the irish b(l)oggers

Sorry ...

2011-12-26T14:42:00.000Z

It's been a while since I posted on here but now I'm back. Have been very busy as some of you already know but back to a bit of stability at last again ..

I will catch up some more in a day or two, until then I hope you all had a great Xmas and here's hoping to all of you out there that the new year brings you good fortune

timmy

Moustache Season

2011-10-25T21:18:00.001+01:00

Ok I need sponsors for my charity moustache growing attempt, my previous moustaches were dire but its all in aid of prostrate cancer so I need small donations to my Mo Space page, here is a copy of my moustache sponsor begging letter

Donations can be made here however small (just like my moustache lol)

http://mobro.co/timmygadget

Hi,

It’s Movember, the month formerly known as November, now dedicated to growing moustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health; specifically prostate cancer. I’m donating my top lip to the cause for 30 days in an effort to help change the face of men’s health. My Mo will spark conversations, and no doubt generate some laughs; all in the name of raising vital awareness and funds for cancer’s affecting men.

Why am I concerned about men’s health?
*1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
*This year more than 2,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed
*1 in 3 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
*In Ireland only 26% of men go to their GPs for regular check ups

I invite you to join me by registering to grow or by donating to my growth http://www.movember.com/m/1563792
You can even go old school and write a cheque payable to “Irish Cancer Society Movember”, reference my name and Registration Number 1563792 and send it to: Movember, Irish Cancer Society, 43-45 Northumerland Road, Dublin 4, Ireland

We only have a month to grow Mos and raise awareness and fund, so please come along for the ride.

Funds raised will help make a tangible difference to the lives of others. Through the Movember Foundation and our men’s health partners, Action Prostate Cancer, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society, Movember is funding world class awareness, research, educational and support programs which would otherwise not be possible.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please click on the links below:
About Movember
Action Prostate Cancer
Global Action Plan

Thank you in advance for helping me change the face of men's health.

Tim Norris

A New Gardening Era

2011-09-26T19:37:00.000+01:00

Well first of all apologies for my absence since I last posted, it was a mixture of Timmy laziness and also the fact that not much has been happening here. This is a quick post to let everyone know about the start of our new veggie patch that our friend Martin has let us use, Martin is the father of our daughters boyfriend. He has given us access to a patch of ground about 50 square metres in size which is much more than my measly attempt of calculating how big it was the last time we looked at it. I spent the evening making the first bed, which just needed digging over and the removal of some stones, it's nice soil too and we put in half a bed of onion sets for the winter. I have a trailer full of manure arriving later this week too. Any tips from fellow gardeners out there would be appreciated immensely as we are just beginners at this. We are finding this really enjoyable and can't wait for next spring when the new season starts but I think the onions will do for now. Ok must go, dinner is awaiting me so I may scrub out the gardening muck from underneath my newly acquired green fingernails - timmy

Autumn

2011-09-12T14:53:00.000+01:00

Autumn is here, the change wasn't really too noticeable in Ireland because we seem to get mild wet winters and mild wet summers with the odd exception of freezing minus 15 temperatures for short spells over the last two winters. Today is stormy, with winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour as the remnants of Hurricane Katia sweep just north of our position, Northern Ireland and the Central Lowlands of Scotland are getting a bit more of a battering than ourselves it seems. Myself and Angela brought in our garden furniture yesterday along with our potted plants that were outside but no major damage seems to be done except for the odd wheelie bin or broken branch or two flying down the roads.

Hurricane Katia as it whizzes past us (although its now only a tropical storm)

The garden is winding down, we are collecting as many seeds as we can from our plants before they die off, buying them in the garden centres are not exactly cheap these days. We have cabbage, broccoli, carrots and Christmas seed potatoes on the go at the moment and later this week we are sowing some onions which will be ready for next year.

In an earlier post I mentioned that we were limited for space to do much in our garden, so we have been looking to expand our endeavours. In Ireland there is not really a big culture of allotments as there is in England though we did go to an old ladies house who offered us a veggie plot to grow our own stuff then a few days later she changed her mind and decided against it, shame really as it was perfect, huge greenhouse, raised beds and huge composter bins etc. So we decided to ask a friend about some spare space in their huge garden and its looking good for us to have a nice plot about 25 metres square or more for next year, a bit of work needs to be put into it for sure but it will only cost us a small portion of what we grow in exchange for using a bit of ground that is going to waste. Updates to follow. timmy ...

Back to School

2011-09-03T09:48:00.001+01:00

Ah well so much for the summer school holidays, but luckily enough Erin loves school and usually can't wait to be back, here she is getting ready to head off on the first day back, 4th class in primary school here we come ...

Potatoes Pt. 2

2011-08-29T19:07:00.001+01:00

Ok so they are now planted, great adventure this is for us as we have never planted potatoes before.

We left the seed potatoes out in a cool light place for a few days for the shoots to appear, the instructions said about 1 inch long would be fine.
The next step was to fill our little grow bags with 4 inches of compost and then dampen down the soil with the watering can.
Place 3 seed potatoes in each grown bag with the shoots facing upward.
Next fill the the grow bag up to the 8 inch level covering the potatoes.
Water the grow bag daily but be careful not to waterlog the soil.
Wait for the green shoots to arrive above the soil, then when the plant reaches 10 inches above the soil keep topping up the soil a little at a time until soil reaches the top of the grow bag.
If frost is forecast bring the bags somewhere frost free for the duration.
The potatoes should be ready to harvest sometime in December. :-)

We also went into our front garden and dug up 2 little trees that our previous occupants planted and Angela is making plans to put a few flower beds.

More to follow …

Potatoes

2011-08-26T11:36:00.003+01:00

We are going to try and grow our own potatoes for the very first time. We have some potato grow sacks that we can put the seed potatoes in and they should be ready for December touch wood. We are loving this gardening business and can't wait to sample our own produce. I have also been following my cousin Vicki's allotment exploits over in London and taking notes for future reference. Good luck with your veggies Vicki :)

No space, small garden, meh ..

