Bairbre CahillWe were driving to Dublin from Donegal a few weeks ago, and there, on the side of the road beside a field was a bed. It was a double divan bed, the base lying at one side, the mattress over at the other side of the gate. It is not as if someone had been…
Category: Family & Faith
Pom pom tree to create a festive air
Erin FoxDecember is here and the excitement for Christmas has well and truly kicked in. It might still be too early to put the tree up, but you can keep your Christmas spirit satisfied by making homemade decorations while you wait. You can ‘cheat’ and make a miniature tree to gaze at while you are waiting…
Dad’s Diary
Ireland’s recent rugby victory in Chicago over the All Blacks prompted me to get back in touch with a good old Kiwi friend for some banter. However, a search of Facebook yielded only a memorial page for someone with the same name, who looked disturbingly like him. A Google search revealed the tragic story of…
Time to get busy to welcome the season of Advent
This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent which means it’s time to gather fir branches, holly and ivy for the Advent wreath, and for a big wreath to hang on the front door. Advent wreaths are usually the first Christmas decorations to go up, followed by the tree. They symbolise the exciting count down…
Warding off winter’s ailments
Dr Kevin McCarrollAs the winter sets in, we brace ourselves not just for the long dark days and cold weather but the seasonal spike in winter-related illness – the surge in colds and flu as well as several health conditions triggered or worsened by cold weather such asthma, cold sores and circulatory problems. So what if anything…
Faith in the Family
Have you ever walked a labyrinth? I walk the garden labyrinth in Manresa, the Jesuit retreat house in Dublin every time I visit. Now a labyrinth is not a maze. It is not a place to get lost or find oneself in a dead-end. A labyrinth is usually a path on the ground – the…
Time to tidy things up in the garden
With the last of the summer flowers in the garden wilting away, it’s now the time to help mum and dad or your grandarents with tidying in the garden. Along with the flowers disappearing, and the trees losing their leaves, you will probably notice fewer insects, birds and other wildlife around the garden. Clearing the…
Dad’s Diary
Autumn is deepening. The last few brave flowers bloom through carpets of rusty leaves. Stark branches reach towards the glowering skies. The night surprises us, arriving early, and uninvited – a cold and unwelcome guest. Yet even the cold night is made warm and welcome by the fire, which we gather around each evening. All…
Make a hedgehog pin cushion
A hedgehog without its spines would certainly look odd, but not this prickly pal who will mind all of your sewing pins and needles. Pin cushions are usually quite small but if you have a very large collection of sewing needles, then make a few hedghehogs in different colours and patterns so you have a…
Faith in the Family
I remember a conversation in our house when our children were small about where they would live when they were ‘big’. Our youngest daughter even at the age of six was keen on New York, so that she could sing on Broadway. Our son, two years younger, announced that he would be living ‘here, in…