Score!

 Today we headed off to Donegal town on the bus. We had library books to pick up and I wanted to go to the Animals in Need charity shop. I always like poking around in there and this week they're having a sale-- all denim jeans are €1. Denim is great for various stitching projects so I wanted to pick up a pair or two. Of course the first stop was the bookshelves and I was pretty happy to find a short story anthology, Great Irish Detective Stories and also an old copy of Three Men in a Boat, first published in 1889. I've never seen old Penguin books like this.

After the books, I went over to the sale rack and chose a couple pair of jeans.

I already have some denim in the 'regular' medium shade of blue, so I chose black jeans and the very light blue--almost white ones. I didn't want to go overboard so I stopped there. The pale jeans have holes in them and I have some ideas about how I will use those.

The black jeans have flared legs so a bit more fabric to work with than if they weren't so wide. On my way out the door I looked in the box of free stuff and picked up an oval metal platter that I plan to put plants on. I'm quite pleased with my charity shop score today. I'll have many hours of happy reading and stitching with this lot. It was €3 well spent. 😀

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June Reading: Nonfiction and Upcoming Publications

 After my post yesterday about the fiction and poetry I read last month, I'm finishing up my June reading wrap-up with the nonfiction and soon-to-be-published books I read.

The Making of Home by Judith Flanders (personal copy)

I'd borrowed this book from the library and as soon as I got it home and looked at it, I knew I wanted my own copy. Bill found it at Awesome Books and while he was at it, picked up a couple of other books by this author. Her name seemed familiar and it dawned on me that I might have read one of her later books about the history of alphabetical order which was an extremely enjoyable and fascinating read. I looked it up and yes, that's her. At that point I had even higher hopes for this book and I was not disappointed. It's an excellent book and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute I spent reading it. I was engrossed. Flanders starts by making the distinction between languages that have the same words for house and home and those that have different words. She argues that in the former, much of life occurs in public places while in the latter, it takes place in more private settings. Because of this, ideas of what home is evolved in different ways, which she proceeds to lay out. As she does throughout the book, she provides numerous examples to illustrate her ideas. These examples come from various countries, primarily western European, but also the US. She recognizes that this is a limited area, but to include Asia and other places would make the book impossibly long. Even within this limited geographical area, the differences are interesting, going from when home was pretty much one room to what we see today. Once houses started to have more specialized areas, family life changed as well, of course. She writes about practical things, such as how the process of cooking changed as the configuration of houses changed as well as how attitudes and cultural/societal expectations changed. For example, heating used to be from a kind of fireplace, of course. This was usually in the center of the room and there was a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape. This had implications for how people lived on the ground but also showed the ways in which people used the smoke to preserve meats and to clear thatched roofs of vermin. Eventually, the fireplace was moved to a wall and there was a sort of hood over it. People would sit under this hood to eat and socialize. When the swinging crane to hold the cooking pots was introduced, the cook no longer had to lean into the fire to deal with the food. And because there was usually just one big pot, food was usually boiled or stewed. It wasn't until stoves were invented that people could plan on cooking numerous things at once. Beyond the practicalities, there were also emotional connotations to fireplaces, not to mention image issues. When more efficient stoves became available, many people (depending on class) bought them because they gave out more heat more efficiently. Expert advice manuals chided people who preferred the stoves for abandoning the fireplace because the stove didn't create the same image. Even small changes could lead to culture change, as it did with a switch from twig brooms to corn brooms. When people used brooms made from twigs, there were certain bits that did not get swept up. These bits were not considered dirt and were just left on the floor. But when corn brooms became the norm, that changed. These brooms could sweep up finer particles so what didn't used to be considered dirt now was and it was expected that it would be removed. Reading this I was reminded of things I've read about the impact of electricity in rural Ireland. When people used oil lamps for light, much simply wasn't visible. When electric light was installed, people felt some dismay about the dirt in the corners that became visible. And of course, all these changes in expectations and definitions of cleanliness--the evolution of the definition of dirt--meant more work for women. You can probably tell that I just love this book and I'm so glad to have my own copy.

Here are a few books that will be published soon. I thank NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for digital review copies of these books. Publication dates may vary, depending on location.

On Taste: In Humans and Other Animals

by Davide Risso; Gabriella Morini

Published on August 25, 2026 by Columbia University Press

ISBN: 9780231221290

This fascinating and informative book does exactly what the title says--explores how taste works in humans and other animals. I'll say at the outset that I have no background in biology or other hard sciences, other than a general class or two as an undergraduate. No matter--I found this book to be very accessible. Concepts were explained well without getting deep into the weeds where it would be hard to follow. It's a short book, but ranges widely across different aspects of taste. I was particularly interested in the cultural and linguistic evidence/aspects of taste and the foods humans eat and don't eat. I learned some fascinating things, like the fact that we have taste receptors all over, not just in our mouths, that temperature has an impact on taste, and that some sea mammals and penguins do not taste because they simply swallow their food, for example. Some whales, however, still have active receptors for salty tastes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can definitely recommend it.

Christina Rossetti: Over 100 selected poems

by Christina Rosetti; Pele Cox

to be published on March 16, 2027 by Gemini Books Group

ISBN 9781786752116

This is a lovely collection of some of Christina Rosetti's poems, which includes well-known work like Goblin Market and In the Bleak Midwinter, as well as other poems across a variety of topics. These topics include love (not only romantic love), spirituality, death and the afterlife, , and nature and beauty. Like so many people, my introduction to Rosetti's work was the Christmas carol, In the Bleak Midwinter, which I still love. Later I read Goblin Market in an anthology. I thoroughly enjoyed reading more of her work, all of which was new to me. I will seek out more.

I quite like the way the book is structured. It begins with a picture of Rosetti and a short biographical sketch. Each chapter is based on one of the themes listed above and begins with a short (one page long) explanation of the significance in the topic to Rosetti and her work. Following this, there are poems with one or two in each section accompanied by a short critique of the poem. This is the third book in this series that I've read and I have loved them all. I highly recommend this one if you're at all interested in Rosetti, Victorian literature, or poetry in general.

Gaining Ground

by Joan Barfoot

to be published on August 25, 2026 by Faber and Faber

ISBN 9780571399888

As I was reading this excellent and powerful book, I kept wondering why I'd never read any work by this author before. After reading it, I know I'll be reading more. I loved this book, which opens with a woman who is outside, hard at work and reminding herself that her name is Abra. She is so used to being alone that she's almost forgotten her name, even as she knows who she is. She sees a visitor coming up the lane towards her cabin and is dismayed. She doesn't know who this person is or what she wants, but soon learns that this is her daughter, Katie, now grown, who was 9 years old when her mother left. The interaction is tense, but Abra suggests that Katie book herself into a hotel in the nearby town and visit her from time to time. Katie agrees. These visits and their time together bring up memories for Abra and readers learn about her past life--how she ended up in what other people might see as an enviable life, only to walk away to create a life based on what felt right to her.

