Budget on the Bus

Yesterday afternoon, when we got on the bus to come home from Donegal Town, the radio was on, as the Minister for Finance was presenting the 2020 budget. This happens every October. The past few years have been slightly different, because the current government had to enter into a confidence and supply agreement with one of the other major parties after the last general election. This agreement was to last for three budgets, but this is the fourth. No one wanted to bring down the government while there is Brexit turmoil, so the parties worked together to get the budget done, even though there has been the usual grumbling.

This is the first time Bill and I had actually listened to the budget presentation--or part of it at least. He was already talking when we got on the bus. We've read about the annual budgets in the past, but it was different to hear it presented in this way. I was struck by the many ways in which people are helped here. I know that people don't think there is enough help and I have no way to evaluate that. I also have no idea how it compares to other countries, except the one I was born in. I'm sure there are more robust governmental support  systems in place in some other countries, but as I was listening to the announcements about increases in the living alone allowance, the carer allowance, the lone parent allowance, the fuel allowance, and more, I was thinking about what a contrast it is from where I came from.

One of the things that has surprised both Bill and me over the years we've been here is how there will be the budget presentation and then things will take effect within hours. Yesterday, an increase in the carbon tax was announced. At the same time, it was announced that the price of petrol would be rising at midnight. Sure enough, when we went to pick up a few groceries, it had gone up by 2 cents since yesterday.

The top is diesel, the bottom is petrol, and that is the price per litre.

Anyway, it was an interesting ride home.

To follow up on my post yesterday, I mentioned barm brack and a couple of people said they didn't know what that was. I should have said! It's a round yeast raisin bread that is a Halloween thing. It is sometimes called Halloween brack.

I'm off to make a cuppa and work on a sock. Happy Wednesday!

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Happy Hallowmas!

We went to Donegal Town today to drop off and pick up stuff at the library and as usual, we went to Aldi for a few groceries while we waited for the library to re-open after lunch. We walked in and heard a witch cackling. Every time someone came in, we heard the cackle, which was wired to go off when the motion sensor detected a new arrival. Aldi (and Lidl) usually have more Halloween stuff than the other grocery stores we've frequented since we've been in Ireland, so I expected to see some of the stuff that was there. Just behind the Halloween stuff, was the Christmas stuff. I was surprised to see so much of it already.

the blue box under the strawberry on the hanging sign says 'Smarties' --for US readers, those are like M&Ms

nice tin!

In past years, the Christmas puddings have been the first to show up, but this year there's a lot of variety already. There will be many more Christmas puddings in various sizes and types on display soon. I have never had Christmas pudding and have no idea what the differences between them are. They appear early and stay around for a while after Christmas in some places. Back in May or June I saw a Christmas pudding on the shelf at our local SuperValu. They also had some Santa and snowmen ice cream things in the freezer case at that time. The boxes were dented and looking a bit frosty (😁😉😝). I suspect the ice cream inside was full of ice crystals. I cannot imagine who would have bought them.

We didn't get any Christmas or Halloween stuff. When we were waiting to get to the till, I saw that the woman behind me had a round loaf of barm brack. I love that stuff and look forward to it every year. Then I eat it regularly, get tired of it, and am ready to leave it alone until it comes back the next year. I almost dashed back to get a loaf, but we would not have been able to fit in in the backpacks without smooshing it, so I opted not to--I can get some at SuperValu tomorrow or the next day, probably. It should be showing up there soon, if it's not there already.

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Good Day to Get My Nose Stuck in a Book!

OK, I admit it--every day is a good day to get my nose stuck in a book, but some days are even more so. We're starting to feel the effects from Storm Lorenzo, which is no longer a hurricane, but is still packing high wind and rain. The worst of the wind is supposed to be just south of us and the hardest rain is supposed to show up for us later, but there's plenty of wind already and heavy rain off and on. I will choose a book to start, make some tea, and settle in.

Here are the last books that I spent September with:

The Small Hand: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill (audiobook read by Cameron Stewart)

Adam Snow is a rare book dealer who gets lost one day when leaving a client’s home and ends up at a ruin of a house. What is that small hand he feels holding his own and why does it seem to be following him?

Dolly by Susan Hill (audiobook read by Cameron Stewart)

Edward Cayley is sent to stay with his elderly Aunt Kestrel over the Easter holiday. He is joined by a spoilt cousin, Leonora. Leonora wants a doll for a birthday present, but not just any doll. The repercussions of the birthday echo through the years.

Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

I love certain cosy mysteries and used to read many series when I was still in the US as the themed ones involving needlework, knitting, crocheting, and books became abundantly available. I checked the library and requested the latest ones when they came out. The individual stories were often pretty predictable and I almost always knew whodunnit (once from page 10 on) and it seemed that for some authors, each mystery was simply a vehicle to move the characters forward more than the central reason for the books. Still, I enjoyed them as mindless, entertaining reads—settling in with some tea and a cosy was something I enjoyed. Those series aren’t available here. There are different ones, but I don’t know what they are unless I stumble across one. I was surprised to come across this one as I was looking at the library website to see what new Christmas-themed books were available. It’s the first in a series. There’s another one after this, but it’s not available here. It’s a shame, because I’d read it if it was. Maybe next year. I laughed out loud several times when reading this book and read passages to Bill, who also laughed. These were mainly bits about the rescue cat, Cindy Lou Who, which brought back memories of rescue cats we used to wait on. There is also a rescue goat named Theodore, after the late husband of his person, and some rescue reindeer.

The setting of the book is the fictional town of Mistletoe, Maine. Holly White moves back to the Christmas tree farm where she grew up after her fiance goes off with someone else days before their Christmas Eve wedding. Of course, Mistletoe is populated by quirky characters, which is another fun part of the book. However, someone really did not like the president of the Historical Society, because, when she leaves the cafe at the tree farm, she doesn’t make it far. She’s been issuing citations and harassing people, so the list of suspects isn’t short and includes Holly’s dad. Holly investigates and uncovers some secrets. 

The cover is cute, too.

A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by Georges Simenon

I came across this title while scrolling through the e-book section of the library website. It reminded me that I have a small omnibus edition (the seventh one, according to the cover) containing three Maigret novels that I got from a friend. I’d never read any of these books, although I’ve heard of them. I decided to check out this book, so I could start with the short stories and see if I wanted to read the novels. The book contains three stories, only one of which involves Maigret. That story was pretty good and I probably will at least try one of the novels at some point. The other two stories were OK, but one their own wouldn’t make me want to read more of this author’s work.

Murder, She Said: The Quotable Miss Marple by Agatha Christie

I love Miss Marple, so when I saw a blurb about this book, I went straight to the library to see if they had it. They didn’t. Fast forward several weeks when I was scrolling through the library e-book site and stopped short when I saw a photo of the bright red cover. I immediately clicked the button to borrow it. It’s a fun little book, but I would definitely recommend getting it from the library. I'm happy to have read through it, but it isn't one I'd feel the need to keep and refer to again. It begins with an introduction about the character of Miss Marple, written by Tony Medawar. It ends with an essay written by Agatha Christie and published in 1928, after the serialisation of the original 13 Miss Marple stories in a magazine was complete. In between, each page has a Miss Marple quote on it. Some of them made me want to go back and read some of the books. For me, Miss Marple lives in my head as she was portrayed by Joan Hickson a few decades ago.

I hope this day is a good one in your part of the world.

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These Were Better

Yesterday I posted a book that was disappointing and another that was quite bad. Today I am posting books I quite enjoyed.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

The way in which I found this book was funny. I'd read about it in a US-based book email and clicked over to the library website to search for it, typing in the title as above (which is also how it appears on the cover). Nothing came up. Then I noticed the red squiggly line under 'plow.' I have a refurbished computer with a UK keyboard, so it marks US spellings as incorrect. This is useful as I continue to overcome old spelling habits and get used to the way things are spelled here. Irish-English spellings are the same as those in the UK, so frequently different than in the US. Anyway, I tried again, using 'plough' instead of 'plow' and up came the listing for the book, which I requested. As I was reading, I noticed that both spellings were used in various places in the text. Whether one uses plow or plough, the book is well worth reading. It was a great read and funnier than I expected.

 Murder on Christmas Eve

A collection of short mystery stories set at Christmas by various authors, including Marjorie Allingham, GK Chesterton, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and more. Loved it!

 A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season by various authors

This is the third Christmas short story collection in the series, which also includes Murder Under the Christmas Tree and Murder on Christmas Eve. Many of the stories involve robbery and attempted insurance fraud, so the titles are somewhat off, but that’s OK. These are fun collections with stories from Margery Allingham, Gladys Mitchell, Ruth Rendell, GK Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, and many more.

