July in Ireland

Unfortunately there are some similarities to July 2020. Bars and Restaurants are operating only if they can provide outside dining and drinking facilities. Sounds easy but if you consider that the Irish Summer is tempremental at best and at worst just wet, this is not an easy task for those in the catering industry.

Weddings and Funerals are still being limited to small numbers. Weddings have just been allowed to double in size which means 50 guests can attend. Socialising is limited by most of us to walking, talking, meeting in small groups and all outdoors because most of us are still not convinced by the experts words telling us that the new mutations of the virus will not be as severe.

To the group of animals (four legged) under my care and who are currently training me in search work, this means absolutely nothing. Once they are fed, worked and get to swim and play life is good. And I think we should take a leaf out of their book. Live for the moment, enjoy what we have.

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Help

When your tough has vanished, how do you get it back?

This Level 5 is beating all who live in Ireland into the ground. Smiles are hard to find, teenagers (and we understand ) are pushing the boundaries, even us grandparents are about to jump fences, just to get to see and hug a grandchild. But we are told to be positive and some of us are, some are so positive it makes the rest of us envious.

These guys help, as we have to feed, walk and yes pet them.

How is the rest of civilisation doing? Any response alien or otherwise would be appreciated.

Living like the Button Guy

I always believed, when I was a teenager that anyone aged over 50 was “ancient!” Now that I have passed that flagship age plus another eventful ten years. I have discovered it was another idea of mine that was wrong. Completely wrong.

In the past ten years life really kicked off. I gained confidence, changed job direction again, changed volunteer direction again, been fitter and healthier than I have ever been (touch wood) and found a way to use my passion (dogs) to help others whenever I am asked to help.

So at what age did you discover your confidence and start to switch things around?

Update on the garden

Having 4 dogs pottering around the garden does create a challenge in itself. For various reasons, the main ones being:

 

Odd things grow in Irish Gardens

 

Ellie, loves to dig, and hide tennis balls. We believe she does this as a – in case of accidents policy. (In other words some kid accidentally enter the garden and they do not have a tennis or football with them.) She buries them in the ground in odd places, hides them in the hawthorne hedge and even carefully places them in the branches of a thick shrub at the far corner of the garden.

All-focus

Doug; loves to ramble and eat. He will eat, nasturtiums, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, courgette and any fruit. He is currently eyeing up the apple tree.

Brook – energetic greyhound will lie down on any part of the garden or just anywhere.

 

Bell will eat her way through any tall shrub or plant just to create a short cut.

So all in all I think we are doing ok.

This is the new wildflower area of the garden, seeds and weeds flourish as do ocassional children who decide to be a gardener for a while.

How about you guys and ladies and your gardening exploits during the past few months, any success stories?

Staying,

It seems that everything we talk about these days is or could be precluded with the word: Stay. Stay Safe, Stay at Home, Stay Positive, Stay fit, StayInside.

It is the one word Bob never had any difficulty with until this time of year, – stay away from the strawberries was like releasing a race horse from a starting gate.

I know she dropped one

So I won’t say it but I hope everyone in the blogging world is being happy, positive and finding a little kindness in this strange world.

Progress

I am rearranging my garden, out of necessity and because of these bothersome days where we are confined to close quarters. And I decided to post this brief post specifically to let Maxwellthedog know that we are working to get it done and some tomatoes growing asap! But as you may notice I have some help (there is four of us living in the house) so all is not lost.

Digging up Bob’s beloved strawberry and blackcurrant patch was tough work,

I had taken cuttings of the blackcurrant bush last year, so it will be replanted in a suitable spot.

As you can see the canine help were their usual supportive selves, Belle and Brook had retired to the yard to get the most sun.

I am interested in learning if anyone has a green house and what they recommend I plant in it, remembering that Ireland is not the hotest place on the planet.

Take care.

Different Dogs, Different Attitudes.

Ok, what are we going to do next?

Go away, see you tomorrow.

I had breakfast, leave me just for another five minutes.

Hello –

It is a strange world and that is a fact.

One question for everyone, have you noticed, when you escape the confines of your four walls for a walk, how eager those who pass (some 8 feet from) you are to say “Hello”? This time last year I purposly said, hello to everyone I passed on a mile walk around the village. I received two hello’s from the many groups of mothers and children who were on their way to the school.

Have you noticed any other positive indications that we might be learning how to interact in a new and better way?

And more importantly, how are you coping? Any hints or tips on how to stop watching a screen from sun up to sundown?

A new helper in the garden. Belle is visiting for a few months and loves company. Her idea of helping is..sitting.

Distractions

We, like many other households, have had our daily lives upturned. So, in order to distract myself, I turned to the garden which has not had much tlc in the last few years.

As you can see from these pictures it will take some time but hopefully over the coming months it will be transformed. Luckily Kelly, Niall and Pat wondered where I was and when they discovered what I was doing, they gave a helping hand.

Pat and Kelly took pity on me and joined in with the digging.

It looks a mess but we will get there.

These three were no help at all!

Dog training and walking lucky for me can be a solitary task, so we continue to work where there is no one around us.

I hope everyone else is finding ways to stay healthy in mind and body. I would love to hear how you are all coping.

Dodgy Weather

Dogs love being outdoors. So do I.

So despite the wind, rain and onslaught of stormy Irish weather, we love to trudge about.

Nuts aren’t we!

stormy clouds vanished as the sun watched Cooper make a find.