I’m still fighting valiantly, but not really getting anywhere. My throat is less irritated but my sinus’s are completely blocked up. I switched from hot drink after hot drink to glass after glass of water. Think I’ll have one more hot drink before bed all the same.

I think I’ve stopped it from going completely supernova on me, but I still feel pretty crap. My goal now is to stay off the fags and keep hammering away at it so it doesn’t go into my chest.

I promise I’ll keep commentary on it to a minimum from now on though, we all get them, they don’t bear too much talking about.

But that’s really all I have to say about today. I don’t feel good, Benny died and went to hell with a hangover, the kittens napped, went mental, napped again. I didn’t wash up, I didn’t get dressed, I didn’t watch anything worth commenting on, I faffed around on the net. I had an unpleasant call centre incident with Sky, which I just plain don’t have it in me to revisit (put it this way, I was right to get anxious about getting anxious – I did get anxious. If you understood that, well done).

The highlight of my day was the uber-portion of bolognaise I gave myself from the batch I made up yesterday. I do declare it the nicest bolocknaise I’ve ever made (it was the extra rashers and mushrooms that gave it the edge, and possibly the organic carrot).

Sniff. Gluh, pleh, *wriggles nose and blinks sleeply* – I’m done.

Be good now, xxx

I’m getting a cold, what fun. I’ve been dosing myself with vitamin C, lemon, honey, propolis, tea, and sitting by the fire. But the sandpapered raw sensation at the point where sinus and throat join tells me I’m fighting a losing battle. I have smoked less than one whole cigarette today, I’m serious about beating this.

Typical isn’t it, stressing over being ready for the job and I catch a cold. I can pinpoint the exact time I got it too. After my driving lesson the other day we got out of the car and stood talking in the shade in the car park – I didn’t have my jacket with me and had been melting in the car (Thursday was one of those typical sunny but chilly autumn days). In the shade it was pretty nippy, and breezy, so I cooled down way too fast from actually being over hot- I always get a cold when that happens.

Nothing much happened today. Benny was working in Castlebar, he got home a little later than usual (it’s an hour and ten minutes drive, they usually let him go early but the shop was full at closing time this evening). A friend of his came up from Meath and they’re out on the piss. I’m nursing the cold, and the kittens, who were going absolutely mental this evening. It must be that they’re getting that little bit older, but my gods were they kicking up a stink this evening. And of course, they picked the time when I was taking the computer down from the av room to set up in the sitting room to go extra mental. I used the water gun more this evening than I’ve ever had to before. It was like they were possessed. And they’re usually quite good at simple commands like ‘out’, ‘no’, ’stop that will yee’, and finally, when they’re on my last nerve, ‘get the **** out of there’. Usually I just have to wield the water gun, this evening I might as well have been waving a dildo at them.

They were in the hot press, in the cables, pulling the cables, chewing the phone cord, racing across the top of the sofas, under the throws on the sofas (something they know well not to do), and in the kitchen umpteen times (something they definitely know not to do, and they were being so good earlier today that they were able to sit and look at me cook from the door – usually I have to close it). I dunno, maybe Mairead being here the other day and Benny’s friend coming this evening threw them out of kilter. They’re asleep now, thankfully. Perhaps the round of laser pointer up and down the stairs did the trick.

Yup, nothing else happened. I had a sleep in, which I’m planning on having tomorrow morning too, try and get rid of this dose. I made brown bread, and a vat of bolognaise sauce – which will be freezer bagged and recycled into all manner of dishes over the coming weeks, pasta bake, chili con carne, shlopped onto chips with melted cheese on top. Oh, that’s only three, oh, well, the spaghetti version makes four.

Right, that’s me, energy levels are dwindling. Take care all, xxx

Millie decided to help model the new bed covers and duvet (microfibre copy of feather and down style, 13.5 tog, worth a try at 34 euros I thought), (the covers I got in Penneys too btw)

Oh, and I couldn’t resist turning a slightly out of focus, but lovely, shot into this graphic, it’s my new screen saver

The video of the waves, which weren’t at their mightiest here unfortunately, and also some assorted pics that Mairead took. Again, I’m very late posting and I am dying for my bed… Hover over pics for description

My very, very late attendance to the bloggy conversation that I love so much is due to my having a really lovely day with Mairead. That and the laptop died earlier, and the fire was so toasty, and the kittens so sticky (as in stucky to my lappy)(ahem).