2011-08-26T02:18:00.005+01:00

We are not blessed with a large garden, and it’s made worse because of the fact that three quarters of the yard is wooden decking or paving stones, then there’s a postage stamp sized lawn leaving us just a narrow border on half of two sides of the garden to plant a few bits and pieces, but we have learned and adapted to fit it to our needs …

We got a little help from our Aunt Ailsa who stayed with us for a week this summer, she taught us so much which wasn't hard because we were clueless in the extreme. Here’s a pictorial update …

Firstly we were advised to start composting to save money and obviously be greener so we invested in this little beastie

Also we bought some canvas raised beds to make more space than we had already, winter cabbage here with lots of slug repellent …

Carrots (eventually) on the left and broccoli on the right …

We used plant pots as much as we could too, this is a bell pepper that was dying and we managed to bring back to life

A miniature greenhouse that fitted onto our decking, (which needs painting by the way), our tomatoes are housed in here

Not forgetting the wildlife, here’s a little bird table our friend Tommy made for us, we recycled the sunflower heads as food for the birds

And here is our worn out decking and the view from the back door

We are getting there slowly and are looking forward to developing our little space into somewhere that we will treasure :)

Tramore

2011-08-18T09:36:00.002+01:00

We had a day out to the beach in Tramore yesterday. Angela, Erin and myself took a chance on a good weather forecast for the south coast on the Met Eireann website and promptly organised a day trip out. Years ago to get to Tramore it involved going along small twisty congested roads and getting stuck behind many a tractor with no place to overtake but no longer, we have a brand spanking new motorway (M9) and the journey was a joy to behold.

We sat on the beach in the sunshine eating beautiful fish and chips, Erin and Angela waded deep into the water which was surprisingly warm. Myself and Erin had a great kick around of Footy on the hard sand.

Great day out :)

Tiger Moth

2011-07-21T13:13:00.000+01:00

Found this Garden Tiger moth on Ken's front doorstep today, never seen one before

Keith & Keith …

2011-07-18T16:15:00.002+01:00

Keith Booth, Timmy's Uncle from New Zealand meets his great nephew and our son Keith Norris for the first time …

(Click the picture to see full size)

Erin on the Dolmen Stone

2011-07-14T01:03:00.000+01:00

We also visited the Dolmen Stone in Carlow which is a 5000 year old Neolithic tomb and Erin decided to do a bit of mountaineering ...

Erin on the stone, the top stone is about 150 tons

Erin is dwarfed by the huge stone and

is not too keen on heights ...

Clancy's Bar Traditional Irish music night

2011-07-14T00:56:00.000+01:00

The inevitable sampling of the black stuff mixed with a bit of the diddly da fiddle music turned into a great night out :)

Diddly da heaven

My brother Ken

The boys, Ken, Keith & Timmy

Angela & Keith

Ailsa & Angela

Vicarstown

2011-07-14T00:40:00.001+01:00

Vicarstown is a remote village in Co. Laois, it's more accessible by canal barges than it is by road, so we took a day out exploring, we managed to get about 30 minutes of photographs and exploring all the boats before the heavens poured down yet again ...

Erin

Angela

Ailsa

Exploring the boats

Keith's hair is so white it blends in with the skyline

The Grand Canal

Keith & Ailsa on Vicarstown bridge

Erin

The Wet and Windy Wicklow Mountains

2011-07-14T00:26:00.001+01:00

This was our first outing, myself, Angela, Erin, Aisling, Keith and Ailsa decided to take ourselves up to the mountains, as we rose higher it decided to get wetter and wetter so first of all we went to the local hotel and got a good feed, then we ventured out into the 800 year old monestary ruins and it rained and rained and we got soaked to the skin and left for home after about 20 minutes, oh dear not a good start :)

Fulham Bound …

2011-05-09T20:21:00.001+01:00

I am heading to London this Saturday (May 14th) and I will be staying at my sister Trish’s house in Fulham, got a bit of stuff to do at my brother in law Simon’s old work premises, long story … I will be over there for maybe two to three weeks and hope to catch up with everyone, including my kiwi rellies which I have been neglecting, sorry, hoping to go see Keith and Ailsa too if I have timed my visit right, Vicki, Karen what date are they arriving in London?

Trampoline Building

2011-04-20T18:31:00.001+01:00

Well I built a trampoline today and how I did I do not know because the instruction booklet might as well have been written in Chinese for all the use it was, but I figured it out with some trial and error and some help from Angela and our friend Diana. In the end it was worth it to see Erin and her friend Sarah have a great time …

The Horse Bridge

2011-03-26T22:19:00.001Z

This is one of my favourite spots to walk the dog so I took a quick picture of it while I was out …

St Patrick’s Day Parade 2011

2011-03-17T18:16:00.001Z

St Patricks Day, Athy, Co. Kildare

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

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Our first daffodil ...

2011-03-15T10:22:00.000Z

Everyone around us has had daffodils and other bulbs popping all over the place but our lazy bulbs in our garden were a bit sleepy and finally woke up later than the rest :-)

Arghh ...

2011-03-08T17:55:00.001Z

Barcelona vs Arsenal is on pay per view TV and I don't have that, may see if I can view it on the internet somewhere

More Walking …

2011-03-07T14:20:00.001Z

The weather is glorious here today and Angela, Oscar and myself went for a walk again downstream along the River Barrow, here’s a few pictures …

This is the gate to the first place that we lived at when we moved back to Ireland, I painted it 14 years ago just before we moved to a new address, looks like the tenants after us never went near it with a paint brush

Foggy Morning Walk

2011-03-04T11:13:00.000Z

Keith & Aisling

2011-03-01T12:22:00.000Z

Lovely picture of our oldest 2, Keith and Aisling

Walking the Dog …

2011-02-16T12:22:00.001Z

With both my cars off the road and out of action, myself and Oscar the Dog decided to take the scenic route into town for a walk, the weather was blue skies and bright and though only 5 degrees but it was pleasant. Here are some pictures …

Oscar made a new friend …

Looking north up the River towards the town

Looking the opposite way from the same position with the old derelict railway bridge in view

A traveller’s horse that Oscar wanted to pick a fight with

The old horse bridge across the river that was used by horses to pull canal barges years ago

A bit closer to the town now on the river footpath

The Dominican’s Church

The Courthouse

The Grand Canal

and lastly 2 swans that wanted to pick a fight with Oscar and he being a big wuss ran away …

Water World

2011-02-07T17:08:00.004Z

After 3 days solid rain our river is on the rise again

The river has filled this field with 2 feet of water, last week the field was home to a few horses and donkeys.