There is so much in this book and so much that I could relate to in my own life. I grew up in the kind of world Abra left behind and the author captures the shallowness and game-playing aspect of it so well. Even though Abra and her husband, Stephen, are successfully 'improving' their situation as the years go by, at least by societal standards, Abra feels less and less satisfied with and more and more distant from her own life. She doesn't feel successful at all, even as she rationalizes with herself about what she 'should' feel. She loses herself and feels like she's acting out a life. I've been there myself. It can be bewildering to understand that what people think is a good life is quite the opposite of that on a personal level. Abra doesn't set out a plan to leave her family, the whole thing unfolds quickly and unexpectedly. One day, she just knows where she is supposed to be. But the groundwork had been laid over several years as she came to understand that she was the outlier and she couldn't live her life in the situation she was in. Her husband wasn't going to give up his life and while some version of her could continue to exist in that world, she couldn't build a life there. Throughout the book, readers follow Abra's thought processes, her growing awareness, her epiphanies, and her evolution. I was gripped by this book from the start. I was rooting for Abra and felt some tension about how Katie's arrival would impact her hard won peace. For me, moving away from a situation in which I was acting out a life with my name on it didn't involve leaving my family, but it did involve leaving a world in which I'd invested most of my adult life to that point. It was extremely difficult and it took a long time to get back to myself. Joan Barfoot captures this perfectly. This edition also contains a fascinating afterword by the author in which she writes about the book and about the reactions to the book when it was first published. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

And that wraps up my reading wrap-up for June. I hope you had an excellent reading month then and are having one now. Happy reading!

PS: Jeanie, of The Marmelade Gypsy, commented on yesterday's post that she's not a fan of short stories in general, but enjoys mystery short stories. For Jeanie and anyone else that enjoys mystery short story collections, I wanted to recommend Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women, edited by Sophie Hannah. It's an excellent collection and a great read--perfect for dipping into to read a story here and there as the mood strikes. I highly recommend it--and Jeanie's blog, which also involves books and art as well as beautiful photos and interesting stories.

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June Reading: Fiction and Poetry

 Before I get to the books, for those of you following along with the shower saga, we've hit a snag. When Bill took a shower, the water was very slow to drain and was backing up. He successfully completed the shower and went about his day. The following day, I just washed up at the sink as I had been doing. Good thing because later when I was upstairs and picking up the bath mat, I discovered that it was soaking wet. Then I checked the scatter rug F had left upstairs. It's long so I folded it in half, placed it alongside the shower (on the side, not in front of the door), and put a plant and a box of books on top of it. Sure enough, it was wet. The wet had soaked through two layers of the rug and the box was so wet it was falling apart when lifted. Fortunately the books were fine and I was able to remove them and put the box with the recycling. F contacted plumber who arrived that evening and was puzzled about it all. He added more silicone. He discovered that there was a defective piece at the bottom of the shower door that was creating a gap in the seal. A new piece has been ordered. Not sure what's happening next, but we're steering clear for now. With that update, let's get to a more pleasant subject--books!

With everything that was going on at the beginning of the month, I was craving my favorite classic mysteries. I have many on my e-reader and it can be hard to choose sometimes, but I went with Miss Silver. When I was done with that book, I went on to the next in the series. These were the perfect reads for the moment.

The Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth (e-book, personal copy)

The patriarch of the Paradine family wants everyone to be at dinner one night. This includes the family members that live in the house--his sister and her adopted daughter, his sons and daughetr, as well as his employee. He also expects some extended family members who live nearby to be there. He sends an urgent message to a colleague telling him to show up as soon as possible. He too stays for dinner, where there is an announcement accusing one of the family of committing a crime. He informs everyone that he will be in his study if the person wants to come and confess. Everyone there knows his routine and all are well aware that at midnight he steps out onto the verandah, where there's a steep drop, for a breath of fresh air before bed. He never gets to bed on this night because he is found dead at the bottom of the drop. Was it an accident or did someone push him? As is usual, someone knows someone who was helped by Miss Silver and suggests that she be called in to investigate. She agrees to take the case and things go on from there. I enjoy these books. I like Miss Silver and her no-nonsense ways. 

The Key by Patricia Wentworth (e-book, personal copy)

World War II was a part of the background to the previous book and it plays a slightly more prominent role here in that the victim is a scientist, Michael Harsch, who escaped the Nazis and landed in England. His wife and daughter did not escape and did not survive, so he feels he is on a mission with regard to his scientific research into an element that he thinks can be used to make powerful weapons. He is driven because he wants revenge. His experiments are successful and he calls his contact in the British government to tell him so. They make plans to meet the following day and Dr Harsch goes to the church to play the organ, which he often does to unwind. He never leaves the church and is found slumped at the organ with a gun on the floor at his side. It looks like suicide. Someone thinks of Miss Silver and she agrees to investigate. 

Sometimes when I stitch I like to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. As I was scrolling through the 'new to library' section of the BorrowBox site, I came across the first two books in a cozy mystery series that I'd never heard of. Both were available so I decided to give them a try. Both are set in Australia and the narrator is Australian, which was interesting in terms of hearing slang and turns of phrase that were new to me. After I listened to these two I looked up more about the series and discovered that there are several more books. The author is using the alphabet to come up with her titles and I think I saw book titles through F. If I saw more of these books in a charity shop or on BorrowBox, I'd probably pick them up/borrow them, but I don't think I'll be actively seeking them out. They were good listens and I certainly enjoyed them enough to keep listening, though.

Arson at the Art Gallery by Catherine Lee (BorrowBox e-audiobook)

Addison is about to become an empty-nester as her daughter, Olivia, prepares to go away to university. Her son is already on his own. Her husband has been dead for a couple of years. She feels it's a good time for a change so on a whim, while at Getaway Bay, a place she has fond memories of from childhood, she buys a beach house, thinking she might convert it into a bed and breakfast. Her cousin, who is an artist and gallery owner, lives in Getaway Bay too. Addison's uncle (the cousin's father) is suffering from dementia and is in a care home. It's thought that he doesn't have much time left, so Addison's other cousin arrives and stays at the art gallery. Addison and her cousin are out one night when they learn that the gallery has burned down and the other cousin didn't make it out. Addison, having been married to a police detective in Sydney, starts looking into things herself, with the help of some new friends, her daughter, and her cousin--and the local police detective who is also a transplant from Sydney and knew Addison's late husband. There's an interesting mix of quirky characters and the expected village vibe. It was an enjoyable book to listen to and I liked it enough to go on to the next one.

The Body at the Beach House by Catherine Lee (BorrowBox audiobook)

In this one, work is ongoing at Addison's beach house but things are far enough along that people can stay there. When everyone gathers for the usual Friday night drinks on the patio, one person is missing. When people go to find him, they find the door locked from the inside so they break it down and discover him hanging from the wardrobe door. It certainly looks like suicide, but that theory is disproved pretty quickly. Who would want him dead and why? Once again Addison and the gang are on the case.

One evening I was sitting here knitting when I got a message from a friend. He was out walking the dog near the wee free library up the hill and took photos of what was in there. I spotted the following book, which I'd never read. I did listen to a dramatization on BBC Radio 4 years ago, but I thought I'd like to read the book. He brought it back for me and I picked it up right away. When we were in the process of moving and I went to drop off stuff at a charity shop, I stopped to look at the books they had there and came away with 4, one of which was a different novel by the same author. I have yet to read that one. Maybe soon, since both of these are books I don't plan to keep and will deposit into the wee free library at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (personal copy)

This book has been around for a couple of decades. It's narrated by Kathy, who was a student at Hailsham which at first seems like a regular boarding school. However, it quickly becomes clear that there's something special about Hailsham and something that sets the students apart. Unease starts to grow as it becomes more evident that what sets the students and Hailsham apart is something quite sinister. In case someone hasn't read the book, I won't say more than that about the plot itself. In the book, Kathy is looking back at her life and her relationships with her closest friends and others. It's a good book with heartwarming moments mixed in with the sinister undertones, anger at what is occurring, and deep sadness as we follow these children through their adolescence and young adulthood.

