Mairead Hennessy

(A pony and trap wouldn’t look out of place on this lane)

It will be my mother-in-law’s birthday on Wednesday so we went to Cork for a chat at the weekend. While we were there we also chatted with Denis’ aunt, Ita. Ita doesn’t usually tell us her birthday number and if she did I wouldn’t be allowed to share it here. She was telling us about when she was young, she lived on the farm next door to where Denis grew up and where my mother-in-law still lives. The family farm is gone now, the surrounding fields owned by different families.

(An old, old post box…. can you see the crown?)

It took us about three and a half hours to drive by car from Greystones to Cork. On the way we listened to a podcast about Mexicans in Alabama and stopped for an americano and a latte. On the way back we filled the car with petrol and stopped at a motorway services to bring the son his favourite….a subway.

When Ita was a child she went to the big town on a pony and trap. When she looked out the kitchen window she could see her Dad ploughing with one of the horses. She helped her mother make butter, she collected the eggs from the hens and when she looked up she could see her home had a tatched roof.

(Rocky road… also my favourite treat in Starbucks :])

On the way home we listened to another podcast about the “European monetary crisis”. Not something we would normally be attracted to but this was different. It was created for an American audience who may not be keeping up with the news from Europe. So it included some history and was very easy to understand. It’s possible I now understand the problem, I certainly understand what Bonds are.

The bottom line….. we may have to get a pony and trap, Mairead.

(Petrol pump attendant on a Paris street)

We have a bit of new technology that allows us to pick movies or TV shows or documentaries and watch them anytime on the television. A bit like renting a DVD, except we pay once a month and watch as much as we like. I’m hoping it will make me more discerning because I have to choose what to watch. When I turn it on there’s nothing already playing that might captivate me and pass an hour in oblivion. There’s just a menu, and I have to choose something to watch… or turn it off!

(Something to do with gas?)

We’ve taken the bold move to cancel the satellite connection, so very shortly I will not be able to watch the BBC at all and only the following day internet RTE. I will not be able to turn on a news program at one o’clock, six o’clock and nine o’clock (or at any other time) during the day. Instead anytime the humour takes me I can connect via the internet. (If anything important happens, could you let me know, please?)

(Fairy lights)

Now, I will be watching interesting documentaries and episodes of my chosen TV show – all of them in one sitting if I want! There are no ad breaks, no promos for future shows, no competitions to win a holiday, no weather reports. It’s a different way of life but I’m willing to embrace it….. for now.

My choice, Mairead.

PS our satellite company has already rung to offer us a fifty percent reduction in our monthly charges if we come back….

(Self-Driving cars?)

This might not be your problem… yet… Just left Denis’ office, he’s engrossed in a Youtube video about some guy who made his car self-driving…..

Earlier he called me in, very excited, to tell me about a free on-line course to convert your car so that it could drive itself! I watched while the guy on the screen pressed a button in his car and the car started and began travelling around a car park. The driver was chatting to the camera and his hands were not even near the steering wheel, his feet were not on the pedals and he was not looking at the road.

(And trucks?)

Ok, maybe not a problem for me, if he stays in that car park which seems to be in America… But we have the same make of car as the one in the video and Denis has that “this will be great!” look in his eye……..

I’ll keep you posted and let you know if you need to keep off the roads, Mairead.

(The inspiring book)

Usually I write the Monday morning blog on a Sunday but I took the weekend off and didn’t touch the computer until this morning. Except…. for a Skype call to the daughter on Sunday night. This last minute writing puts a bit of pressure on me which generally doesn’t work but I wanted to give the free weekend a try too.

(The inspiring quilt)

For years I’ve been inspired by a picture in one of my many craft books. The book is called Crazy Patchwork by Janet Haigh. The picture is of a cream wool blanket quilt with squares of different embroidery stitches. A couple of years ago I got as far as cutting up a blanket to make my own quilt. But I got no further because it seemed like such a huge task. It would need so much time, so many new stitches to learn, it might never be finished.

(My first steps)

This weekend I took the first step… I drew the square grid onto the blanket. Then I took the next step… I began stitching the border. Like the old joke… How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Every little and big thing I do is made up of steps and I can only take one step at a time.

Taking one step at a time, Mairead.