March Scavenger Hunt

And well as the Positive News Blogfest, the end of the month marks the fun Scavenger Hunt - words to be interpreted by a picture, hosted by the lovely Kate at I Live, I Love, I Craft, I am me.  I've missed a few months but I'm back to play along :)

Hole

Short of going out and photographing all the very many potholes around the roads at the minute, or thinking of the hole that is left by all the friends who have passed away this winter, it took me a while to find this photo from last summer - the treasures in a hole on the beach.

Making

This is a cardigan called Cosette and my first attempt at knitting from the top down and doing a seamless piece.   It's slow work but I'm pleased with the results so far and can't wait to see it blocked and pressed, opening out the lace pattern and evening out the stockinette parts.  Nearly finished the body now and ready to start adding in the sleeves.  

Reading now

I've just started this book and it's really enjoyable.   Zadie Smith is a name I see regularly but have never read anything of hers before and I'm engrossed ... she's a great writer and it's interesting having a glimpse into the world of a young black person growing up in London.  

Black and white

Messing around with the macro function on my camera, I'd been playing at angles on this pine cone and thought it looked interesting in black and white.

Begins with H

I was scratching my head for a while trying to find something beginning with H and spotted this orchid holder which I brought back from Germany a few years back ... there are lots of glass shops in the shopping arcades in Germany and I rarely come home without a piece.  These were so cute.  And my orchid loves it - this one is blooming for the third or fourth time.

My own choice

Watching the birds in the morning is such a soothing pastime - and with all the cold weather we've had they've been putting on quite a display around the feeders.  I was chuffed with myself for catching this one ...  a bullfinch I think - he was sitting in the sun and stayed there for ages.  

Off now to see everyone else's interpretations of the prompts..  Do you fancy joining in?  Check it out here.   

Positive News Magazine #WATWB

Here we are at the end of another month - time to take part in the We Are The World Blogfest, a global event in the blogging world, a chance to spread positive news for a day.  A special hello to     Belinda Witzenhausen,  Sylvia McGrath, Sylvia Stein  Shilpa Garg, and Eric Lahti who are the cohosts for this month.

I must confess that in recent months I have more or less entirely stopped watching the news, or following stories online - there is such heaviness in the world.  And it's getting harder to find stories that I want to share.

But the young kids in America in the past few weeks have been inspirational - they are lighting a spark that I so want them to turn into a huge fire.  Isn't it remarkable that most of these wonderful young men and women are not as old as this century and as a result have spent their entire lives so far under the threat of doom and war and misery ... I hope they are the catalysts for change that this world so deserves.

But the story I want to tell you about today is about a magazine I found that prints only good news stories.   I'm sure some of you have already come across this.  It's called Positive News, what else, and is printed in England.  I've been subscribing online for a few months and the stories that come out weekly are interesting and full of hope, including the companies who are sponsoring them.   This month I finally bought a physical copy of the magazine as well.

Check them out and support them if you can - it'd be great to see more positive journalism instead of constant streaming news that no longer simply informs but seems to try to tell us how to think.

Give My Head Peace

That's a real Northern Irish saying and the title of a satirical comedy show that ran here for years on local TV - a political commentary couched in a sitcom and recorded weekly to reflect the goings on of our local politicians and all the other bodies at work all through the Troubles.   In fact black humour was as much a part of daily life as all the rest of the stuff and what kept us sane.

So last night we went to a live show of Give My Head Peace in the Grand Opera House in Belfast and what a laugh.  They had done another 3 TV shows recently and this live show carried the story on - very clever, very colloquial and very very funny.  46,000 people applied for the 200 tickets to the 3 live recordings of the TV shows so naturally this theatre tour sold out very quickly.

You've got MLAs (local politicians not currently sitting in government but still getting paid much to everyone's annoyance), a bad marriage, the police, flags (or 'flegs') a clerical henchman, stand up ... basically anything that can be lambasted and by golly they lambast very well this group - no-one gets missed.

The Opera House is always a delight to visit - built in 1895 and full of elephants and ornate decor, it's a cosy wee theatre.

The woman sitting beside me was a bit put out by the elephants and got worse after she managed to down 4 pints of cider in the 2 45 minute halves of the show!  She reckoned they should be taken down!  

But I love the elephants - it makes me feel like I'm back in a different era and still watching modern theatre.  (Apologies for the photos - it was hard to get anything clear with all the lights on).

Happy St Patrick's Day

My shamrock is looking very bedraggled - but it is St Patrick's Day and I wish you all the luck of the Irish today wherever you are.  

it is absolutely freezing here with flurries of snow all day and the rugby final in Twickenham looked arctic - but Ireland WON!!!  Yay!

It's been a while since I summoned up the energy to write ... our house has been beset by this awful flu that's doing the rounds ... for a while we dragged ourselves to a couple of gigs, but eventually gave up and took to bed.  Thankfully we're both on the mend, slowly, but my energy is so low I can't get doing anything.  

Still one positive sign has started to appear - I'm bored silly - can't be bothered reading, much, or even watching TV, so this week it's back to work and hope the energy holds out.

Being self employed it's really freaky not working - you just can't show up for stuff so there's no money coming in and that really adds to the panic of not being well.   It certainly helps to get you back on your feet more quickly.

The sun was shining earlier in the week and I got out into the garden for 10 minutes - thankfully my lovely snowdrops haven't disappeared yet.   They're in the most awkward place and every year I promise to move them and each year the days fly on and they're still quite happily hiding in a corner ... maybe this year.

I hope you're all well and keeping warm in these northern climes and enjoying the beginnings of Autumn further south.