Murder Takes a Holiday by various authors (BorrowBox e-book)

Always with the classic mysteries 😁 I do love them. This book combines that love with another of my literary loves, short story collections. This is a fun collection of classic crime stories. The editor, Cecily Gaylord, has also put together several Christmas classic crime collections and another summer-themed one which is ready for me to read as I type. This collection is exactly what the title suggests--mysteries that involve being on holiday in some way. I admit that nothing much beats a Christmas classic crime story collection for me, but this comes very, very close. It's a fun read.

I read a few poetry collections last month. One will be in tomorrow's post which will include soon-to-be-published books. One was a collection that I'd started a while back and read a little at a time, finishing in June.

The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem: From Baudelaire to Anne Carson by various poets (personal copy)

I love short story collections. I love the work of Lydia Davis, who sometimes writes short stories that are just a line or two. These stories have a poetic quality to them and through them I became interested in finding out more about prose poetry. This is an excellent collection with a very informative introduction. It's a book I will dip into again and again, with poems ranging across time and geography. The line between prose poetry and short stories is impossible to pin down, so if you're a fan of poetry, short prose, short stories, this is a great collection to have.

The Tree is Missing by Sharon Kuta Kelly (BorrowBox e-book)

I found this on the BorrowBox website and checked it out. It contains powerful poems about borders, crossing them, what they mean, and how they impact her and her sense of identity. Other themes include history, political and personal turmoil, and more. This is an excellent collection. 

This is long enough, so I'll be back tomorrow with some nonfiction and soon-to-be-published books. Happy reading!

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Here's a Visual

 A couple of people mentioned that they'd like to see photos to visualize the shower setup, so here they come. Just for background--this is a 150-year-old building of terraced cottages. There was no indoor plumbing when it was built and each cottage had this installed in whatever way suited the owner at the time. A couple of them had small bathrooms put in, which took away space from an already small bedroom. In this cottage, the different elements you'd normally find in a bathroom are sort of scattered around. So the shower is in one of the bedrooms.

This first one is of the room from the doorway. Note that the window is a reflection and isn't next to the shower as it appears to be in the photo.

I'm still in the process of putting things away in this room. While we were waiting for the shower to be installed, everything was piled onto the bed to be out of the way and the shower parts were in big boxes leaning against the bed.

In the photo above, you can see the pipe sticking up from the floor. This is what that looks like at floor level between the front wall of the room and the side of the shower.

These all have something to do with the antique cast iron tub that used to be in that spot. When the plumber comes to put on the stabilizing bracket (assuming that happens), he says he will remove the pipes as well. You can see why the shower couldn't go in the corner.

This is what's on the wall above these pipes--the electric shower control box. The water flows through this and is heated on the way through.

The top dial adjusts the water pressure, the bottom one is for the temperature, and the power button is above the dials. That's how we turn on the shower. There are no taps. This is a pretty standard sort of shower here and the kind we've had in almost all the places we've lived since we've been in Ireland. There's a switch to turn on the power to the box across the room by the bedroom door. That gets turned on and off for each shower.

You can see the silver hose coming out of the bottom of the box above. This is connected to the showerhead, which you can see a bit of in the photo below. Again, the window is just a reflection.

As you can see, the pipe holding the showerhead comes over the side of the shower. The shower itself was installed to be used with the tub I mentioned earlier. That tub was on feet and raised off the floor so the showerhead had to be higher, which works out well for this setup. 

So you can see that to turn the water on and off, we have to be outside the shower. This is fine. I'm used to those showerheads that you can take off and hold in your hand, so I used to get in, take it down, point it away from myself, and then turn on the water, waiting for it to warm up before turning it on myself. I also used to turn the dial so that I had a concentrated flow of water with a bit more pressure. That's not happening here. And that's fine. These are such minor quirks and I'm sure I will quickly get used to things, being very careful all the while 😊

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Not So Fast

 As I said in my last post, PVC Guy showed up on Saturday and did what he was hired to do. Plumber guy showed up with him and then disappeared. On Monday, F asked him if he planned to show up that night. He said he would and he did. He changed the kitchen taps, reinstalled the macerating toilet and tested the shower. However, we're still not quite done. The shower is usable, but needs some stabilizing. Since there's only one 90 degree corner in that room and one wall of that has various things on and in front of it, the shower couldn't go in a corner. It has been installed with a bit of space between that wall and the side of the shower. One of the things on the wall is the shower controls themselves. This makes sense, since the shower used to be over an antique cast iron tub, so controls for the electric shower had to be on the wall. What it means now is that we can't access these controls from inside the shower, so have to turn it on and test the temperature before we get in. And of course, we have to get out before we can turn it off. This is all manageable. The issue we still have though is that the sides of the shower are a bit wobbly if any pressure is applied. Plumber Guy says he will create a bracket that he can put on to stabilize the structure. The shower is a decent sized square with two glass sides and a glass door in between. The back is the PVC covered wall. So I'm not sure what he has in mind, but the goal is to keep the sides stable. In any case, who knows when this will actually occur. In the meantime, it can be used and I was planning to try it out last night rather than yesterday morning. Because I knew it was going to be sunny and warm and we were going out, I also knew I'd be too hot and feeling grubby afterwards. I figured a nice shower at the end of the day would be quite refreshing, so in the morning, I did my usual washing up routine at the kitchen sink. The day progressed. I was just about to go upstairs and take that shower when the power went off. No power, no electric shower. After about an hour, the power was back before going out again 15 minutes later. So no shower last night. Today was the day though. I got up and I had a shower. I was very careful to not touch the sides at all. I moved slowly. It was nice. Today I go up and do a bit of clean-up, since Plumber Guy did not bother to clean up after himself like PVC Guy did. Then I can start putting stuff away in that room. We've done almost nothing upstairs because of this plumbing work waiting to be done. Now that it's finished, we can proceed. It's a cool, grey day with some heavy rain expected in a while, so it's a perfect day to do that kind of thing. But right now it's time for another cup of coffee. 

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Yeah, I Will--Unless I Won't

 Plumber Guy, who apparently finds basic communication problematic, appeared on Friday evening. He seemed like he was in a rush, but he did construct the shower--tray in, drain hooked up (I think), two sides, and the door are all up. This took a couple of hours and when F came to see how things were progressing, he said he had to take his son to a disco and son would soon be calling him. He said he'd be back Saturday afternoon to re-install the macerating toilet upstairs and replace the kitchen taps. He also told F that he'd call PVC guy to see when he could come. Although F didn't share this information with him, she'd followed a lead and found someone else who would probably do the PVC if this guy was as unreliable as Plumber Guy. However, late Saturday morning, both Plumber Guy and PVC Guy appeared. They went upstairs. They came downstairs. PVC Guy told me he had to go get some stuff and would be back in half an hour. Plumber Guy stood there saying nothing.  The two guys stood outside having a chat for a fair bit of time before they both left. I foolishly thought that Plumber Guy would come back and do the other jobs he has to do while PVC Guy did the PVC wall covering in the shower. LOL.  PVC Guy did come back in less than half an hour. He got to work. It took him three hours, but he completed the job--and he cleaned up after himself, too. He wanted me to look at it, so I did. We had a brief chat about silage and grass quality (he's a farmer and as he repeated a few times, jack of all trades, master of none). He left to do another job. So that's done. It'll take a couple of days for the silicone to dry, he said, but his part of the project is complete.

