Well, I’m back as promised and enjoying a moment of calm here in rural Tipperary. The last few months have been both busy and, on occasions, a bit stressful and we are glad to have some calm before the next few weeks. This summer we have had two lots of visitors and one who had to postpone for personal reasons. It has been lovely to see people and welcome them to our little patch of Ireland. They brightened our days, helped us see things slightly differently sometimes and our most recent duo tackled some of the urgent tasks outside.

Eager to help out and with their fully functioning arms and legs they strimmed and cleared an area around the lean-to for us to set up an outdoor compost heap. They also cleared some of the road margin and around the gate so we can see any stray traffic when we get out. Thank you, both of you. You’ve made our lives a bit easier as we slide into autumn. We waved them off on their continuing journey along the Wild Atlantic Way and hope to welcome them again soon.

Readers from last time will know we had a great evening at the Dancing at the Crossroads night. This was both a celebration of the community and a fundraising event to pay for the new mural celebrating local celebrity Shane McGowen. We sadly missed a previous event that raised a substantial amount, the wonderfully named “Cowadunga”. One of the surrounding fields was mapped out into four-foot squares and people bought one. On the evening a cow was led across the road and the crowd waited to see where she would crap first. The owner of that square won a decent prize and the rest boosted the mural fund. I wish I’d been there – maybe next time?

There is always something to see around here despite the quiet and calm. The house martens are lining up and flying off now and last week I spotted some much larger birds occupying the electrical wires. Four young buzzards were perched over the field, taking turns to circle the area and look for prey. All was calm for about twenty minutes when suddenly a flock of crows (they are rooks but everyone calls them crows in Ireland) flew across and drove the buzzards away into our wood. Obviously hunting rights belong to the crows – or maybe they just don’t like buzzards, who knows.

We are getting ready for Jacqui’s cataract surgery, which is due on the 22nd. This is a nervous time but really urgent now. After waiting two years she is coping with considerably diminished sight and the situation is made worse by her knee damage. I am driving for a while (and so extremely grateful for the cutting around the gate) and we are trying to limit this as much as possible. Hooray for Tesco deliveries and our eccentric but extremely useful little “local” supermarket. I say local but the last time I drove there I checked the mileage and it is 4.1 miles, 6.6 km in Irish distances. A big difference from Saltburn where the shops were just up the street.

We are hoping to get back to normal soon and have a list of things we want to do. I have spotted another tiny tree emerging from the dying weeds in the wood. Well, I’ve spotted the red and white tape. If it is anything like the last one I unearthed it is likely to be dead. I’m still going to try and reach it as the first one I unearthed is surviving and putting out leaves even this late in the year. I think we will talk to Fergus, our woodsman, and see if we can move them when they become dormant later in the year. Clearing the area for planting may be a bit of a challenge but I’ll just have to keep calm and do it a bit at a time.

Now, does anyone have any idea what this is? It belonged to my grandfather and is dated 1915. I wondered if it is something Masonic – maybe a competition or something. The Scottish thistles have me confused as he lived in London and the S.E.B isn’t familiar at all. Any ideas gratefully received.

So, that’s us for a couple of weeks. Please keep Jacqui in your thoughts for a good outcome and a speedy recovery.

Thank you for reading,

Jennie.