country living journal

Leisure time

As mentioned in previous posts I fundamentally believe that the internet has revolutionised our lives and has made it possible for many people like myself to live in a beautiful environment and yet still generate an income online from a home office. It has also revolutionised our leisure time and how we spend that time. Television viewing figures have dropped back enormously since the advent of the internet and I personally spend a lot more leisure time on the net chatting to friends and playing online games than I do watching TV. I have always been partial a flutter on the horses and I love playing poker and blackjack to so the net is nirvana for me being able to get into a game anytime with players from around the world. My favourite online gaming site is 888.com, which gives me access to a full online casino, poker, roulette, bingo, blackjack, slot machines and many others either in download or no-download versions and all in a safe, secure environment. Having said all that though, I am not a big gambler, and I always play for low stakes and never lose much or gain that much … but the net allows me to enjoy my little vice !!

As someone who suffered from painful and unsightly boils under my skin in the area on my face around my nose and mouth for many years I wanted to share a home remedy I came across 4 years ago which has left my skin clear as a bell since I tried it.

I came across an article that suggested sufferers with this condition should simply avoid Citrus Fruit and citrus fruit juices. Apparently this condition is often misdiagnosed as acne or acne rosacea, but ultimately it is an allergic reaction to Citric Acid. Citric Acid is of course a key component of Citrus fruits and juices.

I stopped eating citrus fruit and drinking citrus juices and the condition disappeared immediately, I have not had re-occurence in 4 years. After years of misdiagnosis by Doctors and Dermatologists, it was that simple. Perhaps I was just lucky, but I thought it was least that I could do to share this with other suffers to at least give it a try.

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For the week that’s in it … Happy Saint Patricks Day, wherever you are around the globe, may I wish you the best of greetings this St Patricks Day :

“MAY GOD BE WITH YOU AND BLESS YOU
MAY YOU SEE YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN
MAY YOU BE POOR IN MISFORTUNE, RICH IN BLESSINGS
MAY YOU KNOW NOTHING BUT HAPPINESS
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD”

Long life, health and happiness to you all

It seems many people have discovered the unique delights of west cork and are considering moving here. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had quite a few emails from people asking about the best websites for homes for sale in Ireland, particularly West Cork properties and houses for sale in southwest ireland. I posted on this topic last year so I am resurrecting this post with an update or two. Here are some sites that may be of help.

SWS Property Services
Celtic Properties - West Cork
Key Properties
James Lyons & Co property
Irish Property News
Sherry Fitzgerald Countrywide
Property in West Cork

My Friends, I have good news and I have bad news !

As you can see it has been quite a while since I last updated my Country Living Blog. Its not that I have lost interest, in fact I am still frantically scribbling notes and ideas and stories to tell you all every day (i now have a full journal of them !!). The good news for me is that my business has taken off dramatically and I can’t tell you how happy I am about that, after making the big move to the country, and I’ve managed to start earning a good income … it is a dream come through in many ways.

The bad news is that I am now busier than ever, and I have not been able to get the time to update this blog, I reckon I would need a solid week to update this with all that’s happened, but getting a clear week is just going to be impossible for the foreseable future.

However, I am determined to do it, and one of these fine days I will get to it, writing this blog has been both therapeutic and amazingly interesting due to the many fine people from around the globe who have been so kind to write to me since I started this blog.

Anyway, a long and wandering way to say I am still here, and will get to update this blog one fine day ! Feel free to email or post comments on your experience of country living … in fact if you want to share your own stories or vignettes of country life, feel free to email me and I will certainly post them, it will help enormously to keep this blog active.

Warm Regards, James

We are having a blissful period of weather here. Summer has definitely arrived with a warm sunshine and blissful warm breezes.

The hedgerows have been in bloom here since March, but just when I thought they could not possibly get any better, they surprise me again ! Over the last three weeks, we have been watching with awe as the Rhododendron bushes, which are very plentiful around these parts, burst forth with staggering displays of color. The most frequent blossom is a large purple/lilac flower which opens up to deliver three or four crown shaped petal displays and the most beautiful sweet fragrance which to me can only be described as warm apple pie ! Apparently based on the soil type in which it is rooted, the Rhododendron also delivers different colored blooms, and I have seen many bushes overflowing with a spectacular large crimson red bloom and I have seen one or two which have a delivered a pretty pink floral blanket.

To paraphrase an oft used saying, I am very happy to be resting on my laurels !

Salisbury Post - Salibury,NC,USA

The generation that remembers washboards, homemade apple butter, pie
safes, farming and old-time country living is quickly fading, and museum
supporters want …
[More …]

Recent news stories of Country Life :

DON’T overlook down side of country living
Toronto Star - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
… We’ve gone from driving 50,000 kilometres a year to driving 4,000 kilometres
a year.”. Country living is a young person’s option, in his view. …
[More …]

FESTIVAL mixes city, country
Bloomington Pantagraph - Bloomington,IL,USA
BLOOMINGTON — Country living’s bountiful produce shared the stage with
urban dwellings’ stylish designs Saturday in the annual Keep the Bloom
in Bloomington …
[More …]

RESIDENTS experience price of country living
Coshocton Tribune - Coshocton,OH,USA
By ANDREW HIRSCH. COSHOCTON — People dream of better things, and one of
those is a home in the country. Coshocton County has plenty …
[More …]

BATES Inc. Glass is overseeing the
Richmond Times Dispatch - Richmond,VA,USA
… Pump Town Center. Plow & Hearth sells country-living products through
a catalog, on the Internet and at four stores. Two stores …
[More …]

Today was a blissful day, giving us the real feeling that summer is finally on its way. We had beautiful sunshine in the morning. It streamed in the bedroom windows to gently stir us from our slumbers. By 10 am the sun had become hazy but it still managed to stay bright and a wonderful warm breeze wafted over the gardens. I had no excuse !! I had to get out into it and do some gardening.

I was checking some trees we had recently planted on the formerly rough area I mentioned in my last post. The digger exposed wonderfully fertile earth and quite a lot of natural stone, to which I had paid scant attention previously. As I was checking the trees I noticed the particularl beauty of the natural stone which had been unearthed by the digger. The quartz in some of the stones sparkled in the bright day, many other pieces were as flat as a plate, and still others were rough with wonderful shapes and colors. Many of the stones had veins of white marble running through them, and still others had clear veins of iron ore. The sheer variety of color and material in each stone inspired me, I had to use them somehow.

I could not resist, around each new shrub I had planted, I built a small surround of stones, which I filled with earth, and the overall effect is super. Una, was out with the children doing the grocery shop, and when she returned she was gobsmacked at the effect of using the beautiful natural stone around the shrubs. Not bad for a novice gardener eh ?