Let's Sit for a Cup of Tea

Hello there, come on in, sit down and let's have a chat! It's so lovely to see you again, I do so enjoy our monthly catch up and cuppa. My favourite pot is full and I have baked some chocolate and vanilla marble cake which you're more than welcome to take a slice (or three!) of. Don't be shy - I'll be helping myself generously.

So how have things been with you? Can you believe that August is over and September is almost here?  It seems like only yesterday that the whole summer was stretching out ahead of us... And now I'm looking back wistfully that the lazy days of summer have elapsed! But there's something nice about autumn creeping up too. The blackberries have started to appear on the bushes, darkness is descending earlier and there is a definite chill in the air. I'm getting the urge to bake more and I even broke out the crochet hook and the chunky wool at the weekend and made a cowl/neck-warmer (the whole thing took two hours from start to finish and was so easy, my kind of project!). But enough of my ramblings, what are your thoughts on the changing seasons? Are you a bit nostalgic for the summer days, or ready for the crisp leaves and cosy fires of autumn?

Go on, have another cup of tea, and more cake? I promise I won't tell! September has always been a month of routine for me, getting back to school or university. However, since I qualified as a teacher last year, things have been a little different due to the challenging job situation here in Ireland. I was lucky enough to get a position in a little school I loved last November, but since it was a temporary contract I've spent my summer job-hunting again. Sadly, nothing has come up and it's been really disheartening and depressing. I feel like going into the streets with a sandwich board: "Somebody HIRE ME!!" Just kidding...maybe! I've sent tons of applications and got too many rejections... But I suppose I'm doing everything I can and just have to trust and pray that something will turn up. Rant over, I promise!

On a happier topic, I'm absolutely loving getting back to crafting these days! What are you creating at the moment? I tried cross stitch for the first time this week (slow progress but very pretty), I'm doing some crochet, and I've gotten massively back into scrapbooking. I got a big order in the post last week from Two Peas (seriously, it was like Christmas coming early!), and I also made a massive order of 170 photos from Photobox. I had piles of pictures, from Italy and London and meeting new and old friends and my school year and day trips and my birthday... It was so lovely when they all arrived! Do you order photos or print at home? I'd love to hear your recommendations about home printing!

Oh no, is that the time? I can't believe our tea has passed so quickly - but I'm afraid I've got to run. I'm trying to cram as much into these last few days of summer as I can, and that involves meeting up with school and uni friends, helping my sister move into her uni accommodation, taking impromptu shopping trips, crafting as much as possible, watching the Great British Bake Off, applying for more jobs, reading loads and drinking lots of tea and coffee in between! Thank you so much for coming for tea, and do promise you'll come again next month?

Today, I'm joining in with Abi's lovely meme about sharing a cup of tea over at Creating Paper Dreams. Pop over and say hi to Abi (she's the best!) and read the other tea tales from other bloggers from all over the world. 

xxx

Adventures in Macro Photography

I love macro photography, but it's always been a kind of admiration from afar, a bit like unrequited love if you like. I'd browse through beautiful macro shots online and marvel at the stunning detail they captured. I even used macro photos for a project during one of my teaching practice placements... One of those 'guess what this is' kind of games! But I knew the chances of me ever shooting macro photos was slim. For one thing, the lenses cost an absolute fortune, and I really wouldn't get enough use out of it to justify the price tag even if I could afford it.

Then this summer, I unexpectedly got my first taste of macro. After coming back from my cousin's wedding in June, I noticed these weird blue lines across the middle of the photos. The sensor was damaged (if I ever find out who dropped my camera, there'll be trouble!) and I was told it was going to take a few weeks to fix it. Sad times! I was so disappointed, but my uncle, a MAJOR photography enthusiast, came to the rescue. He loaned me his fancy Canon 600D, which is his backup camera (!), along with a macro lens for me to experiment with. I was so excited!

It was a huge learning curve... In the space of a few days, I had learned to use a new camera, I had messed around with a tripod, I had used manual focus for the first time and I had produced my first (very basic!) macro shots. It's a totally different type of photography than what I'm used to. It's slow and precise, and it takes a long time to set up a shot and get it perfect. The slightest shudder of movement and the picture is ruined. And I have to admit that, on my uncle's advice, I spent more than a few evenings chasing flies around, wielding a can of fly spray, trying to kill one for a photo! Yes, really! I got more up close and personal with things like wriggly caterpillars and slimy snails than I ever would have anticipated. And though my sister wasn't very impressed with how disgusting these creatures are when massively magnified, it was worth it for the pictures!

