Taking Over

 I'd never seen this plant, colloquially known as giant rhubarb, until we visited Clifden nine years ago. I've seen it here and there since, but it's all over the place around here this year. I'd never seen it flowering until this month. I kind of like the flowers. You can get a sense of the size of these plants as they take over the outside of the derelict cottage.

you can see the spent fireweed, gone to seed behind the giant rhubarb--one sign that summer is coming to an end

There was a slight autumnal feel to the air this morning--very appropriate on the eve of meteorological autumn. I am thrilled.

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Which One Should I Choose?

This time, he chose this one:

He was stretching himself out before dropping the ball at my feet. He prefers to have his balls kicked, but will accept throwing if that's all that's on offer. Games are seemingly endless. Balls are everywhere so we've learned to be careful where we step. Some of them still squeak and I quickly learned not to step on one in the middle of the night, lest I wake the furry ball boy and unwittingly start a new game at 4 am. 

He feels he is earning his keep by protecting us from the bins, which he will jump on, bite, try to pull/push over, and fiercely bark at.

the tough guy in action, protecting us from the bins

Bill and I celebrated our 45th anniversary last weekend. We had no big plans, but were going to try a diner down the road from us for supper. However, this would have meant leaving the furry dude alone and he isn't used to being alone, so we postponed it. Instead, he stayed home with Bill while I went and got a pizza. Then we all had our anniversary supper together. 

He's a very good boy and has brought lots of laughter with him during his stay, which is just past the halfway point. But he's used to a great deal of attention whenever he wants it, which is a great deal of the time. As a result, life is rather less calm than it usually is and I find that, in spite of the fact that I am awakened earlier than usual every morning by having my face licked, my time seems to vanish each day. On the other hand, my ball-kicking skills have greatly improved and I've experienced some lovely peaceful moments outside in the dark at 2 am while Himself looks for exactly the right spot to have a tinkle before bed. 

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At Your Service

 We're in humble servant training at the moment as we have a visitor:

supervising Bill's after dinner clean-up

He seems to find the service acceptable so far, although there have been a few times when he has had to stand waiting with the ball in his mouth for a smidge too long. There's always room for improvement.

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Sunday Snippets

 It's been a slow weekend. As expected, yesterday I was feeling a little rough after my windy walk to the library the day before due to the grass pollen and fungal spores, so I didn't do much. I was really tired, my throat was scratchy, and my face hurt--I couldn't even read. But late in the afternoon I did manage to get some wholemeal bread dough mixed in my food processor, which I turned into a cinnamon swirl loaf before putting it into the slow cooker to bake. It's yummy and was a nice accompaniment to last night's tea and this morning's coffee.

I got myself into bed early and sat there crocheting while I listened to some podcasts. It was particularly fun listening to Shedunnit last night because it was all about Golden Age mysteries that involve books and bookshops. In her discussion, she talked about one of the books I just read and wrote about in my month-end wrap-up, The Death of Mr. Dodsley. Her newsletter about book-themed mysteries is here.

I'd planned to do laundry yesterday and put the drying rack outside, but it was too windy and the clothes would have just blown off, so I skipped it. I'll do it today. It's breezy, but not as windy as it was.

As is usually the case, the sky and the light have been interesting at various times of the day. This is what it looked like the other night around 8. I always enjoy looking at the clouds.

The field has a sort of pre-autumnal look. I was noticing how many of the wildflowers are now past the height of their blooming season and are going to seed. It won't be long now until the earlier onset of darkness is very noticeable. Now when I'm in the kitchen around 10:30 to make a cup of tea, it's dark and I need a light, which wasn't the case a month ago. 

I guess I'll go pour another cup of coffee and maybe put the laundry on. Oh, and download the audiobook that came early. I wasn't expecting it for another few weeks, but I got an email just after midnight telling me it was available. It's this one:

Naturally, I'd just finished a different audiobook and downloaded two more non-fiction titles last night, so now I am quite stocked with audiobooks--and another expected in two weeks. Ah well, I know what I'm doing tonight.

Enjoy your day, whatever your plans!

PS: I did the laundry and hauled the drying rack outside. As I was stepping back inside, I felt the first sprinkles, so hauled it back in :-) Maybe tomorrow.

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Windy Walk

 I had a windy walk to the library and back this morning/early afternoon. At times I had to hold my hat on. It was great! Last week, I was walking along quite sure I'd burst into flames any minute--I was roasting. This week, it wasn't sunny or warm, but I dressed for heat anyway and was comfortable. Others not so much apparently, because they were bundled up with puffy jackets and hoods tied tightly around their faces. Whatever works.

I'm going to have to put a container in my backpack for future jaunts to the library because the lane is edged by lots of blackberry bushes and we're getting to the time of year where they'll be ready for picking. I could have picked a few today if I had something to put them in. Also along the side of the lane, I saw some wee flowers--gorgeous deep purple. I didn't get a good photo of them, but I got the leafy part of the plant (whatever it is) and I love the foliage just as much.

The bottom right hand corner reminds me of those old psychedelic posters I remember from the 70s, with their optical illusions.

I had a couple of books in and here they are:

I recently read a different classic republished by Faber Editions and in the back, they listed some of their other publications. This was one of them. It's a novel about a German immigrant living in London and working as a piano tuner. His fellow immigrants assume he fled the Nazis like they did, but as the search for Nazi war criminals heats up, it appears that he might not be what he seems. Originally published in 1966.

