The end of summer

This month we got a booklet "Be Emergency Ready". They cover a checklist of essential items that's good to keep at home, etc. It's supposed to prepare us for "periods of disruption" caused by flooding, storms, air incidents; additionally, on the website, somewhere among the items, I spotted "disruptive use of drones" and "nuclear accident abroad". No one mentions the word "war". In Poland, the leaflets of this kind are more straightforward. I've read somewhere that the UK is also preparing for something looming on the horizon -- their government is updating its War Books and they plan a national public-awareness campaign.

"In a sense it's now a bit like those Edwardian summers before 1914, when there was a lot of talk of war but the notion of actually going to war seemed so far-fetched as to be beyond belief and I think that's where we are at the moment," said someone (I do know who, just retired British generals don't interest me that much).

The summer is officially over today. Let's hope for the best.

A cúpla things

Last Friday we went to a concert at St. Peter's Church of Ireland. Swedish soprano Miah Persson was singing Mozart, Schubert and Haydn. She was accompanied by British classical pianist Joseph Middleton. It was a nice evening out, booked at the last minute. Several days earlier, it was our seventh wedding anniversary, apparently called the wool anniversary. Wool ... I should knit something nice this autumn ;)

From a cúpla things that are irritating or just plain weird:

Blogspot really pisses me off. For several days now my blog reading list (on the left) hasn't been updating, and apparently the problem is somewhere in the system, which means there's nothing I can do about it. As Google employees get on with fixing more profitable stuff, they seem to have little time for people who can still read and write longer texts. Very frustrating.

Another thing is flight ticket prices. I finally booked a Ryanair flight to Warsaw, it was ridiculously overpriced, but I wanted to get rid of the everyday worry about the trip I have planned (I bought a return ticket from Wrocław a while ago). In the second half of October we'll visit my husband's siblings and then I'll travel on my own to a different part of the country to stay with my parents for several days (Fred has to go back home to work). Our lovely neighbour has already promised to take care of our cats. I love autumn and I can’t wait for the perks of being an only child again :]

In the meantime the house next to us stays empty. Most of the maintenance work in the area has been finished, but the person who was interested in moving in still hasn’t done so. There was already some conflict between the would-be neighbour and the neighbour on the other side of the empty house. Of course, I’d be afraid to move in myself if there were some weird crowd around, but in this case the whole situation is mostly in people’s heads. Very interesting.

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.

Update

How was it possible I didn't post anything throughout the entire months of May and June? Let me catch up on a few things. My last post in April finished with a dramatic cliffhanger. It was about Old Anna, our neighbour. She had been away for so long that we almost forgot about her. And then came the message about her departure from this world. We visited her grave some time later, a very picturesque graveyard with a view. 

On 14/04 died Frania, another of my parents' cats. Young, black, lovely. Fuck you, feline leukemia! And one more death in the middle of June -- stinky Max is no more :(

Both our girls were spayed at the end of April. It was a stressful time, but we got through it. By now the bald patches on their sides have almost disappeared.

One weekend in May we headed up to Dublin for Melissa Hamilton’s Ballet Star Gala at the Bord Gáis Theatre. It was a very nice experience, we also made good use of our time before the concert -- we stopped in at Flower & Bean on Cork St.

In the meantime we bought tickets to spend some time in July at my family home. We also bought a new fridge -- tiny in comparison with the trendy ones, a little black midget. We'd love to have a fridge without a freezer but it's not so easy to find a suitable one. It was necessary to buy it now, as during our holidays we'll have a pet sitter looking after the house.

Since the last post, I've finished reading ca. fifteen books, one of the best of them was Zyta Rudzka's Krótka wymiana ognia. So far only one book by Rudzka has been translated into English, Dr Josef's Little Beauty (I have it as an audiobook and plan to listen to it after our holidays).

June was taken over by builders. Several contractors are working on our little house. The heating system was modernized (we use a heat pump now), the windows and front door were replaced and they are still working on the insulation. Most of the time it's been a nightmare, they have already destroyed parts of our garden, and some eejits cut down the lavender that was growing close to the walls (I complained officially).

Anything else? ... Stay tuned ...

Catching up with the good stuff

This is how you supposed to listen to Virginia Woolf's audiobook -- with a cat in your arms ;)

Little Mary ... you can still see that her lower lip is a bit swollen. We're not quite sure what happened, but it's been like this since last Thursday. A few more photographs from the past three weeks:

Rusalka on its premiere night at the Bord Gáis Theatre, coffee time at 3rd Place, evening walk, one of our lazy lunches (fish and chips from a local fishmonger), our girls, and coffee with my former boss (last Thursday; he's a good chap indeed). 

Any news?

