Booming Banter

The furball slept like a log all night without a cheep. He was as frisky as can be this morning and even wanted to play ball. Poor soul probably needed a good sleep.

His humum had another really bad nights sleep though worrying about him. So after a trip to the dentist a detour was made to the hairdressers.

Nothing does you more good when you are feeling weary than a wee bit of pampering.

The therapy was great. Got a lovely touch up with professional color on the home coloring job I’d done six weeks back. As Mother would say you didn’t need it you deserved it!

Had a good cut too and discovered a new hair care brand called TIGI smells divine and as Pooh himself knows

“A wonderful thing is a TIGI a Tigis a wonderful thing”

Reminds me too to book the furball in for his spring spa treatment at Four Paws

Blessing # 276 – Good Groomers

Dibley has been sleeping in our bed for years. It’s so long now that it is difficult to remember why we allowed this.

A vague recollection says it started during a bad thunderstorm that makes Dibs very shaky. Anyway it was snuggly and it was my doing and now is something that has to be addressed.

Over the past couple of years Dibs has been rattling the bedroom door to get out in the middle of the night. He will go for a tinkle and then wants water. He insists Krishna takes him as he’ll allow him to drink water and I won’t. We know now that this is likely linked to his Cushing’s syndrome.

Well it has been getting worse and worse to the point where he has us awake four time a night. It’s like being on baby patrol and it is exhausting.

Once we get up in the morning Dibs heads off immediately to his crate in our kitchen where he proceeds to slumber till noon sneaking out occasionally if he smells toast or something frying.

So the furry one gets his sleep albeit disrupted and not at night but all we elderly humans get is grumpy.

Yesterday, after many outings the night before, the riot act was read and it was decided it is time we returned our Dibs to his crate to sleep at night.

So after the boys finished watching their wrestling at 10:30 they put Dibs to bed. It’s seems he barked a bit but I’d already been in the land of Nod for a good while by then and didn’t hear this.

At about midnight something woke me up! All was silent until Krishna let out one of his big coughs and then the barking started. It went on for a while and the temptation was there to go and let him out but I resisted and it stopped.

For literally hours after I couldn’t stop worrying. What if the silence means he’s died! Finally at five o’clock with no rest to be had I got up scared to look.

He was snoring! When his water bowl was filled he dragged himself out, guzzled down a long draft, took a tinkle and went back to his crate for more sleep.

When Aaron came down this morning he said he too didn’t sleep well because of concern for the furball.

So what to do tonight? Try again with the new arrangement and worry all night long or cave in and do the door duty?

Blessing # 275 – Afternoon Naps

Today an article in the Belfast Telegraph told the tale of three Northern Irish ladies who have had tremendous success through their blogs and social media.

A quick checked showed the sites are beautiful and have a wide following but strangely I’d never once heard of or seen a post from any one of them.

This got me thinking how come? This inevitably led to the next question how many blogs are there in the world? A little research showed that there were an estimated 550 million in 2018 and the number is growing.

Some for sure started with a particular focus or idea others to record a journey or a milestone life event.

Seems though that it is most unlikely, no matter how much we wish it were so, that anything is totally unique.

So what makes one blog popular and another not? The content for sure but also the design and the amount you might invest in expanding the reach.

Wonder how Samuel Pepys would have fared in today’s world?

When he wrote his dairy he didn’t want his contemporaries to read it but he did want it to be a historical record of the time because he logged it in his library.

It took centuries for it to surface. No way that would happen in our days of internet transparency.

As he kept going for a decade Samuel must have taken pleasure in keeping his record. Bet it gave him the occasion to reflect on each day and to observe more keenly the world around him.

So whether you reach a billion, a million, a thousand, one hundred or just talk to yourself there is joy in the journal and merit in a memoir!

Blessing # 274 – Purpose

The season of rummage sales has started. I’m in heaven.

My particular weakness, or talent depending on your perspective, is to go to the last hour of the sale. Like a chipmunk on the prowl for nuts the tables are scoured for any adorable little item that has been left rejected.

There must be some reason for this passion but I just love to give those little bits and pieces a new home. As the saying goes One Mans Junk Is Another Mans Treasure. 

Programs like Extreme Hoarding cause concern that this tendency might get out of control but then the temptation of the bargain hunt strikes again!

Yesterday with a Buy One Get One Free underway I hit the tables with only half an hour to spare! What could I find? Thinking now not just of what might fit for home but what might look good in a Victorian Guesthouse!

Things didn’t fly at me at first but in the last five minutes jewels were mined and a big three dollars spent.

Back home later in the day the bounty was displayed for the ever patient Krishna.

That’s when the real fun starts seeing how unrelated gems can be combined into a treasure!

Blessing #273 – Quirky Combinations

This week brought some chances to take some country roads.

The sky was clear and with the snow on the ground the barns and farms stood out.

Farming must get imbedded in the genes and I don’t mean the Levi’s!

The great expanse of the Ohio fields is certainly different from those of Ireland. The barns too have a different aspect but when it comes to the crucks of the matter the sun and rain still stay the same.

Tuning in to a good old country music channel and stopping at the farm shop to buy some local ham and cheese takes you back to the roots and is most refreshing.

Blessing # 272 – A Little Bit of Country

On this International Woman’s Day a little tribute to a special woman in my life. Granny Gibson.

Born Elizabeth Herdman, in the mid 1890s, you will win no prizes for guessing she was a farmers daughter.

