Well I have a family of Mallards on my pond, nice to see the wee ducklings scooting about.

I'm not happy with the company that was supplying my internet and tv via satelite, so its getting removed on Friday and Sky are putting on TV on Saturday. I wont have the tellephone untill I get Vodafone broadband installed which could be 15 days but I'm hoping I can borrow Angies dongle and connect it to my laptop to get emails etc. Not sure if it will be strong enough signal to run Skype.

I gave the walls a second coat of paint today and they look good, also burnt some bushes they ripped out when the tank was getting installed and its been a nice sunny day, I think tommorow is back to showers so I will do another wall paper strip. I havent heard back with any quotes but this is Ireland.

Sorry for the lack of blogs

Well my friend Mary Lou from Ohio emailed wondering if I was ok due to the abcsense of blogs recently. I am fine but have been busy with the garden, house and websites, and haven't had a lot of news really. The septic tank and percolation dramas continue, the last I heard was the surveyor isn't happy with the level ness of the percolation area and won't issue the certificate so the plumber will have to return once more to the fold. It's a pain as I replanted my spuds some carrots, beet root, and brocolli on it and they are going well. The house has 9 ft ceilings which are lovely apart from when you have to strip wallpaper which I have been doing recently, the kitchen and living room have been done or nearly anyway, the bits above cabinets in the kitchen still need stripped along 2walls but I think I,ll wait untill I strip out the kitchen untill I do them. The granite on the fireplace is going to be removed leaving a sort of inglenook about four and a half foot square, we haven't chosen a multi burner stove yet but have two in mind.It will fit half in half out. It is connected to a big stainless tank that stores the heat so the rads can have heat even when the fire is off. The water tanks in the loft are being scrapped and a large tank put in the wee shed type room at the end of the house along with a pressure pump which is good as it won't be heard inside when it is running. I,ll also put gas bottles in there for a gas hob. 11 radiators are to be installed throughout the house with the pipe work in the loft rather than digging up the floors. Windows and doors getting replaced in the next two weeks or months as this is Ireland lol. The kitchen ceiling is getting done as well as a door sealed up, an an archway installed and the wall in the shower room between the toilet and shower removed to make it one larger room. I,ll remove the existing kitchen and repair walls / paint and it is getting a new kitchen, also the floors in the lounge, dinning/ kitchen and hallway are getting light American oak boards. We were hoping to put underfloor heating and tiles in our on suite rip out the bath and install a shower but may have to wait a while if the funds run out. Sheana and Sacha are coming for a couple of weeks from the 7 th July and my pal Mark and his mate stayed the other night before they left the country, I shall miss Mark as I have no friends here, everyone in Ireland hates me and I may go eat worms, ok that was an exaggeration but I haven't any close buddies here yet really. Had a good crop of broccoli i but caterpillars have appeared and damaged some of the remaining plants so I ripped them out today and replaced with lettus, my zucchini are looking good too and we will start harvesting them soon. Lettus coming out our ears so I was looking for a soup recipie for using it up. I have been out fishing and sailing a few times and hopefully when Sheana Is here will get out heaps, Angie is taking a couple of weeks off and it would be great to stay out on the Aran islands overnight on the boat.

Big day

Well I got 24 ton of gravel delivered today, so my new drive to the shed plus the widened main drive all got covered with it. The grass got cut as well so I,m ever so slightly buggered this evening, I wanted to get the lawns done as its meant to rain tomorrow. Lady H is coming to inspect what she got for her money tommorow so no doubt I shall have to pay the final installment over very soon and the house will be free of any incumberances. I,m chuffed with my 6 acres, nice 4 bed bungalow and brand new septic tank so I am. Hey Scotland beat the Wallabies in Ozzie for first time since 1982 whoo hoo and that the last 2 encounters that have gone our way, thanks to some dreadful weather. Big weekend this one coming for rugby with Ireland vs NZ, England vs s africa Argentina vs Italy and Wales vs Australia ? Shame I don't have sky sports.

Spiddal Hooker race

It was  cool and breezy yesterday for the Spiddal Hooker and  Courach racing and they had to beat to windward all the way up the bay for the race so they were later than the advertised start by a couple of hours anyway they looked gorgeous under full sail, the Regatta at Carra Roe later in the summer is the biggest one and I will take the boat out and have a sail about and take photos during it these ones were taken from the beach.

Today was brighter and I spent it gardening, burnt off some branches and cleared some more of the woods near the front gate, tommorow is the last day for the excavator hope they will tidy up as they go as its a mess at the moment after the rain we had. I am getting a 20 ton load of 3 inch road base to make a drive down to the shed and they will spread it with the excavator before he leaves.

I think Leona enjoyed her stay and she has named the pond "Lake Maguire" which I am changing back to nameless seeing she has left but dont tell her. I think the next visitor is John who will probably rename the guest bedroom as his again :)

galway hookers

Excuse the  typos but we had a nice day out watching the Galway hookers at Spiddal and the Curachs racing I must admit to having partaken in  a couple of Guiness on the way home, infact they dropped me off at the local to finish the story but it hasnt worked as i'm as sober as a judge. A really happy one thats bslightly crosseyed hicccc.

Septic tank replaced

Well they got torn into replacing the septic tank today, the new one is installed and old one partially dismantled, there is an eighteen foot square sand and gravel filter to be constructed as a soak away / percolation area so the machine was flattening out an area for that. A couple of trees had to come down and a road was made so a dump truck can get in. I will buy a load of gravel to surface it and leave the road there as it will be handy access to the shed.

We all went sailing today and stopped to have a fish for half an hour caught 2 nice ones and they did for dinner, was a Bonny day with only a gentle breeze, came home for 1400 as the window company came to measure up. Replacing 11 windows, 2 patio French doors and a double front door, with double glazed uPVC light oak, wood effect ones.

 Next job after that is getting insulation installed in the cavity,s and ceiling. I shall take some photos of the progress tomorrow.