And what about Plumber Guy, you may be thinking to yourself--or perhaps you're not, because of course, when he left with PVC Guy earlier in the day, that was the last we saw of him. So in spite of telling F he would do the other jobs for her Saturday afternoon, they remain undone. What else needs to be done in the shower? We don't know (and neither did PVC Guy). When will he return to do these things? We don't know (and neither did PVC Guy). Will he ever return to do anything? We don't know. Will he communicate with F to tell her more things that may or may not be true? Time will tell. So we sit here not knowing if he will just pop up out of the blue or if we'll never see him again. However, progress has been made and since the PVC was the big issue preventing other plumbers from taking the job, it might be easier to get someone else to finish it if necessary now that that's no longer an issue. 

At this point, I'm curious about why he took the job in the first place, since it seems like he's trying to avoid doing it. But I hope the kid had a good time at the disco.

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A Chilly Blast from the Past

 It's been warm here. We haven't had the extreme heat that other parts of Europe have been experiencing, but it's been warm enough that we've been under a yellow warning for high heat for most of this week. The warning expires tomorrow morning. Yesterday was the hottest day at around 30C (about 86F). This is very hot for here. As someone who doesn't care for temperatures beyond the mid-teens, this was unpleasant, but not horrible. I've experienced hotter days. I've also had much cooler days and yesterday, Bill sent me a photo reminding me of one of them.

It was about -42C (-45F) on this day in downtown Fairbanks at the start of the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race. As you can see, I had my coffee. 😃 I was quite warm and toasty in the parka my Inupiaq friend had made for me. This photo landed in my inbox at the perfect time-- it was oppressively humid and very stuffy as a thunderstorm was about to roll in. It lasted for about half an hour. We could have more storms today, but it's not supposed to be as hot and although it's a bit humid, it's fairly pleasant, with a slight breeze, plenty of cloud cover, and the birds singing away outside. Ah, we've just heard a rumble of thunder.  If you're sweltering in a heatwave, I hope the snowy scene and the thought of -42/-45 cools you off just a little bit. I hope it cools down soon and that you have ways to make your home environment less uncomfortable. 

In shower news (or perhaps non-news), no progress has occurred. Plumber Guy hasn't shown up all week, and there was no communication from him until yesterday when he said he'll be here tonight. We'll see. No idea what's going on with PVC guy. F continues to search for someone who will actually show up and do the job. It's rather ridiculous. 

Whatever the weather is like in your part of the world, have a wonderful weekend!

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We Don't Have Showers, But We Do Have Flowers

 Well, in what is a surprise to no one, Plumber Guy decided not to appear here yesterday and opted not to tell anyone that he wasn't coming. Will he ever reappear? Who knows. Will PVC Guy decide to show up and do that part of the job on any random day in future? Only time will tell. From what I've observed and the things people tell me, this isn't really unusual. People either say they'll do a job on a certain day and don't or they just don't bother communicating. This isn't a situation that I can really do anything about--I'm not the one having the work done. And I know that F is also feeling like things are out of her control, although she does try to think of ways to solve the problem and act on those ideas. She's been dealing with this for 6 weeks or more at this point and she was told at the start that the work would be done by the last weekend of May. I know that she is doing everything she can and she is extremely frustrated and stressed about it. 

We were outside this afternoon having a chat and she showed me where there are some pots and soil that I can use to plant a few veggies. I planted chard seeds the other day and they've sprouted. I'm pleased that I found the seeds because I have never seen chard in a grocery store here, except baby chard as part of a bagged salad mix. I have some cress, mizuna, and parsley seeds that I want to plant and I hope to get to a garden centre soon to pick up a few more seed packets for other greens and also radishes. Things like tomatoes don't do well here unless they're grown in a polytunnel or greenhouse. We're thinking about that for next year. I've got a couple different kinds of mint growing, which makes a lovely infusion to have either hot or cold. There is plenty of lemon balm and rosemary outside so I've been cutting some of that to use. I like each one--mint, lemon balm, rosemary--individually, but they're especially good in combination. I particularly like mint/lemon and rosemary/lemon. 

And the flowers! F is a keen, creative, knowledgeable, and highly skilled flower gardener (and retired florist) so there are flowers everywhere. Today after our chat, in which I asked her about a certain flowering plant, she whipped up this arrangement for me, which is quite lovely. 

It has my beloved hydrangeas, as you can see. I'm told I will love the little purple flowers that will open on the grey-green stems. The poppies started to bloom late last week. 

The other day she gave me a rosebud which has since opened.

And of course the fuchsias are blooming.

Some flowers have already come and gone and still more are yet to come. I'm looking forward to seeing what blooms through the summer and into the autumn.

So no showers for us humans right now, but after a record-breaking day of hot weather tomorrow (so they tell us), it looks like there will be showers for the flowers in the following days. Maybe I'll just join them outside and bring a washcloth. 😉

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A Tiny Step Forward

 The shower saga continues. The plumber did show up last night more than an hour after he said he'd be here. He did some stuff--sawing a hole in the floor and attaching a part of the drain pipe to the shower tray, which is still upstairs on its side because that's where things ended about an hour after he arrived. He was supposed to be back here tonight. It's about 7:30 and there's no sign of him.  PVC Guy didn't accompany Plumber Guy because PVC Guy is a farmer who was taking advantage of hot sunny weather to do the silage. Perhaps Saturday, he said. The forecast for Saturday is rain so we live in hope. We thought that the PVC wall covering would go up first and then the shower would be done, but now we're told that the shower will go in first. At this point either way feels a bit like wishful thinking. There is a comedic element to this entire situation. Anyway, perhaps he'll show up tonight and perhaps he won't. At this point, nothing about this situation will surprise me. Oh, I guess that's not really true. If suddenly both Plumber Guy and PVC Guy showed up and got the job done, that would be a surprise! 

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Sad Sock Situation

 A while back, a friend gave me 2 skeins of sock yarn. One was to make a pair of socks for myself--I ended up making two pair from that skein, one knitted and one crocheted with the help of some scraps for contrasting toes and heels. Bill said he didn't really need socks at that time, since he had a dozen or more pairs already, all of which I'd made. Of course, I didn't need any socks either, but I do love making them, so I won't run out any time soon--or so I hope. Sadly, Bill unexpectedly ended up in a situation where he now needs socks as soon as possible. My needles are full.

heel is turned and gusset stitches picked up

The variegated yarn in the photo is one of the skeins our friend gave me. When Bill said he didn't need socks, I ended up starting a pair of fingerless gloves for him using that yarn. I was almost done with the second one when we moved, so I put the project in a little pouch that I kept with me and it didn't get packed. But when Bill went to pack the socks in the drawer where he kept them, he discovered that critters had been quite enjoying the dark, damp wooden drawer and the delightfully delicious wool socks that lived in there. They had munched holes in some socks. Others weren't damaged, but who knows if there were tiny critters or future critters just waiting for their turn. I considered trying to treat whatever socks remained but I decided that the risk to all the other wool things was too great. The damage did appear to be limited to that drawer, which was in a room about as far away from all my yarn and the wool garments that I have as they could be in that cottage. Even Bill's hat collection didn't seem to be affected. I told Bill we'd better throw all the socks away. He said, 'All that work you did!' 'I can make more,' I replied. I didn't want to scoop up all those socks and discard them, but it was the safest thing to do.