Anyway, the rundown of the day. She arrived at around twelve, a little later than she had hoped, but late enough for me to finish scrubbing the house to that veneer of cleanliness I like to promote as being the norm around here to my visitors. Oh come on, everyone does it. Messy people are more interesting and all that. (?!)

Upon arrival, we launched into the chat, some tea, and a nice plate of fried eggs on toast, (I’m getting addicted to them again, for shame), and then it was off for a little sightseeing around the northern part of my lovely county.

First we went to Rosses Point – what an absolute cracker of a day to show off it’s beauty – the sky was vivid, crisp, soul liftingly bright blue, with huge big fluffy white clouds. Sharp, bright Autumn sunlight and a chill blustery, pinch-at-your-ears wind kept us moving quickly. The sea was reflecting the sky, in that luminous sparkling way, a mass of green, blue and huge foamy white breakers. The water just at the edge of the beach was reflecting the sky perfectly, like a liquid and sand mirror.

We started on the small beach to the left hand side and discovered, while I was trying to find the fossils to show her, that we could make it around to the other, larger beach, by hugging the rocks. It wasn’t dangerous or anything, just required careful foot placement and keeping an eye out for slimy bits. We walked as far as the old mine on the beach, which I’m not sure, but you might be able to see on google maps – it’s a huge big hemisphere all red with rust and for some reason, fascinating to me, ever since I was a child.

I drove back through the little village down the windy road that passes the back of ‘Austie Gillons’ pub (too late at night to check spellings m’fraid), so Mairead could get a look at all the little seafront pubs and houses.

Next stop was Yeats’s (again, too late for spell checking) grave. We went into the little chapel that was there too, and I do believe it may have been my first time in a protestant church. I didn’t cop it for a minute or two, only realising it when I said to Mairead, ‘I wonder if this chapel has been decommissioned (like my choice of words?) or something, it just doesn’t feel very, holy?’ At that exact moment I realised why it didn’t conform to my Catholic upbringings sense of what a church should look like – it was missing all the frilly gothicy splendour of a normal Catholic church. I should have realised straight away of course, but there you go. Just to pad out your mental picture – it had a very high, wooden ceiling, wooden pews with no centre aisle, and a large, rather plain looking painting on the wall behind the ‘alter’ (though there was no alter, just a wooden table, that might have been an alter, and a beautiful pew with an eagle carving in mahogany with a bar between the base of it’s wings to hold up the book being read from).

We had a quick pootle around the gift shop and then headed out the road to Raghly, which I missed the turn for, so we ended up heading straight for the stunning views of Mulach Mór instead. I took a video on Mairead’s camera, which I hope to upload tomorrow, because describing the breath taking beauty of those waves, and the views of the mountains, well, I’d be here all night. Just imagine the biggest waves you’ve ever seen, all white and exploding and crashing into the air, with spray and foam floating in the air all around, with a gale blowing and bright green hills to your back, and views of distant mountains and sea for a full 180 degrees in front of you. Spectacular.

From there I ended up making one of those, ‘ah sure f*ck it, we’ll try this road and see where it goes’ decisions, and I ended up heading out to Bundoran instead of Raghly. It turned into quite a pleasant mistake really – it was Mairead’s first time in Donegal (different county), and we got to have lunch in my favourite pub there ‘The Bridge House’. Though mind you, the food wasn’t as good as usual. I shall give them the benefit of the doubt though, her’s looked lovely. And typically, I was going to go for it too but changed my mind at the last minute.

From there we headed back into Sligo to pick up his lordship from work and retire to the house by the river for a pleasant chicken, tomato and basil pasta dinner, topped off with a nice bottle of South African Pinotage, a glowing fire and some sleepy cats.

Excellent day. Tomorrow we’re heading in for some shopping early in the morning, and then we’re tackling the southern part of Sligo, starting at the Ox Mountains, heading over to Easky for a ‘Split Rock’ burger, by the sea, and heading back up along the scenic view stopping off at a few favourite spots that me and Benny chanced upon on our travels.