Sadly, the time has come to return the camera and lens, now that my own beloved model has returned in full working order. However, I have to say that I really enjoyed my flirtation with macro photography. Have you ever tried macro?

The Story of a Friendship

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Abi. She wrote a beautiful blog that I'm sure you are familiar with, where she shared tales of her life at boarding school, and later on her gap year and at uni in northern England. She posted stunning photos and inspiring craft projects, intermingled with snippets and slices of her everyday life. I found her home on the web through some other craft blogs and was instantly hooked by her limitless talent and the web of words she weaves. I was so excited to discover someone the same age as me, who had similar interests. There aren't many girls in their early twenties who have a passion for crafts and wool and blogging and storytelling! After a while, I plucked up the courage to comment on her posts. Before I knew it, we became Facebook friends, and then progressed from short Facebook messages to long emails. We shared stories of our day-to-day experiences... Abi told me about her uni life while I relayed stories about teaching and waiting for the inspector to arrive! We talked about everything and anything, and gradually the emails became longer and longer as we got to know each other better and shared more! I looked forward to a message from Abi popping up in my inbox, and enjoying her stories curled up with a cup of tea (what else?!). This blog wouldn't be here if it weren't for the gentle nagging and inspiration of Abi. True story!

So when my parents got me the present of a trip to London with my sister for my 21st birthday, I wondered if maybe we could meet. We had chatted so much online that I already felt I knew Abi even though we'd never met in real life. So I asked her in my next mammoth email if she'd be interested in coming to London during the summer when I'd be there. And she said she'd love to! I was so excited. We'd be able to chat about Project Life and uni and teaching and blogging and everything. It was going to be magic.

And last Wednesday, I finally got to meet the lovely lady who I have formed a friendship with through blogging and emailing. And though I was a little nervous as I saw her mustard cardigan coming through a crowded Covent Garden, I needn't have worried. We talked and talked the entire time, as we strolled around the streets of bustling London. We shared a real cup of tea (as opposed to a virtual one!) and lunch in a cute little place (once we got past all the sushi places London has to offer!). We took some photos (me with the SLR, she with the iPhone). It was magic. We never stopped talking, and Abi was just as sweet and friendly and lovely as I imagined. And all too soon, the hours had flown past and Abi had to go back to her train. So we walked to the tube station and shared a huge hug before she disappeared into the stream of Londoners.
Thank you for a wonderful afternoon Abi! I can't wait to meet again.

Scrapbooking with a Kit

Scrapbooking and crafting in general is one of the most relaxing things in the world for me. This academic year, school and work and the pressures of being a teacher in my first year of work meant that crafty endeavours were at an absolute minimum. Sad times. When the summer holidays rolled around, I was determined to get back to scrapbooking, where I can get lost in stories and patterns and photos for hours... But it was all a bit overwhelming when I hadn't crafted in so long. Luckily, it was Shimelle to the rescue, as she hosted a variety of challenges last Bank Holiday weekend aimed at using up kit supplies. So I created my own kit with the supplies I had at hand and decided on a few challenges that I would attempt using my kit only. Now, I am a slow scrapper... I look and change my mind and rearrange and layer and cluster and plan and journal... and that's all before I even start to stick things down! So limiting my supplies and having some challenges really helped to structure my scrapbooking.

Challenge #1: Scrapbooking in triplicate

This was an easy challenge for me to start with...three really is my magic number when it comes to scrapbooking. If I go through my albums, I come across countless layouts with three clusters of embellishment, further decorated by groups of three butterflies, wood veneers etc (as I've done here). This layout has a photo of my sister and I as flower girls at a few weddings when we were small - we felt like princesses! 

Challenge #2: Scrapbooking with three 3x4 cards

I know that 3x4 cards have become hugely popular with the advent of Project Life, but I love the idea of including these elements on a full 12x12 layout. These three cards were from a cut apart sheet, and I put them with photos from my cousin's wedding last September. The vintage car scheduled to bring the newly married couple to the reception broke down because the clever driver left his lights on for the whole ceremony! Definitely a moment for the scrapbook!

Challenge #3: Scrapbooking with your choice of a sketch

I'm not a big user of sketches, but anytime I do use one, I love the results and ask myself why I don't do it more often? Shimelle is the unchallenged queen of sketches (in my opinion anyway!), so I liked this challenge. I chose Shimelle's sketch number 10, entitled 'Busy Busy'. This layout records the quirky coolness of Le Centre Pompidou in Paris, where I visited with my friend last summer.

Challenge #4: Scrapbooking on the vertical

When I thought about scrapbooking with a dominant vertical line, I immediately thought of a journalling-heavy page (most of my layouts are journalling-heavy actually!). I had loads of space on this layout to describe a horrible short fringe I had cut in my hair in December 2011, and the MANY bad hair days that ensued! This is also a monochromatic aqua/turquoise layout...I can't get enough of that colour!

