This year I've spent quite a bit of time and effort on the garden. Like most other people I was working from home and not really going anywhere most of the time, so home improvements and gardening naturally got quite a bit of my attention. Prior to this year my gardening had been mostly some herbs and very little else. While some of the more recent work has been focussed on … [Read more...] about The Garden’s First Season Draws to a Close
rant
Improving the Front of the House
My house sits on the corner into the housing estate. It's also a bit different in its style and shape from other houses in the area. So I'm fairly conscious about how the front of the house looks to casual observers. An unkempt front garden would make the place look almost abandoned! I've no interest in having a fussy front garden that requires constant attention. When I got … [Read more...] about Improving the Front of the House
Insurance Craziness
Insurance in Ireland is a bit of a mess and an expensive one at that. For the last couple of years I've been tracking insurance quotes for both my car insurance and my house insurance just to see how varied the prices are. My methodology is far from perfect, but it's helpful to keep track of the pricing I get as well as seeing how that pricing changes over time. … [Read more...] about Insurance Craziness
Growing my own Vegetables & Fruit is Wonderful
Growing up in West Clare in the 1970s my grandparents had a fairly big back garden. However they didn't grow much variety of vegetables. I remember them growing potatoes, carrots and rhubarb. They might have grown a couple of other vegetables, but I don't have clear memories of them. As a teenager we used to pick fruit from orchards nearby and my mother used to make all sorts … [Read more...] about Growing my own Vegetables & Fruit is Wonderful
A New Low: I’m Now Excited by Dining Room Tables
It's been a long 15 months. I have now reached the stage of my existence where I am genuinely excited by a dining room table. A table. What have I become? Admittedly it is a very nice table, but it's still a table! When I bought this house it was fully furnished. Of course the quality and style of the furniture wasn't exactly wonderful, but the dining room table was … [Read more...] about A New Low: I’m Now Excited by Dining Room Tables