a wee catch up...

Life has been so busy here, so full, so happy that there has been little time for taking pictures let alone finding the time to sit down blog about all our goings on. So this post will be a mish mash of the last few weeks, a little taste of our lovely, happy busy life.

 On Good Friday the pubs are closed here so Garry has a tradition of having his first BBQ of the year. He brought down his big BBQ and we invited some friends and neighbours. It was brilliant, with kids running around, music playing, lots of chatter and eating and drinking.

 The lifeboat went out on exercise and as pretty much everyone present was in some way connected to the boat we all lined up to wave and cheer.

 Easter Sunday was a beautiful sunny morning and the Easter Bunny had been here hiding tiny chocolate eggs all over the garden.

What treasure!

 

A few days later we met up with my friend Lucy and her kids for a damp picnic in a park...

 before we headed over the airport to pick up my mum.

Bubs was with us for a whole week. It was really lovely, we hadn't seen her since last July when we visited her in the UK, so we had loads to catch up on and of course she met Garry for the first time. They really hit it off and she left promising to sew him an Elvis suit for his birthday!

 We did some lovely things with the kids like swimming and going to a puppet making workshop. We took them to the pub for dinner and to the park. We also had lots of child free time while they were with Andy so we could wander round the shops, have lunch and coffee and sit quietly together knitting. I have a particularly special memory of sitting next to my mum in the garden knitting away watching the clouds thicken and darken on the other side of the estuary and listening to the thunder as they rolled in.

We've been busy at home...
We bought a new car! It's fab, lots of room for all the kids and dogs, a real family car and we're delighted with it.

We have also been busy in the garden trying our very best to make it dog proof although Spartacus seems to be able to squeeze through the smallest gaps to take himself off for a walk on the beach or in the woods.
Garry, with lots of supervision and help from Benny and Joa repaired the green house and I spent a few days washing the windows and preparing the beds for the seedlings to go in.

 Everything is planted now, and doing well, we have cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes, spinach, lettuce, beans and rocket.

The kids are doing great, they've been busy in their own way too, discovering new likes...

 We found some goose eggs in the farmers market last week and Benny loves them, and they make super paper to draw on!

The boys have definitely had a growth and development spurt, not only do all their clothes look suddenly ridiculously small on them, they have both found new skills.

Joa can write his own name and last week, quite by accident, Benny discovered that he can swim. We found a pool locally that we can use without being members and have visited 3 times so far. On our last trip Benny was trying swimming with a float and it got away from him. He swam after it and found out that he can swim! He built up his confidence a little swimming from the side to me before setting off and swimming the whole length of the pool.

The staff at the pool were so delighted for him they 'awarded' him a smoothie for his achievement.
With all the busyness and being back at school again I often find the kids like this...

cuddled up to a dog or two. They find so much comfort and peace and also fun in the dogs, it's very special to see.

In other news... the bluebells are out....and the pictures speak for themselves...

 I have been back at work in the studio this last week and find myself working on 8 dolls simultaneously....how did that happen!!!

 But I'm having so much fun and enjoying each project I'm working on.

And finally....
Today was my first experience of Garry getting a shout to go out on a rescue with the lifeboat. We were getting up and getting the kids ready for school when his pager went off. He quickly got dressed said 'I've got to go' kissed me goodbye and went off. A short while later we saw the boat leave the harbour and we went out to the garden to wave them off. I found myself feeling quite anxious, wondering if I should go about my normal day, feeling torn and wanting to stay here, close to the window to watch for him coming back in again. I decided to go to the market after the school run and met a friend there who's husband is also on the lifeboat. She filled me in a little more about what the shout was (Garry's phone was out of credit so he couldn't text me himself to tell me). A trawler had lost power about 25 miles out to sea and needed to be brought back in. I felt much better knowing that everyone was safe, but my heart went out to them knowing it would be a very long and tiring trip. I posted my feelings on my facebook page and my friend's husband saw it and very kindly reassured me with this picture and these words....

'I think he'll be OK'

Which made me laugh and laugh and did make me feel relieved. I just got a call from Garry, they are back in Cork and have delivered the trawler safe and sound and are now facing another 3 hour trip to get back home again. I am so proud to be with this man, who does this out of kindness, out of respect and for nothing in return. He's some man and I am so happy that he is part of my life!

So that was my wee catch up, now back to work on all those dolls :-)