Males and Mails

© 2010 H.Rufus

On a day of deep snow I was taken by a 4x4 to the nearest train station to travel to Dublin.

On my way to the carriage door I glanced to see how many others were travelling and there in a window seat sat a familiar face. Little did I realise then that the well known personage was to become the next President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.

Uachtarán na hÉireann

My journey continued with a a wait of several hours in Dublin airport before catching my flight to Birmingham International and onwards to meet my one and only grandson Oliver who was then just three weeks old.

I often wonder what he will make of himself and of what his journey through life will be ?

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A Witch in Training

Over the Hallowe'en weekend Lady H quietly disclosed a secret to me.

It appears that Granny has discovered that Ollie, despite his tender age,

is developing certain family traits.

As you may be aware

Lady H, especially when wearing the appropriate costume,

displays certain magical abilities.

Here she can be seen hovering above the ground.

Young Ollie is now learning his craft.

Calling on the local Faeries to lend their assistance....

and help Granny sprinkle her magic dust.

Lady H tells me that Ollie is a natural

and I say ' yes, but he'll have to loose that skeleton costume.'

The Noble Toby & Garden Workers

Toby keeping watch .

Looking after my people

Is That Biscuits ?

Garden workers from the UK moving the logs

At play with Granny

The Inner Child

The small boy inside of myself always asks simple questions to the man on the outside.

He asked me yesterday "Why is the sky blue on a cloudless day ?”

I told him that I would find out and the best answer is :

"Sunlight reaches Earth's atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.”

That boy then told me that he knew why the black sky never falls down and he said it that it was nailed up  and I asked him how did he know that it was nailed up ?

He said he had seen thousands of bright shiny nail heads when he looked up at the black sky at night.

Nail headed sky

So what questions does your inner child ask of you ?

Ollie starts Formal Education

Today marks the start of our grandsons' formal education and he will attend his father's old school in Leamington Spa. I have been learning from his mother just how very different his first year at school will be from mine; it seems as if I was educated in the dark ages for so many things have changed. Gone is corporal punishment and just as well too. The teaching is very informal, through play, although the focus is still on the three R's and I hear that there is a mud kitchen ?

It seems no time at all since he was born and I made a wintery trip across to the UK to meet Ollie and his proud parents. I thought to mark his special day of starting school I would share a pictorial history of Ollie's first few years.

Ollie a few hours old.

The inquisitive imp

Enjoying the sea.

A few minutes later he was swamped by a wave

and Granny leapt to his rescue.

Father and Son

Ollie gives forth words of wisdom while Granny listens.

Toby gets in on the photo

We wonder if he is thinking about taking a trip to Ireland ?

Ollie's mum Helen

Master Oliver ready for school.

We are looking forward to hearing about his experiences and how he progresses

throughout the years.

The Moving finger

I have been sitting at my desk looking at the above photo above for several days now.

The scene is peaceful and tranquil, depicting the slow moving waters of the River Barrow which flows through Glenbarrow in the Slieve Blooms, whose low mountains are shared by two counties: Laois and Offaly.

That young boy in blue, I was told, is left handed and yet here he is pointing with the index finger of his right hand. I cannot help but wonder whether he might have inherited a trait of one of his great-grandfathers in being ambidextrous. 

Time will tell I suppose.

So is this another version of the 'moving finger writes and having written moves on' or is he pointing at some small creature hidden from us? I don't know.

But you my learned viewers might like to share with me what you consider he may be doing as he looks into the peaceful waters ?

No Fixed Abode

My new blog post may well have been about two new hats one in felt and the other in hide, or it may have been about a new camera, perhaps even Mrs H’s new shoes however, I think that you will agree they are rather mundane sort of kitchen sink type posts. Which I know a lot of you are fond reading and I am fond of writing them from time to time; but
I found this though and it is to my mind much more important for it is has a human angle.

Charley

A woman whose 6-year-old son is in the final stages of liver disease has issued a plea to Offaly County Council to find them a permanent home to ensure he qualifies for a waiting list for life-saving surgery.
Helen Lynch (25), who has been homeless in Tullamore for much of the last year, says she needs a permanent address in order for her son to go on the transplant list at King’s College Hospital in London.
Her son, Charlie, was diagnosed with liver disease when he was only a month old and is now in urgent need of proof of permanent accomodation before the pair travel to England for an appointment at the hospital next week.
“The liver transplant must be carried out at King’s College Hospital and the doctors have informed me that I need to be in a house where I can control Charlie’s health,” she said.
Currently staying with family in Tullamore, Ms Lynch is moving between her mother and brothers’ houses but she needs accommodation where she can ensure a sterile environment after the transplant takes place
“It’s very hard. Dragging the kids from one house to the next. They don’t know where their home is for the last year. My mother has an awful lot of medical illnesses herself. She has a wheelchair and walkers and the house she’s in is very small,” she said.
“Charlie’s going to need constant care after his transplant.”.
Ms Lynch said that without proof of permanent accommodation, Charlie could miss out on an opportunity to expedite his treatment at next week’s assessment.
“We’re due to go over for his initial assessment to be placed on the liver transplant list. Now, the problem is we could go for the assessment but if they think Charlie should go on the active list there and then - which they probably will because he’s in the final stages of liver disease - he won’t be placed on that list without (having) permanent accommodation.”
Having survived with the disease since an early age, she says a transplant is now the only treatment option open to Charlie.
“We’re on a timeline here and I feel as if my child’s life is on a countdown timer,” Ms Lynch said.
“It’s a nightmare for any parent to have to go through. It’s hard enough dealing with the transplant on its own but to be told that he might not have the chance to get the transplant because of a house is worse. To think that four walls is all that it would take to save my child’s life and that I can’t get it.”
Ms Lynch says she has exhausted every avenue in her attempts to get a house and social worker Sandra McDonagh, of Offaly Traveller Movement, has been advocating on her behalf.
“I’ve met with a few politicians and they’ve been on to the council for me. But, it’s basically the council that needs to buck up and do something. I’ve tried private landlords, I’ve tried talking to landlords. It’s no good - there’s nothing available in Tullamore. The housing crisis in Tullamore is ridiculous.”
“To be honest with you, I’ve lost hope. I don’t know what else I can do. I’ve done everything I can possibly think of. I’ve begged them, I’ve gone up there crying my eyes out to them, begging them to help me.”
She was told of houses due to come on-stream next year but Ms Lynch says she doesn’t have the time to spare.
“They said they got 29 houses off Nama to be given out next year but I don’t have until next year. I haven’t got until next year to wait. I have a matter of days and if you leave out the weekend I have just two working days before I’m due to fly out”
“If I haven’t got an address to hand them if they want to put him on the list, he won’t be put on the list.”
She said it was now up to the council.
“I’m not calling on them, I am begging the council to hurry up and do not let my child to die over a house. He’s worth a lot more than that to me and surely their kids are worth a lot more than that to them.”

© Irish Times Fri, Nov 28, 2014,