I'm back to scrapbooking with a vengeance! More layouts to share soon!

Sinéad xxx

Storytelling Sunday: A Love of Books

Today, I am joining in with Sian's Storytelling Sunday. On the first Sunday of each month, she urges us to think of the little things that are precious to us, things that are part of the fabric of our lives, and to tell the story behind them. Join her High in the Sky for more stories!

I am a reader. I always have been and I probably always will be. I was the child that begged for trips to the bookshop with its endless shelves of crisp new books, waiting to be discovered. I was the child that was lucky enough to be read to every night before I went to sleep. I was the child that hid under the covers of my bed, reading until the early hours by the faint light of a torch. I was the child that devoured books in a single night, my eyes skimming the words faster than I could turn the pages.

As I grew up, things didn't change all that much. Though school, university and now working life can sometimes get in the way, I always return to books. When worries and fears threaten and loom, a book can take me away to a place inside my imagination. I usually end up getting totally engrossed and reading for far longer than I had intended!

Now, I pretty much read anything and everything. Do I follow trends? Yes, I have to admit that if I see a book climbing the bestsellers list, I am always tempted to see what the fuss is about. So I recently read 'Gone Girl' and 'The Hunger Games', and I bought 'A Game of Thrones' yesterday. Jumping on the bandwagon, I know! However, I'll give anything a try, from thrillers and classics, to mysteries and girly romances, and everything in between. I don't generally reread books (with the exception of 'Harry Potter', obviously!) and a book called 'The Night Before Christmas' by Alice Taylor, which evocatively describes the traditions and joy of an old-style Irish family Christmas - I try to read it during the festive season every year.

When I began to think about which books are precious to me, childhood reads immediately came to mind. Nowadays, in an era of Kindles and readers and cheap paperbacks, books have almost become disposable to an extent. I find this sad. While I can see the advantages of a Kindle (and I was sorry I didn't have one with me on holidays as I get through books far too quickly), there's nothing like the feel of a book in your hands, turning those smooth pages, creasing the spine for the first time.

So these are some of the books that I had as a child, in the days before 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' or 'The Gruffalo'. These are (some of the many) books that are battered and torn (some more than others!), and that I couldn't part with for the world. They certainly are more than precious to me, because each one brings with it a wealth of memories and stories, cuddles on the couch and sleepy bedtimes and reading lying on my tummy on the floor...

'Spot's Birthday Party', by Eric Hill: This beautiful hide and seek lift-the-flap book definitely falls into the category of very well read. It has been sellotaped together more times than I can imagine, especially all those flaps which were impatiently ripped up as opposed to gently lifted!

'The Elephant and the Bad Baby', by Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs: This is another book embellished with trusty sellotape! A classic cumulative tale where one character chases after another and each page sees a new addition to the train, my favourite part of this book was the rumpeta rumpeta rumpeta refrain.

'The Tale of Georgie Grub', by Jeanne Willis: My Dad bought this book on a trip to America and brought it back as a gift when I was four. I can remember bringing it to school and asking my teacher to read it to the class. It's a fabulous rhyming cautionary story about a little boy who refuses to wash!

There were many more... Dr. Seuss' 'Cat in the Hat' and his other books, all the fairytales, 'Charlotte's Web', and later everything written by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson was read. Books are precious. No question!

Sinéad xxx

Time for Tea... Or Espresso?

I'm a little late to the lovely Abi's monthly tea party, but I've been reading all of your tea stories and I said I'd join in anyway! Pop on over to Abi's home on the web to share a virtual cuppa with bloggers from all over the world.

Anyway, hello, come on in through the door, the kettle is on the boil - as it pretty much always is in our house! I'm so delighted you've decided to pop by for a chat and a catch up, it has been too long. Please do excuse the mess though, I just returned from a fabulous week of holidays in Italy with my family, and I'm still in the process of unpacking. So, would you like tea or coffee? To tell you the truth, I never used to be a coffee fan - I loved the strong, heady smell of freshly ground coffee beans, but found the taste acrid and bitter. However, my experience on a school staff of obsessive coffee drinkers this year has definitely converted me! I may be becoming a bit of a connoisseur (read: addict) at this stage...so much so, I even hit the hard stuff when we were in Italia, the home of good coffee, yes, I drank espresso. And lots of it, along with several creamy cappuccinos and lattes. I'm seriously tempted to get a coffee machine now that I'm home and the instant stuff isn't cutting it anymore! One thing Italy doesn't have going for it is the tea though. I was literally gasping for proper Irish tea when I got home, with just a small splash of milk and never any sugar (because I'm sweet enough already). It's the prefect accompaniment to everything and the answer to every problem! What are your coffee/tea preferences? Whatever you fancy, pour yourself a cup or three and make yourself comfortable. And go on, you know you want a scone, Mum just made them this morning!

