Tag: ireland

events, health and well being

More than a feeling

magnumlady

I went along to the Mamogs Pregnancy and Family Wellness Day today in the Sligo Park Hotel…and before you ask I’m not pregnant! It sounded like a great day with a lot of interesting speakers and it was a great event.

I listened to John G Coaching speak and I was really interested in what he had to say. He was explaining how we go through a range of emotions throughout the course of a day and what is important is how we deal with them.

We might blame our circumstances or certain people and places on having a negative impact on us when really the feelings are all in our heads. So John helps people ‘get out their heads’ and look at the bigger picture.

He was reminding us of when we were younger, we might have had a teddy/blanket etc that we were attached to…and the emotions we got from it; love, security, happiness. The item was no more than material, or fluff, so the emotion was coming from within us.

As we get older we might find ourselves saying we’ll be happier if we ‘just’ had more money, a bigger car, a bigger house. If we get these things we are often looking for the next big thing. So instead of looking to material things to fulfil our lives we need to look within ourselves and work out how to make ourselves feel better and deal with our emotions.

I’m probably not explaining myself very well but if you get a chance do go and hear John speak, it was really interesting, and well done Mamogs on a great day.

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sligo

Community Spirit in Coolaney

magnumlady

Yesterday was an exciting day in Coolaney village when the judges for the IPB Pride of Place Awards came to visit. Coolaney was one of two Sligo places nominated and it was a real community effort. There was the butcher, the bakers and the candlestick makers…OK maybe not the latter but certainly the rest.

I’ve lived in Coolaney for almost 28 years, in fact all the time that I’ve lived in Ireland. There’s no other place I’d like to live. We have a beautiful scenic village, lots of different groups to be a part of and a great community spirit. There’s always a friendly smile and a cheery hello.

You can take part in singing, drawing, football, cycling and that’s just to name a few. The Coolaney Tidy Towns have won awards for over 20 years, the ICA have been in operation for over 50 years and Mary told us and the judges all about their lovely organisation in the fantastic event yesterday.

There was Irish music, Irish dancing – including a dance down by the river – an actual, real, Riverdance! There was gospel singing, afternoon tea, Italian food, cup cakes, sandwiches and so many smiling volunteers.

“The purpose of the competition is to acknowledge the work being done every day by communities all over the island of Ireland. Since the competition commenced our judges have met hundreds of thousands of people, all of whom are proud of their place. The competition is based on communities demonstrating directly to the judges their pride in their place by oral presentation, exhibitions of community activities and culture and a tour of the area highlighting the aspects of which they are particularly proud. It is also important that the community demonstrates real partnership with their local council and shows that all sectors of the community are included.”

Hopefully our village showed the judges that we are an inclusive community, there really is something for everyone. It’s only going to get better with the new Mountain Bike Centre and the new Community Cafe which are planned for next year. So fingers crossed for the winners announcement and even if we don’t win I was proud to be a part of it.

charity

Soilsigh

magnumlady

Today I went to an event that moved me and educated me. I didn’t know much about human trafficking (or modern day slavery) but Soilsigh (to illuminate) told some of the stories of this awful exploitation. The stories were told through music, dance and art and was just so eye opening I would urge anyone to go and see it. The last night is tomorrow in The Factory Performance Space, Sligo at 8pm. I would love to see this travel the country as it was so informative and so moving. Well done to all involved. This event was organised by Sarah Bearden in association with Invisible Traffick.

 

“Soilsigh Ireland is an international arts project base in Sligo, Ireland, connecting & collaborating between dancers, musicians, and visual artists from around the world. This year’s event features talented artists from Sligo and abroad to tell the unheard stories of those being trafficked and exploited. Audience members are invited to experience the truth about human trafficking in Ireland in a unique and tangible way: the darkness, isolation, exploitation, along with the hope, healing and freedom that is made possible by those fighting to free these victims.”

 

Diary, Travel

Calendars and cows

magnumlady

IMG_8549-003

I put a shout out over on Facebook as to if there’d be any interest in a 2019 calendar of my photos. There was a resounding yes so I’m in the process of taking pre-orders. I usually order them from Northern Ireland due to high costs but I’m delighted to say that this year they will be printed in Sligo.

I love to support local businesses whenever I can and Printfix were very quick with a quote which is around the same price as I was paying up North. I went in to have a look at their samples and Caitriona couldn’t have been more helpful. I even got a cup of tea and was offered biscuits – just one of the benefits from a bricks and mortar business!

So if you are interested you can order yours here. I’m hoping that they’ll be ready at the beginning of October when I will start posting them.

In other news everything else is good, except for sleep – but I’ve more or less given up on that. I’m loving my new job, I love being in the airport – there’s such a buzz about the place and I love talking to people. I’m really going to miss it when the contract is up but at least I know I’ve got a bit of a gift of the gab so maybe something similar will come along.

On the way home this afternoon I got stuck in a traffic jam, my favourite kind of traffic jam. One of the things I love about Ireland is expecting the unexpected. The way the dog was rounding up the cows was fascinating too.

In other news Ryanair have a sale on (again), they seem to be turning into the DFS of the travel world. Anyway I’m heading to Romania in October for two nights, I saw it on a travel programme and it looks fantastic. So that’ll be something to look forward to 🙂 Who knows I might even meet Dracula.

Days out, Travel

The King’s Trail Tour

magnumlady

I have something very special to tell you about, The King’s Trail has recently launched in Boyle, Roscommon and it’s an absolutely brilliant idea! I went along today and check it out after seeing a video about it. You can see the video and read more details here.

Continue reading “The King’s Trail Tour” →