Ireland is not a big country. We're a small island. But we do have a lot of very different accents. Even within a very small area accents change dramatically. The late Niall Tóibín did a very clever piece where he "toured" the country's accents starting up north. I'm not sure how well non-Irish people cope with this sort of thing, but I find it very entertaining. … [Read more...] about Irish Accents are Insanely Diverse
French Vaccination Advert
You don't need to speak French to understand the message behind this advert from the French health authorities: The key message in the French campaign is, roughly translated, that which each vaccination we're all getting back to normal life. "A chaque vaccination c'est la vie qui reprend" and the other part of it is the simple message: "Tous vaccinés, tous … [Read more...] about French Vaccination Advert
The Satisfaction of Eating Your own Fruit
For the last couple of years I've had a couple of berry bushes that produce very small amounts of fruit. Not enough to do anything with. This year, however, I've got quite a few things planted that will hopefully produce fruit and vegetables in usable quantities. The first fruit to produce a crop was one of my strawberry plants that gave me enough decent sized … [Read more...] about The Satisfaction of Eating Your own Fruit
Home Brewing One Week On
Last weekend I started my home brewing adventures and experiments. In the end I put on two different brews at the weekend and added a third during the week: a basic honey mead which was pretty simple and straightforward. Honey, water, yeast and a very little else. As I really don't know how well this is going to turn out I opted to only do one demijohn worth, which is … [Read more...] about Home Brewing One Week On
Another Project to Keep Myself Entertained: Brewing
When I was growing up various neighbours and family friends would brew all sorts of magical drinks. You'd see the demijohns with those mysterious bubble air locks attached and possibly some tubes or the odd barrel in their garages and basements. When I was a teenager I tried my hand at making cider once. It took months, but it was potent! But that was about 30 years … [Read more...] about Another Project to Keep Myself Entertained: Brewing