Then there was the issue of actually making more socks. Having used some of the sock yarn for the fingerless gloves, I knew I wouldn't have enough for an entire pair of socks, given the yardage in the skein. I had some bits of yarn that I could use for the cuffs, which don't require the nylon content that sock yarn contains for longer wear, but that was buried somewhere under the bed. I finished the gloves and pondered. One day, I was fiddling with the edge of a sheet that was hanging down off the bed when my hand brushed a plastic bag. I pulled the bag out from under the bed and it was exactly the bag I wanted! It contained the royal blue superwash wool fingering weight yarn I was looking for, so I cast on that very day. Yesterday I sent Bill a link to the page with the sock yarn I usually buy from a yarn shop in Dublin. It's not something I can get around here or in charity shops, so I buy from there. It's Zig Zag sock yarn, it's great yardage, and it wears quite well. I told him that I can get three pairs of socks from two skeins, so he just ordered two of the same colorway. They should arrive on Monday. 

The socks will keep me in yarn projects, which is good, since I have no idea when I'll be pulling my stuff out from under the bed. Last evening, I got a forwarded message from F. It was from the plumber who was supposed to come and install our shower today. Yes, that's 'who was supposed to...' He said he wouldn't be here today but would come on Monday after his day job and would arrive around 5. Bill and I will believe this when we see him and not before, of course. This is the second time he hasn't shown up when he said he would. As far as I know, the regular plumber, who won't install the shower here because it involves PVC, is still coming to fix the shower at our friend's house. If he is successful, we'll take showers there until this other guy and his PVC man sidekick actually shows up. The way things are going, we might be showering at our friend's house forever. In the meantime, I'll be over here knitting socks. Don't know what I'd do without my yarn! 

Plumbing update: The plumber did show up to our friend's house. The part was the wrong one, so no shower there, either. Perhaps next week.

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Hurry Up and Wait!

 Here we are, zooming towards the solstice. I love it when we're on the other side of that and heading back towards longer nights and the end of summer. Plenty of yuck to go, but at least over the hump. This could also prove to be a big weekend in another way--it's possible that we'll get a shower! Happy days!

When we moved in here, we knew the shower was not yet installed and we knew that our friend was stressed about this. She worked hard to try to find someone to do the job, but she tried in vain. To give you a short bit of the context here, we live in a 150-year-old building of terraced cottages. Of course, when the building was constructed, indoor plumbing wasn't a thing so there was none. Later, when it became available, each cottage, though identical in layout, was different in how the plumbing was added. These are small cottages so space is limited. We used to live a couple cottages down and in that one, a separate bathroom was added. It was small, but even so it cut into the back bedroom. It had a sink and a tiny shower and then a small space over the stairs for the toilet. In this cottage, there is no bathroom containing all three. Rather, they're scattered around. Decades ago, when our friend (I'll call her F), bought this cottage, she had an antique cast iron tub that she refurbished and had installed in the front bedroom, which is over the kitchen, so handy for the plumbing, I guess. There would have been no other place to put it. But there was already a shower in the small space above the stairs, which in this cottage was off the back bedroom. A few years ago, F decided to have a toilet installed in that little space so there would be one upstairs as well as downstairs. She had an electric shower fitted above the cast iron tub. When she asked us if we'd consider living here and we said yes, she decided that a walk-in shower would be better than getting in and out of the old tub, so she had the tub removed and got a shower. Before she ordered the shower, she talked to plumbers. The usual plumber wouldn't install a shower because the first step will be to install a PVC covering for the walls in the corner where the shower will go and he doesn't do PVC. This is apparently a common thing. In general, it's difficult to get tradespeople to do jobs or even call back, but she kept trying and was eager to have this all done before we moved in. She found a local plumber who came to look at the situation, told her what to buy, and said he'd be back with a guy who does PVC the last weekend in May. The shower components arrived, but the plumber did not. She tried to contact him several times and finally met with success, whereupon he told her that he was going away on holiday for a week. She told him that people were moving in and asked if he could come when he returned. He said he would. We knew all this when we got here and the plan was to shower in a different friend's house (the same house we stayed in when caring for Finn). A few days after we moved in, having washed my hair in the kitchen sink and taking sponge baths for a few days, we went over to take a shower. You know how, when you first turn on the water, it runs cold for a short time? Well, I was at that stage, holding the shower head in my hand so it was pointed away from me, and waiting for the water to get hot. It was just getting warm when the water pressure dropped quite a lot. So I skipped the hair wash, since I was not confident that I could rinse the shampoo out, and did a quick wash of everything else. So that shower now needs attention. The replacement part is there, but the plumber who is supposed to come fix that has not arrived either. As a result, we continue to use the kitchen sink as our bathing spot. F continues to be stressed about this and I've told her not to worry. We know that she tried her best to get this sorted before we arrived and that there was nothing else she could do. We lived without running water for a couple of years. Hot water comes right out of the tap here--we don't have to haul it ourselves or heat it up on the stove to wash. It will be nice to have a shower, but it's not anything to be stressed over.

So all that is to say that with the shower and a couple other plumbing jobs that need to be done here, we haven't yet been able to get everything put away. Since the shower will be going into one of the bedrooms, I can't put stuff away in there. And the macerating toilet that is off the back bedroom needs to be reinstalled so we're not doing anything in that room yet. When my friend M and I brought the first load of stuff here, there was other work still going on so we had to have everything out of the way of that. It was mostly books and some yarn, which all went under the bed. We have yet to remove all that because we can't put in anywhere until the plumbing work is done. I did get the downstairs sorted the first few days we were here--kitchen first--so that's all done and we're comfortable and just waiting for the plumbers to come. Both have said that they're coming tomorrow (Saturday) so we'll see if that happens. We're all keeping our fingers crossed!

UPDATE: I have just gotten a forwarded message from F, in which the plumber informs her that he will not be coming tomorrow, but will come after he's done with his day job on Monday evening. We'll believe it when we see it and not before, of course. Looking on the bright side, this does mean that I won't have to get up at ridiculous o'clock tomorrow morning.

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The Real May Reading Post

 Clearly, I am very tired and feeling the seasonal ick because I started my May reading post, saved it as a draft, scheduling it to post later so I could add to what was there. Somehow it posted anyway with just the one book on it so I'm sure I did something wrong. I've deleted that post and am now writing the real May reading list. 

It was a very Trollope heavy month and I did finish the Palliser series, which has now been donated in its entirety to a charity shop.

The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

From the title, you'd expect this to be a book about politics, but parliamentary politics are a relatively small part of the story. However unofficial politics play a pretty big role. In this book, Plantagenet Palliser, now Duke of Omnium, formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been named Prime Minister in a coalition government. This provides the backdrop for the political maneuverings of his wife, the former Lady Glencora, now Duchess of Omnium. Much of this reminded me of my own corporate suburban childhood--the parties and the 'proper' behavior and all that. The other major storyline in the book is the growing awareness of Emily Wharton, who is young, compliant in some ways and stubborn in others, and who learns pretty quickly that she made a foolish choice in marriage. One thing I found interesting in this book was the way in which Trollope explores the ways in which the society of the time limited women's personhood and how women pushed back against this. Lady Glencora and Emily Wharton both acknowledge that husbands and fathers control women's activities, both legally and through societal norms, but while both are pretty submissive to these rules, both also find ways to push back. Emily tends to be more willing to go along until she's pushed too far and she has a lot of trouble fitting her moral sense into societal expectations because of it. Lady Glencora tends to just do what she wants in manipulative ways until she pushes others too far. Both strategies have their strengths and weaknesses. I quite liked this book and felt it was one of the best of the series.

