thunder storms

Well today was severe thunder storms one which knocked out the electricity, which is still off. I'm blogging from a car park near the local shop as the "dongle" reception is better down here and the car isnt full of dust unlike the house. The new windows/ doors look great they just have to fit the front door and do some plaster work and clean up I hope lol, bliddy renovations are messy I had no idea just how much mess was involved replacing windows, I suppose they had to cut out a lot of cement and plaster as the new windows are a lot thicker.

My solicitor got the certificate for the tank today and I got a quote for the new fire and heating systems which I said yes to.

I had to go in to Galway Hospital for a meet with the public system cardio man, its free but I have discovered they make all their money from the car park charges and the fact that they get you to go in 3 hours before they are ready to see you, I was sitting in one waiting room for an hour and a half then an other for a chest xray for about the same time then had to join the q for blood work. I almost choked when the Dr said next visit would take most of the day, note to self take a novel as the mags in there are all womens.

The yachts arrived in Galway from the Volvo round the world series so the town is busy, if the weather is half decent on Saturday I might try to go out for a sail up towards Galway. I should have a tellephone line on in 8 days time so will try calling family and friends after that.

new windows

Well they have brought the window installation ahead so will be starting tommorow :) hopefully a lot will be done before the weekend as Sheena arrives then for a two week visit. The surveyor passed the septic tank and percolation area today which means we will get a certificate and pay over the last money and the place is finally ours woohoo. The kitchen ceiling and archway and shower room wall are getting done next week so its all go here at last. I'm still waiting for a quote for the heating but hopefully that will be going ahead really soon too.

I managed to reverse into a petrol pump fourteen months ago and a claim came through for repairs to the insurer yesterday lol ohh well this is Ireland ehh since then I have moved house and insurers and they asked if I wanted to settle it myself or for them to do it? I paused a min and said " I think I'll let you go ahead considering thats what I paid you for".

My whipper snipper is in for repairs and today my hoover decided it needed replaced by the new model too, psst its in for a shock as I have duct tape here.

The picture below is the new colour of the walls in the living room I just gave the fire surrounds a coat of this sort of muddy grey colour which sounded great on the label "urbanite" I'm not sure if it will pass inspection from the P & O manageress but hey I did ask for some guidance on colours before I bought it. The stone part of the fireplace is going to be ripped out leaving a wee  Inglenook that I can stack wood in around the new wood burner I think it should look good and am wondering if I should paint a light colour in it so the stove stands out or maybe get a cream coloured stove and paint it darker.

I'm home alone from tommorrow untill Friday night so am thinking of painting the hallway the same "moccasin" colour as the other walls in the lounge and kitchen, why? well I have some left over for starters and its a nice light colour which will go nice with wood floors I think.

Below is the percolation area and John's rock garden which was a muddy patch near the shed.

I have to plant grass seed around the percolation area and put more veg in at the moment there are just some lonely potatoe plants. I was waiting this time untill it passed inspection.

Sky tv

Well June ended pretty dreich infact I saw somewhere that England had had the wettest June since 1834, John and I got a wee bit done, made a sort of no maintenance rockery to the North of the house on a slope beside the new driveway, it was all muddy as soon as we got a bit of rain as the dogs run over it all the time. Anyway it has pavers, gravel, rocks and wood and should be easy to look after.

We got sky tv installed yesterday, the dish wouldnt get a signal on the gable end so he ended up attaching it to the chimney, it was fine for him to climb all over the roof but Health and Safety wouldnt let him go in the loft so I had to go up and do the cables up there, wonder if I could put a bill in for installing the cables in my own house lol.

The dongle internet reception is woeful at times and poor at best but it means I can get emails and do the blog anyway. If I have to transfer files for websites or anything I shall have to go out in the car and look for a better signal lol.

Got all the grass cut today before it started raining as John left about 0730 so I had an earlyish start, my strimmer is in for repairs so the edges didnt get done, if its not back soon I shall need to get the sycthe out.

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 :)