A head start

Well, it started out as a head-start on my tidying

for the impending visit of my beloved sister, Lindsay.

The room was tidied, the bed made up with lovely, fresh linen.

Then I thought that I'd better clear the book-shelves a bit.

Bad move!

I got rather engrossed in going through my books,

organising them according to the author, reminding myself of my favourites!

So, I'm afraid the dusting and hoovering will have

to wait for another day!!

On the plus side.... I now know exactly which books I have read

by my favourite authors, so I now know

which ones I still need to read!

Today I'm grateful for getting a head-start....

in what, I'm not sure!!

Ah...who wants to be tidy anyway??

Gratefully yours.

xx

Delights

Today was a day brimming full of delightful surprises.

When I dropped Thomas off at school I was amazed at how young

the new first-years look!

It just made me realise how grown-up my boy is getting!

Proud mammy!!

Walking along by the river then, on my way to work,

I was reminded how calming a walk it is.

I don't walk that way over the summer holidays, and it was just

so beautiful (not the weather, unfortunately) to be back.

I was delighted, and set up for the day!

And then, to top it all, I spotted a beautiful piece of art-work,

on the roof of an archway in the middle of town.

Stunning!

And it wasn't even 9am yet!!

I'm grateful for a wonderful start to the day!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Good for something

What's better than giving your kids the best fun they've had in ages?

Watching your Mam (on Skype) watching you (on FB) give the kids

the best fun they've had in ages!!

I'm grateful that finally doing what we've been

avoiding doing for so long

has given lots of people we love a good belly laugh!!!

And I have to admit that "I feel GOOD"!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

A hard job

A lot of work goes into feeding my family.

First of all comes the planning stage - I have to plan a menu for

the week otherwise I'd be at a loss every day!

It takes ages to do, but saves time on a daily basis!!

It also saves money when it comes to the next stage - the shopping list!

I know what I need to get, and am (theoretically) not tempted

to buy anything that's not on the list!

The next major stage is remembering to take the necessary

meat out of the deep-freeze in the mornings!!

Although a basin of cold water does come in handy when I forget!

Then it's cooking, and keeping fingers crossed that everyone will like it!

(That's more of a challenge than it sounds!!)

But it's my job, and I (mostly) enjoy it!

It gives me great satisfaction and pleasure to see empty plates

at the end of a meal.

It also gives me a kick when I come up with a new recipe that's received well!

Soon I'll have enough to just rotate and not get bored!

Ah, the joys!

Sure, I'm grateful to be surrounded by hungry mouths to feed!!

Even the cat loves me because I feed her!!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Boys versus girls

We definitely have a girls versus boys vibe going on here today!

Megan and I seem to have been left to our

own devices for the whole afternoon and evening,

with a short interlude when the boys appeared, ate, and left again!!!

In K's defence, he was at work all day. And in T's defence, he IS a

mono-syllabic teenager who spends as little time with his family as he can!

But do we girls mind being left on our own?

Not a bit of it!!

We sat and watched animal programmes on the TV

for most of the evening, cuddled up on the couch!!

I am grateful for girly time!!

I am also hoping that when the boys appear,

they might do the washing-up!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

More fun

How could I have forgotten to mention the joy and fun of baking a cake???

I have to thank the Great British Bake Off team for inspiring

Megan and I today!

Our chocolate ganache covered cake, filled with ganache and raspberries

tastes even better than it looks!!

So, fun to make, and fun to eat!! Win/win, I'd say!!

Cooking in general is not what I would class as fun, but baking is a whole

different ball game. And, of course, it's always

nice when you have something delicious to eat at the end of it!!

I really want to try my hand at baking bread!

What fun I could have, kneading the heck out of it!!

So, today I am grateful for our little baking time. Mother and daughter,

working hand in hand - well, Meg measures and mixes, and I wash up!!

Now, maybe just one more slice before I go to bed.....

Gratefully yours.

xx

Fun

What do you do for fun?

If your answer (like mine) is "not enough"

then it's time that you (like me) did something about it!!

And I'm not just talking about hobbies. I mean, I sing in a choir for fun and I take

photographs for fun, but I think I've forgotten

how to really have fun, 

like kids do!

When we were at Grandma's house last week, we played Sorry

a couple of times, and didn't care who we sent home

 - now THAT was fun!

The other night we had fun, while in a golf club-house having our dinner, 

seeing who could make funny noises with their cheeks (!!!).

I need more belly-laughs!

I need to let go more and worry less.

I need to STOP acting my age, and start acting my shoe size!!

I'm grateful, in advance, to my kids for re-training me in the art of "fun"!

Here are 5 ways to get more fun in your life:

1. Hula hoop (not on the Wii) - even if you can't do it

you'll have FUN trying!

2. Put on some music and DANCE.

3. Hand out "HIGH FIVES" for anything and everything.

Make it a celebration!

4. Enjoy the moment - be there, be aware you're there,

and SMILE!!

5. Use your imagination - DAY-DREAM, make up a story,

be that princess!!!

Let me know how it goes!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

The food of love

Mum thought that 1500 photos of our three week

 holiday in Australia was a bit excessive!

I'm just back from ONE WEEK in Scotland, and

I've got nearly 500 photos!!!