The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

This is the final book in the series and perhaps I was suffering from a bit of Palliser fatigue, having read 4 of the books in about 6 weeks, but I didn't like this one as much as I like The Prime Minister. It was fine. I didn't dislike it, but there were some general similarities between one of the storylines in this book and Emily's story in The Prime Minister. When this book opens, Lady Glencora has recently died, leaving the Duke to deal with his young adult children. He is ill equipped to do this, particularly when the heir and the only daughter fall in love with people he considers unsuitable. Of the middle child, we see little. He does provide some tension, but is not a main player in the story. The book is pretty much about how these relationships unfold, how they illustrate the changes in society, and how the Duke has to learn to lighten up a bit, adapt to change, and be less uptight. 

The Fixed Period by Anthony Trollope (my e-book)

I was watching a booktube video and the woman mentioned Trollope's satirical dystopian novel. Well, I had no idea Trollope wrote such a thing, but knew at once that I wanted to read it so I grabbed a copy online and stuck it on my e-reader. It's a strange little book about the president of Britainulla, a country which has gained independence from Britain. The story takes place primarily in the late 1970s and involves a crisis. Decades ago, when they were forming their constitution, the people in the government of Britainulla agreed to set a fixed period for people's lives. When they were 67, they'd be brought to a facility in which their every need and wish would be provided. When they turn 68, they'd be euthanized and cremated. No one thought much about it in the intervening years, but now the president's oldest friend and the oldest person on the island is about to turn 67 and he is having second thoughts about this. The population takes sides and there is tension, even within the president's family. A big cricket match plays a role in how things conclude. It's an interesting book with some humor and some weirdness. The bit about bringing someone to the facility reminded me a in a general way of the Book The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. The section with the cricket match seemed too long and detailed--I know nothing about cricket so that was all meaningless to me. Still, it was an interesting read. I'm always interested in these old books that are set in the future, because I'm fascinated by what they thought life would be like.

Stay Alive: Berlin 1939-1945 by Ian Buruma (borrowed from the library)

This is a relevant, powerful, and important book about what life was like for people of all persuasions in Berlin between 1939 and 1945. My father, born in 1938, happened to be one of those people and his experience, although almost never talked about with me, obviously shaped his life and to some extent my own. The author's father was a young man then and was a conscripted laborer from the Netherlands for part of that time. Buruma does a fine job of illustrating what the city was like for all kinds of people during this time. It's not a happy book and there is much people will find familiar from today, but it's worth a read. One thing I was particularly pleased to read was Buruma's reminder that the US was an inspiration for the Nazis--the genocidal formation of the country and the segregation laws were what Hitler built on. I think that bears repeating, because only when history is confronted and dealt with, whether on a personal or a societal level, can real healing and progress be made.

On Blackwater Pond by Mary Oliver (BorrowBox audiobook)

This is Mary Oliver reading 40 of her poems. It's an excellent listen. I do enjoy listening to poets read their work because the pauses and intonations are as they intended. Highly recommend.

An Arrow in Flight by Mary Lavin (borrowed from the library)

This book is a new collection of Mary Lavin's short stories. I love short stories and have been wanting to read more by Lavin. I'd only read one or two of her stories in anthologies so I was thrilled to see this at the library. The stories are set mostly in rural Ireland and are centered on the lives of women. I'll be reading more of her work.

Dream Latitudes by Alia Kobuszko (BorrowBox e-book)

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to make of this book, so I'll just put the description from BorrowBox here:

I am drawing a map of distances.

The swimmer. The sleeper. The dreamer.

Another afternoon traipsing the incomprehensible

corridors of the brain. Nothing uttered.

Alia Kobuszko's poetry is as immediate as it is mysterious. She is unafraid of detonating form or trusting a quiet phrase, and saturates these poems with surreal and sensuous aspects. In this enchanting and piercing debut, strange horses gallop - embodying metamorphic freedom and power. The speaker becomes the rider, the horse itself and even the field, enacting how the poet inhabits and unanchors their subject so that 'girl and horse / stand still- / field runs through them.'

The Hog's Back Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts (personal copy)

This is a British Library Crime Classics republication that I found in a charity shop. I brought it because it was a BLCC, even though I wasn't sure I'd like it. I'd started this author's first mystery novel, which didn't involve his series detective, Inspector French, and found it to be a slog, so I didn't finish it. It was on audio and perhaps I'd like it better in print. I may go back to read it at some point. I enjoyed this one. It's the 10th Inspector French novel, but I had no problem reading it as a standalone. In this novel, three women who were friends at school gather at the home of one of them. It soon becomes apparent that the marriage isn't a happy one and there are things that make the other women uncomfortable. Then the husband disappears in mysterious circumstances. There's no body and no indication that he was elsewhere. The local police are baffled and call in French. He starts digging but before he can solve the case, one of the houseguests goes missing and things get more complex. I'll probably read more in this series.

The Feast by Margaret Kennedy (my e-book)

I read about this book in a book blog, I think and knew I wanted to read it so I went clicking around and found an e-book. And what a great book it is! As I've said several times already in this post, this is an author I will definitely read more of. As this book opens, readers learn at once that a cliff has fallen into the sea, taking a hotel and its inhabitants with it, leaving no survivors. The story then turns to the week before the collapse and shows what happened leading up to the event. Who was in the hotel at the time and who wasn't? The ending mostly ties this up, but I did feel it was a little abrupt and there was one person that was left unknown. I went back and read the prologue after I finished the book and I think it's still an open question about the one person, given the last scene in which he was present. 

The people in the hotel are all from different backgrounds and have different temperaments. Many do not get along with others in their family and those outside it. Class and status resentments are at play. Emotional abuse within families is evident. Religious tensions exist. I loved this book and I can't wait to read more of Kennedy's work.

I read one book that will be published soon. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

The Clew Bay Detectives by Pam Lecky

to be published on June 16, 2026 by Storm Publishing

ISBN 9781837005079

This book opens with a man, lying in a ruin on a small island in Clew Bay, off the coast of County Mayo, Ireland, aware that his death is imminent, and reflecting on his life. The action then moves to the Westport area, where readers meet master gardener and landscape designer Ali Brennan. Ali is new to the area, having moved there from Dublin after leaving a long-term relationship. She and her brother had been wanting to expand their business and this seemed like the perfect time and place. Ali's cousin, Jacinta Burke, owner of Burke's Hotel, has a holiday let that needs some refurbishment so Ali moves in there, paying a reduced rent in exchange for some work on the cottage. Ali's nephew, Gavan, soon arrives. He's at a bit of a loose end since he dropped out of Trinity College. He's there to get some part time work and to room with Ali. Little do they know they'll soon be working together as amateur detectives. As Ali tries to get the word out about her business and find her way in rural Ireland, she meets locals, learns about feuds and small town rivalries, and unwittingly becomes involved in an international crime investigation. Then she's asked by his widow to find out what happened to the guy on the island. She reluctantly agrees and she and Gavan find themselves investigating what law enforcement thinks is a case of natural death. Are they right or is something more sinister going on? There are other aspects to the intertwined stories, but I won't say anything more here because I don't want to give anything away.

