General Chat

Night Night god bless everyone, speak to you tomorrow.

Night Rita x

Jean,

If anyone is so crase as to despise you for your HERITAGE more fool them.

I would love to have had such a traditional line of ancestry passed on to me.

You are one of our merry wee band Jean.

night everyone,
I'm going to bed now to read for a bit x

Me Too.....


Night night....All.

~~~~~~ to Stephen.

Was it something I said? I come back on, and you lot are sending ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz down the cyber hatch. lol

Jean, I am amazed you think we would be so daft as to disassociate ourselves from you. I think it is great. I know practically NOTHING about the Romanies. My Mum always consulted the Gypsy Rose Lee at Southend when we visited, but I dont think it is the same. lol

I think we all turn up things in our tree that throw us [me, not you Jean] I decided to try and track down Kevins' family. His sister Pat had tried to do a tree many years ago, and decided they were descended from Germans. The surname was anglicised. So everyone was pleased.

I started on his family, and Kevin said jokingly 'dont find any Paddies will you'. Guess what turned up on both sides of the family as Gt.grandparents. Yep, both sides came over in the Potato Famine.

I have met quite a few people, mainly through work, but where I live in this part of London, there are a few celebs knocking around. Just around the corner there is Charles Dance, Peter Snow, Ken Stott, Rufus Sewell, and Bill Nighy. Also Jemma Redgrave who is Lovely. Such a lot of tragedy in her family the last two years. Very sad.

Thats it, my arms are lighter now that I have name dropped all that lot.

Night night all.

Maddie
x

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Tea or Coffee

Porridge or Cereals. Egg or Bacon Rolls.

Slimmers Biscuits for those on a diet.

Morning all,

Start of another week. Time has flown. End of January already.

It's getting a bit lighter in the mornings and I find that pleasant.

Maddie......you will need to stop and chat. You are on and gone in a flash.

Busy day ahead. Can't see me finish early today.

Have a good day ya all !

Good morning folks,
healing thoughts for Mike as he continues his recovery.
Jean I hope your back is feeling better.
Got x-ray this afternoon on my knee, suspect its the arthritis getting worse.
Have a good day whatever you're doing,

Thought for today: " Be proud of your roots, whatever they are".

Cath xx

morning all
im on daughter pc still carnt get in to my laptop

i carnt beleve we have 2 laptops a pc and one of them note pads things and now only this very slow pc is working

bleeding hell the bin men are early
what thay done all pood the bed

Morning All
Thanks for the breakfast Stephen
Hope you are feeeling better Jean. I too would be interested to read some of your life stories. Please keep coming here.
Rita I hope Mike has a good day today, and you too.
Shelly your problems started with a change of internet didn't they?
Cath hope the hospital appointment goes OK

Best wishes to everyone and have a good day

Linda :o) XxX

yer your right there lind every think did seeem ok till i had the internet change
i bet that silly bt man touch some think

im off to get son up and ready for school

Morning everyone.

Hope you are all well and warm.

Stephen I would LOVE to stay and chat but, you know, commitments.

One day when my numbers come up on the Lottery I will be on here all day, and you will be saying 'Go back to work' lol

See you later hopefully.


Maddie
x

mirning all it is a bitter frosty morning just when you think you will be able to cut down on your heating bill. you find your not going to be lucky. I think the Heating companies are controlling our weather. they need the money

Catherine best of luck with your knee x-ray

Shelly our dustbin men come early very rarely do they arrive during the day we usually hear the little bip bip when they are revesring into the road at about 6.30. but i have to give them there due they are really good. and make liilte mess and do try and keep the noise down.

wash day to day not me my washing. Lol

Rita
x

Morning All,

Its a frosty one, but the sun is on its way through the clouds.

Going out to get grand daughters Birthday present today.

Stephen thanks for the hearty breakfast.

Rita hows MIKE ?

Jean....... , getting concerned about you not coming back with us , just let us know you are still with us..........or are you writing your family stories for us ?

Hope you all have a lovely day......... bath time.


MADDIE ....I got one of them I Pods ....LOL

morning im back
but only just this pc is so slow i can widdle quicker

