Polly says "Ah, this is the life...!"

Hi ya!

Just a quickie to say hello from Sunny Dingle!!! Yes, we do have sun and just a spot or two of spitting drizzle... every now and again!

Just had a lovely brunch including some of Margaret's Oldfarm sausages, lots and lots of tea and hopefully Murphy's ice-cream to follow. Found a wonderful takeaway in town last night and were lucky enough to catch last orders last night, all the way to bleedin' Kerry and what did we have for dinner? An Indian and Donna Kebabs! And it was so funny watching Gypsophillus-the-dog coughing this morning as she ate her breakfast out of one of the left over takeaway containers... (especially considering that she's quite a conoisseur of spicy food these days!)

The Rainbow Hostel is lovely! The staff are friendly and helpful, the rates are certainly affordable, considering the situation and the fact that we've full access to all the facilities, except the beds. The only draw back is that any washing has to be done by hand or submitted to the laundry service provided by the staff. I'm sure the cost is reasonable, but I'm probably too mean to pay for it anyway - we'll see! Ironically, the hostel not only has a cat, but her name is Gypsophillus too! It's inclined to be somewhat confusing when the boys call the cat and I turn around to see how our own girlie got off the lead...

I have to admit that it does seem a little silly to be sitting half in and half out of our eight-man tent, typing away on the laptop in the lovely Kingdom of Kerry rather than going down to the town, shoreline, harbour or Murphy's Ice-Cream Parlour. That said, this is our annual holiday and it's a time for rest and relaxation which comes in all forms, shapes and sizes including sitting in the garden of the Rainbow Hostel using their wifi, reading On Writing by Stephen King (which by the way is very good), The Rough Guide to Ireland, and generally dossing...  

DG took himself, LB and G into the convenience store earlier on and brought back his copy of the Sunday Times affording a little bit of peace and quiet for the first time since 6.30am (we woke a little earlier than usual...)

That said, my new watch appears to have a dud battery in it for the second time since it was purchased. Last week I was woken by the sound of the Scouts chatting and playing the maraca at 5.30am. By the time I eventually came to and remarked on their outrageously early energy levels I was unceremoniously told that I was crazy - given the fact that it was actually 8.30am...

Still, isn't that what holidays are all about? Losing track of time and date, just like the Californian lady I was speaking to earlier on this morning! Ah, this is the life...

Polly's First St Patrick's Day Blog Hop With A Mouse That Waltzes...

Just in case you're wondering about the title, tomorrow is St Patrick's Day! Yippee, it's a national holiday here in the Emerald Isle - the children have the day off school and we celebrate by turning out for parades all over the country. Tullamore is celebrating in a very special way this year, with the Tullamore & Ballykillmurray Scout Troops joining forces to march in the parade...

Hopefully we should have a good turn out for tomorrow, I just hope & pray that the weather holds out and blesses us with a little more sunshine and a lot less wind than we had today. Boy, it's been cold here which has come as a little bit of a surprise after the temperate Spring weather of the past few days...

This year the town is filled with Scouting memorabilia, with exhibitions in the Bridge Centre and shop fronts all over the town. It promises to be quite spectacular, combined with the huge effort going into the parade. Teams of scouts have been beavering away (excuse the pun!) for months preparing for this week and so far it's looking pretty good. I can't wait to see the end result tomorrow - must remember to bring my camera.

So what's the big deal and why are we pushing the boat out? Well, this weekend Tullamore will be descended upon by delegates from all over Ireland attending Scouting Ireland's National Council which opens on Saturday. A second parade comprised of Scouts from all over the Slieve Bloom Scout County and the South Eastern Province will welcome our Chief Scout Michael John Shinnick following his arrival on a narrow boat at the Tullamore Heritage Centre on Friday evening. For us scouters this is the big parade, with St Patrick's Day conveniently offering us the chance to practice our marching skills - shhh, don't tell anyone!

For those of you who are not in the know, the Slieve Bloom Scout County comprises counties Offaly, parts of Laois and North Tipperary. It is so called because the geographical area covered by these Scout troops is dominated by the Slieve Bloom Mountains...