When I saw that this book is set on the Wild Atlantic Way, I knew I wanted to read it. I've lived on the Wild Atlantic Way for several years, albeit further north. I haven't spent much time in the area where this book is set, although a town I lived in when I first got to Ireland is mentioned a couple of times in passing. The author's note stated that there will be at least two more books in the series and it'd be fun for me if one was set up here in Donegal, but it seems like the areas she's most familiar with are further south. No matter. I will look for the next books and happily read them. I enjoyed this one a lot. I think the author captured the setting beautifully--the landscape, the interpersonal relations in the rural area, the feuds, and the friendliness and willingness to help a newcomer all rang quite true to me. The plot was very well crafted and the story unfolded at just the right pace--as Ali and Gavan learned more about what was going on at the dead man's home, readers began to understand why it could be that someone wanted him dead, while at the same time, the possibility of a natural death was kept open. The mystery at the heart of the book was well done and pretty unique. The ending was satisfying with loose ends in the various plotlines tied up well, but with one ongoing. All in all, I'd say that this is an excellent cozy mystery--one that I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. I'm thrilled that this will be a series and I look forward to reading the next one.

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Almost!

 It's been a busy week. I was hoping that we'd be able to fit everything in my friend's car for one last run. Well, everything except the few things we'd need here for our last days in this cottage--sheets, a few bits of clothing, and that kind of thing. My thinking was that if we could get stuff there we could take the last bits on the bus after meeting with the guy who manages this place. LOL I underestimated a bit in terms of the amount of stuff we had left to take. We got the stuff in the car, but that left no room for our plants. We're very lucky that my friend M is enjoying these jaunts to Killybegs and is quite happy to keep going back. She has offered to take us with the plants on the day we leave here so that's the plan. We are grateful.

Bill and I spent a very long day Tuesday getting things organized for Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday morning, M came, we loaded up the car, went to drop everything off, had a visit with my friends, and played with Finn. We then went to have a quick late lunch and headed home. When going through one of the towns on the way there, M saw something in a charity shop window that she was interested in. We stopped on the way back so she could get it. Then we stopped at a grocery store and I picked up something for supper and breakfast the following day. I didn't get home until after 6. It was a hot (for here) and sunny day. We were all wilting. Even Finn didn't care for it. He loves to walk with the wind in his face, blowing his ears back. Wednesday was not his (or my) kind of day.

Thursday was another long day. It was my last time attending the knitting and crochet group at the library. I will miss it. I said goodbye to the librarian on duty--and apologized because we stayed about 10 minutes past the time when she would have closed for lunch. With her two colleagues out on holiday and sick leave, she's run off her feet and would have really, really wanted her downtime. She was very gracious about it though, telling me that she could make allowances on my last day. I said goodbye to the woman who asked me to teach at the art gallery and thanked her. She gave me a hug. I felt a little sad. Then it was back home to load up the car again, this time with bags and boxes for donation to a charity shop, some things for the recycling center, and a bunch of houseplants that we weren't taking with us. There used to be a covered platform at the recycling center where people could leave things that were still usable and I was planning to put them there. But that was gone and when I asked the guy about leaving the plants, he shook his head and explained that they couldn't take them because they'd just get drowned in the rain and they'd have to throw them away. Most of the plants were small--we'd grown them from bits that came off the larger plants--but one was a large jade plant that someone gave us 10 years ago when we were moving into a new place. It was much smaller when we got it but it just kept growing. We've started so many jade plants from that one so we still have some decent sized jades to bring, but we really would have no place to put that one and we figured someone else might enjoy it. But I couldn't leave it there so the next stop was a charity shop. We'd stopped at one on the way into town. The sign indicated that it should have been open, but it wasn't. We stopped to check the one on Main St and it was open. I went in to see if they'd take donations--mostly books and houseplants but a few odds and ends as well. M had seen a few books and other things she could use so she took those, but there was still plenty left. The women in the shop were happy to take it all, including the plants, so we started carrying stuff in. Once I'd handed it all over, I had to stop at the (very small) book section. I mean, I couldn't leave without looking, could I? That would be rude! The book section consisted of a single narrow, but tallish, bookcase. The books were in rows, one in front of the other, so I did have to pull books out to see what was behind. No matter. I was thorough. And I found four books to bring home with me. M found a pile of books for her grandkids and other children in her family. 

By this time we were both hungry and ready for lunch, so we went and got some food. I was feeling quite light after having successfully done the recycling and donating and I was feeling good about where things stood. The lunch was excellent and I ended up bring a fair bit of it home with me, which Bill and I shared with our supper that night. After lunch we did another grocery store run and I'm pretty sure I have enough food to get us through our remaining days here. It was another long but productive day and I was so tired, but happy too.

So now we're in a bank holiday weekend. It was roasting on Wednesday, still warm but without sun (yay!) on Thursday, and cooler and windy yesterday. Today is like yesterday with some rain mixed in. Of course it will rain--it's a bank holiday weekend! Things are looking good at our new cottage. There is a problem getting the plumber to actually show up when he said he would to install the new shower, or to get a different one to respond to queries, so it looks like that won't be done until sometime after we move in. We'll be taking showers at our friend's house in the meantime. The plan is to do the final walkthrough and get the final meter reading here on Thursday morning. Then M will pick us up and we'll all head off to Killybegs. Then I'll be looking at all the stuff I have to put away. I won't be doing too much of that on the first day, but I will be getting the coffee maker out of its wrappings and into the kitchen. It'll be the very first thing that gets used in my new kitchen. Well, that and the fridge, I suppose. I am muddling along without it for now, but I will be greeting it like a long lost friend on Thursday. It went in the last load and is easily accessible. 

That's where things stand as far as our transition goes. I hope all is going well in your part of the world!

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Counting Down and Progress in the Meantime

 This is one of those weeks where I am constantly having to stop and think abut what day it is. Over the weekend, we packed some more stuff and on Monday morning, my friend, M came over so we could load the her and take off for Killybegs. Once again I was amazed at how much we fit in her little car on this second trip. There wasn't much that was heavy this time--a few books and my slow cooker. The rest was lighter. Before packing things into the car, I laid down one of my knitted blankets and then on top of that, a big, heavy, thick blanket that a friend gave me years ago. I used it for a while as a blanket in one of the places we lived when we had a real cold snap, but other than that, it's been used as a cover for chairs or couches. The colors are deep, rich, and gorgeous. If I'd folded it up, it would've taken up lots of room, but laid flat, it took up none at all. Anyway, we got there, unloaded, went to a delightful little place for lunch, which hadn't been there when we lived there before, and enjoyed a lovely lunch. I shall go there again. I got some food to bring home for Bill and me for supper as well. I was glad I did because it was a long day. After lunch, we went to Fintra Beach with Finn and his mom and were there for over an hour playing ball, of course.

