...12 days of freedom!

...my last day at work for a little while! I have this week updated all my work files...archived all the old stuff...fixed the purchase orders...de-cluttered my office...made hazelnut coffee...sent payroll details off for staff...updated our transport lists...had lunch with the main office staff...put in a stationery order...phoned new nursery parents...received flowers from a old parent...fixed the photocopier....listened to classic fm...made up consent form packs...emptied the bins (I'm not proud!)...and now...in 1 hr 15 mins...I shall leave the desk with a smile of contentment on my face!

I'm so looking forward to going to the Greenbelt Festival next weekend...lots of great speakers...music...art...and friends (old and new)- ahhhh lovely!

Clouds...and angels...

I loved these clouds I saw yesterday...and they made me think of a favourite poem...


Questions About Angels
by Billy Collins


Of all the questions you might want to ask
about angels, the only one you ever hear
is how many can dance on the head of a pin.


No curiosity about how they pass the eternal time
besides circling the Throne chanting in Latin
or delivering a crust of bread to a hermit on earth
or guiding a boy and girl across a rickety wooden bridge.


Do they fly through God's body and come out singing?
Do they swing like children from the hinges
of the spirit world saying their names backwards and forwards?
Do they sit alone in little gardens changing colors?


What about their sleeping habits, the fabric of their robes,
their diet of unfiltered divine light?
What goes on inside their luminous heads? Is there a wall
these tall presences can look over and see hell?


If an angel fell off a cloud, would he leave a hole
in a river and would the hole float along endlessly
filled with the silent letters of every angelic word?


If an angel delivered the mail, would he arrive
in a blinding rush of wings or would he just assume
the appearance of the regular mailman and
whistle up the driveway reading the postcards?


No, the medieval theologians control the court.
The only question you ever hear is about
the little dance floor on the head of a pin
where halos are meant to converge and drift invisibly.


It is designed to make us think in millions,
billions, to make us run out of numbers and collapse
into infinity, but perhaps the answer is simply one:
one female angel dancing alone in her stocking feet,
a small jazz combo working in the background.


She sways like a branch in the wind, her beautiful
eyes closed, and the tall thin bassist leans over
to glance at his watch because she has been dancing
forever, and now it is very late, even for musicians.



Billy Collins, “Questions About Angels” from Questions about Angels. Copyright © 1991 by Billy Collins. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Reprinted with the permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press, www.pitt.edu/~press/.

Source: Questions about Angels: Poems (1991).

...memories...

A few evenings ago - when a group of friends began talking about school days - it amazed me how many stories and emotions came flooding back. Some stories being told about certain teachers and situations were so funny my sides were sore from laughing. Some other stories made me upset even now. I was transported back to the smell of chalk and echoing corridors and it was quite unnerving. I guess we all have highs and lows connected with our school days - 'just wondered how the school children today cope with all the stress...sort of glad I'm working!!

five things that make me happy...

1 a smile from a friend
2 being given a card when it's not my birthday!
3 someone phoning out of the blue for coffee
4 a second hand book bought just for me
5 a loving family

...pics below...

...forgot to say...you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

Hope you're having a good week. I'm in the middle of a massive clear out of my work space! I'm surrounded by floppy disks...bin bags...and dust!! ...cough!

...a few recent photos....

...enjoy the weekend!

...Hope your weekend is a special one!

One question.... what are you reading at the moment? I want some ideas as I'm between books...ta!

...when words are not enough...

...in the past day or two - three people have shared their feelings of grief with me.

One girl lost a good friend three months ago and he would have been 26 this past weekend...she texted me with the following verse...

'the grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it, surely the people are grass...but the word of our God will stand forever'...


One of my best friends shared last night how the loss of his mum has affected him during the past year..how he misses her words of encouragement...her look of total acceptance...her touch.

I wanted to cry.

A work colleague wept today over the death of her dad this month...he was 60.


....I feel privileged to be alongside these people...to listen...and to hold them when words are not enough.

...I'm still here!!

Sorry no blogs recently. I've been on holiday to beautiful Dorset (this is not my photo but it gives you any idea of the lovely houses!)
and not back to work - as most of you know I don't possess a computer at home...yes...strange isn't it!? But I hope to get back with a longer posting very soon. Hope all of you out there are well and enjoying the summer months! Bye for a little while.

...Hello? Can I speak to the real me?

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~Dr. Seuss

God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. ~William Shakespeare

We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves. ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

...lack of posts...abundance of workload!

...apologies for not posting more...but I usually pop a little thought on during lunch time at work and work is just so hectic right now...it's impossible - well almost impossible as I'm clearly posting right now!! There's light at the end of the tunnel though with a couple of holiday weeks coming up in July...horray!