The water has crossed the road that we use to drive Erin to school but it is not so deep yet and my BMW got through it with no problems, but we have the weather man predicting more rain for the next few days

New Home

2011-01-17T14:13:00.001Z

We are moving on Thursday, this is our modest new abode, 3 bedroom semi-detached not far from our old house

The Freezing River Barrow ...

2010-12-23T00:19:00.000Z

Our river has started to freeze over, this rarely happens here in Ireland as far as I know …

My poor BMW ...

2010-12-12T13:26:00.000Z

Yes my car has suffered another bout of breakdown fever, this time it was frozen pipes and airlocks in my cooling system, the water pump was pushing the coolant through but an airlock and frozen pipes stopped it from going around the system and pressure built up and broke the connection on the inlet pipe where the hose should be connected, double dutch to me, no disrespect to our friends from the Netherlands, luckily with the help of my friend Eric I managed to find another one on eBay for a bargain price :-) ...

Erin

2010-12-08T12:03:00.001Z

Erin is a big 9 years old today and is already driving us all nuts with the "I am a princess and you have to be nice to me" quotes, happy birthday Erin xxx

New Blog

2010-12-06T10:39:00.000Z

I now have a new blog that I can get to use more often and can blog from my phone

http://timmygadget.tumblr.com

Snow

2010-11-30T14:00:00.000Z

We are buried under lots of snow at the moment, we got our second load last night and the town is in chaos, Ireland is not used to or prepared for such wintry weather. It is forecast for more snow overnight too and the temperatures here over the last few days have been about -8 C overnight and -2 to 0 during the day with freezing fog. Erin and the dog are loving it but my car is sliding around on the roads and it is strange for me to drive the BMW on the ice, rear wheel drive is odd to say the least in slippy conditions ...

This is the first batch of snow just 2 or 3 inches but last night we got about 6 inches, more to come tonight too ...

Update

2010-10-28T11:42:00.002+01:00

A lot has been happening which is one of the main reasons for our lack of posting and also the fact I can be lazy sometimes too. I won't go into the details of what is happening here but if you know me well and want to send me an email I will go into more detail. The main thing is we are moving home in the New Year and life is going to be hectic for us from now until after the house move, we have moved many times before when I was in the Navy but this house has been our home now for 7 years and the thought of moving lock stock and barrel is going to be daunting, but we are also excited about the move, Erin especially.

Still no work here and the Irish government are so inept with their finances that the EU has had to step in to oversee our financial woes to prevent us getting an IMF bailout as happened to Greece but other than being poor and unemployed we are still a happy bunch, could do with a lottery win for sure :)

I am loving the posts from my Kiwi cousins, you guys show me up bigtime with your postings, I just keep forgetting to use this thing

Timmy

Autumn on the River Barrow, Co. Carlow ...

2010-10-28T11:18:00.000+01:00

We had a few hours to kill the other day so myself, Angela and Erin brought Oscar the dog for a walk by the river in the middle of nowhere, there is a castle like building but it is actually the ruins of the first hydro electric power station ever constructed in Britain or Ireland in the early 1890's

(click on the pictures to see them full size)

Belfast Girls ...

2010-10-28T10:56:00.001+01:00

Just a few shots of our little trip up to the North ...

Back to school blues

2010-08-23T13:30:00.003+01:00

Well here we are one week left of the summer hols, that was the quickest 8 weeks ever.

Erin is all ready and really excited to see all her friends, but for me its the getting her out of bed, trying to get her to eat her brekki and have all her school books in order, sometimes it would be easier if I was back in school, not a care in the world, IT WOULD BE NICE JUST FOR 1 WEEK.

On other news we as a family are looking at a big house move later this year or early next year, as with every move we tend to look back on the lovely memories we had here, and on some of the not so good, but the excitement of new beginnings soon take over and the military planning soon takes priority, with Tim always being moved around in his navy career I have perfected house moving to a fine art, lets hope after all these years i still have it.

As long as we are all happy and healthy we will make a home where ever we go. Will keep you all up to date on our new beginnings.

For now (slan leat) bye for now Ang

Like 2 peas in a pod ...

2010-08-09T14:27:00.000+01:00

Big brother and little sister always do stuff together ....

Navy Days

2010-07-27T15:05:00.000+01:00

A few of my old Salty Sea Dog ships from my time in the Royal Navy ....

HMS Brinton

HMS Inverness

HMS Arrow

HMS Beaver

USS Merrill

Post World Cup ...

2010-07-22T10:01:00.000+01:00

Yes, I was obsessed with the Football and now there is an empty void in the sporting calendar, but not for long as the English soccer season is about to start, it seems as the world cup has even affected them and most of the English teams are banning Vuvuzelas from their grounds on an ever increasing basis. Enough about football ...

In Ireland we seem to be having our usual dismal summer, it has been scorching for most of April and May and now the heavens have opened, for the last 4 weeks solid it has been gray and raining while across the water England has been basking in sunshine, I am getting fed up of this and wish I could just get a big tug boat and pull Ireland down off the coast of Portugal or somewhere else warm like that.

The family are fine nothing new to report but I will post a beautiful picture from Erin's first communion that shows the whole five of us together, some of you may have seen this already ...

Wow the sun was shining on this day :-)

World Cup Woes ...

