NOCTURNAL ADVENTURES

I am not in my studio today. Waiting for the paint to dry is an excuse for feeling lazy, due perhaps to my nocturnal travels.

There is a portal in the bedroom that I enter that allows me to visit other realms of life. Last night's journey was to faery and I had some wonderful adventures with those special folk. We went to a hurling match which was quite violent at times, almost like a faery war but not. Did you know that outside of the arena they play their fiddles for the sole purpose of encouraging and enlivening the hurlers ? That was news to me.

After the match I made my way home via a coastal route that took me close to the sea where I saw an old chap fishing with his pole, dressed in colourful clothes and wearing a wooly cap. I think he felt a bit shy because as I watched the colours of his clothing started to fade until all that was left of him was a black outline that pulsated once or twice and then was gone for good.

The fisherman did appear again later and this time he was just an outline of himself sitting precariously (I thought) on a very thin, twiggy branch of a blackthorn tree. This time I avoided staring at him for any length of time in case he took fright again. 

My journey ceased near a mound not too far from where I live and very soon I was back in bed and sound asleep.

So What did you do before sleep

last night ?

RELAXED at LOUGH ENNELL

When words are no longer required...

TRACHT - BEACH FLOWERS

TRACHT is the name of the strand or beach that I have taken you to before, perhaps this the third time and this might be our last visit, unless of course something spectacular occurs that needs telling.

The weather forecast wasn’t promising very much other than fine rain with a warm temperature - but then they do tend to exaggerate one way or another and are rarely accurate; for generalities is their game these meteorologists.

On our journey blue sky was appearing on our lefthand side enough to keep us living in hopes. Whilst directly ahead there were grey clouds  some looked ominous and yet they seemed to me not low enough to

weep on us.

All along the route we saw lots of county Galway flags flying high in the wind, on almost every house, though not all. I said to Mrs H 

“You know there must be a match on with all of those flags showing and those without are probably blow ins or those who don’t support the GAA”

[I should tell you that ‘blow ins’ is the phrase that is used to describe

people who come from another county or even a different country and that GAA stands for the Gaelic Athletic Association]

Kinavara, another favourite place was busy and the harbour car park was full, so we carried on to Tracht without stopping. I did though notice that the pubs seemed to be busy rather early, it not yet being much more than midday.

Tracht though was virtually empty with only half a dozen cars parked facing the sea and nobody was in swimming because the red flag was flying - a warning to swimmers and yet it was virtually calm - I heard later that there was a particularly virulent type of jelly fish about, although I can say that I saw no sign of any at all.

Mrs H inspecting some gem or other

One of the many piles of seaweed that came in with the tide,

one excellent thing that was fortunately missing from the

beach was plastic debris !

This gentle bouquet  caught my eye.

A miniature harbour amongst the rocks.

A line of flowers nicely litters fore shore.

Two other flowers stand chatting amongst their many sisters!

Are they Daisies ?

Yachts also catch my eye too and it has been many a year since I head the slap of water against the hull and the very buoyant sensation of being onboard in a wind driven yacht.

I was correct it was a Championship Hurling match

against Cork

https://sportstvlive.co/2017/09/03/cork-vs-galway-live/

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.

Winter's Last Refrain

Where the snow still sits was once the home of glaciers 8,000 years ago.

The landscape that we see today, hills, valleys and rivers, were shaped by the melting of the glaciers. As large chunks of ice broke off and slid downwards, sweeping away the alluvials before, them they carved new shapes in the land. All of that is so easy to see and appreciate just before the last snow of winter melts away.

We travel this narrow road several times a week and only when a photo is taken do we actually see the beauty of its' form with all its' twists and turns.

The Old Boy's Coffee !

I have often been looked upon as being slightly mad or a bit odd on occasions

but I don’t care for it is my eccentric mind which looks at problems and tries to 

find a solution.

We drink coffee, it is our favourite beverage, two or three times a day and use Lavazza at home in a cafetiere, or to you folks across the pond a 'french press'.

To my mind coffee has to be reasonably strong so at least three heaped dessert spoons go into the cafetiere.