So what's going on in your world since we chatted last? I've been busy, but it's been fantastic to be on holidays and get a bit of a break at last. I turned 21 earlier this month, and had a party in my local pub with some family and friends. It was fantastic to get together with some people that I hadn't seen in almost a year, and to get together with friends from secondary school and university, along with cousins and family. We danced and sang and did the Limbo and 'rocked the boat' and just had such a lovely time. I'll have to tell you all about it again sometime, and I promise I'll show you the photos too! And then of course, I was in stunning Sorrento on the coast of Italy with my parents and sister for the last week. It was just bliss...scorching sunshine, azure blue cloudless skies, breathtaking scenery, quaint dimly lit streets, tangy golden lemons, fascinating history and culture, sparkling turquoise waters, crisp cheesy pizza... I could go on! Have you ever been? Or are you going on holidays anywhere this year? I think it's really lovely to get a break if you can, see somewhere different, even take a day trip to get a change of scenery and a break away from reality.

Speaking of reality, now that I'm back in the Emerald Isle, I have to face just that, and the painful task that is applying for jobs once again. Sadly, the job that I was in for most of last year was only a temporary contract, so it's back to job hunting for September. I hate the uncertainty of not knowing where I'm going to be or what I'll be doing for the next academic year. It's scary and stressful, but I'm trying to trust that what's right for me will come along and not get too worried as I send in applications with crossed fingers! How is work for you at the moment? Have you ever experienced the disheartening task of sending applications and CVs to no avail? Anyway, sorry, I promise that's my rant over for today!

Another scone? More tea? Some Milka chocolate from the airport perhaps? Go on, you know you want to! I'll make another pot of tea, why not? It is the summer holidays after all. Though you wouldn't know it to look out the window here at the moment! It's been showery since I got back from sunny Italy yesterday, but I guess I can't complain. We enjoyed a glorious three weeks of sunshine here in Ireland before I went on holidays, and when I say sunshine, I mean PROPER sunshine. The kind of sunshine in which you simply cannot wear jeans (though you still see some people in their skinnies when the temperature is above 30 degrees, what's that all about?!) and need to slap on bottles of sticky suncream and can sit out in a little sundress at night and still feel warm. The kind of sunshine that demands you drink endless litres of water and slurp ice-cream constantly to cool you down. The kind of sunshine we hadn't had in a LONG time in Ireland! But of course, there are some people who aren't happy unless they're complaining, so no sooner than the sun had peeked through the clouds, people could be heard, "wouldn't you just kill for a drop of rain?!" Not me! Sun is all good, I'll take some more thank you very much! So what's the weather been like where you are at the moment?

It's been just so lovely to meet up for tea again after so long. I do love catching up with friends, and what better way than over a hot beverage and some baked goods. I can't wait to do it again soon. And now that I'm back from holidays, I truly hope that more regular blogging service can be resumed! I have lots to talk about (don't I always!) and loads to share.

Thanks again for joining me (and Abi) today...even if I am a little late!

Sinéad xxx

Back West

Oh my goodness...it has been a while. Ok, it's been more than a while! But things have been busy, and I'll admit that the longer I went without blogging, the harder it got to sit down and write a post. However, the summer holidays are now here and school's out for a few weeks, so the time for procrastination is over at last!

I spent the last eight months teaching in a rural two teacher school on the west coast of Ireland. Now sometimes when people refer to the 'west of Ireland', they are alluding to the general area beyond the midlands remotely near the coast. So when I say I was teaching 'back west', I really mean west...so west, in fact, that the adorable local pub was advertised with the tagline: 'Closest Bar to New York'! (As the crow flies, of course!) The little village I lived and worked in is located close to Loop Head, on the very tip of Co. Clare, the part of Ireland that juts erratically into the Atlantic Ocean. What a setting!

So while the setting of my first job was slightly isolated for a young 20-year-old teacher, I can't deny I loved living by the sea, seeing the wild crashing waves and the stunning sunsets, marvelling at the breathtaking scenery, and taking lots of photos along the way of course! Have I convinced you to visit yet?! The Loop Head peninsula was actually recently named as the best place to holiday in Ireland - I'd totally be your tour guide if you came to visit!

It's been some year - expect lots of school stories in the next few weeks!

Sinéad
xxx