A lot! Half of it I already don't remember ;) We spent part of last week in Poland. I had my hair cut (a success) and tried to figure out how to change my diet (less so). I’ve been having some stomach issues which is a bit worrying, especially as coeliac disease runs in my Dad’s side of the family. At first, I thought soft cheese might be the culprit, so I cut down on lactose. That hasn’t been easy, as I love cheesecake, flat white, and yoghurt. Well, it had to be done, and it helped a bit, but now, when I’m paying more attention, I can see things haven’t improved as much as I’d hoped. I’ve booked a GP appointment, we'll see if they can shed some light on it.

After getting back from Poland, and sleeping through most of St Patrick's Day, we had Fred’s appointment at the oncology clinic. The news here is good: whatever the shadow in his lungs is, it's not growing, and it may be something as simple as scar tissue from dust. I’m very happy to accept that kind of diagnosis.

A few weeks ago I wanted to buy some woollen yarn in Poland, but the yarn I chose for my jumper isn’t available at the moment. Patience is a virtue, I mumble to myself.

Before my short holiday I decided to change my iPhone 13 to a Samsung S25. It was a good swap, I wasn’t interested in fixing an issue with the old phone, and I also wanted to change my internet provider (that turned out well too, Eir is much more reliable than Tesco Mobile). And ... a while ago iPhones stopped being cool anyway.

In the meantime, the Orange idiot has managed to stir things up again, this time involving Iran. Petrol prices are soaring, because apparently we can’t have just one problem at a time.

Below, some random photos from the time I wasn’t posting: the last day of February, first hours in Poland and Warsaw block of flats in the middle of the night, Mruczysław the Cat, empty grave in a forgotten evangelical cemetery, Jelenia Góra, and blooming Rip van Winkles.

Arts & threads

Yesterday we ticked off our latest opera experience, The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček. Wasn't quite sure what to expect; I didn't know the venue, Solstice Arts Centre in An Uaimh, nor the composer. It was thoroughly enjoyable, partly philosophical, partly hilarious, as it's not every day one can see opera singers performing in fox costumes.

I was wearing a new beanie that I'd finished knitting last weekend. In my head it's supposed to be a hat with cat ears, but because of the colour and depending on the way I style it, the ears can resemble fox ears or even devil horns ;) Love it.

I chose this yarn colour to match my husband's beautiful present, woollen fingerless mittens I got in December. Unfortunately, over two weeks ago, on a lovely Friday afternoon, I lost one of the gloves matching the beanie, and now I still wear the one that's left, refusing to accept my loss. It was the same day when we went with my Fred to watch Hamnet (the film is absolutely fantastic!). 

Discussions, books, knitting, and films -- that's how I spend my time outside of work. Also, I've discovered something completely new, which I hope to enjoy very much:

In the background, Clanbrassil street on Valentine's day:) The book's still waiting in a queue.

Cats, humans, bullies

Bronek, my parents' cat, is still among the living. He gets a lot of medication, and I suppose he is not entirely aware that his life hangs by a hair. One of his sisters, Frania, has also tested positive :I Our girls, on the other hand, are in the best of health, length and width. We and our neighbours adore them. 

Have already finished reading five books this year, including The Gathering by Anne Enright. An enjoyable read, though it covers some really tough subjects. Currently, I'm in the middle of Ditlevsen's The Copenhagen Trilogy (have finished Youth). 

Can't believe it's already the second half of January; I go to work, spend time with my husband, deal with first-world problems, while occasionally hearing about what's happening on the "western front". The Orange Man's actions in his own country and abroad are heinous, but hey, who knows, they might bring some good for Europe. Just as Ukrainians have started using their own language after the Russian bear attacked them, so I've started looking for European products to support our own economy instead of feeding the bullies with my own money. It's my private politics, not very strict, just something I ponder about while shopping.

No resolutions

Several days ago I thought it would be a nice thing to write down some New Year's resolutions, but in the end I decided against it. Part of it would feel more like self-presentation than a real plan, so why bother? I don't want to impress anyone here, I just want to distract my mind, train it to use a different language, and look at things from a different perspective. 

I spent ten days in my family home, and had a great time. A great time of doing nothing in particular, which is very important for my mental health, as I'm a slow pacer by nature.

Below are a few of the dozens of pictures I took while staying with my parents: a visit to my favourite local coffee shop, my Christmas wafer with pieces from my parents' wafers, dinner at a Chinese restaurant, Wojtuś the cat showing off his big belly, and a forest road I know so well.