2010-07-04T11:41:00.001+01:00

What a roller coaster world cup it has been, my predictions were totally wrong, good teams played bad, bad teams played good, there has been lots of bad refereeing decisions and lots of emotion and my two favourites for the final, Brazil and Argentina have departed. Ah well I expect zee Germans to win now ...

World Cup Fever...

2010-06-11T12:16:00.002+01:00

The time has come to battle in earnest for posession of the TV remote in our house. Does timmy get to watch the world cup soccer or will the girls in our house get to watch their usual rubbish.

Let the battle commence, come on England ...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Big Communion Day

2010-05-24T09:42:00.001+01:00

We had a great day out, the church ceremony was fabulous, after we all went to my niece's house to sit outside in her garden as it is much larger than ours and a we had a gazebo to shelter us from the 25 degree heat. We ordered a bouncy castle to keep Erin and her cousins busy while the parents just chatted all day ...

Erin with her teacher Miss McCarthy

The Communion Children performing a song on the altar

Receiving their first Holy Communion

After Communion with their certificates

Both Schools with their teachers and the priest

Erins class with their teacher

and lastly both schools (Levitstown and Kilkea) together

Erins First Communion

2010-05-23T08:35:00.002+01:00

We are just all dressed and ready, Erin's first communion is at 9.30am mass and then it's a big family get together after with a bouncy castle for the kids. I will post the photos tomorrow I promise (blushing profusely for being a bad blogger) ;-)

timmy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Update

2010-03-23T14:07:00.004Z

After numerous nudges in the ribs by my extended family I think it is now time to update everyone on our Irish fortunes.

First of all Aisling is still plugging away on her beauticians course and is doing a great job so far with her exam results in mostly in the high 90% area.

Keith is having a great time with his social life and recently went on a trip with all his friends to Amsterdam and the less we know about what they got up to there the better me thinks.

Erin recently had her first confession organised through her school and on May 23rd she will doing her first communion too.

Angela and myself are still working in dribs and drabs whenever it comes our way and I am on a government course studying Adobe CS4 and Media Design in Carlow and Angela is doing a part time computer skills course here in Athy.

Oscar recently became 'Neuter Dog' and has to go to the vets this Friday to have his stitches out and he is healing very well and is back to his usual barky self, was hoping his sudden lack of testosterone would calm him down a bit but time will tell on that score I guess, also he has got his summer grooming and looks a fraction of his normal size with all that winter coat off.

Myself, Angela and Erin are going to London on 6th April to stay with my sister for 2 days before driving from London to Biarritz via the Eurotunnel on the 8th April, we will be there for 10 days in my sisters house. Aisling and her friend will also be joining us in France but they will be flying direct from Ireland and I will be picking them up from the airport, the 2 girls are so blond sometimes that I am sure they will end up in Moscow instead of Biarritz ...

And that's about all the news that I can think of just right now, oh yes Paddy's Day was another great day out, but couldn't have a few beers because of medication I am on right now :-(

Take care everyone from timmy and the gang ...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Kenny's Blog

2010-03-02T21:14:00.002Z

My brother now has his own blog, he is currently studying for an Art Degree and he has to do a Blog and a website for his E-portfolio! So anyway here is the link for anybody that is interested.

http://kennorris.blogspot.com/

Aisling is 18

2010-02-01T02:04:00.000Z

A quick photo of our girlie Aisling, she was 18 on the 25th Jan which was 4 days before my birthday, here is a couple of photographs taken during her night out with her friends

We love you so much Aisling ;-) Happy Birthday ....

getting old

2010-01-28T11:50:00.001Z

dia duit (hello everyone) Angela here my first post of 2010

January is always a bit busy, my ma is now 12years in heaven, giving god an earful, as always. Aisling is now 18, where is time going, it's just like yesterday I held her in my arms and said hello for the first time. She has grown up to be a beautiful woman, training to be a beautician and making plans to step on the road of life, as parents we are so proud of who she has become. You give your children the best you can in life and then all you can do is let them go and hope they can make it without you. With both Keith and Aisling they have become independent, happy, caring, loving people, Tim and myself are very proud parents, hopefully Erin will be ok too when she is 18. Tim's birthday is this month too, I won't tell you how old he is but I will tell you he is nearer to 50 than me haha. What has 2010 got in store for us as a family, who really cares if we are all healthy, happy and fit(ish) as long as we are together we can face anything.

That's it for now, if anything interesting happens I will let you know slan leat (bye for now) Ang

Santa's Little Helper ...

2009-12-16T14:10:00.002Z

Erin is 8 today ....

2009-12-08T13:52:00.000Z

Our little Princess Erin is 8 today, and lucky for her that her birthday falls on a holy day here in Ireland because the schools are always closed on her birthday. She gots loads of stuff to keep her happy but she is already counting the sleeps until Christmas Day.

Happy Birthday Erin xxx

A wet old school run

2009-11-20T14:16:00.001Z

We have been under a deluge lately, more rain than the average Monsoon, which is usually just an average Irish day. So as I embarked on my daily school run with Erin I crossed the bridge over the river only to find my way was blocked with a foot of water that had engulfed the road and the local pub and petrol station, I managed to just get through it without damaging the car but stopped to take some pictures of the watery wonder world.

Click on the images to see a larger view

Lovely day today but we have 2 horrendous wet forecasts for this Saturday and Sunday so might need a boat for the school run on Monday !

Keithers

2009-11-16T15:32:00.000Z

Our son Keith is 20 years old today, happy birthday Keithers from your Ma and Da and sisters

On reflection though it means I must be getting older too, has anyone got a spare walking stick for a miserable old Dad lol

posted from Timmys iPhone

Halloween Hike

2009-11-10T22:37:00.001Z

Erin went on a Halloween Hike with her school friends recently, they walked around the country roads around her school and had a great time scaring the locals (and a few sheep)…

Erin is bottom left as the pink cat

Oscar

2009-11-08T12:28:00.001Z

Oscar is nearly a year old and here is a photo I took of him today :-)

Whats Happening ...

