Greetings from Ireland

Saturday 27 Feb’10
Good day to all, family and friends,
English week .
And another one bites the dust!
The iniquities of the Irish members of Parliament reminds me very much of my fatherland.
Tit for tat and out of the blue an accusation were highlighted earlier in the week about something that happened 3 years ago , the diggers found what they were looking for and the Minister of Foods and whatever had to resign because he intervened in a court case on behalf of a voter which should not have happened.
They get away with all kind of things, another MP 2 years ago was driving in a drunken stupor on the wrong side of the road and was caught red handed, 2yr suspended licence , fine of €750 and he still sits in the benches!
Today has brought some lightness in our hearts as the sun broke through the clouds and the temp is +6, after a week of continuous snow ,but wet snow ,it did not stick but wet the whole place !and temperatures just above freezing up to +3.
Officially the 1 of March is Spring day here according to the weatherman but alas, it still seems as if winter has enshrouded us for a while longer!
I have done nothing in the garden yet as it is just not worth it to spend €100’s on new plants which may only last for a short period. The daffodils and tulips all over the estate are growing well and we will have a mass of yellow whenever they start blooming!
The geese is the delight of our lives. Madam , and there is only one as far as it goes, has now laid 7 eggs, and Big boy is very protective of her, She is the one that gets into the water all the time and this morning we observed her dipping deep into the tank and pulling out the feathers on her chest with vengeance, apparently they do that in order to line the nest for the young but I can’t see the value of her doing it in the water and them drifting around on top of the water instead of in the nest. I suppose she knows what she is doing but she acts very Irish, back to front!
I can’t wait for the little ones if all goes well at about the end of March! Barry has already decided that a small part of the garden will be reserved for her if the 3 ganders give her grief!.
I am entering my last week of sick leave and look forward to going back to work, being kind of cut off from the world as we are not socialites and the church members are about the only people we speak to. The post man when he stops says ‘Hello’ but not even the neighbour is seen as all his cattle are in the shed!
I was very fortunate to go and have tea with the SA ladies , we were only four as many of them are in SA at the moment, but as always it is a great treat!
The children will be here tomorrow , surely the last visit before our grand child arrives and not like the grandparents in Exeter who knows that they will have a grand daughter we have to wait patiently for the arrival and identification of ours!
We also enjoyed what ever we could see from the Winter Olympics, but we do not have Sky or a Red button and have to be satisfied with what BBC 2 offers us! We could of course place ourselves before the computer but that is too much PT and will not work! Rugby this afternoon and we dread the outcome as the poor Irish lost badly against the French in the last match! How they will perform against the English remains to be seen!
Tomorrow , the best day of my week when the soul receives an extra helping of ‘Light food’ and Joy is still playing and I will do some singing. Last week I was caught unaware. Whenever a tune is unfamiliar to me I look into my other Hymnals and find the tune which is most well known but Joy just play what ever is in front of her and I had to listen very carefully to the tune to be able to keep up as no-one else knew the tune either!
Tomorrow I will pickle my Hymnals with me so that I have the music in front of me!
We also attended for the first time the AGM of the church with Victor 86 years old the Chairman!!! It could have been the year 1910 instead of 2010. He speaks very slowly although coherently ,but the meeting lasted 2 hours where if I was the chairperson it would have been conducted in 20 minutes. The minutes get written in a book that dates back to about 1948 and you can read back what happened many years ago! All is in there in beautiful hand writing!
Well I have a few Birthdays to mention, my friend Laurel, happy birthday to you and may all your dreams come to reality and the work you wanted to do in the prisons be blessed!
My other friend Angie has her birthday tomorrow and knowing her she is working far too hard! Hope sincerely you stop for a few moments and enjoy the day! Every thing of the very best for you as well!
Thank you for all the interesting letters and work related info especially the work that Paul from Dar Es Salaam wrote about. He has definitely surpassed out league!
I still have to say there are a few of you that shows reluctance to communicate! Just let us know that you are fine , that is all! Thank you Joy for your lovely letter and isn’t it great that the girls can know drive themselves and give you a rest!
As usual I am still waiting for 2 weddings that took place in 2009 and promised photos, but all comes to those who wait patiently!
Where-ever you go, be careful, watch your back, lock the doors, do not get indifferent to the safety of yourselves. May it rain in those parts of SA where it is still so dry and we are thankful for the rain that fell!
May the crops be good, may the eggs sell well and Hessie where are you now having you church services since the church burnt down! Aggie , I will not give up but it will be nice if you could just drop one line on the computer to say you are fine!
Time caught up with me and Barry finished his paper some time ago and I will have to attend to the preparation for tomorrow!
Keep well
Regards from the Dunnes in Cranleymore!