My father passed away in July and there is a wee dog at home which needs walked and because my mother is 81, I volunteered, and started walking her. I don't really mind as it'll get me out over the winter and stop me hibernating too much, as if that were even a possibility at the moment.
I was out on Thursday night, down to Letterkenny to watch my friend and fellow drama group member, Chris Duddy, in Hairspray. Chris played Tracey's Turnblad's mother, the role played by John Travolta in the recent re-make. A great turn from Chris as usual and they sold out all 5 nights at An Grianan.
Then I'm out Monday and Tuesday night this week, so far. But I'm hoping for a quiet weekend next week, as I have the God of Rock himself, the following week. Mot is up next week too so the car goes in on Wednesday for a once over. Then there are, at this point, 3 Christmas parties to come as well. Whew!
As part of my routine with the dog, I try and take her up around the river in Sion at least once on the weekend and as I was at my cousin's wedding yesterday, I took her up this morning. It was great because we had the place to ourselves, all the good Christians were at mass or church but being outdoors in nature, is church for me, especially when no one else is around.
One of the joys of it, is getting the wellies on, because we have to cross fields and there is muck and water everywhere. The first day, I was trying to find a way around but then I caught on what I was doing and thought,' I've wellies on, I can just plough on'. The simple pleasure of being able to tramp through 4 inches of mud and up to 6 inches in water, is a joy I had forgotten and took me right back to childhood. There's such a great sense of freedom in it and I find now, I hope for rain on a Friday so that there will be plenty of muck and water about on the weekend.
Women miss out on so much fun as they get older. Last year, my back yard needed cleaning up, the walls were mossy and I wanted to paint them. So, as I'm on my own, I hired a power-washer and set to work. It was great, hosing everything down, I loved every minute of it! I enjoyed it so much, I even went out and bought a hose for myself so I can stay on top of it and I've roped my grand-daughter in too, she hoses while I brush and loves it!
When we were young, we used to wash my father's car, it was something I always enjoyed. Since I got my hose, I've started washing my own car too. The simple pleasure of messing about with water and mud, there's nothing better...