When we arrived, everything was blue--the sky, the sea, and even the rocks and hills had a blue tinge to them. In the photo above, in the far distance, you can just see Benbulben in Co Sligo. Even that seemed faintly blue. But as we were walking and kicking balls, the clouds started rolling in, as you see above. We walked to the far end of the beach and played there for a while before turning around and heading back towards the car. We were almost back there when we felt the first sprinkles whipping around in the wind so we picked up the pace and got inside the car before it started raining in earnest. Then we dropped off Finn and his mum, said good-bye to my other friend, and headed home. Now we just have odds and ends and houseplants left to move.

It was nice to see the new cottage after it was painted last week. It looks beautiful. Work there is continuing with the cast iron bath removed from upstairs and the shower that will replace it arriving yesterday. Someone is coming to clean the cottage on Friday and some furniture is being moved in. 

Yesterday was a much needed quiet day. I stayed home, drank tea and coffee, read a soon-to-be-published cozy mystery, and enjoyed the sound of the splattering rain. This morning I was off again with M, this time to a knitting and crochet group that started at a place down the road from me. If I was going to be here, it's one I'd continue to go to. The women seem quite nice and I enjoyed their conversations. I think I would've had the possibility to do some teaching there as well, but it's not practical--I'll be too far away. I'm sure they'll find someone to teach what they want taught and I'll probably have opportunities later in the year. I'll look into that once we're settled. One thing I am sad about is that some of the women are making blankets for a children's ambulance service--something to give the kids when they have to be in the ambulance and that's something I would definitely contribute to. Perhaps there's a similar initiative in Killybegs. I'll find out. After the group, we went out to lunch. I had a lovely bowl of soup and picked up a couple of slices of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake so Bill and I can have a nice dessert later. Then we stopped at a grocery store where I was able to get some yummy farm fresh chard and other things. Tomorrow is the library knit and crochet group at the library, which I will miss very much. That's a smaller group, but a very good one and I've made friends there--people I wouldn't have met without the group. 

So we've got a couple of weeks left here. We won't be bringing any more stuff until the cleaning is done and the furniture is in place there. That's fine. I can use a couple of quiet days at home. 

I hope you're enjoying your days, whatever you're doing.

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Will It Work?

 Some months ago I watched a video of Katherine making a hexagon cloth bowl on her youtube channel, k3n. If you're into slow stitching, eco printing, upcycling, and various ways of working with textiles, it's an excellent and relaxing channel to watch. I love her approach to her work. But, but, but. I know myself well enough to know that while I love the bowl she created in this video, this particular process isn't for me. It's a bit too fussy for my taste. Obviously (and unbeknownst to me) the idea continued to rattle around in my brain because several days ago it popped back into my consciousness and I wondered whether I could make one using Tunisian crochet. There was only one way to find out so I grabbed some Tunisian hooks and a cone of bright yellow wool yarn that someone gave me and I started experimenting. I'm not fond of the yellow so I wasn't going to be bothered if I ended up with a mess that I had to rip out. Also, since the yarn is wool, I figured I could full or felt it if it turned out too floppy, which was my main concern. I knew that if I got to the point of attaching the hexagons, I'd use the green, which I do like, to make the bowl in Donegal colors. 

I had to swatch a bit and go down a few hooks sizes to a smaller one than I would normally use for this yarn, but then I was off, making 7 Tunisian crochet hexagons. I had planned to bring the hexies and the green yarn to our knit and crochet group at the library and attach them there, but I finished the last one whilst listening to a podcast and since that wasn't over, I decided to start the finishing process right then.  Once I'd started, I couldn't stop, finishing the bowl just before 2 am, so I just brought it with me to the group and wove in my ends there. I am thrilled with the end result and I will definitely be making more of these in different sizes. It occurs to me that they can be stacked as well, which will be useful.

the finished bowl--you can see how the hexies are attached together

detail of the Tunisian crochet

the bowl filled with wool roving--it holds quite a lot

In case anyone is wondering about Tunisian crochet, I used the basic stitch--sometimes called simple stitch or afghan stitch--to make the hexagons. They're constructed using short rows. I chained 13, but any number will do. The length of the chain will be approximately half the width of the finished hexie. Pick up a stitch in each chain, leaving the loops on the hook, then work them off. There are many videos around that show how to do this if you're interested. For the next row, pick up a loop in 12 stitches, leaving the last one unworked. Work off the loops. Next row, pick up 11 stitches, and so on until there is just one stitch remaining. There will be little stairsteps along one edge and the next segment of the hexagon is made by picking up a loop in each stairstep (13 stitches, including the loop left on the hook from the previous row) and working it off as before, until there's just one stitch. Repeat this until there are 6 wedges. At the end of the 6th wedge, slip stitch in each stairstep. Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail and use that to sew the row of slip stitches to the starting chain and there's your hexagon. I've used these hexagons to make bags, dishcloths, and now this bowl. They're fun to make and look quite nice, especially in a variegated yarn.

And now I'm off to gather some thread to make a smaller version of this. I think I will find these to be quite useful and I'm quite taken with the stacking idea. I guess I know what I'll be doing for a while--at least until some other idea leaps to the front of my mind and sends me off in another direction!

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The Things We Do For Love

 One thing about getting yarn from charity shops and from people who no longer want it, is the mystery that is sometimes involved. often there's no ball band so I have to guess about exact fiber content, although doing the burn test will tell me some basics. For example, acrylic and other man-made fibers will burn easily and leave a hard black bead at the burnt end. This is why making pot holders from acrylic yarn isn't a good idea. Cotton, linen, and other plant fibers will leave ash behind and will also burn easily. Wool and some other animal fibers will not catch fire easily and when they do will burn out, leaving a kind of crumbly black residue. To go back to the potholders, I made mine from wool. The information I get from the burn test is quite enough for me to go on.

Sometimes, in addition to the mystery of the fiber content, there's a little work involved to get a particular bit of yarn into a usable form. Recently, I was given some yarn which included a pull skein of a lovely grey-black variegated yarn that is all or mostly natural fibers. It's gorgeous to touch--very soft, squishy, and has a bit of a halo. It's also a bit slippery. This was a good sized skein and either full or very close to it--probably the latter for reasons which will become clear. As is so often the case, someone didn't want to pull from the middle when using this yarn, so they removed the ball band, found the outside end, and tried to do whatever they were doing with it. I get it--it's frustrating to start a center-pull skein sometimes. You pull and a big clump of yarn comes out because of the way it's twisted around inside (some people charmingly call this clump 'yarn vomit' 😶). But it's usually fairly simple to deal with that small bit of yarn and proceed with the project. Often people try to avoid this by starting on the outside and depending on the yarn, this can work. I happen to find that very annoying so I don't do it, but it doesn't matter much of the time--it's just personal preference. But with a slippery yarn like the one I had, doing this is almost certain to end in tears. As one pulls on the outside end, the skein rolls and flops around. With slippery yarn, twists, tangles, and bunches occur, as was the case here. It wasn't usable as it was. I wonder if that's the reason its original person didn't want it any more. Well, I love it and I do want it, so I sat myself down on a quiet afternoon and I started untwisting, untangling, and slowly eliminating the large clumps and bunches, just following the strand of yarn and letting my mind wander. Two hours later, I was close to the end, but I had other things to do so I set it aside. The following afternoon, I worked on it for about another half hour and then I had this:

I didn't have to cut it once. 🎉🎊It's ready to go whenever I'm ready to use it. I don't yet know what I'm going to make with it, but I'm very glad it ended up with me instead of in a trash can somewhere.

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