 Ireland in the European Eye edited by Gisela Holfter and Bettina Migge

I read about the book in an email from The Irish Times, I think. It sounded like a good one, so I put in my request at the library. I’m so glad I found out about it! I learned a lot. The different essays in the book look at different aspects of the relationship between Ireland and other parts of Europe. The time frame ranges from several hundred years ago to the present day, depending on the topic. The book begins with a couple of essays about Ireland and the UK, the former colonial rulers and concludes in the present era of Brexit, discussing ways in which the relationship is now shifting as the UK becomes more isolated and Ireland remains part of the group. The next section of the book is about Ireland in the literature of various countries, with chapters on Germany and Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, and Poland, touching on how writing reflects the experiences of people from those places who have lived/visited Ireland as well as how Ireland is perceived within the other countries. In following sections, music, architecture, film, academia, and journalism are examined.
 

I'll conclude the list tomorrow. We went off to post a package this morning and called in at the charity shop on the way home. I was happy to find a book of Wendell Berry's poetry to bring home with me. We've been noticing that a lot of painting has been going on through the town as summer has drawn to a close. Here is one paint job that really stands out.

  Hope it's a good day in your part of the world!

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Happy October!

Wow, September flew by in a blur! It's always the way. I plod through May, June, July thinking they will just go on forever. Then, whoosh! Here we are in October waiting to see whether whatever is left of Hurricane Lorenzo decide to call on us later in the week.

My September reading was a mixed bag. I enjoyed some of the books a lot, some were OK, and one was quite bad. Here are the first few:

The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I picked this book up at a charity shop a couple of years ago. It sounded intriguing and I liked the artwork on the cover.

I started the introduction about a year ago and then other books took priority and eventually this one ended up on the bottom of the pile on the table by my chair, which seems to grow when I am not looking. I decided to read it and decide whether I wanted to keep it or pass it on. Then it dawned on me that I could do both, since it was probably available for download on Project Gutenberg. I checked and it was, so I started reading knowing that I'd donate the book when I was done with it. Turns out I would have done that anyway, even if I'd not downloaded it. The book takes place from 2073 to 2100, but I had to keep reminding myself of this, because the descriptions of warfare and transport and all the rest of it sounded very much like everything was happening a couple of centuries earlier. The story was pretty good, but the writing was not pleasant to read. After I finished, I looked it up and discovered that I could have saved a lot of time by simply reading the great summary on the Wikipedia page.

Classic Ghost Stories various authors

Tales from the Dead of Night: Thirteen Classic Ghost Stories selected by Cecily Gaylord

I enjoyed both of these books. The first one is a collection of older stories. The second is a mix of older and more recent. I think many of these used to be told at Christmastime, but fun to read at this time of year.

The Christmas Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is the 23^rd book in the Hannah Swenson cosy mystery series and is a prequel. Hannah is an amateur sleuth and baker in a small town in Minnesota. I’ve read a few of these books in the past, if I came across them and was in the mood for a cosy mystery. They were fine, but never something I actively sought out. I liked the few I read enough to pick up another if and when I happened across it, but after this one, that’s over. It is dreadful. I was scrolling through the library catalogue one night, looking at Christmas mystery titles when this one came into view. One of the other books I read from the series was also a Christmas one, and it was forgettable, but not terrible, so I requested this one. The only reason I did not close the book and place it back in the return pile was because I was comfortably in bed in the middle of the night and was too lazy to go downstairs to choose another book. I had my e-reader by the bed, but was not in the mood to read on a screen, so I just went on for the couple hours it took to read this. It’s not much of a story. The dialogue is weird—no one talks like that. A good portion of the book is devoted to recipes. Much of the rest is full of tedious description of basic things—turning on a gas fireplace by flipping a switch took up a good portion of one page. At another point, there was a very long step-by-step description of how to make breakfast burritos, right down to placing paper towels on the plate to drain the sausage and bacon, wrapping the assembled burritos in plastic wrap and refrigerating them (I was thinking the tortillas would be nice and soggy after that). I wondered whether there was some sponsorship agreement the author has, because she was not shy about using brand names, even where these were not necessary. In one scene, after a yet another painfully stilted bit of dialogue, instead of saying that Hannah placed crackers on a plate, there was a list of the brand name of each cracker. I can see why the author needed all of the filler, because, as I mentioned, there is no real story. There is no mystery. I won’t be reading any more of these books.

