Tuesday 12 July 2016

Busy Summer Days

It’s always busy at this time of year with so much going on, particularly with the schools. What with fetes, sport’s day, assemblies, shows and the children’s carnival.

The carnival was almost rained off. On the day several of the local schools abandoned the whole thing, but our school was one of the three that carried on, walking round the streets, banging their drums in the pouring rain and keeping the smiles on their faces. They did so well. By the end, we were soaked to the skin and my phone, purse and watch (which I’d slipped into my bag to stop it getting wet) were floating in a puddle in the bottom of my “waterproof” bag, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

I didn’t get any photos – it was too wet for my camera which fortunately was in a waterproof case inside my not-waterproof bag.

I have blogged before about Daughters of Ireland by Debbie Blake here. It really is an inspirational book and I learned so much from it. I bought the paperback when it first came out and the good news is that it is now currently only £1.89 on Kindle.



Another book I have read recently is End of the Road and other stories by Rosemary Gemmell and I must say they are the kind of short stories I really love, highly readable with a bit of bite. I enjoyed every single one. Rosemary’s book is only £1.99 on Kindle.




Hope you are enjoying summer whatever you are doing.



25 comments:

  1. I rather think that I would be able to name a few of the daughters of Ireland you know :-)

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  2. Summer Fetes should be renamed - Rainy Fetes - perhaps then the sun will shine :) I have my copy of Rosemary's book and it is a wonderful read. Like you, I would highly recommend it. She is a lovely, captivating writer and shows such respect for her readers. Super!
    Enjoy the rest of your summer, Teresa. Take care.

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    1. Good idea to rename the fetes :-) I agree with all you say about Rosemary's writing, Nicola :-) xx

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  3. Glad you're enjoying yourself despite the weather - I am too.

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  4. Hi human, Teresa,

    Can you imagine a summer fete without rain? Arf, I'm forever wearing my doggy coat these days.

    Thank you mentioning those two books.

    Pawsitive wishes and doggy kisses,

    Penny xx

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    1. Good for you wearing your coat, Penny, hope you don't need it too much in the coming weeks :-) xx

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  5. Your school did really well to battle on. The rain creates a small river that flows down our lane, so I am getting used to a hall full of wet shoes these days. And it's so oddly quiet here without the school children going on their nature walks or playing outside.
    Daughters of Ireland looks wonderful and I agree that Rosemary's book is absolutely fantastic. She is so talented and I love what Nicola says about her showing respect for her readers. So true. xxx

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    1. They were all such troupers, Joanna.
      Wet shoes - I have never had so many wet shoes. Hanging them out in the garden in various places to dry, then rushing out to bring them in when it rains!
      Agree with you and Nicola about Rosemary's respect for her readers :-) xx

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  6. The weather has put a real dampener on events this year, so good for you in carrying on regardless. Enjoy the summer, hopefully there will be some silver linings to the dark clouds.

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    1. The rain has made everywhere so lush and green though, so can't really complain. Just hoping for some nice days in the summer holidays - for the sake of the children of course :-) xx

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  7. Thanks for your book recommendations Teresa. I could do with a good read for the summer... I haven't found the weather so bad. We had a Write on the Beach day here in Herne Bay and we were in full sun for the whole two hour session - ok , admittedly with a little wind too which made it a tad difficult to hear each others words . But we had a fab time...

    gramswisewords.blogspot.com

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    1. The Write on the Beach day sounds wonderful! Writing and the beach - two of my favourite things. The weather has perked up a lot hasn't it - we've had some very heavy downpours, but everywhere dries up fast :-) xx

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  8. Thanks for your book recommendations Teresa. I could do with a good read for the summer... I haven't found the weather so bad. We had a Write on the Beach day here in Herne Bay and we were in full sun for the whole two hour session - ok , admittedly with a little wind too which made it a tad difficult to hear each others words . But we had a fab time...

    gramswisewords.blogspot.com

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  9. So much rain but I called it my giant watering can in the sky so it let me off having to water the plants! And as you say everywhere is SO beautiful with all this rain. When it does shine everything glistens and looks breathtaking. I'm even getting gasp factors at all the familiar scenery around me.

    Daughters of Ireland sounds amazing - is it a novel or a biography? xx

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    1. It is lovely isn't it, Sue - maybe the summer won't get tired and yellow if we carry on having the regular rainfall.

      Daughters of Ireland is about 15 Irish truly remarkable Irish women from Dr James Barry to Dame Kathleen Lonsdale. I learned such a lot from reading it, not just about the women, but the times they lived in. I think my favourite was Frances Power Cobbe, but all their lives are inspiring :-) xx

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  10. Oh wow - I'm away behind with reading blogs and I can't believe the lovely comments about my short story collection. Thank you so much, Teresa (and Nicola and Joanna)! It's very kind of you to feature it here when you are such a prolific and lovely short story writer - means a lot to me. I haven't read the the other book, though I should since I have Irish heritage.

    I tend to forget that English schools are only now on holiday - ours seem to have started so long ago! The carnival sounds great fun.

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    1. I loved all your stories, Rosemary - they're just my sort of thing!
      Our local schools don't break up until the end of this week, then I'm hoping for some days out with them with no school timetables and events to worry about :-) xx

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  11. It always seems to rain when you least need it, Teresa, but glad it didn't spoil the events too much.

    As the summer holidays are approaching I'm sure you'll be able to have more wonderful days.xx

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    1. The last few days I have been grouchy about it being too hot! Never happy am I ;-) Last day of school today :-) xx

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  12. I'm just gearing up to a summer of grandchildren duties, Teresa. Not sure how much writing's going to get done!

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    1. Lovely isn't it, Wendy :-) I can't wait!! xx

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  13. I agree, it is always so busy at this of year Teresa though this summer, mine was also taken up with the wedding of our middle daughter. What with that and taking my mother home to Essex afterwards, to find her living room had been flooded during a torrential rain storm, put paid to much else. I am just getting back to blogging now, both reading them and writing them. Have a lovely summer! :-)

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    1. How lovely - the wedding. I'm so sorry about your mother's living room, what a thing to come home to! I hope all is well now and there wasn't too much damage, especially to those things that can't be replaced.
      Hope you have a lovely summer from now on! xx

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