Greetings from the Emerald Island

Saturday 7 Aug ‘10


Good day to all, family and friends!
Met Eireann or something to that spelling promised that the heavens will open sometime today, no.... unfortunately not to let the sun in but with buckets, of rain water. Admitting that the sun did shine for 60 min when we got up this morning, it is now nearly dark inside and we have to switch the lights on to read or do something specific! According to records, I do not know who keep these records , they never consulted me, and I have records of everyday’s weather for the last 5 years, the sun shone less in July 2010 than in the last 10 Julys.
August has not started much better we are at day 7 and we have not had a full 12 hours sunshine yet in these 7 days! Summer is coming to an end and very quickly!
Vegetation flourish in the wet weather in some ways and in other they totally disintegrate, the 2 tomatoes plants standing in the rain but with leaves too dense the water does not reach the soil and in spite of all the rain we still have to water many plants and baskets!
In our garden we have one ornamental plum tree and one green plum tree entwined, or may be grafted, who will know but in the 5½ years we saw no fruit of any kind , but this year the branches are heavy with a different kind of plum , looks like cherry ,lovely red in colour when ripe and sweet! So with ladder and rake we intend to gather all the fruit from the highest branches to make jam!. These fruit is from the green tree, there are also fruit on the maroon tree but the fruit stays hard and also looks just like a cherry but tasting it , it is plum like!
The lower field was cut on Thursday and looks good, we do that only once or twice a year the geese does graze it down well but with all the rain it becomes like a forest!
Barry does most things himself and I assist just by being at his side. Last Saturday he wanted to sharpen a knife in the workshop and found the grinder not working, thought the plug fuse must be gone, { here all electrical appliances are equipped with a fuse in the plug, you just change the fuse } hoping to get back to it later but he did not! Coming back from church last Sunday he fetched food for the geese and find it smelling awful in the workshop ,looked around and saw the freezer defrosted and the whole place under water!
Quickly took the little bit left in the freezer out, still fairly frozen and moved it to the fridge in the house for cooking later, that day or Monday but then we realized that there is no electricity at all in the shed. With elementary knowledge of electricity and the DIY digest we went to the Shop and got a tester, after many hours of doing exactly as they suggest we established that all is not well and suddenly the whole house’s electricity went! After a hour I phoned ESB , wonderful, it was not the 2 of us causing it but the complete shut down over 10 -15km radius! What a relief!
A colleague of mine living 12 miles away is an electrician and he came round on our request and found that there is a break in the conduction from the house to the workshop! The cable being buried under 3ft cement for the last 5 years makes digging it up an impossibility! Typical Irish he will pitch here Monday or Tuesday afternoon with some very good excuse! He promised to be here today but the day is gone and no Cìaron......
In the mean time we also travelled to Dublin for the Nuclear Cardiac stress test which turned out to be more than a stress test for the heart but also in endurance and patience! What- ever could go wrong, did and after 50 min of lying with his arms above his head tied down in the scanning tunnel Barry went through agony as he has a shoulder held together with love and tender care as he tore most of his shoulder muscles some time ago! He also got panicky in the tunnel and vowed not to go back whatever the outcome. Lo and behold the phone rang Thursday, the cardiologist wants him back for a resting scan but he refused blankly he would have to lay for another 30 mins in the same position and he is just not able for it! That took care of the heart scanning! Disappointment but so it will be!
Last night after our evening meal i discovered that my face is covered in a red hot rash!and spreading fast over large part of my body It is still there and can get worse at any time or subside for a little while but not long! So here we go , the only thing I ate different from all week was Salmon last night and a little beetroot! I eat it at least 1x a week and never had a problem before but even the anti-histamine is not working! Will watch and see!
Our church minister is still on leave and Barry chose the Hymns like last Sunday, ones he can sing, then we know that the 10-12 people there will be able to sing it as well! All well known and well practised! Always the best day of the week!
I am not sure if I will post this letter as I suddenly wondered what on earth do you do with the letter? Delete it as it arrives in the ‘inbox’ most probably
The geese teenagers are lovely graceful young birds Monday 6 weeks old! The goslings a week old and all going according to plan!
I hope that those who are on holiday are having really a good time , those preparing for exams, study well! Those waiting for their results! Everything of the best!
Young Gerhard from Frikkie en Elmarie has a birthday on the 12th I will forward a separate birthday card!
Any-one else having a birthday Many happy returns of the day!
We were only 4 ladies drinking coffee on Friday and as always very pleasant! Marna I hope your cold has improved! Hope the other SA friends are keeping well! Gerda!!. How are you!?
Always lovely to hear from you, Trish I wonder if you get my letters, can you let me know!?
I greet ye all from Cranleymore where the sun plays hide and seeks with us!
Love and kind regards
Barry and Christina