I'll post a few more tomorrow--the rest will be books I liked. 😀

We went to pick up some groceries this afternoon and I see that the Christmas biscuit display has appeared. the biscuits are always the first things to appear at SuperValu.

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Swatch 2: This Time with Crochet

I spent this afternoon with my frame loom and some odd bits of yarn.

I like it, in spite of the flaws, and I learned a couple of things, so I'm happy. The edges are wonky, partly because of the differences in the yarns, partly because of the crochet, but mostly because I need to do a better job when I take things off of the frame. You can see at the bottom right where I pulled the warp thread too tightly, but I think I can even that out.

 I should have used a dark warp since I was using dark yarn, but I just used the string that came in the kit--there's plenty left. If I was to start this again, I'd use black cotton or something like that.

I didn't know I was going to use the chunky black chenille until this afternoon, after I'd started. I had been thinking of doing things slightly differently, but then I didn't like the other yarn I'd pulled next to the blue/purple/black variegated (4 strands held together) I'd already started with, so I went upstairs and found the chenille I'd picked up at a charity shop a few months ago. That worked really well, although I had to sweep up after I was done because it shed so much.

I decided to try crochet for this for a few reasons. I wanted to see what it would look like. I wondered whether it would work instead of the footer and header (it does). Before starting, I was thinking about making shapes on the warp using crochet chain stitches, then filling in each space with a different colour. I could just make the shapes as I was weaving and then do some kind of embroidered outline after it was off the frame, but I was interested in starting with the line and going from there. I opted for a simple squiggle for this experiment instead of doing anything more elaborate. Now I know it works and I can play more with the idea in future. I was going to do one colour on one side of the line and a different colour on the other, but didn't think of the chenille until I'd already started.

Here's what I had when I started weaving:

The chain did pull on the warp strings a bit here and there, but it didn't seem to make a difference, possibly because things got pulled a bit in each direction as I was weaving with the thick chenille and 4 strands of the sport weight yarn.

Anyway, it was a pleasant afternoon. I got more practice and learned a couple of things. I'm not sure what the next swatch will look like, but the other day Bill was off to recycle bottles and tins and called in at the charity shop. They'd had a bag stuffed full of skeins of eyelash yarn for over a month. I always left the bag there. After I got the weaving kit, I mentioned to him that I should have bought it because it would probably be fun in to weave with, so he stopped in to see if it was still there. It was and she only charged him a euro for the bag. I thought there were 6 skeins or so, but there are 11. Maybe my next practice piece will involve some of that.

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Quick and Easy Crochet Applique/Garland

The other night I had a rummage in my acrylic scraps and pulled out a few autumn colours to play with. In the course of beginning a yarn doodle, I got sidetracked and ended up with a wee pumpkin.

Today, I found a tiny ball of bright orange yarn (rug yarn, I think) and ended up getting 5 more wee pumpkins from that.

It's extremely simple (just one round) and quick to make:
Beginning with a magic loop, chain 2 and then make 11 double crochet (US terms) stitches in the magic loop. Pull the centre loop closed. Change to green to finish off the last double crochet, then slip stitch into the side of the last double crochet made, single crochet into the centre, chain 4, slip stitch in second chain from hook and in remaining 2 chains, slip stitch into the side of the beginning chain 2. Fasten off and weave in ends.

After I made the rust-coloured pumpkin, I proceeded to make the yarn doodle I originally had in mind, which used up just about all of the yellow I had:

This flower is also really simple and quick. It has three rounds.

Beginning with magic loop, chain 2 and make 11 double crochet stitches in ring, pull centre closed and join with a slip stitch in top of beginning chin 2. Change to new colour if desired.

Chain 2, front post double crochet around the chain 2. Double crochet in the next stitch, front post double crochet around the same stitch, then repeat this with the rest of the stitches. Slip stitch to top of beginning chain 2.

Chain 2, double crochet in next stitch and front post double crochet around same stitch. *Double crochet in the next stitch, then double crochet and front post double crochet in the next stitch. * Repeat between * until all stitches in the round are worked. Slip stitch to top of beginning chain 2 and fasten off.

Take a length of yarn in a contrasting colour, thread it through a tapestry needles, and working under the posts of the front post double crochets, lay the yarn down in a spiral. Weave in all ends.

I took my little yarn doodles and made a short garland with them:

I always have fun playing with scraps. 😃

I had another rummage in the box this morning and I'm about to go warp my frame loom so I can experiment with more scraps. This time, it'll be mostly purple.

I hope it's a good day in your world today!

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