Now, apologies for typos or grammatical errors, I’m not spell checking, it’s 1 in the am and I have an early start. Take care all xxx

I’m all rusty after having my impromptu night off last night, so forgive me if this is a bit, crap. Also, Millie is eating the taggy thing on the end of the zipper of my fleece, and falling on to the touch pad of the laptop.

I did very little today, and yet I feel really tired at the end of it. Oh Lord, she’s eating my hair now. And he’s climbing on my shoulder. No, back to eating my taggy thing. And now the hair again. And now a moment of meditation, a quick lick, a nibble, some more licks.

Right, where was I. Oh yes, tired. So tired no words are coming. Yup, that’s me. I am genuinely ashamed of myself. I’m off to bed. I’ll be back tomorrow, sorry everyone.

(We’re all fine here anyway, fairly standard day, just some shopping, a nice toasty fire, a pleasant supper of bacon, egg, fried potato and beans, and a few cans. Tomorrow my ‘besty-matey’ from school days, Mairead, is coming up for a visit.)

Take care all, xxx

P.S. what’s the story with the spell check not working on wordpress anymore? Or is it just me?

..Okay, it’s not normal, usual, or expected that I should act like a complete girl. So you’re being warned, you are about to see another, and frankly strange side, of Louise Mc Grath.

I thought sending Benny a text to tell him how my morning went would do, I really did. I thought a nice coffee and some (yummy Kingsmill ‘everyday wholemeal’) toast would calm me down. But no. I have to write this out of my system.

This morning, I’m going to be talking about shopping.

Because, this morning, for the first time, probably since I was a teenager, I went clothes shopping and actually really enjoyed it. I looked at my big roundy podgy bellypot in the mirror in the grotty fluorescent-lit changing rooms and I genuinely didn’t care. I looked at my frankly comically hairy legs (I don’t wear skirts, the bathroom is seldom warm enough for me to want to dillydally), and I, didn’t, give, a, shit. My hair was greasy, I hadn’t washed my face (went straight from dropping him into work and we had both slept in), and the clothes I had come in were horrible, oh, and I forgot to wear a bra. So basically, I couldn’t have looked worse if I’d put effort into it.

Why in the name of God is she going on about this, you may ask? Well, you see, usually clothes shopping is absolute torture for me (as evidenced by the fact that I usually only do it once or twice a year, and don’t even want to do that much). I get depressed about my weight and pick at every little thing that’s wrong with my appearance, end up buying nothing and get into a foul humour. Today, it wasn’t apathy that made me not get care how I looked, it was that I am finally, genuinely comfortable with it. I don’t look at myself and hate what I see anymore. That’s a massive leap forward I have to tell yee. Of course, the fact that every pair of size 16’s I tried on fitted loosely might have helped

So anyway, equipped with my new positive outlook I whisked around the shop, back and forth to the changing room, greatly aided by the fact that it was empty (9:00am on a Saturday morning = funereal Dunnes Stores), and by the fact that everything looked like it had just been delivered in the last day or two. So they had my size in EVERYTHING I picked up! What kind of mystical fantastical fairy world did I fall into this morning, seriously? Oh crap, what if it was a dream, maybe I slept in and this is all just a fantasy. Eh, no.

So anyway, I couldn’t believe my luck, the only other time I ever remember being in a shop where everything I liked came in my size was when I was a borderline anorexic teenager on a shopping trip to Enniskillen, funnily enough. I was a small size ten, which might not sound small but I have a big frame, and I looked gaunt, to put it mildly. I never forgot the joy of that days shopping though, all the years since, when I’ve had to grab an 18, just in case, only to find I looked like a beached whale in it, or having to pick up anything, regardless of whether I particularly liked it, because it was the only thing in my size. My mind would usually drift back to that day in Enniskillen, when I had looked in the mirror and smiled at what I saw. It’s rather sad to think though, that what I was smiling at, and thinking wistfully of so many years since – what I thought looked ‘right’ – was the body of someone who was starving herself.

So being able to try on clothes and look in the mirror and smile today, at a much more cuddly version of myself than that poor depressed girl I was – it was a really, really nice feeling.

I bought the clothes a woman wears, no combats, no big baggy jeans, no hoodies – I was buying for the new job, buying to impress, not to cover up.

