Sunday Thoughts

It’s the first Sunday of May, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. The swallows are back and it’s lovely to see them. There’s a real chill in the wind though, but it’s nicer than looking at grey skies and rain. Now that I’ve finished with the weather report, I’ll get on with the rest of the blog!

It’s been a mixed bag of a week. I met a friend for breakfast this week, I haven’t seen her for ages, and it was lovely to catch up. She’s one of those special people who always puts a smile on my face, and it was wonderful to see her again.

I also got to see my ‘Life’ Exhibition, which is part of the Sligo Bealtaine Festival. I never print out any of my photos, so it’s lovely to see them printed, framed, and hanging on the walls of the Primary Care Centre, Markievicz House, Sligo. A huge thank you to Catherine who curated the exhibition and did a wonderful job, I’m delighted with it. The exhibition runs for a year, so there’s plenty of time to see it. The two photos in the blog so far are part of the exhibition. I had previously entered them into an open call group exhibition, and they were both rejected. So, it’s a reminder to me not to give up, and although you might not fit into one place there are always other places to try.

I start my B12 injections next week. I wrote about it all here. I also wrote about my blood pressure, I started on medication for that during the week and had a couple of days of pressure behind my eyes, not sure if that’s connected to the medication or not, but thankfully that’s stopped now. I am very tired though, even more than usual, I’ve been trying to watch 10 Things I Hate About You for three nights and keep falling asleep after ten minutes! At least I’m sleeping all night though.

Yesterday was a day to go off exploring. I went to Ballindoon Priory (also known as Abbey and Friary), I do remember my trip to Michael Davitt Museum and how there was a stipulation for buildings to be called an abbey, but I can’t remember the story now! I’m good aren’t I! Pay a visit to the museum, it’s one of my favourite days out this year.

Ballindoon overlooks Lough Arrow and it’s a beautiful place. It’s just so peaceful there, and it’s the first time that I’ve been there, and the first time that I’ve driven that way around Lough Arrow. I saw a glamping place there too, so that might be something to check out if you are visiting the area. I saw a post by Tuatha Ireland, and it inspired me to visit Ballindoon. One grave belongs to Terence MacDonagh, who died in the 1700s. I did a bit of searching and it led me to this blog post which will tell you more about Terence. Part of the inscription says:
Terence McDonagh lyes in this Grave
That says enogh for all that generous brave
Facetious, Friendly, witty, just and Good
In this Lou’d Name is fully understood
For it includes what’er we virtue call
And is the Heiroglyphick of them all

I love visiting cemeteries; I always find them so peaceful.

I watched the bees going around the flowers and the birds making nests. One grave said:

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love…and then we return home.”

My next stop was Bluebell Wood, I was quite shocked at the number of trees that have fallen due to the storms, it was so sad to see.

I admired the resilience of the bluebells still growing from a fallen tree; triumph in adversity.

I still don’t like the road through the forest – I wrote about that last year and got a bit of flack for it. My blog is my opinion though, and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

I headed to Ardcarne Garden Centre to check out the café, but I was too early, the story of my life! One day I will get there. I went to King House Café and had a lovely pear and almond scone and a pot of tea; the scone was warm out of the oven and was delicious, great value for money too.

I visited Boyle Craft Shop, they always have such lovely things, a shout out to two in particular; Flossiechick who makes beautiful felt pictures, one has stuck in my mind, so I think I’ll have to go back and buy it. Kingdom Glass Blowing makes beautiful glass pieces, including glass flowers. I’m going to get something made with the dog’s ashes infused (that probably sounds weird I know). This has been on my to do list for a long time, but I can’t bring myself to organise the ashes, I will get to it when I’m ready.

I looked around The Courtyard Market, it’s on every Saturday in Boyle from 10am – 2pm and bought some plants from the lovely Erritt Nursery, I’m looking forward to seeing the ones above flower. I also bought some peanut butter bites from a stall that I’ve forgotten the name of.

I’ve just stepped out into the garden, someone is playing the guitar, and I can hear Blackbird (The Beatles), and the cat (not our cat) is chasing a butterfly. I see the Dandlion ‘fairies’ blowing across the sky, and it’s so peaceful. It’s mad to think that this time last week I was in Birmingham exploring the catacombs. You can read about that here.

Thanks so much to you all for reading, a special thanks to Jackie, Muireann, and Saoirse, who supported the blog this week, it’s very much appreciated. Wishing you all a lovely week ahead.