Diary of a busyish woman

Hi, An ad in the Southern Star nudged my train of thought for this post. Who are our heroes? How do we identify them? What makes a hero?  Those questions, I'm sure, aren't in a logical order and having recently attended a food safety course led by Denis Kiely , SQT-Training , I should have  a better grasp of this word, logic, and it's step by step thought process. But bear with me, I'm long in the tooth; suffice to say that I left the training knowing a lot more and knowing that I need to know a lot more!!! A sign of a really good course. But back to my original topic:- Hero.  It's a word that packs a punch. You don't call everyone you meet a hero and yet if we look hard enough, there are heroes to be found everywhere and most of them don't actually wear the word emblazoned on their backs or have halo's glowing brightly over their heads.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary , a hero is ' A person who is admired for their courage, outstan...

 www.telemuseum.org/images/sagem-teleprinter-tx20.jpg Admitting yesterday that I'm no mechanic started me on the route of what I'm not too bad doing and that sent me down memory lane. I completed a 13 week intensive secretarial training course in Autumn 1979, where the most exciting thing was when I was finally (in my last week) allowed to use an IBM Golfball typewriter . I thought I'd arrived! In my first full-time job though, I was faced with quite a challenge - a Sagem Telex machine. On this I was expected to type ships' manifests onto ticker tape, & this was transmitted to a few different places including head office. In a short time, I was an expert at reading the tape and could easily amend any errors. Some years later, I temped in a Building & Construction company in Dublin, where I spied a Sagem telex in a corner. It had arrived but no-one had the confidence to try it so it had sat for the better part of a year - unused - so I taught everyone in ...

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. ...

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...

 It's been one of those days & now my poor brain is buzzing. This morning we had our monthly FSAI audit, which is done through the County Council Veterinary Dept . Everything went well & these days it is as much a conversation as it is a regulatory inspection. If I have queries or issues, I can discuss them; and our vet is willing to advise us. I for one am delighted with this very proactive approach to our food business, and indeed very relieved also that there is a listening expert ear for that occasion when something goes wrong. In food business, you can never be too careful or complacent. Then I headed to Brosnan's in Schull who were celebrating their lovely revamp with a host of local producers. I often say that small producers don't often get a chance to shoot the breeze as we try to do a range of functions to progress our business. I literally parked my van at the front door, changed from jeans to a dress and left again this time for the laun...