Diary of a busyish woman

Many moons ago, I was a year behind my peers when I eventually struck out on my own and headed to Cork to begin an intensive secretarial course. My parents decided I should stay in a hostel and that proved to be a learning curve. I always viewed it as a stepping stone but met people who had spent years living there! I became a 'joiner'. It was a case of anything but sitting looking at four walls and I was never the person who'd been involved in sport so voluntary organisations were the natural outlet for me. One organisation very often led to another so that when there was a N.Y.C.I  - 80's Revisited ( National Youth Council of Ireland ) gathering in The Mansion House , Dublin recently, I was delighted to go. From Scouting to church organisations and political, this umbrella organisation crosses many a divide and those people who were involved in voluntary organisations 30 and 40 years ago are still willingly giving their time to the same and other organisations in thei...

Summer is coming and in West Cork , we welcome people from all over the world. Some will pass us by on the roads and increasingly, in my view, we spend less and less time going out or indeed going out of our way to meet and speak with people. Perhaps I'm being simplistic by suggesting that from the moment we were able to listen to a radio followed in short order by the television and now computers and telephones, our need to interact with anyone including our nearest neighbours has diminished. Humans are social creatures and one of the reasons that there haven't been more hermits is because we're also curious about what's happening in the world around us. Now the fantasy is touted that you don't have to step outside your front door (or even your bedroom door) for the world to come to you - everything from the clothes on your back to the food you eat to the people you 'virtually' call your friends. I believe this is unhealthy and it horrifies me to watch pe...

If you're wondering what on earth has happened to me, when so many in West Cork are anything but rich, allow me to explain. We have some of the most talented people on earth living in West Cork, some come for a holiday or to rejuvenate their muse, but so many live here and find inspiration in the place and people. West Cork people, and I include me in this, often don't take the time to sit and just count our blessings and we truly have many - good food and isn't it wonderful to see Frank Krawczyk, acclaimed food producer, spearheading the West Cork Slow Food revival; then it's on to all the festivals that happen in West Cork from food to walking to music to sport and art in all their forms. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to attend the Clonakilty Games Festival last weekend but was away in Dublin doing tastings in Avoca Rathcoole , The Country Market, Howth & Thyme Out, Dalkey . I had a wonderful time and thanks to everyone including my aun...

Since before Hallowe'en, I've become used to the volume of pallets and combis in every store at the back door, so this week, it actually stopped me in my tracks to see large areas of floor space in most places. Shelves were no longer groaning with the baking ingredients, Christmas decorations, and all those essentials we're supposed to need; pallets of fizzy drinks didn't have to be negotiated and staff were rather more relaxed than over the Christmas period. This clear-out (and inevitably all these stores will also have done a stocktake) reminded me that I need to do something similar in our home. As you know, I've hardly seen much more than the bed over the past few weeks, but now's the time. I'm sure also I'm not the only one who has a stock of wrapping paper - never used; Christmas cards - neither written on nor sent; clothes that will never again be worn; and my biggest fault - books bought and read, but definitely not amongst the favourites to be r...

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...