New use for an old hat

I noticed that heat was being lost whilst the coffee stood so we used an old fleece hat to act as a cozy. 

Then by cutting a small hole at the top of the hat, the metal knob stands clear prior to pressing.

When the plunger is depressed fully the coffee is kept hot and it is quite a simple task to lift the cozy clear when pouring the coffee into a cup.

Steeping the coffee

The water, at about 90 deg C (never boiling), is poured on top and left to stand for about five minutes allowing the water to absorb the coffee grounds and give a good fulsome flavour.

Immediately prior to pouring

I am rather pernickety about the style and shape of cup which has to be tapered and I loathe drinking coffee from a mug, in much the same way as I dislike instant coffee. 

A tapered cup wide at the top allows both the aroma and flavour to combine and perfect my favourite drink. 

By special request

My Cup 

Two handles safer for early mornings

Culchies demonstrate in Dublin

This is only part of the demonstrators

This was Novembers Demo the feelings are

even stronger.

They came from all over Ireland: from the North, from Donegal, Down & Louth, from the South as far as Cork & Kerry, from the West, Mayo to Clare, from the East, Wexford & Wicklow and from the Midlands too. People from every county were there for themselves and to represent others unable to travel to Dublin.

They brought their placards, their voices and their determination. They stayed for a day and went away carrying their experiences to pass on to others.

We are proud of them !

Proud to have them as neighbours and to call them our friends.

On reading the newspapers it easy to see that the journalists are lost for words to describe what they witnessed when the ‘culchies’ came to town; unless of course, as I suspect, many of them are suppressed by a secret committee of censors!

Approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people took part in the peaceful,self disciplined demonstration. Out of this number six people were arrested and none of them actually charged. Were they the fifth columnists planted in the crowd? - I don’t know.


There is a new wave of governance flowing through the land. We know it for now as People Power which occurs when the electorate reach within themselves to become enriched with a sense of personal worth and value. Flowing from this comes the empowerment to become Activists who have ability and inner confidence to tell members of the government what they want and do not want.


That is what happened on the streets of Dublin on 10th December 2014 and from this example even larger numbers will be drawn on 31st January 2015 to another demonstration of People Power.

Detroit supports Irish Water Protest

Loyal friends across the pond

Today, a delegation  from The Detroit Water Brigade arrived in Dublin to stand in solidarity with Ireland and people around the globe who are fighting for strong public water systems and water accessibility. The Detroit Water Brigade provides bottled water, water coolers, rainwater catchment barrels, and water filters, to people in need. They will be visiting residents across Ireland who have been fighting against the installation of  water meters

Over the summer the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department shut off water for over 3,000 household each week due to residents being behind on payments. And though half of Detroit’s residents live below the poverty line, the Detroit city council recently approved a significant increase in water charges, making a total increase of 119% over the last 10 years. The water charges in Detroit are nearly double the US national average.

“To take water away from those who cannot afford it by handing it to a private, for-profit company isn’t just irresponsible — it’s genocidal.” Says Detroit Water Brigade’s Political Director. “We know that from firsthand experience here in Detroit and we can’t allow it to happen to Ireland.”

Since protests began the Irish government has completely lost the trust of the people. It is now obvious that the government are not listening to the people who they claim to represent, and the dogs on the street know that the people are fed up. What will it take to convince the government that access to water is a human right and not a revenue stream for bailing out big banks? How many times must we say that we demand water charges abolished before they will abolish them? And how many hundreds of thousands of people marching to the Dáil will it take to convince them that  water charges will not be accepted that people know full well that they already pay for their water.  The world is about to find out.

The peaceful protest against water charges on Wednesday, 10 December will begin at 1pm at Leinster House, Merrion Square. Solidarity protests will also take place outside Belfast City Hall, and in London outside of the Irish Embassy.

Céad míle fáilte to the delegates from Detroit 

The 1997 Act that absolves the Irish people from paying

water charges

KENNY & CO MUST GO!

No Privatisation !

