Diary of a busyish woman

Went to bed last night dreading the thought of waking up this morning. I got a Code Orange warning from Met Éireann for fog. I'll endure rain or snow, but don't ask me to enjoy fog. It's invariably penetratingly damp and depressing. This morning, I'm pleasantly surprised because the sun is actually shining through some light cloud. It's a good morning. You know at this stage how my mind wanders and it took me along the road of mental health. I don't know if all the triggers for mental ill-health have been identified, but I can tell you this that if I was feeling down, it would have been extremely hard to drag myself out of bed this morning after last night's weather warning. Storms on the other hand I find exhilarating. Off to St. Fachtna's Cathedral for 11.30am service and then I think I'll go to see a hockey match in Clonakilty at 1pm. Why am I going? Well you may ask, but I was told last night one of my sisters is an umpire for it. It'll be

'My Coffee du Jour' Today is my day for catching up with Willie and the lads, and I'm even doing a bit of time in the kitchen/house. During the week, most conversation revolves around business in one form or another and it's easy to get stuck in that rut. What a joy this morning to get up and look forward to a leisurely cup of coffee (trying Cork Coffee Roasters today) Yesterday I was in the motor tax office and realised it's quite a while since I've been there. I truly dreaded going because it was the last working day in October and the queues are always out the door; it didn't help that I was landing there between 1 & 2pm - the busiest time of the day. What a shock to the system and a realisation of how much business is now done online. In front of me stood about 10 people with just three hatches open to customers. In the time I was there however, what came to me was that every one of those customers needed time to sort their queries, and what p

My post earlier this morning could be construed as depressing and no doubt it is for all caught up in this horrific spiral, and now for something entirely different, last Saturday morning was a busy one in Quish's S.V., Ballincollig with a number of different companies doing tastings. I ended up near the front door so lots of people told me they could smell the pudding, rashers and bacon as they arrived to do their shopping. Hopefully they found our products on the shelf over the weekend and took them home to see if they could achieve the same results. I expected two special visitors, Bill & Janet King ,  from Wales. Bill has to come over here regularly to stock up on things like buttermilk and flour for their Irish Soda Bread which Bill bakes and sells in Wales. I knew they had planned to visit Midleton Market , but their thoughtfulness in bringing me an Arbutus 'pain au chocolat' from the market courtesy of Deirdre meant so much and also gave me a good laugh. Deirdre

It's a busy time in many households, but yesterday I had a few minutes to listen to Seán O'Rourke on Radio 1 , and the piece stopped me in my tracks. I forgot that I was trying to cook something flavoursome for a very health conscious teen and work through some last minute.com stuff. Listen to it: to the couple who have meat at weekends and then it's always mince but during the week eat bread and fruit, and veg from their own garden because they simply don't have the money as they struggle to pay the mortgage to keep a roof over their heads; the man who is being put through hell by his bank even though he has been up front and straightforward when he got in trouble with payments, attended the doctor who wrote a letter to 'the bank' - the response horrified me: he received a 7 day notice to vacate his home with his family from 'the bank'! By calling it 'the bank', we neutralise the noun and that takes responsibility off real people. 'The

I can't believe we're over halfway through November. Today has been an extra long day in the unit but I'm looking forward to a Harp Recital in Bank of Ireland, Clonakilty, tomorrow. Last week to launch the Bank of Ireland Enterprise Week, they presented cheques to local charities from funds raised through various coffee mornings etc. It was really enjoyable to be there & tomorrow will be very special I have no doubt. All going well, I will have a fully charged phone & will be able to tweet a photo or two. Meanwhile ham orders are starting to trickle in, but I'm trying to ask everyone to have a chat with me before 8th December. I'll come back to this at another time. Meanwhile I'll be in Quish's S.V., Ballincollig on Saturday from 10am-1.30pm; then I'm looking forward to joining members of the newly formed West Cork Coeliac Support Group for Afternoon Tea in the Celtic Ross Hotel . If you're interested, check out the link as soon as possibl

I love delivering but sometimes wish I could write, talk and drive all at the same time as so many ideas swirl around. I had what I was going to write today all planned and then an email arrived and totally changed my thought processes. I'm a fan of the SLOW Food movement and we are fortunate in West Cork to have Frank Krawczyk spearheading the resurgence of this fantastic organisation. Having attended the dinner cooked by the 4-midable chefs, Karen, Carmel, Tessa & Caitlin, details for the next event were waiting for me this morning: Organico Cooks the Books! Come and join us for a bite to eat and a glass of wine on "Good, Clean and Fair" Terre Mardre Day in the newly and beautifully extended Organico Cafe. Date and time: 10th December from 5pm to 8pm . A celebration of 3 great books and short talks by the authors: Giana Ferguson , Karen Austin and Sally McKenna . A convivial, casual supper in Organico Cafe using inspiration from each book. €20 mem

It's always busy here on a Monday as orders arrive by telephone, text & email. Production carries on and then there's picking and invoices before the first deliveries of the week head out the door. Woe betide any of the family who might think of an excuse to avoid this routine (in the past few years, I've missed one day due to a medical appointment). The lads are absolutely superb though and would never dream of skiving off. Maybe because all of us have so much of our energy committed to it and our lives revolve around our business. This morning as we were slicing rashers, I began thinking of the variation in the size of the rashers and especially the free range. You'd think I was stuck in a groove as I regularly repeat that our pigs are not a 'one size fits all'. This is reflected in the rashers. Wandering around supermarkets and especially in our larger towns, it's easy to see why there is a disconnect between food production and the packaged product.