There are two that really say it all for me.

The one above is a delicious bowl of berries and ice-cream. 

Simple, but delicious.

It reminds me of the fabulous family get-togethers we shared.

Relaxed and easy-going, although I know, and deeply appreciate the

effort that went into making them appear so!

The second photo is this one.

It really does say it all for me.

Family circle. Love.

I'm so grateful for my incredible "first family" - my angel of a Mum

and my amazingly wonderful sisters.

I am who I am because of you four remarkable women!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Sunday magic

This says it all!

I have to remind myself sometimes that it is okay

to not be doing stuff!

It's nice to sit down, with a cup of coffee and the cat, and not feel guiltily that I should be

doing something more constructive with my time!

I thing ploutering  about actually helps me to get stuff done, and not get

stuff done without any nagging feelings of inadequacy!

(Plouter - to potter about, to trifle or idle)

And what better day to plouter than a Sunday!

What makes it so good, is that I do get stuff done, but I don't feel

that I'm stuck doing housework, or any other job I don't like

.......well, that's pretty much housework!!

So, I'm grateful for Plouterdays (my new name for Sundays!!)

And surely having more time to be mindful about what I'm doing

is what Sundays are all about anyway!

What better way to commune with a higher power!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Chop chop

I was at the dentist by half nine this morning.

I was out of there by ten to ten!

Thank goodness I've got strong teeth!!

I've lived in Ireland for 19 years. Have visited the dentist every year since.

But my dentist has never done anything other than a quick

scale and polish in all that time!

I'm pretty proud of that fact!

So I'm grateful for my genes!!

I've got the best from both my parents, I think!

(All the bad bits are my own!!!)

Gratefully yours.

xx

Coffee break

Who needs shop-bought packets of biscuits???

Not me!

Not when oor Meg is at Cupcake Cookery camp!!

Even my cappuccino was delighted with the fancy cupcake today!

And, more importantly, Meggie is having a ball!

She is getting on great with the other kids, is loving messing around playing

games, and the piano, while their baking is in the oven, 

and is having pizza every day for her lunch!

What more could a small girl want??

I'm grateful to Elenora, who spotted the advert for

the camp in the small ads in the paper, and thought to suggest it to me for Megan.

Now if only we could find a "Vegetables are fun, and delicious" camp

we'd be laughing!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Splish Splash

Unfortunately we can't always swim in such a wonderful pool!!!

But, we still managed to have lots of fun today!

We had the pool to ourselves for most of the time we were in there,

so we made the most of it!

Jumping in (no, not me!!!), having races and playing piggy-in-the-middle

with a lovely floaty ball.

I'm not really much good at having fun, but I did today!

I really enjoyed myself with my two darlings, and we even managed to grab Daddy

to join us for a coffee afterwards!

So, I'm grateful for our splish-splashing today.

I'm coming to the conclusion that life's too short for being grumpy

and not enjoying everything that gets thrown at you!!

Please remind me I said that......any chance you get!

It might sink in!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

The prodigal son

My boy

Well, he's home!!

Five days away from us. Five days of freedom!

Five days of not calling his Mammy!!! (unless she phoned him first!)

Five days of peace and quiet in the Joyce household!

Five days of missing him!

But he's home.

Big cuddles all round, even for his sister (Bless!!!). A morning spent lazing

about watching the telly, and then he was off out!

Boys traipsing in and out all afternoon and evening. Sumo wrestling in the bedroom.

Dirty plates and glasses everywhere!

Blessed chaos!

I'm grateful to have survived my baby's first trip into the big, bad world

without me! I know there will be plenty more to come,

so I guess I'd better get used to it!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Top of the heap

From Google Images

I kid you not....my ironing basket was full of a precarious pile of clothes

that was getting very close to the ceiling!!

In my defence, it's been a busy kind of a week, since we came back from Oz!

And there was holiday washing as well as normal washing, and with

the temperatures soaring we've all been a bit

more sweaty than usual, so there has been more washing to do!!!

Get the picture?

Well, when K came home from his golf today (August Bank Holiday!), he decided

 to iron his shirts, while I went out to do the grocery shopping. Bless!

He did the wise thing, and put the ironing board in front of the telly,

with a good DVD playing.

It was a long film.....and he kept on ironing till it was done!!!

Ironing basket now EMPTY!!!!!

I don't know what I did to deserve a man like this.....but I am very, very

grateful that I did it!!

And before my sisters chip in.....yes, I know I'm spoilt rotten!!!

Gratefully yours.

xx

Things to do

We had a good family (well, most of us....Thomas has abandoned us

for the beach!!) day out today.

We lunched out (yummy tempura chicken with salad) on our way

to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, in Foynes (never!!),

which is only about half an hour away.

It was fun, and interesting (for all of us), and we had a great afternoon!

We've been looking at "things to do in Limerick" over the last few days.

You just don't DO the touristy things when you are living there!

It's amazing what you can find on your own doorstep, when you open your eyes (and use Google!!)

I guess I'm grateful for the internet at the moment! It's great for finding things!

We found a Donkey Sanctuary on Friday, only an hour away....Meggie was delighted,

and, I have to say, I rather enjoyed it too!!

Gratefully yours.

xx