Regarding the rest of the title, tomorrow is also a big day in the card maker's world, especially those who have fallen prey to the extraordinary talents of one Ms Claire Brennan, who just happens to reside on these Emerald shores in the county of Antrim. Being that Claire is both patriotic and creative she decided that tomorrow would be the perfect excuse to bring crafty folk from all over the world together and celebrate together.

Why not drop in again tomorrow and find out what this is all about. If you're lucky I might even have some photo's of the parade for you and of course a nice St Patrick's Day card for you too...

Have a good evening, Slán!

Polly Pierce

Hand Made Greeting Cards & Wedding Stationery From County Offaly

Polly Plea(d)s...

Regular readers of this blog will by now be aware of the fact that I love hats! In fact, I have so many hats that it's difficult to manage them all at times...
When I refer to hats, I mean metaphorical hats, you know the type that you wear at certain times of the week depending on which occupation you are following at the time. Examples of these would be chef's, cook's, night cap, hike hat, scout hat, gymnastic's hat and finally dyslexia group hat, not forgetting Mummy hat and chief bottle washer hat too!

Last year the Educational Building Society Community Fund donated funding to 150 worthy causes around the country. Two of my hats were the lucky beneficiaries, #1. The Offaly Dyslexia Group (aka The North Offaly Dyslexia Association) and #2. Tullamore Scouts. The point is that now is the time for me to take my hat off and hold it out to you for donations. Well, it's a bit simpler than that even! For my Irish reader's this will be of particular interest...

All members of The EBS are eligible to nominate one local charity for funding from the EBS Community Fund 2009. Applications may be downloaded from here and must be submitted by 5pm on the 5th June 2009 either by post or to your local branch office.

The reason for the speel about the hats is that I am too involved in each of my own volunteer groups to be able to choose which one to promote. Each of them is a worthy cause and each needs financial help as much as the other, to allow them to further their good deeds!

So Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where you come in; I am calling upon your good will to make the choice for me and to promote this fact to all your friends, relations and colleagues. Ask them if they have an EBS account and then suggest whichever of my favourite charities appeals to you the most, please? Pretty, please?

#1. Offaly Dyslexia Group

• We have recently formed, ie 2009.
  
• We are continuing to provide resources for the group.
  
• We run workshops to help children with Dyslexia learn how to read and how to interact with others.
  
• The workshops which we run are great for the kids self esteem as well as on a more practical level. Just knowing that they are NOT alone makes a tremendous difference.
• We provide support and advice for parents.
  

#2. LSG Supporter's Club

• We raise funds and support our coach in teaching children gymnastics.
  
• This is great for kids with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia as it improves their co-ordination, self esteem, concentration, social skills, etc.
• One of our ex-coaches/members Geoff Rellis was also a member of the national squad. He is now furthering his studies and working within the sport in Canada.
  
• Last year we had 7 medal winners at The Men's Irish Gymnastics Championships. This year we had none, because we didn't enter the competition. This is due to inadequate funding for this sport and the high cost of entering events such as this...
• We need equipment, coaches and a permanent base to call our own. At present the Irish Army is generously renting its gymnasium to us on a temporary basis. Storage and access can be problematic at times.
  

#3. Tullamore Scouts

• This is a VOLUNTARY youth group formed over one hundred years ago by Robert Baden-Powell. Scouting is a world wide activity.
• Funding is raised locally.
• Scouting helps in the development of young lives and provides children with life skills which will help them at times of crisis and in the work place.
  
• Scouting encourages young people to take responsibility and to help others.
• Activities can be expensive. Insurance is vital. Leaders are volunteers and pay for themselves.

Each of these organisations needs your help. Whether this be in terms of financial donations, nomination for the EBS Community Fund 2009 or in terms of time each of these groups does need your help badly. Please choose one to support, if you are unable to support all of them.

Please enlist the help of your spouse, children, co-workers, friends and family. If you are unable to help us yourself it is possible that someone you know can help us, it may be that they are one of the 440,000 EBS customers who is eligible to nominate one of my charitable groups. If you don't ask, you will never be able to tell them about this crazy woman who lives in a bog, makes cards and loves hats - or indeed her favourite charities!

Thank you for taking the time to read this most unusual post.

Polly Pierce