2009-09-11T19:52:00.001+01:00

There is not much new or strange happening here in our part of Ireland, Erin is back to school but we moved her from her old school to a new school as it used to take us nearly 45 minutes to get across the town in our morning rush hour. We have a population of only about 10000 but there is only 1 bridge across the river and it becomes a bottleneck at school start and finish times but now with her new school its just a 10 minute drive to a little village down empty back roads with no traffic, bliss !!! Aisling is still doing her government training scheme which is soon to be upgraded to a beauticians course so she will be going to college soon. Me and Angela are still pottering around taking whatever work comes our way which is few and far between in todays climate but we are managing. Keith is still young and determined to enjoy his youth by going into a socialising overdrive, out with his mates and stuff and going to music concerts and festivals. I am trying to get jobs at home done too, I belt sanded our wooden sitting room floor and revarnished it with a dark oak Diamond Glaze finish, Angela was going spare for a week or two because of the dust so she was very glad when that job was finished. My brother Ken got a new apartment just around the corner from us so we all have been giving him a hand doing jobs, I installed his satellite tv dish and setup his broadband connection this morning so he is delighted.

Thats about it really .......

Hello

2009-09-08T15:02:00.001+01:00

Tis timmy and I apologise now for my absence. I just thought you guys would love to see a few pictures of Aislings Debs Ball so here goes

The whole Norris gang

The Siblings

Aisling and her Uncle Ken (aka Timmys brother)

Aisling outside her old high school

Aisling and her boyfriend Dean

There's loads more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/timmygadget/AislingsDebsBall#

Aislings Debs Ball

2009-08-31T22:22:00.003+01:00

Today was Aisling's Debs Ball at the Red Cow Hotel in Dublin, before they headed off on the bus we got champagne and professional photographs done at the school and then everyone traditionally as always visits the pubs in our local square before heading off to the ball.

Here are the photographs online for all to view

http://picasaweb.google.com/timmygadget/AislingsDebsBall#

Back again

2009-08-16T20:47:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I was on here, other things seem to take up my time and I get sidetracked, but at last I can tell you what's going on with the Norris-Irish clan.

As usual our summer has been a washout, we should all be 7ft tall here in Ireland with all this water. Aisling is all ready for her debs ball at the end of the month, my god its more stress than a wedding ha ha. We will take lots of pics and post them for you all to see. Tim, myself and Erin were in England for a week and got to see Andrew, Vicky and the boys, and Chris and Rob, everyone was in great form, its great to catch up with family you don't see too often. When we were in Yorkshire we went to visit Tim's friend Kevin's family, as you know Tim posted that Kevin died just too soon, so we paid our respects to his dad and sister. It was a tough day but we were so glad we did it, it's really good to remember the good times and laugh at the stuff you used to get up to, we were given some very dodgy photos of Tim in his youth, but i will let him decide if you are allowed to see them ha ha. OK that's it for now I won't leave it so long next time SLAN LEAT Bye for now. Ang

The Girls

2009-07-19T13:54:00.002+01:00

My girlies, Aisling and Erin

Back on Track

2009-07-12T09:26:00.001+01:00

Things have been busy here, as some of you will know I lost a good friend recently but life goes on. My friend had cancer and never told anyone, not even his family, and it has been difficult for everyone to get their heads around that.

Well, to other things, with the recession the Irish government has been doing the best they can to stimulate the economy and create opportunities but it is a slow tedious old job. There are just no employment openings here anywhere so the government is concentrating on improving peoples options by sending them on skills training schemes so that they can have more qualifications, and guess who got caught up in one of them, yup me !

I was told by our local unemployment office to take a scheme or course over the summer months or risk having my unemployment payment reduced by 50 percent !!! So here I am in Carlow IT college doing a course in Web Design until September, it’s not bad actually but I did have other things planned for my time that I had to postpone.

The weather here is wetter than a wet thing, if it does not stop raining soon I think I will turn into a Dolphin or something, oh to have some sunshine :-(

Kevin Zielinski Online Memorial | GoneTooSoon.org

2009-06-26T16:15:00.002+01:00

I have just lost a good friend to cancer, I hope that wherever he is now is a perfect place for him. You are always in my thoughts, Kevin

Kevin Zielinski Online Memorial | GoneTooSoon.org

Shared via AddThis

Have been busy

2009-05-24T11:41:00.002+01:00

We have had a busy 2 weeks, the first week was in France, me and Angela went on a break for our 20th wedding anniversary and the weather was glorious. After that we headed to London and I did a few days work for my sister.

We just arrived home yesterday and the house looks like a lads pad after my son was here with all his mates for 2 weeks, (2 weeks of washing in the laundry basket!)

Ok I will post some photos when we get this mess sorted...

Anniversary

2009-05-04T00:40:00.000+01:00

We are 20 years married today ....

Yorkshire Airlines

2009-05-01T22:42:00.002+01:00

This is one of my Uncle Keith's favourites, enjoy.....

I finally catch up with the rest of the world ...

2009-04-29T23:36:00.003+01:00

Hello everyone as the title suggests I went out today and got myself a new windows net book. I will leave it to my gadget husband to tell you all the cool stuff I have on here because quite frankly I don't have a clue but at last I really have caught up with the rest of the world if not the universe. We have been having the most terrible rain over here, we need a tiny bit of sunshine please just to make life worthwhile. Tim and myself will be toasting 20 years of wedded bliss on Monday, I think I deserve a medal, don't know his take on it ha. TALK AGAIN SOON BYE

timmygadget

2009-04-25T23:43:00.002+01:00

Oh no its timmy and then more timmy

Me on HMS Brinton around 1993 ish

Me again in timmy and angelas first appartment in Plymouth 1989

Timmy in 1966 about 2 years old in our old house in Thornhill, Dewsbury

Old pictures of my kiwi relatives

2009-04-25T23:31:00.000+01:00

These are pictures some of you have seen before, and yes thats you in the pictures there Karen :-)

Geoffrey Norris

2009-04-25T23:27:00.003+01:00

Some old pictures of my dad, mmm maybe I take after him in the beer department ...