I had a lovely wee time over this past weekend...meeting up with Keli, Gail and Sarah over a coffee at St George's Market (a great little market in Belfast open each Saturday). I read recently that it's the oldest covered market in Ireland - who'd have guessed!? I just love the atmosphere...the food stalls...herbal teas...jewellery...and bumping into whoever happens to be there!

Well...folks...that's all for now - until next time - take care and if you feel inspired - leave a little comment! Mo

..before the rains came

...some shots from my garden...you can see the images clearer if you click on them!

...my symphony

I've never been one for 'keeping up with the Joneses' - it doesn't really matter to me if a neighbour gets a new car...I never lose sleep over someone having a better salary...it doesn't annoy me that my clothes haven't a designer label. I listen to people whose aim in life is to better themselves...to get the best and be the best (and sometimes that's not a bad thing)...but it seems that they are so sad and stressed all the time! Though I have to admit it's sometimes very difficult not to get sucked into the whole materialism thing...I want to be content with my lovely life...my family..friends...job...health...home...books...art...coffee...faith...music...whatever is happening right now...I want to be thankful and content...that's what I'm aiming for.

I read this recently and adored it...

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony."
William Henry Channing's Symphony

...water water everywhere!

Living in Northern Ireland we're used to rain...rain in the spring, summer, autumn and winter...but never rain like this!!
This week brought flooding to my local area - like I've never seen before! Today it feels more like November than June!! What's it like where you are?

Bye from a chilly Belfast....Mo

Work...Work...Work!

I haven't been here for a while. It's been particularly busy in work just now...a busy month and then a well deserved rest next month! Yeah!

We all struggle at times with stress at work...with no light at the end of the tunnel...with difficult people (and that's just me looking in a mirror!)..whatever ...but work can sometimes be too much!

Tuesday past a friend shared the words of a John O'Donohue blessing which I loved! A few of the lines are...

.....May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within your wellsprings of refreshment,
inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden....

Amazing! If only I could live those lines at work...I want to try at least! Blessings to you ...

...my imaginary dinner party..

In another blog recently..they were putting together some guests they would invite (living or dead) to a dinner party and it got me thinking who I would invite...so far I'd definitely have...

Betty MacDonald..

Author of only 4 books..The first being The Egg and I...humorous account of her life on a remote, run-down chicken ranch in Washington's Olympia Mountains. I would love to have a chat to her!

Jim Croce...

...one of my favourite singers who died in a small commercial plane crash on September 20, 1973, one day before his third ABC album, I Got a Name was to be released.

Bette Davis...

...just because our book group is reading her life story just now and she sounds so amazing!

Norman Rockwell....

Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades - would love to see him paint!

My great...great...great grandfather! - No photo for this - But I'd love to see what he looked like!!

Affection

“Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.”
I love the word - AFFECTION...always have! I was sitting thinking of my family and friends during this week and thinking about the love and acceptance that surrounds me. I am a fortunate person...I know that! But there is something in the word affection that makes life worthwhile. Sometimes affection is very difficult to put into words...but we all know it when it comes. It's a fondness for another...an appreciation...it can be verbal or nonverbal...it can be a sympathetic ear..but whatever it is..it's special. I look around my friends each Tuesday evening when we get together for 'our meal' and I feel such affection for these people - how does that happen? We're all from different backgrounds...different jobs...different family situations...but there is a connection which is very, very special...an affection between us that goes beyond words. I'm one fortunate lady!

Have a special weekend....Mo

...my trusty little camera captured these...

...have a lovely weekend!

...I have a history!

...did I ever tell you I won a famly tree? Well actually...I won a family historical search from a local competition. This all happened nearly a year ago and I'd almost forgotten about it...until last week I received the results! I know know my great...great...great grandfather lived in Ballymena, Co Antrim and was born around 1805 - his name was Robert and my great, great grandfather was Thomas and he married Maria in May 1859 and my great grandfather was Alexander - born in 1877 - all farmers - I'm so excited! That's obviously were I get my work ethic from...I should really be in a field somewhere slogging away - but here I sit at my computer...slogging away!! HA! It does somehow give me a feeling of connectedness!

Hope all is well with you! Let me know...leave a wee comment!

...windows...

I visited Carrickfergus Castle at the weekend and it was beautiful...took a couple of photos which I thought I'd post. The weather made the castle look even more amazing. I love history ... always have and history at school was definitely a joy to me. There's just something about standing inside a building which has survived from 1177 which makes me feel safe and secure!!

Off the subject at little... but I read recently a lovely illustration of 'community'. It said 'the kind of community we envisage is best described as the windows of the building: they protect us from the elements, yet they also allow use to see other people and let in the light of their presence. We can see their needs and communicate with them; we can also open the door of the santuary, the door of our hears, and let them in. If our sanctuary has no windows, it will be a dark and gloomy place. So, like good builders, we need to balance out the need for windows and the need for strong walls. The strong walls of obedience need the windows of community to ensure that our santuary is bright and welcoming'