The farm called The Crow’s Nest is in the heart of County Down in the town land of Magerally. Today it is run by her great great nephew.

Lizzy, as she was known to all was the eldest daughter in the family. She fell in love with Johnny Gibson and loved him with her heart and soul every day of her life.

 

They married when Lizzy was only eighteen and had their first child, a son, just before the First World War. Johnny went off to France but must have been back in Ireland a few times because they had another two boys before the war was over and a baby girl to welcome Johnny home on Christmas Eve 1918.

In 1920 my Mum was born and they had a pause for seven years until the next three children arrived just before Johnny left again for another war.

Each of her children loved her beyond measure. She was simply a wonderful mother. They had a fairly good life while the kids were young with a small holding and Johnny working a job as well. Those were tough times though with the depression and Lizzy didn’t always have it easy.

Johnny died young at just 54 but by then Lizzy had grandchildren around her feet too. She went on to have 23 in all!

Her influence on us was to teach us kindness. Never once in the 19 years I shared with her did I ever hear her say a nasty word about anyone.

She did the rounds of ever one of her children’s home and cuddled into bed and slept with the youngest child or children. She did snore a bit but she was so snuggly.

Her face was round and soft and her voice was sweet and gentle although she would raise it on occasions if you happened to get naughty.

Her pleasures were her family, her bible, tea, buns, rice pudding and her flowers.

She was particularly gifted with Christmas Cactus, Geramiums and of course her BizzieLizzies. Her little flat was coming down with pots in every corner and at every window. She took such joy in sharing making little slips of her plants to send out like disciples to other homes.

Granny could calm ever storm and hug away every danger. A great lady whose demeanor defied her power and strength!

Blessing # 271 – A gentlewoman

For our upcoming fundraiser my friend Jo had a great idea of making cookie, brownie, pancake and soup mixes and packing them up pretty in glass jars.

She made some prototypes and shared these among some of our volunteers. They were all excellent so we decided to proceed.

Jo got all the recipes together and bought the ingredients and yesterday we got together at her home to make them.

It was just the two of us for a while and then her friend Linda joined us.

Jo is very gentle and calm and her home is so welcoming and cosy. The whole production was like a little therapy session.

Each one had their job to do, we measured and filled the jars and cut and pinked material to top them off.

Within a few hours the labels were on and we all felt a sense of fulfillment and tucked into the lovely lunch Jo made us.

It was one of those experiences that I just know I’ll look back on with joy and for an enduring sense of peace!

Blessing # 270 – Two or Three Togetherness

 

Today is Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent. That means Easter is forty days away so very late this year. Almost as late as it can be!

Seems the weather maker got the message as it feels like mid winter here rather than the start of spring.

Sixty million people are under a winter weather advisory for extreme cold all across the USA. It is -12C (10F) here in Columbus but with the wind chill it is much much much colder!

Dawn was beautiful though. With the snow on the ground the vibrant colors really stand out and Venus is so bright right now the sky is picture perfect.

As I took the bins down to the road a little bird was singing its heart out. Maybe looking for a mate or maybe just giving me the message that days for long walks, barbecues and cold beers are coming soon.

Blessing # 269 – Spring Song

 

 

This morning the First Lady’s solo tour around the country was covered on the news. She is promoting her Be Best campaign that focuses on well being, social media use and opioid abuse among young people.

We saw her meet with children in their classrooms and talk to them in a very gentle and loving way.

She came across so warmly and is so softly spoken. She asked one little girl if she had written the note on her desk. The girl said she had and the First Lady said it was really very beautiful.

For sure that little girl will never forget this moment and how it made her feel.

I can only imagine that these must be  difficult days for this beautiful woman. She must hurt sometimes. Let’s hope that someone is lifting her spirits too.

She may be a very important person but some part of her, just like that little girl, needs to hear a kind word and have a hug!

Blessing # 268 – Encouragement

We are having a fund raiser on Saint Patrick’s Day for Kairos and I have to provide the recipes for the soda bread and apple crumble.

Our volunteers will make these items the day  before the event so on the day itself we can focus on making the stew!

To be sure that the recipe I send out for the soda bread is good I’ve tried it out on the boys.

We usually don’t buy buttermilk so I used yogurt whey instead but put it like this it wasn’t like my Granny made it!

Today I’d planned to get buttermilk and start afresh. The boys are very kind but I’m sure they’re sick of soda. So it was with some joy that I read a mail last night from Pastor Dave asking if anyone would make bread for our TMG tomorrow.

Man the timing couldn’t have been better as I was so glad to have new tasters.

With a spring in my step and hopefully to bring one to the soda too I set off early to get the buttermilk. As with everything in the USA there was a whole cabinet full of different types of buttermilk    Low fat, full fat, goat milk (!), economy, premium the list goes on and on!

All had gums and starches though, I suppose to prevent separation so I wasn’t sure how that would impact performance and so it was that Gourmet was the only option! Why is it that things that have just what they are meant to have in this case buttermilk cost the most! Even the gourmet had a color added. Why oh why is that necessary?

Now to the baking board and all went to plan.

Krishna tastes and proclaims it good and then asks how are we going to serve this tomorrow. We agree with butter and jam would be best and then the man has a brain wave!

Instead of cutting the round into four farls why don’t you cut it into eight then each person can have one. Eureka for the fundraiser this is perfect much less hassle and handling!

He’ll be in my good books for weeks after this and along with his homemade yougurt we know have another item for the B&B menu!

Blessing #267 – Bread of Life!