Just call me ‘Computer Repair Guy’

2009-04-24T09:24:00.002+01:00

What is it with people, since I got home last week my sons friends have been queuing up with broken computers for me to fix. My son Keith has basically told them I will do them for a few beers, and not money (they all must think that I am an alcoholic!). I have another one to do later today plus I have done 3 laptops this week too, I am repairing Macbooks as well. Maybe I should do it as a business.

On other matters things at home are good, its nice to be back among my family after 4 weeks away, but the rain here in Ireland is doing its worst to spoil things for us. England is still warming itself in spring sunshine while we are stuck under a dirty great big grey cloud that's dropping rain by the bucket load and it does not seem to want to move at all - timmy

Cead riamh blog (first ever blog)

2009-04-23T18:59:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone at last I got over my phobia, so from now on I will be joining Tim and telling you all how the Irish leg of the Norris family are getting on. WOW this is good fun I should have done it sooner.

I'm hoping to blog a couple of times a week, it just depends how interesting our lives get ha, OK im done in now so till next time.

Slan Leat (bye for now) Angela

Tramore, Co. Waterford

2009-04-20T00:16:00.001+01:00

We had a glorious sunny day and decided to jump into the car and drive miles and miles to a beach today. Tramore is a small town with a fair ground and huge surfing beach. Erin did the usual burying herself in sand and paddling and collecting stones and afterwards we went to an award winning fish and chip shop and got Cod and Chips – yummy

Erin said the water was freezing but then it is still April

Angela looking cool in shades but not too impressed with being photographed …

And me with my ugly mug, my hair looks like I just woke up and I need a shave lol

The Dreaded Bathroom

2009-04-17T16:33:00.001+01:00

I have finished my sisters bathroom and am now in Ireland catching up with my family at long last, here is a few pictures for you to look at …

(click the images to see full size)

There are a few finishing touches to complete, Trish wants to put a wooden dado rail above the edge of the tiles and also there’s a bit of wooden panelling to be put on at the side of the bath

I removed the sink before I tiled behind it (I didn't want to be accused of being lazy now !)

Its a very cramped shot of the shower, wish I had a wide angle lens, the circle in the tile was a nightmare to cut …

The tiles are made of Turkish Travertine limestone and were very fragile before being stuck down, almost like soapstone. I had to clean and seal them afterwards before and after grouting as limestone is porous and can stain.

France

2009-03-30T01:11:00.001+01:00

View Full Album

Sorry guys for not blogging but my sister has kept me working hard. I spent a week in Hossegor painting and then more painting, we had lovely 25 degree weather while everyone in England and Ireland were hovering at temperatures 15 degrees below us. We took a day out from our schedule to go to Cauterets in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border with Spain. Trish and her friend Damien went Skiing while I just relaxed and drank a few beers out in the sunshine …

I am now in London at my sisters house getting ready to tile her bathroom as quick as I can so I can get back to my wife before she divorces me. Its freezing here in London and I am missing the sunshine already :-(

In London for a day ...

2009-03-19T17:05:00.001Z

I am here in my sisters house for just one day before I head to France with her tomorrow morning to do some work at the villa in Hossegor. Sorry this post is brief but I am tired from travelling and my bad back does not agree with sitting around on planes, trains and automobiles, talk tomorrow sometime .....

Heading Eastward Again

2009-02-28T23:56:00.001Z

After a long time sitting on my butt in rural Ireland I am finally back in the work zone, next month I will be in France working for a week repairing my sisters villa after a huge storm totally trashed the place and then I will be heading to my sisters home in London to install and tile a complete bathroom. Lots more work to follow, touch wood, see you soon Vicks - timmy

HMS Mercury

2009-02-25T13:58:00.002Z

Mmm, hello guys ! Here's a picture of me joining the Royal Navy Communications School at HMS Mercury in the summer of 1988, the same year me and Angela met too, I was just a young chap of 24 years of age (and I still look this young now lol)

(Click the picture to see it full size)

Spring is around the corner

2009-02-22T14:07:00.002Z

Yes I think I am in agreement with my cousin Vicki, spring is near! We have daffodils and snowdrops and a few crocus popping up and nice mild sunny weather of about 12 degrees centigrade here in Ireland, I even got my lawnmower out and cut my grass as it was so mild yesterday! I can't wait until the clocks go forward next month and the days begin to stretch ....

Snow in Ireland ?!?!

2009-02-02T19:20:00.021Z

We never hardly get snow here but like England we are in the middle of a blizzard, heres some pictures of around my home

Oscar Nominations ...

2009-01-24T17:39:00.002Z

Hello everyone, here is Oscar again, and everyone here wants to nominate our Oscar for being the cutest ball of fluff around, the real Oscars in L.A., who needs them :-)

Oscar the Puppy

2009-01-19T17:51:00.006Z

We have a new household member called Oscar, he is an 8 week old part Yorkshire Terrier, part Jack Russell and part King Charles Spaniel but he looks more like a Yorkie than anything else. He is not yet toilet trained so we have to be careful where we tread and follow him everywhere with tissues but he has figured out what the newspaper on the floor is for and I am trying to get him to transfer that knowledge to get him to do his business in the back yard ! Erin has fallen in love with him and all of Aisling's friends keep coming around to the house to state the obvious 'Ah bless he's so cute' phrase.

Ok gotta go on poop patrol .......

The photos are not the best as I took them with my mobile phone

Snow in the South of France ???

2009-01-19T12:34:00.002Z

Yes I know the worlds gone mad, Hossegor in the south of France where my sister has her villa is always mild and sunny even in winter but this week they got dumped with a load of snow and ice for the first time in many a year, wow ! ....

