The Joys

It's taken me this long to write about the joys of being back home but everyday I've been here there has been something to put a smile on my face. Living out in the countryside is good for the soul. It makes you remember and appreciate the simple beauty in life. Autumn is a good time to be in the country and there's nothing nicer than walking down the road and seeing the browns and reds and greens of the trees. It is true that it rains a lot in Ireland but it is also true that it can be pissing it down one minute and the next minute the sun is coming out.

Another reason I love bein home is having pets around me. I love taking them for walks and cuddling up to them in front of the T.V. and I even love when Paddy starts a row with me even though he's a rough bugger and would bite the hand aff ye. I love the way Rosie barks at him when he does this and tries to protect me from the evil Paddy. I love the way that two minutes after that Paddy will come over and sit on top of you and lick your face and be the softest wee doggy ever. I love Harry ze cat too the way that if you refuse to feed him for the 4oth time he'll come and lie on top of you no matter what you're trying to do.

I also love the fact that I get to see more of Nellymoms and Zoe and Bert. Zoe is trying to make a lady out of me and teach me to bake buns. She also encourages me with my photography and provides me with her posh digital so I can take pictures with ease. She has made me realise that a digital camera is necessary if you want to do photography because SLRs aren't always practical. I tried hard to resist the temptations of technology but it always gets me in the end.

Thursday nights are music night and Bert's chums come round with their geetars and mandolins and banjoes. I join in with my geetar and it's good practise for me. I also get severe fits of the giggles though when it's not going so right and then that puts me off completely and I can't play. Anyway, I salute these guys because they all pcked up their instruments only a few yaers ago and for some even less and they've come along great. Better than me who's been playing for longer.



Sometimes I get a wee pang for Stoke.

Evil Natwest

I hate Natwest. They are cruel to animals. But they are also cruel to me. I joined up with Natwest for very naive reasons. When I went to uni in England I realised I would need to open a new bank account for my student loan to go into. I looked around me and Natwest had a familiar logo: that of the Ulster Bank. I've heard they are bastards too but I was 18 at the time and knew nothing about banks. All I knew was the Natwest had the same symbol as the Ulster Bank and that somehow connected me to home so that's the bank I chose.

I had no problems with them my whole 3 years at uni and anytime I ever asked for an extension on my overdaft they always obliged. I couldn't grumble really. Then came the time in my life where I thought I should have a credit card. Why? Because everybody else had one. Oh, and because I'd booked a holiday to Amsterdam with my mate and had no money for it. As it happened I didn't even get my credit card until after I came back and Dad had to lend me the money to go (thanks Dad). So when I'd ran up a sufficient bill the card was lost. A blessing in disguise I think. I then cancelled the card, refused another one and set about paying it all back like a good consumer. This has been going well for me up until now.

They keep charging me for not making payments when I have no means of making a payment. I have no money in my bank account so can't pay by debit card. I can't put cash into my account because there are no Natwest banks here. I have no cheque book. I told the lady this and she asked if there was anyone in England who could put money into my account or some family member that could pay on their debit card on my behalf. Well, yes i do but what makes her think that it's ok to inconvenience other people when it's between me and Natwest. So I told her I didn't. She told me there was nothing she could do and I was being charged for late payment anyway. I hated her. I hate Natwest. I'm changing to the Halifax.

Back on Track

I start working as a sales assistant in Next pretty soon so I'm making the most of bing unemployed. On Sunday I went to see my sister and we made Seventeens. They should be called Fifteens because you need 15 of each of the ingredients you use to make them. We had 17 cherries and digestive biscuits so we made Seventeens. While we were waiting for them to cook, which involves leaving them in the fridge for a few hours, we took a walk to the People's Park and took a few pictures. It was Zoe's idea to call in at the Grouse on the way back to her's cuase she needed the toilet but as we were there we thought we may as well have a wee drink too. Yesterday I went to sign on then met a friend in the pub. I got a lift home with his dad who used to be a teacher at my secondary school.

Today I took Rosie dog for a walk along the river. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was cursing myself for not bringing my camera but I guess the river ain't going anywhere. It didn't stay a beautiful sunny day anyway and before long the rain was falling and there was even a bit of thunder, which poor Rosie dog hates.

Well, I think the thing i'm gonna miss about not working is watching Neighbours. I haven't missed an episode for weeks and it's been an eventful couple of weeks in Ramsay St. There was a bit of a reunion and a lot of old faces turning up, the best one being Joe Mangle who looks like he's staying for a bit. But most importantly. The evil Izzy has been well and truly found out and Karl Kennedy is now free to woo Susan back. Yay!

Tayto and Traybakes

My lovely big sister Zoe has let me use her computer to update. We've been cooking buns and taking photos round Ballymena. You can see how lovely my home town is if you click on my flickr. You will also see a selection of local 'delicacies' that Norn Iron has to offer. When I was taking the photo of Tayto cheese and onion crisps in Tesco a wee girl asked me why I was taking pictures of crisps. I told her because I wanted to. I didn't think she would understand if I told her I was taking photos of local produce to put on my blog so folk over in England could see all the lovely food and buns we have.

The Big Move

It's been a while. All the moving and everything has made it difficult to keep up to date. For me it's not just been one move but two moves. And even now I won't have time to write about everything that I want to, like the new doggy dynamics, the '7 things' that Ganching has tagged me to do, the updating of my flickr account, the crazy dreams about Jack from Lost. It can wait. For now there is still so much to do and Nellymoms is waiting for me.