Oh yes, Oh no

Posted on August 2, 2006
Filed Under Summer, Dungarvan, culture, family, funny ha ha, garden, happiness, holiday, nature, relationships | 1 Comment

There used to be three breweries in Dungarvan town and they sold re-bottled Guinness under their own label. They existed until the late 50′s/early 60′s when the increasing quality in draught beer caused them to close. It was a proper job for someone to re-wash the bottles after use and relabel them with the brewery’s label. Chief bottlewasher anyone? I’m told getting a job in one of the breweries was similar to getting a job in the civil service. It was a high status job (or least it was until they closed down!). The three breweries were called Powers, Merries and Keanes. I was also told, and I’ve no reason to disbelieve it, that their respective Xmas advertising slogans were, ‘Have a Powerful Christmas’, ‘Have a Merry Christmas‘, and ‘Keane to give you a happy New Year‘. Merries pub still exists but I couldn’t recommend it.

One of the best restaurants in Ireland is situated in Dungarvan and it’s called The Tannery. I really like the inventive food and the atmosphere. Having said that, one of my (Dungarvan) neighbours works in the kitchens and I always double-check that the plates etc are clean. Don’t let that put you off visiting – it’s just my prejudice/sterotyping against my neighbour. Brought someone to dinner there the other night (had to wear trousers). She works in the local opticians. It’s called Aye Aye and I think it’s a great name for an optician’s shop in a maritime town. Food was great but dinner wasn’t. Sometimes beauty is only skin-deep, especially when you wear glasses. Still, plenty more fish in the sea. Boom Boom!!

The garden renovations continue. Did a lot of digging, weeding, sweating and swearing. Swearing at the gods that nobody has invented a specific poison against thornbushes. There were an awful lot of thornbushes when I cleared the garden first time. Nobody told me that they can regrow from the smallest bit of root. And they bloody well do. I’ve had to upgrade from tasteful gardener’s gloves to heavy duty rigger’s gloves. I’ve neglected the garden for a good while so some of the plants have died and the weeds have re-established themselves. The very first plant I bought, a Californian lilac, died so I had to chop it down. Sob, sob, it’s too early to think about replacing it. Some of my other shrubs needed a good deal of surgery. I also started on the third section of my garden. First step is to remove some very overgrown hedge. I even found a horse’s jaw. The previous owner kept horses and planted vegetables; although presumably not at the same time. The clearout is largely done now but it was a tough job. All the plants were intertwined with each other and with the wire fence between my neighbour and me. I bought the hedging plants (Grisellina, if you must know) today and I aim to plant them tomorrow. How does that credit card ad go? Cost to me €100 (stg£70) but happiness = 100%.

On a more sombre note, I wrote last Friday about a British co-worker who was 5 or 6 months pregnant and was expecting a baby girl. Sadly, she miscarried over the weekend. It was her first baby and I’m so sad for her. I spoke to her last Thursday and she said she and her Irish-born partner were searching for a suitably Irish name. I suggested Saoirse, which is Irish for ‘freedom‘. She probably went home Thursday night to tell her partner. It upsets me somewhat that I suggested the name ‘Freedom’ to her and then she suffered her tragic loss a day or two later. Would I do it again in a similar situation? Yes, I think I would. I shared some of her joy last Thursday and, maybe even added some more. Sometimes one can only live in the moment?

Update: Photos upgraded 13 August 2006

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