I bought a pair of black leather, wedge-heel ankle high boots, a fancy bra, a pair of beautiful tailored heavy black trousers with a slight boot leg cut at the bottom, a cashmere mix black poloneck (a dear one with fancy trim on the cuff, not just the usual bog standard Dunnes ones), a pair of gorgeous slinky grey wide leg dressy trousers, and a red necklace. We’re heading out to a family do tonight, so I’ll see if I can find some way of taking a photo of the outfit I’m putting together from my buys, I just have to work out how to use the timer on my camera I suppose. Hmm.

Anyway. I was just all excited about that and needed to get it off my chest. I can’t wait to start getting ready now!

I probably won’t be able to post later other than sticking up a photo if I can,

Take care all x

Just a quickie tonight, left it a bit late due to a) Kittens and b) the film Contact, not bad actually, not great, but not awful. Well, the second half of that bottle of Rioja from a day or two back, (fished out of the fridge), might have something to do with that verdict.

So now, I had my lesson this morning, needless to say I was woefully hard on myself after it and spiralled into a big negative downerthon. Then I realised, to my great surprise, that although I’ve been driving on and off (up and down to the shops etc.) for two months, the first long drive I did (remember coming back from Donegal?) was on the 31st of July – I didn’t start driving every day and through the town until a few weeks later. So, why am I being so hard on myself! It’s a wonder I can drive as well as I can already!

Nothing else happened today, nothing. I put on another wash, I boiled a lovely free range organic chicken (it tastes like heaven, and the whole house smells of homely and winter comfort), and I got through the horrendous backlog of washing up. Benny having breakfast before work, and coming home for lunch has upped the load quite a bit, I was at it for well over an hour today – an hour of washing up! No wonder I was in bad humour earlier.

Oh, and I spent a ridiculous amount of time pootling about on blogs giving my tuppunce-worth whilst cuddling the kittens. They are ridiculously loving and friendly little pampouses, I can’t get over how sweet they are. They always welcome a pet and a cuddle, they follow me around looking for play, or pets, or a warm lap, or just to be near me. I ended up carrying Millie-boots on my shoulder into the kitchen today so she could help me drain off the spuds for Benny’s dinner.

Anyway, early morning tomorrow, Benny has a meeting that means he’s in earlier , then I think I might do a spot of shopping, we’ll see.

Take care all xxx

An uneventful day, apart from the bit where I nearly got splattered. Funny that my mind should jump back to that, I had actually managed to forget about it since it happened. I was coming out of my estate, I looked to the right, no one coming, I looked to the left, no one coming, I dropped to second to take the corner slowly, but without stopping, (a fairly normal, and reasonable manoeuvre, usually), I looked right once more, and then had to slam on the brakes – some bitch in a silver car must have been doing over a hundred coming over the hill to the right (it’s a 50 speed limit). The car skidded to a halt, she blurred past. Unpleasant.

So you can bet your ass I’ll be pulling up to a full stop at that corner from now on.

In other news, I booked my driving test today, and have my first pre-test lesson in the morning. I’m a little nervous, but not too much so. I have to try for the driving test anyway, all I can do is practice my ass off and hope for the best. The nerves for tomorrow morning are just the thought of getting into the car with an instructor and cocking up due to nerves, so yes, I’m being silly. I’ll be fine, it’s in my own car anyway so I doubt I’ll be that bad.

I also booked the kitten babies in for their last vaccination shots next week, another check off the to do list. And I made stew, which was nice, but not perfect, and lit a lovely fire in the sitting room. We watched Madagascar and Shrek 3, enjoyable, both of them, if you’re not expecting too much. And we weren’t.

I can’t believe it’s Friday of this week already, that flew. It always flies when you don’t want it to, ay?

I’ve noticed that not listening to music and having time by myself to write the blog is altering the style and content somewhat, I haven’t been writerly in a while. I need some writerly, for my own sanity, another thing for the imaginary to do list in my head.

Okay, concentration gone – Benny’s playing with the laser pointer with the pussintaters, I defy anyone to write coherently whilst cats bounce off walls chasing a neon red dot.

To bed, Fred.

Take care all xxx

Oh yes, for your amusement, a kitty video showing off the new toy, and the nifty mat I got yesterday for catching the tracked kitty litter at the front of the litter box…