An Afternoon In Galway

Lately I have been getting quite a lot of pain when trying to knit or crochet.  I would need to put my work down after only five minutes of work.  My hands cramping. My wrists aching.
So I decided it was time I went to see my rheumatologist in Galway.  About twice a year I need to get steroid injections in my hips and in my feet.  Seriously painful in the feet, people!!  The doc gave me the worst news that any crafter could hear, tennis elbow in both arms requiring at least two weeks of rest. What???  I got the mandatory jabs and left feeling very sorry for little ol' me altogether.

My hubbie had taken the day off work to come down with me as I'm often unwell and in pain after the injections.  I was really glad of the company when I left and it was great to get to spend a little time together on our own. We don't often get the opportunity to just be a couple.

The weather was really bad and there was some very heavy showers. But in between Galway was beautiful as always.

We walked along the the river, amazed at how high it was for this time of the year. It flowed so fast it made us dizzy just walking alongside.

Grey skies threatened us constantly and the rain pounded us when it fell in heavy downpours, leaving us soaked to the core.

This city is so full of surprises and you never know what you'll find around the next corner.  This cafe for example. I think that it is called the Jungle Cafe. An covered outdoor restaurant that looks like it belongs in Brazil more than the West coast of Ireland.

There is some beautiful artworks here and even the shop fronts get painted with colourful and intricate murals.  I felt they won't get to experience the real beauty of Ireland.  My hubby said that he read a report that most tourists don't come here expecting good weather, but still my heart went out to them.

The llittle back streets are a delight to wander down with their small shops and seating outside coffee shops.  It's just a shame that it was for only a brief moment that the sun decided to shine while I took this picture.

These have to be my two favourite shops in Galway.  Twice As Nice sells amazing lace and the most delicate linens and crochet garments.
And Wooden Heart is a place we always stop when the kids are with us. It is a toy shop where are the toys are wooden and vintage.  The type of toys that I would have played with as a child, like dominoes, wooden snakes, spinning tops or wind up mice.  I'm just a big kid and I just have to test out every toy that I can find.

From there we drove out to the little village of Spiddle and one of my most favourite places in the county, the crafter's village.  Here you can meet weavers, basket makers, glass workers, jewellery designers, potters and so much more.  Sadly I was there on a Monday, the day most are closed.

But I did find this little beauty.  They are little glass beads, which is something that I would normally stay well clear of in case I would break or drop them, but they are so bright and colourful, I just couldn't resist.  A little treat for myself since I'm not going to be allowed to stitch for a while now.

A Little Glimpse At Benny

I never thought that the day would come that I would actually be getting out into Benny.

It was only two weeks ago we organised the last of the boxes.

My Attic 24 Blanket keeps us warm on the cooler days on the little comfy second hand couch. (it's still waiting for the ends to be woven in, too busy lately to get around to that)

Hateful as plastic is, living in the bog means moths and lots of them so to keep my yarn safe I have to sort them in plastic boxes. A box for each yarn weight.  There is probably about 12 boxes out there and I won't tell you a lie, there is still a lot more stored in the attic!

The threads and scissors are waiting for a display stand to be put up on the wall.

Pardon the blurry picture!

I love these door knobs. My hubby bought them for me last year as a little pressie.

This just had to come out here with me. I bought it in Munich a few years ago and I love it. 

The picture is painted on the reverse side of the glass itself.

I bought these wooden mushrooms at the Lamb festival. 

One Is worked from Ash and the other Hazel.

This also came from the Lamb Festival and we nicknamed him Ouch as he is to become my new pincushion!

The first job that I had to do when I moved in was to sew a new ironing board cover.

It's probably the worst sewing job that I've ever done. 

I really need practice more with my sewing, the machine was stored away for far too long.

Here is one little visitor to the studio that does not want us doing any work, except of course if that entails giving her tickles under the chin!!

It's hard to believe that Benny was once a sad mobile home with a leaking roof and holes in the floor.

Now he is bright and cheery and a home from home for me.

My little escape and just what I've always dreamed of.

Rosie

 

Little bits are slowly popping up around the mobile.  Decorative pieces that just seem to grow and appear naturally.  Not planned in any way.  Just the way that I like it.

I'm not even in it two months and already my work table is a total mess.  At least the trees outside the window are growing rapidly and offering no distractions.

Lamb Festival

Well what kind of a weekend was that?? I dont know about where you live but here it rained and rained and when the skies were done with that, it rained some more. And to top it all off it was freezing cold too. After three glorious weeks of warm sunny days it feels like being thrust back into the depths of winter once more. Pure yuk!!

Over the last few months I have gotten into the habit of resting most of the weekend. And although I much needed it to prepare myself for the coming week of hospital runs, doctor appointments and an endless list of other things, my poor little kids have missed out on quite a lot of family time.

So try and put this right and despite the miserable weather, we donned our raincoats and headed off to the Roscommon Lamb Festival. It is a wonderful festival and we try to go every year if we can. We have found that the Sunday is always the best with family day in the town park and makers tents in the town centre.  There were quilters there along with knitters, spinners, weavers. I am just so lucky that I have two kids that are so interested in crafts of every description because there was no way that Mammy was leaving until she got to speak to every body.

We met Nancy Devlin there, the most fantastic lady sitting at a spinning wheel. Lucy stood there mesmerised watching her do her work, that is until Patrick decided that he wanted to ask some questions. I truly felt sorry for this poor lady. You could nearly say that he was interrogating her as question followed question for at least twenty minutes. Fair play to Nancy she never wavered once and answered each and every query, even if she had to think hard about the answer.

Sadly I didn't get the name of the lady who made these little beauties but I just had to show you a picture of them. Aren't they just fabulous?  My favourite has to be the snail on the left hand side of the top picture.

After I managed to free Patrick from the makers tents we headed into the park to see what else was going on.  There were some animals gentle enough for the kids to pet.  They totally fell in love with the llamas and were amazed at how thick there coats were.  Lucy could hide her hand completely in this soft fluffy fleece.

This boy was not nearly as friendly and would only let people touch his horns.  I never knew that sheep could grow two sets of horns!!  This stubborn fella just refused to pose for the camera, so this was the best photo that I could get of him.

The whole time we were there, I got the strange feeling that somebody was watching us!!

There was a tent there that gave demonstrations of traditional Irish crafts like willow weaving and copper jewellery making. Here Patrick got to try his hand at a pole wood lathe. They both had to have their turn before we could move on and they loved it.  The man showing them was so lovely and cheery, they were reluctant to go.  Especially that the rain was bucketing down outside.

But move on we did and after a quick coffee for me and hot chocolate for them, it was off to the climbing wall with us. These two are always very competitive and it was so obvious here as they raced to the top and raced down again.  Patrick is a natural born climber and could be found climbing trees from about the age of three, so needless to say I was really surprised that even though this time he actually had a harness on, he wasn't as free as Lucy was.

Not a great pic here but by now it was pouring out of the heavens once more.  Patrick was looking forward to trying his hand at archery while here, so we braved it for just a little while longer. 

So cold and wet, we decided to call it a day and head off for some hot food a nice restaurant  we noticed on the way around town. The three of us were tired but very happy and jolly. A great day full of new memories.