found a package delivered on the doorstep from EBay.

Aaron asked what I had ordered and I said nothing.

Mystery and dilemma  should they open it or not. Is it safe?

Well they did open it and it was a Royals Wedding mug from my bestie LAURA.

Laura had given me the William and Kate earlier in the week and clearly had been busy hunting for the Meg and Harry.

Such a lovely start to my crazy trip!

Blessing # 131 – Love in a Mug

We have sold our house in Northern Ireland and have been totally stressed out this week waiting for the contract to come through. It finally did late yesterday.

I had to book my flights on Monday otherwise I may not have got there. So I am hitting the road today.

Ahead lies the massive task of clearing out and cleaning up before handing over the keys.

This has been orchestrated from here with the help of friends and family, auction houses and furniture removers in Northern Ireland.

To keep me sane I took to painting. Now some of you may paint on canvases but I took to painting the bathroom  cabinets.

They went from white to BLING. They got what you might describe as the Versailles look.

It started with a little accent and deteriorated into a massive overall. The higher the stress level got the more paint was used.

Poor Krishna just turned a blind eye and at one point Aaron got so concerned he joined in and actually talked to me!

So now when I make it back in ten days time I will soak and admire and like Marie Antoinette eat cake.

In the interim many blessing will no doubt be counted. You will get them in fits and starts or maybe in one big banter when time and internet access permits.

Blessings 130 – Paint is Cheap

Hard to imagine it is fifty years since the wonderful Janis Joplin sang about her Bobby McGee

What a song and what a talent.

I was only eight when the song was playing on the radio but like other songs of the era it stuck.

There is something eternal about and it is totally irresistible.

It brings a little tear to the eye and at the same time joy to the heart.

Love it more than ever!

Blessing #129 – Songs that Stick

This morning, after a good sleep, I woke up at five. So I crept out of the  bedroom only to be met with a flickering light.

An immediate conclusion was drawn. Aaron must be at his tricks on the computer. So on tip toe up to his bedroom I go only to find the lad sound asleep with not an electronic devise in site!

Bad MOM moment!

So down I come and take thirty seconds to actually study the scene.

It was a candle that was burning and clearly had been burning all night long.

This particulier candle is one that is deep but not real bright when lit so it is one that could be easily missed when going to bed.

It was amazing though how bright that light was in the dark of night and how fortunate we were that it didn’t cause us any harm.

Blessing # 128 – Light without Fire

Herbs are so wonderful and make such a difference to our food. One of the best things about summer is being able to run out to the garden and pick a few.

Summer has stretched well into October here in Ohio but there is a big change coming this week and we may even get our first frost.

So it’s time to shut up shop and bring what we can indoors. Most of our Basil has been eaten but some little seedlings were growing.

These are going to get a chance at survival on the windowsill alongside the rosemary and parsley. Getting a bit congested now  in this prime sun spot!

Some little pepper plants and a tiny tomato looked lost and lonely so they are coming inside too.

Let’s see what the outcome is  you never know they might love it in the jungle that was once an entrance hall!

Blessing # 127 – The Suspense in an  Experiment

 

 

If you are anything like me you can’t do just one thing at a time.

This morning Aaron wanted a quesadilla for his packed lunch so I had that on the stove while I was juggling dishes and watering plants.

Well as any wise person would expect the quesadilla got carbonated! Worse still the chopping board is now nicely scorched!

Why do we do this? Why do we think that saving a minute or two by multitasking is worth it? As happened in this case we end up having to start over

So what are the blessings here?

First, there wasn’t a fire just a mark as a reminder.

Secondly, a quesadilla cooks in a few minutes so my boy still got what he wanted.

Best of all I absolutely love burnt toast!

Blessing # 126 – An unplanned breakfast treat!

Just short of my 15 birthday I started my first job at a little hairdressers on the Donegall Road in Belfast called Mauds.

There was nothing « mod » at all about Mauds. Middle aged and elderly ladies came there each week to have their hair « washed and set ».  They would also have cuts, perms and colors as needed.

The establishment was owned by a lady called Maud who knew absolutely nothing about hairdressing, that was in the safe hands of a stylist called Marie.

Maud was in charge of talking to customers and making them cups of tea. Marie said very little but was really a good stylist and the ladies adored her.

My job was to wash hair, collect towels, take out rollers, take out trash and sweep the floors.

One day in her infinite wisdom when Maud was watching me wash a client’s hair she bestowed a great compliment describing me as « A Great Wee Scrubber ».

Some of you will get the joke in this but for those of you who may not know, this is Belfast slang for a woman of ill repute!

Of course Maud realized what she said as soon as the words were out of her mouth and we all had a great laugh. I loved her to bits.

I also loved Marie because she was so patient with Maud and me and was always teaching me the tips of the trade. She took some risks too progressively letting me apply perming solutions and colors.

All this gave me a great love of hairstyles and experimenting with my own. My hair never has the same style or color for too long! There are many tales to tell in this regard because Krishna and Aaron and even Dibley have been victims of my endeavors too. More of that another day.

Yesterday this came to mind when I was doing my own Balayage. This term is used to describe a very expensive hair coloring process involving multiple dies.

In my budget friendly version I use a root touch up kit and Sunin! Never try this yourself as it could be disastrous!

The irony in all of this is the origin of the term Balayage. It comes from the French word for sweeping.

A lesson perhaps for me to stick with my original hairdressing job description!

Blessing # 125 – Play on Words

It’s just amazing the amount of wildlife around us. Geese, ducks, buzzards, eagles, deer, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, song birds of many colors and sometimes even a coyote.

This morning Aaron and I were driving to another town about twenty miles away. We had a purpose in our trip but we got a surprising treat too.

Bold as brass and right on the roadside by the river we saw a huge chubby beaver working his way though a big chunk of wood,

He was really an impressive fellow and looked so happy and content at his work.

Made us think how optimistic the word beavering is and if maybe someone coined it when they saw a critter like ours today at his happy endeavors.

Blessing # 124 – Chats on a Sunday Drive