It is what it is – for now

Well, my apologies for the missing couple of weeks. We have had a rather fraught time over the last month and life has been a bit exciting. And very busy. I never really understood the saying, “It is what it is”, until recently but now it fits our life rather too well. Maybe it is […]

Hedgerow jam, new readers and left-over books

Autumn is well settled in over here and we are trying to prepare for what might be a hard winter. My mother always maintained that the more berries ripening in September the harder the winter to come. She justified this by insisting it was nature’s way of feeding the birds. Well, in that case we […]

The joys (and occasional sorrows) of the garden

Much of this last fortnight has been spent in the garden, wood and orchard. A lot of Jacqui’s hard work is now coming to fruition, literally in many cases. After the polytunnel blew away the first time we were sure we had missed the planting season and had very low expectations for this year. Despite […]

August again – feral crows, biting flies and a special birthday

August again and it is hot. Very hot. As we are close to a rather stagnant pond this means there are a lot of insects. Some are a delight as butterflies and bees descend on the lavender all day. I’ve counted at least six different types of butterflies and countless species of bees. We also […]

A very different life – and rather horticultural

After almost five years since our move from the UK we now have a very different life here in rural Ireland. I became aware of it last week when I was about to go back inside. It had just started to rain but I realised I was not running to the door. Instead I ambled […]

Shrinkflation and the perils of remote shopping

When we first arrived at our new home we were in the middle of the COVID pandemic and under lockdown. Being so remote there were barely any shops within our permitted travel radius so we depended heavily on remote shopping. Just about everything from food to work tools were delivered, left outside our door. Our […]

Full speed ahead on the Homestead Rollercoaster

Firstly I would like to apologise for the late posting this week. It has been a very, very busy few weeks and a real rollercoaster ride for us. We began on a high, with a small but excellent celebratory evening to mark my birthday this month. No, I can’t believe I’m so old now though […]

The joys of living on a learning curve

I have said before, Ireland is not just “England with a funny accent” (though the accent isn’t funny. In fact it is rather lyrical after a while). Ireland is a very different country and even after more than four years we are still living on a learning curve. It is not just moving from a […]

A real mixed bag of a fortnight

This last couple of weeks has been a real mixed bag. We began with the mystery appointment in Limerick hospital. Jacqui received a number of texts reminding her she had an appointment, giving day and time. Only there had been no letter and there was no indication which department, where it was in the hospital […]

Comments on the state of publishing – and other news

After the hiatus last month, welcome back to a slightly different offering. I do have some regular news on the state of life here in Tipperary but a lot of my concerns at the moment have been centred around the awful state of publishing. I expect most of you know I have been an author […]