First Winter Storm.

The winter so far has been kind to us yesterday however it was a tad windy, we were left without power for over four hours and no internet connection overnight. Losing power yesterday reminded us that cats and candles don't mix, especially if the cat happens to have a tail that would make a fox proud, Freddy, always interested in new things suddenly had a flaming brush, fortunately I was there and quickly put the flames out, he is none the worse for it, except for his tail being slightly less bushy. Note to ourselves, go in search of calor gas lamps, the type sold for camping although we aren't quite sure where to start looking.

Today the winds seemed stronger so it was a good excuse to head for the coast, we saw some very spectacular waves, not quite as good as the ones back in Febuary, the wind is in a different direction this time which means the surfers can't take advantage of the big waves.

A wall of sea.

We weren't the only people who had headed for the coast, at one beach there was quite a line of cars and people with their cameras, all paying homage to the natural elements.

A big surf, running very fast.

 The wind certainly blew a few cobwebs away and gave us a very pleasant trip out,

Traffic jam, Irish style.

even if we did get caught up in an Irish traffic jam, the cattle had different ideas of where to go than the farmer so we were stuck for quite a while.

The hat that I had commissioned from a friend is now on it's way to Canada, I hope the sister-in- law will be pleased with it, it should keep her warm on her twitching trips, she is an avid bird watcher. I was very pleased with it, it looked and felt lovely, knitted from Organic wool.

Hand made card.

I decided to keep the whole gift  thing on the local and hand made theme this year so set about making what Xmas cards have to be done, normally I would buy charity cards but needed to get the Canadian gift packaged up and in the post, I  have not bought any cards this year, I just have not got round to it, anyway I think hand made cards are more personal. I hope people like them.

1st Copper Maran egg.

Today we got a first egg from our Copper Maran pullets, we were expecting the first eggs around Xmas so a couple of weeks earlier than we had thought. For a first egg we were very pleased with the size, 47grams, which is very good for a first egg. There are six Copper Maran pullets so we will soon have a glut of eggs again, just in time for the lemon season, lots of lemon curd will be made, fortunately it freezes very well.

On our way back from the coast we spotted a couple of willow sculptures, one of a donkey and one of a sheep, unfortunately the photo of the sheep was not very clear. I love the way the donkey was tethered by his back legs, no doubt to stop him running away.