I listened to a fascinating hour-long interview with this poet a few weeks ago and well before the hour was up, I'd placed my request for this book. I have a feeling it's going to be excellent. And I love the cover. I'll be reading it a few poems at a time, I think. I might not start the novel right away--I have a few nonfiction books on my NetGalley shelf that I want to get to and I seem to be in the mood to read the next Virginia Woolf novel on my pile. And I have a classic mystery in audiobook nearing the end--hoping to finish tonight. So, a little of this and some of that will probably be how I read for now. I'm a mood reader, so I just follow my bookish mood and see where it leads. 

Happy Friday!

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Almost Neon

 When we moved to this area the first time, one of the things I noticed right away was the intense, vivid, deep colors of the hydrangeas. I love hydrangeas and years ago, we used to have a beautiful one outside our dining room window. It bloomed in a lovely periwinkle blue color. The same color hydrangeas were outside another place we lived here in Ireland. They're abundant here in all kinds of colors. But up here, the colors tend to be much deeper and intense--jewel-tone--instead of being more pastel. There are some of the latter, but more of the former. I've enjoyed looking at the new-to-me hydrangea colors as I've come across them. Today as were were on a walk, I saw one that was almost neon.

I'm told the color depends on the soil. Like all of us I guess, they bloom where they're planted and present themselves accordingly. 😏 

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A Small Slice of Life

 I've mentioned before that I really enjoy the bus rides we go on here, especially the ride between here and Gortahork--we take narrow rural roads, whether we're on the smaller Local Link bus or one of the larger buses. Each one takes a different road and each has different scenery. I'm developing favorite parts of each route. I find these rides so relaxing. Since we've been back, I've realized how much I missed the rocks, hills, views of the sea, and simply riding through some very, very rural areas. It's not that we weren't rural before, but this is a different level--as one friend said, 'You're in the back of beyond now.'  The other day we were on the Local Link. 

At this time of year, people are taking advantage of every dry day to get their turf cut, dried, home, and covered before the next rain arrives.

He was slow and as you can see, passing wasn't really an option for a while so best to just enjoy the ride without worrying too much about how fast the destination will be reached. Eventually there was a spot for the tractor guy to move over and the bus driver to pass. Shortly after we did that, we passed a small cottage with another tractor and trailer full of turf parked out front. People do light their open fires all year long, but they'll also want to get ready for winter. The wind can be fierce in this region as it blows off the ocean.

The sky was pretty typical of the sort we've been experiencing lately. I love a grey sky with puffy clouds--like a piece of abstract art. In spite of the clouds, we haven't really had much rain for a few days. This is apparently about to change as Storm Floris arrives, bringing unseasonably high winds and lots of rain.

Earlier in the week, we were in Letterkenny with a bit of time before we had to look out for our bus home. This means a visit to the charity shop. I don't know when they opened the one right next to the bus stop, but it was a genius move. It was a good book day. Bill got a bunch and I picked up 3 classics.

I'm always thrilled to find classics, especially the black Wordsworth Editions. I find they have excellent introductions (which should always be read after reading the book due to spoilers).

I've read Pride and Prejudice and to be honest, it's not my favorite Austen. But they had two copies of this and we had 9 books, so I would've been charged €2 whether I got the 10th one or not (the books there are priced at 5 for €1). I decided to give it another shot. I'm wondering if I'm just ornery and have an aversion to it because so many people are quite wild about it. I'll read it again and find out. I don't think I've read the Sherlock Holmes novels, although I've listened to radio dramatizations. I'll be interested to read these and the introduction. And I've never read Dracula or seen the movie the cover image is taken from. I think I did see Abbott and Costello Meet Dracula when I was a child, but that's about it.

One of the things I love about this cottage is the kitchen. I have so much counter space! It used to be that I kept my large slow cooker in a cupboard and when I wanted to use it, I had to move other things around to make space for it on the counter near a plug. Then it would be in the way, so I mostly used it overnight. Now it has a dedicated space on the counter away from the area where I do most of my work and it's within reach of a plug that I don't need to use for anything else. I can put supper ingredients in there in the morning and by suppertime, the meal is finished. Yesterday morning, I put in a whole chicken and some chunks of potato, onion, and carrot, turned it on high and 8 hours later, we had supper. 

Of course, there was leftover veg and plenty of chicken--I usually get 4 meals for both of us out of a whole chicken of this size. I add a small amount of water at the start and as things cook, a nice broth is also created. I pour this in a jar and usually use it for soup or gravy. This is the only way I've cooked whole chickens for years. For one thing, it's an energy efficient way to cook--it would take eons in the ovens I've had here, but I was doing it this way even before we came to Ireland. It comes out beautifully--falls off the bone and because it's not a dry heat, the chicken and veg do not dry out. I do like roasted veg, but this is a nice way to have them, too. 

So that's a random slice of my life lately--quiet, peaceful, and full of gratitude. It's a holiday weekend here, so of course rain is in the forecast and a potentially disruptive storm. I'll have all the rechargeable lamps, my e-reader, and my mp3 player charged up and ready. 

I hope August has been treating you well so far!

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