NO PRIVATISATION.... Irish Water,Irish Nation!
Recorded live in the kitchen of Campbells Tavern, Cloughanover Co. Galway by Eamon deStaic and Liam Donoghue and edited by Philip Noone.
Featuting Aindrias deStaic,Noelie McDonnell,Donal Gibbons,Fabian Joyce,Liam Ivory,Dave Clancy, Willy Merrigan and Joe Fury.
This is what happens when a bunch of friends and musicians, after playing a gig together ,start talking politics in a rural kitchen in the wee hours.

The EU Needs to Cop On!

Lyn Boylan MEP  SF

European Commission rep's 'patronising and arrogant' comments on water protesters.

»MARK MOLONEY

A REPRESENTATIVE of the European Commission clashed with Sinn Féin's Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan on Thursday after the Policy Officer made "patronising and arrogant" comments about Irish water protesters during a conference in Brussels – apparently unaware that an Irish MEP was present.

During the Aqua Publica Europea conference, a spokesperson for a private water operator claimed that water should be treated like any other utility and should not be considered a free resource.

Responding to the comment, the European Commission Policy Officer for the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, Lukasz Latala, said: 

"The Irish just don't seem to understand they need to pay for water."

The comment prompted an immediate response from Irish MEP Lynn Boylan - who has been appointed author of the European Citizens' Initiative Right to Water report – and was in the audience listening. 

Speaking from the floor, the Dublin MEP described the policy representative's comments as "patronising", telling him:

"The Irish people absolutely understand that water has to be paid for. But they don't understand why they are being asked to pay for it twice."

"We already pay for our water through general taxation and the wholly inept and shambolic entity that is Irish Water has also been funded by Irish taxpayers."

Speaking after the conference, Lynn Boylan said:

"The Irish Government alludes to conservation being a factor in the introduction of this tax. It is appalling that 40% of domestic water is being lost through leaking pipes. 

"Instead of the Government investing in the aged and decrepit infrastructure it has spent half a billion euro of the National Pension Reserve Fund in setting up a quango that is not fit for purpose and in the installation of water meters."

Attempt to cling to power

       Mary Lou McDonald TD & Gerry Adams TD

Gerry Adams: Government's water charge u-turn 'a desperate attempt of Fine Gael and Labour to cling to power'

Saturday, November 22, 2014 - 01:18 PM

Sinn Féin is calling for a mass mobilisation of people to protest against water charges in Dublin next month.

The Right2Water campaign, which is organising the demonstration, says it expects an historic turn-out for its rally at the Dáil on December 10.

Around 100,000 people took part in their last protest.

Organisers of next months demonstration say the protest to abolish water charges will go ahead despite the Government’s new package plan announced earlier this week.

The Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is calling on people to send a strong message to the government.

“As with every other issue, Fine Gael and Labour have failed to listen to citizens on the water charges,” he said.

“The Government's latest policy is all about giving themselves a lifeline to run their full term. It's not about easing the pressure on those who cannot pay water charges.

“What we got on Wednesday was a PR offensive - a desperate attempt by Fine Gael and Labour to cling to power for the next year.

“Water charges have not been scrapped, the water metering programme will continue, metered charges are coming in, they will only go up, and there is still no constitutional right to water.

“This cynical Government manoeuvre will not work. The people are not stupid. It fails to address the demands of the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have taken to the streets on this issue.

“Sinn Féin is a central part of the Right2Water campaign and I am calling for the maximum possible turnout in protest against Water Charges on December 10 to deliver a strong message that Water Charges must be scrapped.

©IRISH EXAMINER 22-11-2014

Campaigner for the homeless, Fr Peter McVerry, said rent controls are necessary to ensure that the market retains an element of affordability.

New figures show the number of people sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin has trebled in the last five years. 

Fr McVerry challenged the Government to outline just what it is going to do to tackle rising homelessness as we approach the coldest months of the year.

"A lot of people who are becoming homeless today and there are six new people becoming homeless every day, a lot of them are getting kicked out of their private rental accommodation because their rents are going up and they can't afford the increase," he said.

"if the Government are not going to introduce rent controls and if they're not going to increase the rent allowance to allow people to pay the increased rents, then what on Earth are they going to do?"