You all know I was heading for Maryborough House Hotel last night courtesy of AA Foodies & what a night it was. Basically, I was looking forward to a night out with pretty good food in good company. My friend, Elke O'Mahony, was also among the chosen and now I have another Twitter buddy, Claire. The positives to my night were: meeting such a lovely welcoming staff in Bellini's, who anticipated often before I thought I needed more water or wine; & regularly nudged me to my seat to enjoy the latest creation from the kitchen; the time that each person from AA & Maryborough took to ensure everyone was being looked after & not just the AA Foodie 10 (I like 'people watching'); Executive Chef, Brendan's, patience as he allowed us to make suggestions where we thought some tweaking was necessary - note the word 'tweaking' as I, for one, couldn't fault the dishes, quality, execution and presentation. I've often said it but I really do enjo

I know it's ages since I was on, but have been sort of busy. As I previously said, I had the privilege of being one of 10 people who were honoured to enjoy the new menu in Bellini's in the AA Hotel of the Year, Maryborough House , last Wednesday evening. A wonderful evening and it was great to meet a few more bloggers too. Home on Thursday, and in the middle of writing a post for this blog, there was a bit of a thunder storm. For the second time in recent months, our broadband coverage was knocked out in the processing unit. I didn't panic as on the last occasion when I rang Rapid Broadband , they very sensibly advised that they wouldn't send anyone to do repairs until the weather improved. By Friday, I knew it needed to be fixed so rang and they arrived yesterday morning. Meanwhile I was in Tullamore for the NPCpp (National Parents Council Post Primary) National Conference in Tullamore Court Hotel . The speakers were excellent and I was able to attend two of the thr

No writing yesterday as I was on the road all day, literally. It was dark for the first few hours leaving home & dark a couple of hours before I got back. Believe me, I'm not complaining. It's great to have the work. Please, please stay safe by being seen. The number of vehicles with no lights on in the city in the dark yesterday was crazy, but worse was to come as I drove home last night & if I hadn't seen the red jacket held by a pedestrian, I don't know what would have happened. It is terrifying to wear no reflection on dark days and we're going to see more of this before it gets brighter!  Boat Crews training on River Lee 11.11.14   Out on the road, I sometimes see some lovely or interesting things. Yesterday morning as I drove along the river from the Ballinure G.A.A.Club, Mahon, to Castle Café , Blackrock around 7.45am, I noticed these four boats on the river and the crews were having a grand chat. Of course, by the time, I'd parked &

Just downloaded my emails and what a lovely idea: up to 10 people will be notified on Monday, 10th November, if they will be the lucky people to attend a dinner hosted by AA in Maryborough House Hotel on Wednesday, 12th. I've entered because it would round out an already hectic day but more of that closer to the time. Today has been busy enough as I visited Cork City Hall to attend The Allergy & Free From Expo. I know that if you spoke to no-one, you could probably 'do' the exhibition in less than 10 minutes, but I always feel that if I engage with the exhibitors, I'll learn far more. So I do. Having been an exhibitor myself, I know what it's like as people give a cursory glance in passing but never ask anything! A total disaster, and depressing as well. Tomorrow, I know that one very interesting stand will be the Irish Skin Foundation as well as the Irish Asthmatic Association , but there is something to be gleaned from all of them as well as the talks and

An unexpected order meant braving the elements or in this case heavy incessant rain to drive to Scally's S.V., Clonakilty . Now that I'm indoors again, I'm determined to occupy myself with any chores that need to be done and won't take me out again, and that includes doing some writing. However before I sit to write a piece for a newspaper, I'm listening to Sean O'Rourke discussing a book called 'Being Mortal' with the author,  Atul Gawande . It is fascinating discussing the whole situation in 'the end of life' from breaking bad news to the whole situation regarding another round of treatment, palliative care etc. I've just heard of a website & leaflet: 'Think Ahead' which I think I'm going to get. There is a need for older people to have a purpose and plan in life including discussing their future and how it would be approaching the end. On a personal note, I think the mistake is in leaving this until I have no choice. It

I admit it, I'm not an ideal office person. Great at not throwing anything out, but a disaster at remembering where anything is. I've just been asked for information which we'd probably have accumulated in 2005-2006! I haven't an iota of a clue, so my solution is to sleep on it. Before I do however, I must make some of my swirls for the Lettercollum Book Launch this evening. I've seen the book & it's gorgeous. I'll tell more when I've had a chance to view the recipes, but I'm really excited & that's as a purchaser. Was in Lettercollum this afternoon with our delivery and there was a lovely feeling of calm anticipation. Everything's under control. I wish I could say the same for my files! Until tomorrow Avril

Despite one really heavy shower of rain, today is really lovely. Cold but sure another layer of clothes won't hurt me! I had a lovely day yesterday reading some amazing recipes. I really enjoy the community recipe books usually produced in aid of a good cause, but also the ones from far flung places, which I'm unlikely to ever visit. I have a beautiful sort of coffee table/tourism promotion book on Nova Scotia which is not very large but very interesting. Over the next while, I'm going to take photos with my less than modern iPhone & put them up for everyone to review. However now, I've enjoyed my 5 minute break and it's time to return to the office work.

The title of this post is from a favourite phrase spoken by Arthur Daley in very popular 1980's British TV series 'Minder' . I always wondered if 'her indoors' every appeared outdoors; and indeed what kept her occupied indoors all day long. Today is one of those days when I'm finding out what 'her indoors' might have done - changing beds, vacuuming, using the washing machine in a vain hope that at the end of the day, there will be no more dirty clothes, and so on. To be honest, I find housework faintly depressing as it's rarely noticed when it's done right, but everyone is aware when it's not done at all. However I've also been typing some of my recipes and all going well, they'll appear over the next few weeks in my other blog . My biggest problem is that I love nothing more than sitting down and browsing my cookery books for the next recipe I want to try & that's exactly what I'm going to do now. It's horribly wet