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.

Yo-Yo Weekend

Well what a bank holiday weekend is was.  We were certainly kept busy and I'm only really recovering from it now.
It began with me smashing a tooth on a popcorn kernel resulting in emergency dental work.  Only when I arrived at the dentist did I discover that it was not one but two teeth that needed to be rebuilt!!  Oh what a wally am I??

There was a shopping trip to Galway city with the great company of my sister in law.  We bought some lovely fabric and a fantastic skirt sewing pattern and she has agreed to teach me some of her dressmaking tricks.  A beautiful lunch followed, all washed down with a lot of laughter and good hearted natter.  Unfortunately the main reason for the trip was to get my steroid injections.....YUK!

I had a couple of sleepless nights but the upside of that was that i was up for the sunrise and the dawn chorus.  This has to be my most favourite time of the day.  The magic of listening to the birds very slowly waking up, one by one.  As the sun rises, the silence is broken by one little faint birdsong soon multiplies to two and before you know it they are all singing their most beautiful songs with passion.  To me it sounds like they are all saying good morning to each other.

These solitary times at dawn means that I notice things that I may not necessarily notice.  Even though I was in a lot of pain after the horrible injections, I couldn't help but smile at the fresh growth that I was seeing all around me.  Look at these nettles.  Aren't they gorgeous.  The yellow to lime to green together with the shape of the leaves is so inspiring.  I think that it looks like a drop of bleach was tipped onto the centre of each cluster of leaves.

I must be the only person who loves dandelions.  The field behind our house is full of them and they look fantastic.  Actually I have never seen so many dandelions growing in every available space.  Covering all of the bog and the farmlands too.  I love their simplicity and their vibrancy.  Maybe because they are like me,  simple, cheerful but very annoying!!!!

After resting on Saturday, a gentle walk in the forest was what I needed.  And I was really delighted to see it full of life.  The bluebells were open and resembling a large purple carpet on the forest floor.  The ferns still coiled tightly while gathering the strength to open.  I have researched the top flower but have failed to find out what it is.  Would anybody be able to help me with that one?  I'd really love to know.

And Monday was by far the best of all the days.  The sun shone brightly and warmed the day.  We decided to take a visit to Belvedere House and Gardens.  They had a fun fair on for the long weekend and me being the big child that I am, just couldn't resist.  I was probably more excited about going than the kids were!!  After a couple of hours being thrown up and down, round and round on rides, we picked up our picnic and headed to the lakeside for a relaxing lunch.  The day was not yet finished though.  We decided to take a walk along the Narnia trail through the forest and on it's entrance we were greeted by the Oak King.  Isn't he just magnificent?

The trail was beautiful with lots of little statues hidden between the trees for the kids to seek out.

Somehow this guy looks very constipated to me, like he's sitting on the loo concentrating very hard on the matter in hand!!

And last but not least, meet Henry.  We spotted him in the gift shop on the way out and the Hubby thought that he looked very sad, so we decided to buy him and give him a home on our mantelpiece.   I really love him.  He's so well made and is one of my favourite colours too.  He suits the room perfectly.

Anyway I'm off for now.  my studio is coming tonight and hopefully I'll have something about that soon.  Fingers crossed!!
Rosie xx