(Click on the images to view full size)

On the Mend

2009-01-04T13:59:00.004Z

Thanks to the wonders of antibiotics we are all on the mend and fighting fit now and my brother in law Simon is much better too - phew!

Sicker than a Sick Thing

2008-12-26T12:01:00.003Z

Am so sick with flu here, never had it so bad, my lungs are on fire, my ribs are hurting when I breath, my nose and sinuses are blocked, coughing all the time and my head feels like its gonna explode, Aisling, Angela and Erin have it bad too, the girls told me to stop moaning as its just man flu :-)

My brother in law Simon was taken into hospital on Christmas Eve with heart problems so my sisters house is a bit bah humbug too, hopefully everyone should be better for the New Year (touch wood)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T20:18:00.002Z

Hi guys, its the Irish here again, heres hoping you all have a good one for Christmas and the New Year, everyone is sick in our house with head colds and chest infections, I suppose it wouldn't be Christmas if there wasn't a bug going around. My brother John was supposed to come over from Yorkshire but couldn't make it due to a last minute hitch but we have my brother Ken and my niece Ron coming around on Christmas Day to help us devour our Turkey. I envy all those Kiwis having this festive season in the middle of summer :-(

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Tim, Angela, Keith, Aisling and Erin

Erin is 7 years old today

2008-12-08T11:15:00.001Z

Our daughter Erin is 7 today, how time flies, it doesn't seem like ten minutes ago since she was born! She is playing with her new Nintendo DS Lite this morning as there is no school today because of a Holy Day here in Ireland. Santa also has a huge shopping list from her that she posted the other day !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN :-)

Still Alive

2008-12-04T00:20:00.002Z

I am still here and still alive and kicking, have been run off my feet with school and Christmas shopping. Me and Angela drove up to Northern Ireland to get all of our Santa stuff because north of the border last year our euro was worth 65p and this year it is 85p so our euro money is worth a tad more and gets us a lot more Christmas presents, plus we stayed overnight in a bed and breakfast in a beautiful village near the border on the Republic side and got a bit drunk in a pub and ate burger and chips by the sea front in minus 5 temperatures and then walked back to the B&B singing all the way. Adults hey !!!

Halloween

2008-10-31T17:27:00.006Z

We are having a Halloween party here at my sisters house in London tonight and my daughter Erin had a great time helping to make decorations and pumpkins - timmy

Fulham 2 - 0 Wigan

2008-10-30T15:09:00.001Z

Hi folks, I went to see Fulham v Wigan in the Premiership last night with my sister, Fulham won 2 - 0 so I didnt jinx them. It was a 7.45pm kick and by the end of the match we were really cold as it was a clear blue sky and winds coming straight down from the Arctic north.

I have been here in London for a week now and have been working for my sisters friend creating a web site for a house she is renting and Angela has been on a 'shopathon' we had to book in another bag on the Aer Lingus website for our flight because we have bought so much stuff to take home.

South of France

2008-10-18T15:05:00.002+01:00

My sister sent me some more pictures of the villa in France so I am posting them here for all to see, there are more photos at http://www.villapetittrianon.co.uk

(Click on the pictures to see them full size)

The kitchen, I did all the tiling at the back of the workunits

__________

Trish's sitting room furniture

_________

Kitchen again, looks like my sister painted the cupboards blue

__________

The sitting room fireplace where we burn all the pine logs

__________

Oh and also the marina in Cap Breton

I found a new gadget ...

2008-10-12T21:32:00.001+01:00

I was messing around with my Windows Live Writer which is the program I use to post my blogs and I found out that you can post a map on here, I am impressed! This is Athy my home town but alas its a bit blurry, the space boffins have not got around to putting our little haven on their satellite scan wishlist yet - timmy

WOOHOO

2008-10-08T20:34:00.002+01:00

I got my MacBook back and up and running !!!

Tripping

2008-10-05T19:52:00.004+01:00

I just wanted to quickly update everyone on a few things that us 'boggers' are up to. Angela, Erin and myself are heading to London to stay with my sister Trish for the last week of this month, its half term for me and Erin and its nice to do something different. I will also be creating a business web site for a friend of Trish's while we are over there and I will be paying a visit to Pinner to see the Kiwi's too.

My brother John is thinking about spending Christmas with us in Ireland, he will be travelling over from Yorkshire like he did last year.

Angela, Erin and myself are hoping to see the New Year in with a week at Trish's villa but I looked online for flights from Dublin and Shannon and they are all booked out and also the ferry companies from Rosslare to Cherbourg do not run from 22nd December through to the 3rd January, so maybe our only option is to fly to London Stansted and change to Biarritz. I am excited at the idea of going to the south of France to see in the New Year though.

Thats the quick news updates over with - timmy

New Little Cousin

2008-09-28T22:38:00.002+01:00

My cousin Vicki just had a little boy, he is so cute so I just had to post a picture of him, well done Vicki, oh and of course Andrew

School Day Out

2008-09-27T02:27:00.004+01:00

At our school of Adult Education every so oft they let us have a day trip out for good behaviour, first of all we went to Powerscourt House and Gardens in Co. Wicklow, this a beautiful stately home with immaculate gardens to match, we stayed here a bit too long and didn't have much time to have more than a quick loo break at our second destination of Glendalough up in the mountains.

Here's some pictures

(Please click on the images to see them in a larger size)

Myself and some of the girls, I am not wearing sunglasses its just the reactive lenses

Three not so wise monkeys

Looking from the bottom of the gardens to the house

From the house down the gardens with the view behind

And I managed to take a telephoto shot of St Kevin's Tower in Glendalough during our 5 minute stop for a toilet break

Student Again

2008-09-11T20:54:00.005+01:00

Yes, I am back to my studies but not in college as such, I am back in Adult Education for a year adding a few of the high school qualifications I never had all those years ago when I was 18, (long time ago I know). I am doing English Leaving Cert Honours, Communications, Work Experience, Drama Studies and ECDL which in some countries is known as the ICDL (computers). Its great to get my head back into books again and I am making a load of new friends too.