going to ask on the boards later to seee if any one can help me with the laptop

Hi Marilyn
Mike is still in ICU, he seems to be doing well. I wont know anything till this evening. they only allow one visitor at the moment and his wife will go straight from the hospital where she works. I will keep you informed .

I have been sorting through my files and papers have everything now for the AGM on 2nd Feb I am just going to type some sheets out to hand out to those at the meeting, then I have finished all that till next time.

Shelly there is someone on the threads who help with computers . put a please help on a new thread and see what happens.?

Rita

I missed brekkie this morning. I found out there's another Patricia on another thread which I've used occasionally. I wasted ten minutes mucking about trying to change my name! I gave up.
Going out to do some shopping.
Good luck with your typing Rita !

Little House not on the Prairie

The year was 1870 or thereabouts when my great-grandfather decided to build a house. It was to be built of local stone & mortar with a roof of thatch which was the thing at the time. He would have been about twenty years of age then.

Planning regulations, particularly in the countryside, were unheard of in those distant times. So, there was none of the complicated form filling that is expected now - a good job too because not everyone could read or write. The lack of basic education in 19th century Ireland is a separate story for another time perhaps.

The proposed home was to be of modest proportions - even when the average family size in the area was 4 children - a three bedroom cottage with a kitchen/living room. Indoor toilets were unheard of or the provision of running water.

Having chosen a suitable site on his own land, digging out the foundations by hand began the process. With some help from kindly neighbours, the building was completed in about ten weeks. The main source of heating & cooking was by way of an open fireplace where peat turf was burned supplemented by using logs & seasoned tree branches. The bedrooms had no heating - so, hot water bottles were handy.

Thatched roofing was common in those times because slates, which had to be imported, were expensive & affordable only by the landed-gentry or the local Parish Priest. Thatching is the process of building a roof using dry vegetation such as straw or water reeds. Both items were readily available locally & would be placed in layers so as to shed rain water away from the inner wooden ceiling. And, it kept the house very warm too.

The mortar walls, outside & inside, were painted with ‘whitewash’ - a cheap but effective covering.
Doors & window frames were usually painted bright red.

Like all new dwellings, there was a house-warming party with music provided by local musicians, dancing & songs from anyone who wished show off their ability. It was an open house that night when everyone, young & not so young, were welcome.

The old people sat around the hearth, the red glow of the open turf fire lit up their faces & their feet kept time with the music. A set-dance was in full swing; the young dancers were knocking sparks out of the flag floor; the lamp light was casting shadows on the whitewashed walls. Down at the room door, the musicians were playing. It was said that those musicians never repeated a tune during the whole night.

There was never any shortage of the black stuff or stronger & the ladies might partake of hot Irish whiskeys & the like. Food was an essential element of these knees-ups. So, sandwiches, cakes, baked potatoes were all the rage. Most of these parties ended at sunrise - they knew how to party in the old days. Just goes to show - all night raves that our youngsters crave are nothing new really.

In this same house, my paternal grandfather was born in 1876, some 30 years after the great famine, got married, reared his family of six children, one of whom was my dad born in 1910.

In 1940, the old thatched cottage was relegated to being a store room for many years & time took its toll on the building. It looked quiet fore lone when in 2002 my younger brother decided, against local advice, to renovate it & bring the facilities up-to-date. This he achieved with some style & it is now used for those requiring self-catering accommodation in the area.

Anyone who might have seen ‘The Quiet Man’ film many years ago with John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara & Barry Fitzgerald will have some inkling of the type of cottage in question.

Alternatively, you can see pictures of our ancestral cottage as it is now after my brother’s efforts on the Web by typing in BALLINACOSTELLO & then clicking on Thatched Cottage Self-Catering Accommodation.