©IRISH EXAMINER

Catch a WHALE

Brian Stanley TD

"Sinn Féin's environment spokesperson Brian Stanley has described today's package of measures on water charges as "an introductory offer, and a con job designed to lure people into agreeing to pay a charge that will inevitably be increased to much higher levels in years to come".

Deputy Stanley said: "The fact that the initial bills for water will now be substantially lower than those announced by the Energy Regulator at the beginning of October is a victory for opponents of the water charges. 

"The Government now needs to go one step further and abolish the water charges altogether."

He said that otherwise, households would face much higher bills when the concessions were due to end after 2018."

quote taken from Irish Examine © 2016

The Irish government of scallywags are now offering people on Social Welfare a One Hundred Euro  bribe to sign up for Irish Water - which is nothing more 

"Than a sprat to catch a WHALE !"

I have news the Irish people have woken up and they have the bit between their teeth and within those people are those others who have the taste of blood within. 

To the TD's and Ministers of Fine Gael &Labour it yours that they are after! So might it not be better to 'fall on your sword now ? ' so resign and call a general election now before  the people get really angry and remember that the commemoration of the 1916 Uprising is not too far away. . . .

Water - protests

Joan Burton the Tánaiste

Two arrested in west Dublin as Tánaiste blocked by protesters

This would not have happened if she stuck to her labour principles instead of being two faced! 

If anybody needs to be arrested it is herself because she caused the trouble in the first place!

An opposition TD Paul Murphy , who participated in the demonstration, said the protest, which began shortly before Ms Burton attended the ceremony at noon, had been peaceful. 

“The protest has been peaceful. Yes she has been delayed here for a number of hours but I think this protest has sent a very clear message to her, a message which the Tánaiste has ignored to date, that that people don’t want to pay these water charges. 

“There is national anger over the changes but particularly in Tallaght and Jobstown in west Dublin...there are a lot of people who simply can’t afford to pay,” he said, adding the protesters were also sending a message to Irish Water that the people of Tallaght would not accept water charges.

FUEL DISASTER !

During the recent holiday period Mrs H & myself were listening to the radio RTE 1 to be precise and we were somewhat alarmed to hear about a tiny community of aboriginal Canadians and a Limerick GP.

"Undue Alarm" is the story of how Dr. John O'Connor became a tireless campaigner on behalf of the First Nations communities - and found himself at the centre of a nationwide controversy in Canada. Limerick man Dr. John O'Connor who went to Canada to practice medicine. He had little idea how his life would unfold.
The Alberta Oil Sands is the biggest industrial project on the planet. The area currently being mined for oil is the size of Ireland. Downstream from this on the shores of Lake Athabasca lies the tiny native community of Fort Chipewyan.
A breathtakingly beautiful place, 'Fort Chip' is on the far northeastern tip of the province of Alberta. In winter it is accessible by the 'ice road' - a road that is constructed from the harsh northern climate. In summer access is by way of a small plane.
Most of the people that live here are either Méti or First Nation - that is, native Canadians who have lived on the land through traditional methods of trapping, hunting, fishing and gathering berries for generations.

In 2000 Dr. O'Connor - or Dr. O as locals call him - became family physician to the tiny community of 1,200 people. When he started hearing concerns among the community about elevated rates of cancer in the community he did something that no outsider had done before: he listened to them. Then he spoke out about it. And what happened next is not what he expected.
A raft of professional complaints were made against him by the Canadian health authorities. And he would live with one of these - 'causing undue alarm' among the community - for five years.
Dr. O'Connor went from being a simple GP to a tireless campaigner and activist on behalf of native communities in Canada.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/documentary-podcast-undue-alarm-canada-aborigines-john-oconnor-doctor.html

Greenpeace is calling on oil companies and the Canadian government to stop the tar sands and end the industrialisation of a vast area of Indigenous territories, forests and wetlands in northern Alberta.
The tar sands are huge deposits of bitumen, a tar-like substance that’s turned into oil through complex and energy-intensive processes that cause widespread environmental damage. These processes pollute the Athabasca River, lace the air with toxins and convert farmland into wasteland. Large areas of the Boreal forest are clearcut to make way for development in the tar sands, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

Greenpeace is also concerned with the social and health costs of the tar sands. First Nations communities in the tar sands report unusually high levels of rare cancers and autoimmune diseases. Their traditional way of life is threatened. Substance abuse, suicide, gambling and family violence have increased in the tar sands. Meanwhile, the thousands of workers brought in by oil companies face a housing crisis in northern Alberta.