Angela is studying too in evening classes, she has taken up Computers for beginners and French for beginners, she wants to learn the language so she can feel confident shopping when we go to Trish's Villa in Hossegor.

I am also in the middle of tiling my bathroom, and putting in a shower mixer tap and shower hose slide rail and a glass shower door, on completion of that I will be painting in there and laying down some flooring too. Thats all the news for now catch you all later - timmy

Just a Quick Note

2008-09-05T09:39:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone, I quickly want to excuse myself because I have been busy, I started back in college last week and I am up to my eyeballs with assignments already, am having a great time and will write a more lengthly post this weekend - timmy

Rejuvenation

2008-08-27T01:00:00.002+01:00

Our little town is getting a big facelift, here is a quote from a developer about future plans ....

REJUVENATION OF ATHY TOWN CENTRE

Major New Mixed-Use Retail Scheme planned for Athy Town Centre

Highly reputable Kilkenny based development company Raggett Construction Ltd. is seeking planning permission from Athy Town Council for a mixed-use retail, office and residential development in Athy Town Centre.

The planning application for the proposed development was lodged with the Council on Friday 19th October 2007.

The site for the significant redevelopment is located to the rear of Leinster St. and adjacent to People's Park and is currently an under-utilised brown field site.

With new retail development in the town lagging significantly behind that of other towns within the county, the proposed development will afford Athy the opportunity for positive regeneration of the Town Centre as a whole and will, breathe new life and activity into Athy.

The proposed development consists of approx 6,500 sq m of retail space, 440 sq m of office space, 80 apartments, 7 duplex units and a multi-storey car park that will provide approx 500 car-spaces. This undertaking demonstrates a significant investment in the town and will provide a natural focal point for commercial activity in the town centre.

The construction of a through access road linking Leinster St. and Meeting Lane by Raggett Construction Ltd. as part of the planning application will aim to alleviate some of the traffic congestion currently affecting the town. This together with the new multi-storey car-park will be a hugely positive gain for the town centre. Also, the new retail opportunities will work towards a significantly enhanced shopping experience for the people of Athy.

Developer Michael Raggett of Raggett Construction Ltd. stated that “one could not over-estimate how exciting this new scheme will be for the town of Athy. It is envisaged that the development will ignite the town centre and go a long way towards combating the current expenditure leakage to surrounding towns”. Mr. Raggett was also positive about the employment opportunities that will be created locally both during the construction period where 240 jobs are envisaged and, in the longer-term whereby upon opening, it is expected that the centre will provide approximately 180 jobs.

Partner and architect with Fewer, Harrington, Lawlor + Partners, Niall Harrington stated that “this is a prime opportunity for the rejuvenation of Athy Town Centre, particularly in light of the fact that the site is so proximate to the existing town centre and public transport nodes such as the existing train station”. Mr. Harrington adds that “it is very rare in today's property market that a site of such significance in terms of its connectivity with the town centre can be amalgamated and developed so as to offer Athy Town centre a full mix of uses such as retail, office and residential and that such a scenario can only be positive for the Athy”.

Macbook hopes

2008-08-24T13:52:00.002+01:00

My Macbook is in for repair and hopefully then the kids can have their computer back - timmy

Waterlogged Athy

2008-08-20T18:48:00.002+01:00

Its Wet here, we have an anti-cyclone over Britain and Ireland and it has hardly moved in a week and a half, it has just decided to dump buckets of rain over the top of us every single day.

Our local River Barrow has blocked most of the roads next to the river with about a foot of water, the local market was cancelled today too because the car park next to the court house where the market usually sets up their stalls is under water too.

I thought August was supposed to be sunny !

Death of a Macbook

2008-08-19T02:50:00.004+01:00

I have not been able to get online lately due to my Macbook dying a horrible death, it made a pinging noise and just switched off and cannot be switched on anymore. I have had only sporadic moments online since and I can only apologise sorry !

What's been happening, well a few weeks ago I was in London fixing my sisters computer (AGAIN) and while I was there Andrew Vicki and Elliott came around to Trish's and joined us for a barbecue, it was nice to catch up with my Kiwi cousins and Vicki who is blooming with her pregnancy looked really well and Elliott is growing up so fast.

Back home I am having more back problems, my disc hernia in my back is beginning to badly pinch a nerve and my doctor has me dosed up to eyeballs with a nerve pain inhibitor called neurontyn but I might have to have surgery, it all depends on my upcoming MRI scan.

In 7 days my college studies continue and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

Also later this week Angela Erin and myself are driving up to Northern Ireland to spend our Euros in the pound zone to take advantage of the exchange rate which is greatly in our favour right now. We are spending the night in a hotel in Carrickfergus in Co. Antrim and then the next day we are going shopping in Belfast.

That's all for now blogpeeps, see ya soon - timmy

I am still alive here Blogpeeps

2008-07-15T14:22:00.003+01:00

Sorry for the long absence since I was in France, but I have been sort of busy and distracted here in the Erin Isle.

I have been pottering around the house gingerly painting here and there, I am currently alternating between my kitchen when its raining (which is most of the time in Ireland) and when I get a nice day I have been painting the window frames outside.

A month ago I was very sore with the back problem but for the last few weeks I have been going to see a physio, and after intensive massages and spinal clicking and stretching exercises my back is on the mend. After each session though I do feel like I have been kicked by a horse for about 24 hours.

I never hardly had to see a doctor at all for my first 40 years of life but since then I seem to be falling apart at the seams with all sorts of minor injuries and ailments.

Me and Angela are going back to school to study in September, I am going to do a business course and a Humanities and Psychology degree over the next 2 years. My brother Ken is starting his 2nd year of his Art Degree in Wexford too in September, who says you are never too old to learn.

Everything else is normal, my brother John is still mad as ever in Yorkshire, my sister Trish is still busy with work and France and me Angela and Erin should be going to London for a week sometime next month.

Take care for now guys, Timmy....