Over the years I’ve sent in a few grand prize envelopes to Winning Streak. I’ve collected the required letters for whatever game they’ve been running, knowing I’d end up with a half dozen of one letter while waiting patiently for the one they’ve cunningly made rare to keep you buying tickets. However, I’ve never got …
Last Saturday morning, I found myself a slave to my sat nav as I navigated unfamiliar back roads. I was driving the schoolgirl to a hockey match in Bray. Google Maps was calculating and re-calculating my arrival time, as I didn’t keep up with the pace it expected of me. I was aware of the …
Mr B would never admit it, but I think his fantasy job would be kit manager for a premier league club. He’d be fantastic at it. To his mind, anything is possible when you have the right gear. Every August, he gets a noticeable spring in his step, when he goes through the kid’s sportswear …
Last week saw me sitting in a few waiting rooms. I didn’t make any appointments – on both occasions I was summonsed. Wednesday morning found me recalled to BreastCheck after a routine mammogram. The letter I got came with a leaflet asking that I try not to worry. That one in twenty women will be …
The schoolgirl has always been Mr B’s partner in crime on trips to the dump. She mentioned once that she enjoyed it, so now every time he’s going, she gets herself on the guest list. From an early age, she enjoyed being part of Mr B’s gardening clean ups. He would gather up piles of …
The January lockdown found me in need of a distraction project, and I hit on the idea of researching my family tree. This became a month-long conversation with every relation I could make contact with. It’s definitely a sign of getting older. I had no interest in any of this when I was surrounded by …
My father and I had our birthdays on each other’s half-birthday. We shared the twice annual game of steeling the others limelight, insisting our 6-month anniversary was the main celebration. When I was born, Dad was just 3 half-birthdays off his 50th birthday. He was also not far off retirement, having started working at 14 …
From my seat on board the Galway train, I feel like a kid on the toy show with not just one, but two playsets to demonstrate. There is obviously the life-sized trainset that I am part of, comfortably ensconced in a central carriage. A look out the window reveals that an enormous farm playset has …
Waiting to board the ferry to Inis Mór last weekend, I laid down a few ground rules for myself. I was travelling to take part in a 3-day yoga and voice retreat. Having booked it back in June I was giddy with excitement setting off on my long-awaited break. I swore that I wouldn’t waste …
Last April, I watched in awe as 7 baby cygnets appeared on the main lake in UCD. Their proud parents, who’ve reared many broods here before, knew the drill. Like Royals emerging from a maternity hospital for the paparazzi, the pen and cob (mum and dad) launched their 7 tiny pompomesque babies onto the lake …
Ordinary Plenty 