Enbridge Inc.'s tar sands tanker pipeline proposal threatens to allow a 30 per cent expansion in tar sands development. Enbridge's tar sands pipeline would span 1,170 kilometres from Hardisty, Alberta to Kitimat, in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia. Over the past decade, Enbridge's own pipelines spilled an average of more than once a week. The pipeline would cross over 1,000 rivers and streams and the Rocky Mountains on the way to B.C.'s pristine coastline. The pipeline would bring more than 200 crude oil tankers through some of the world's most treacherous waters each year.

The governments of Alberta and Canada actively promote tar sands development and ignore international commitments Canada has made to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Through direct action, we draw international attention to government climate crimes in the tar sands and demand change.

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/Global/canada/report/2010/10/steering-clear-of-oil-disaster.pdf

http://norj.ca/2014/01/cold-lake-shocked-by-fourth-leak-from-cnrls-oilsands

Further information here: http://www.naturecanada.ca/tarsands_impacts.asp

The Shipyard

NEWTON ABBOT COLLEGE OF ART

I started the day by thinking about my first job and of how it shaped my life in various ways. My working life started in a small shipyard, Morgan Giles Ltd, in Teignmouth, Devon.  
Before going into the shipyard I attended Newton Abbot College of Art and all was going well until a family crisis occurred in 1959 and I was sent out to work. My first wage was £2-15 shillings a week and after I signed my Indentures it was reduced to £2 - 9 shillings for a 48 hour week.

AERIAL VIEW OF MORGAN GILES LTD

I was apprenticed as a Marine Engineering Draughtsman and spent the first two half years on the shop floor in various departments, starting in the fitting shop. My very first job there was to polish the bronze propellors of a 52ft Monaco Cruiser which was being readied for the International Boat Show at Earls Court in London. The firm designed and built it's own trailer to carry the boat which was to be towed by a heavy tractor, of the type that Showmen use; because of it's size and slow speed a special route had to be found to avoid low bridges and tight bends. Shipyard workers walked alongside the trailer. It took five days and countless pairs of shoes to transport the cruiser to London!

 42FT MONACO CRUISER

The Monaco Cruisers were luxury motorboats with an impressive turn of speed,built and fitted out to a high specification. They came in three lengths 36ft,42ft (later a 48ft) and 52ft and powered mainly by Caterpillar diesels. 
All of the fittings and furnishings were designed and made by us, for example the double ended fridges and electrically warmed toilet seats for those with delicate posteriors. One regular customer always had swiss silk curtains, another always wanted his boat to be a foot longer than anyone else's, so a 36ft became a 37 ft & of course he would be charged for our inconvenience. However, one year this customer wanted a 42ft craft to be extended to 43ft which made life extremely easy for the design team because our 42 footer was actually 42ft - 10 and 1/2 inches long. We merely redesigned the bow roller plate out by one and half inches. I have no idea how much extra he was charged for those one and half inches!


Today I spoke with Jos Moorman in France who recently spent ten years equalling 12 thousand hours restoring a 42ft Monaco Cruiser, which I helped to design. He has done a magnificent job & you can see her here if you paste this into your browser >

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14k40UiNIeQ

unknown yacht built by Morgan Giles Ltd

We also built various yachts for private owners and many types of inshore craft for the Ministry of Defence. The six years that I spent at Morgan Giles were not wasted and all that I learnt there has stood me in good stead throughout my life.

A ketch rig yacht which I believe was built for

Major Walcott of Torquay circa 1963

On the site where the shipyard once stood now stands a block of luxury apartments with superb views of the River Teign and the English Channel . I often wonder whether late at night any of the occupants hear the ghosts of the old shipyard men still working away because I often revisit the yard in my dreams.