Catching up

The last week before Christmas at work was really tough, not because anything out of the ordinary happened, but because my energy and, in effect, the drive to stay patient was running out. I finished Friday with a very pleasant discovery: we ate out at a place called the Valley Inn. Good name, good food, very Irish. We also went to Dún Dealgan, had coffee in our favourite place and took a stroll along the main street with a quick browse in our favourite independent bookshop (I bought my husband a children's book written by an Irish singer and actor, Gavin Friday). 

Other good things? I bought two balls of yarn (from Norwegian Sandnes Garn) and bamboo circular knitting needles, size 4.00 mm. Also, finally decided to start journalling in one of the notebooks I had acquired a while ago. With a fountain pen :) And I gave my husband his Christmas present early (a nice coat he chose himself, Moncrief, dark No. 14). We also gave our neighbours presents, and received something from them in return.

I'm recovering after the intense weeks watching the old Dalgliesh series with Roy Marsden (I've finished A Taste for Death and have started Devices and Desires). Today will be about packing my suitcase and deciding what to wear for the journey. I'm still a bit wound up, but that will pass for sure.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

There was a severe storm yesterday, it raged across the whole country. Its name, Bram, was a nod to Bram Stoker, Dracula’s author, who to my surprise was Irish (the author, not the vampire). Stoker was born in Clontarf. I met someone from Clontarf just today morning, a small, wrinkled woman, resembling an old elf.

I'm counting down the days to Christmas. In two weeks, on Monday evening, I'll be flying to my parents'. In the meantime, I'm finishing up bits and pieces at work, a few last things to tick off before the year ends. There will be a lot of family time, and though I'm sorry to leave Fred on his own with our kittens, the travel is something I can hardly wait.

Cats

Our cats just melt our hearts. Little Mary cries out loud every morning when I start preparing coffee for my husband, who's still in the bedroom. She knows that once coffee's ready, I'm going in to wake Fred up and she absolutely insists on joining me. Bron and Mary are both so funny when they watch us through the window as we're heading out. And in the evenings, when we're watching a film, they settle on our laps, or plant themselves in front of the telly to stare at the moving pictures. Little creatures can change humans' life so much.

I'm doing fine ...

... I guess ;) On Monday I was a bit unwell, very tired, my legs were like jelly by the end of the day. But I treated myself with kindness, had dinner made by Fred, and spent most of the evening reading. I did the same yesterday, and around noon I was already feeling better

Generally, last week was very positive (apart from some situations at work, where we had a few bumps in the road due to personality clashes among the students. I wasn’t involved, but it’s still difficult when you’re the one who’s supposed to offer mediation).

On Saturday, Fred and I, we went to the cinema to see a Polish film called A Good Home. It’s about domestic violence; quite a difficult subject, but it’s worth watching, even just for its educational value.

We were also spending a lot of money in coffee shops -- Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, today… on Saturday we were out and about in An Inse and found a very interesting place called Sonairte.

Currently, I’m reading a great story: The Outrun by Amy Liptrot. I already know the plot, as back in April we watched the film based on the book, an adaptation starring Saoirse Ronan. The book is even better though, because it focuses more on the main character looking for new interests, hobbies, something to do outside of addiction.

On Monday I booked flight tickets for Christmas. € 341.78. Seriously. Yes, I already checked one or two weather forecasts, they said: White Christmas!

Samhain and goodbye

Another week gone by, another month. We had a storm on Thursday, not as big as expected, just a regular Irish thing. It's much colder now. Samhain was rather loud -- lots of fireworks in the surrounding neighbourhoods, it feels like it's worse every year. We had one trick-or-treater, it was our neighbours' grandchild, who decided to start his evening adventure with us. We weren't prepared, as we live in an area with mostly older people, but my husband acted quickly and found some German gingerbread cookies (thank you, Germans).

Last Sunday, my parents lost another member of their pet pack, their oldest cat, Maciej (Matthew). He was old, but his death was rather unexpected, he suddenly became weaker.  A very sad Sunday. I realised that I started blogging around the time we found Maciej at a cemetery, which is why I took so many photographs of him. It was sixteen years ago. Only sixteen years, but his whole life.

Random snaps

Below, there are some photos from the past few days:
Little Mary and Bron sleeping through Sunday; the book I'm currently reading (Jon Fosse, the photo was taken on Tuesday morning in a coffee shop); our wee village during an evening walk on Wednesday; an absolutely ridiculously huge Thursday pasta; and the last three photos are from today -- we went on a date to Dún Dealgan, there was some sushi and some coffee involved, and of course a bit of sky-watching (I spotted some Christmas ornaments!); we also strolled into our favourite local bookshop, because that's what we do :)

3-11 October

I came back home on Saturday evening, and I still don’t feel like I’ve settled down. In the meantime, two lovely artists passed away – Patricia Routledge on the day I flew to Poland, and Diane Keaton on the day I was coming back.

Below, random pictures without captions ;)