August

Many moons ago I was more eager to join different blog hops. Well, for five minutes this morning I wanted to I try it again, but no, makes no sense to me anymore. I don't care for answers to random questions about oysters, pearls, and the US inner world of delusions. What I can say for sure is I love August, a time of ripe fruit and lazy, warm afternoons, a time before going back to school, a quiet time. I like this quote:

"Minä rakastan rajoja", Tove sanoo. "Elokuu, joka on raja kesän ja syksyn välillä. Se on hienoin tuntemani kuukausi. Ensimmäinen muumipeikoista kertova kirja alkaa elokuussa, samoin myös 'Muumipappa ja meri'. Takurin hatun suuri juhla on sijoitettu lämpöiseen elokuun iltaan. Hämärä on rajana yön ja päivän välillä, ja ranta meren ja maan välillä. Rajat ovat kuin odotusta: kun molemmat ovat rakastuneita, mutta mitään ei ole lausuttu ääneen. Raja merkitsee matkalla oloa. Ja juuri matka on tärkeää." (Otta Latva, "Meri ja Tove. Elämää saaristossa")

*

Middle of July we were in Poland for nearly ten days. It wasn’t a long stay, but still something I wouldn't have wanted to miss. We spent some time with my parents, but also went to the south of Lower Silesia to meet up with two blogging friends. One travelled over from Warsaw, the other welcomed the three of us into her home, picturesquely located close to the Czech border, just north of the Jizera Mountains (historically, the village was known as Mühldorf before 1945). The scent of wildflower meadows and freshly cut grass … a fox wandering near the garden in the early morning … a small stream lazily flowing along one side of the property. Kind of magical place, although I'm not sure I could live there on my own, as our hostess does ...

(below pictures are deliberately random, I won't label them, I don't feel like it today)

Last weekend we helped our friend’s niece get to Dublin to collect her classmate from the airport. It turned into a very interesting meeting, the two girls were full of laughter, curiosity and intelligence. Together we visited Glasnevin Cemetery, the botanical garden and Bruxelles pub (the pub and the food served there weren’t as good as I'd remembered from our previous visits). It was on Saturday. On Sunday the girls decided to stay at home, watch a volleyball match and go to church. Our friend seemed a little disappointed after hearing about the last (church) bit. Well, they're still very young and much under their parents' influence, probably haven't had much exposure to different ways of living yet.

(below, the cemetery, the botanical garden and a quick look at Faiche Stiabhna)

My Dad was supposed to have a procedure on his eye, which would have been something more like an operation surgery under anaesthetic. His eye has become crossed for some reason, the doctors suggested that one of the eye muscles got weaker and they believed they can fix it. Dad wasn't sure if he wanted to put himself through another procedure as he’s been dealing with a lot of more serious health issues lately. Luckily, another doctor checked Dad's CT scan and a new treatment option has come up, something less invasive.

I don't long for the busy September weekdays, let's stay in August for a while.

Pre-journey jitters

On Wednesday, when I was at home and with a bit of time to kill, I finally got around to downloading two Tesco apps onto my smartphone. Two, because one is for shopping and with the other one I can pay the bills for my mobile. Why can't I have one app for both is a mystery too me. I also lost some patience in the process.

Later in the day we went to TK Maxx to buy a big, ceramic flower pot and a bird bath. Afterward, we decided to pop in for a coffee at the Costa where I used to work. We noticed a sign announcing plans to add a drive-through to the building. Quite sad news, to be honest.

From the coffee shop we observed the moon, nearly full, hanging in the sky.

Today, after my work (well, well, finally TPTB invited me for the second interview), we went with Fred for lunch to a newly opened place called Loaf'd. Big mistake, never again; green tea was the only tolerable item. But I have to say we were very Irish in our post-factum reactions: when they asked us for feedback, my husband said everything was lovely, then, after leaving the premises, we agreed more or less on jaysus, it was shite, but in Polish, which definitely took the elegance out of our critique. The place was full of much younger folk, their palates and stomachs likely ruined by the McDonaldisation of the food industry, I suppose.

In the evening, a nervous excitement brewing about the journey that begins tomorrow (for no apparent reason, during the day I found myself reading on one of the blogs about the belief that Mercury retrograde causes disrupted communication and brings on anxiety. I've just googled this nonsense a bit further, and, well, the next retrograde starts tomorrow. Perhaps that's the answer for all the questions I didn't ask this week ;))