St. Patrick's Day Parade in Northern Ireland - Xtra Special Day

Where is the most appropriate place to have a St. Patrick's Day Parade?

I bet your answer is Dublin because that's the capital city of Ireland.
Or perhaps you want to say New York because you have heard of the celebrations there.

I don't agree!!!!

Last year Fred & I went to the place which we believe is the most appropriate because it is the place St. Patrick is supposed to have landed nearby and also supposed to have been buried in.

The town of Downpatrick in County Down in Northern Ireland.

We had never been to any St. Patrick's Day Parade anywhere before so this was one of our Xtra Special Days


Having arrived there we got parked outside the town and followed the crowd of people until we got to a part of the town where others were already standing waiting.  We discovered this was the end of the parade route so decided to stay here also.

Soon along came the Street Performers to help to keep us entertained until the parade could make it's way through the town to our position.

Some of them threw sweets to the children

                              and one of them came right over to greet Fred.


Well because I already had the phone out to take pictures and we were getting a bit bored we resorted to one of the few selfies we have taken, some are mentioned previously in  Does My Nose Look Big in This?

Then along came the Parade.


No, correct that,  it was only the Pre-parade of Vintage Cars.

Not really a novelty around Northern Ireland as there are quite a few of these each year now.


Very shortly after that came the real thing.




The Parade

First of course we had St. Patrick and he was accompanied by two snakes.

Poor man had to walk the whole parade in his bare feet.

Then some Roman? soldiers.



Some other highlights of the parade were:

Colourful lady stilt walker.

Was this an Irish Wolfhound?

A Butterfly!


Never heard of a butterfly having anything to do with St. Patrick, but hey we like butterflies on this blog in fact  I Love Butterflies  and  I Was Going to Miss the Butterflies  and I have butterflies on mugs too 3 More Coffee Mugs  



then there was

A Pipe band.

A "Mash Direct" bus.
This is one of the good local food companies we have and I have to say their mashed turnip is great.

A DeLorean Car?

Yes a bit after the time of St. Patrick admittedly but Northern Ireland does have a link with DeLorean too.  You know a bit like our link with the Titanic.



What could you possibly have after a futuristic car?

Some Large headed characters.

A Christian Music Float.


We were delighted to see this - after all what are we celebrating St. Patrick for?


Not the shamrock,

           nor the snakes (or lack of them)

                        but for the Christianity he introduced to our island.




But then suddenly

2 Elvis impersonators??


No I know, we just could not see any connection here at all.
If you can think of one then please let me know.

And here come the Leprechauns - really?

This of course was clever and I hope not too heavy for the poor guy to carry along.

We also had two Mickey Mouse characters.

Okay we know they were there to amuse the children.

Another Pipe band.

And where else in the world would you get to see a POLICE TRACTOR  but in Northern Ireland?


Not even in the Republic of Ireland (Southern Ireland)  because it would be a Garda Tractor there.

A group of colourful children.

A Large Mushroom - presumably advertising the mushroom growing industry here.

Some more colourful children.

A Flower Giant.

A Blue stilt walker.

Another Pipe band.

A colourful dragon.

And no St. Patrick didn't slay the dragon - St. George the patron saint of England did that.

So a bit confused about the dragon but then realised he was followed by some dinosaurs and they didn't have anything to do with St. Patrick either so obviously we just enjoy colourful creatures.

Now we do have some folklore about a giant or two in Northern Ireland so to see a giant in this parade was not too unusual but riding a quad?

Although I must say I rather liked this guy.

Then we were coming near the end of the parade with another mini parade this time of Vintage Tractors  -  Fred quite enjoyed this bit as he was brought up on a farm and could remember some of them.

No I did not say my husband is vintage!

And some more very colourful people and children as the parade came to an end.


You could probably see from the pictures that it was a very cloudy, windy day and it was rather cold so Fred & I were all wrapped up in our heavy coats with gloves and scarves but regardless of the weather thousands of people came to Downpatrick to see the parade.


It was an afternoon out that was definitely not the usual for us and it was nice to walk back to the car with smiles on our faces even if they were getting red from the cold air.

Have you been to see a St. Patrick's Day Parade too?


Or are you planning to go see a St. Patrick's Day Parade in this year?


If so leave me a comment to say where you went or will be going, it will be interesting to see how many different places are covered.

Songs for Worship #9

Welcome to the Sunday Series

Last year from January to June I wrote a series on
Why We Worship  where I considered an attribute of God each Sunday.


At different times people mentioned to me about a song that a post reminded them of so I thought that I would now go through those attributes again with a song for each one.

I hope you will follow along with me.

                         Looking today at 

God is Merciful

Not Guilty Anymore

It doesn't matter what you've done;
It doesn't matter where you're coming from
Doesn't matter where you've been
Hear me tell you
I forgive

You're not guilty anymore
You're not filthy anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours
You're not broken anymore
You're not captive anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours

Can you believe that this is true
Grace abundant I am giving you
Cleansing deeper than you know
All was paid for long ago

You're not guilty anymore
You're not filthy anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours
You're not broken anymore
You're not captive anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours

There is now therefore no condemnation
For those who are in Jesus

You're not guilty anymore
You're not filthy anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours
You're not broken anymore
You're not captive anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours

You are spotless
You are Holy
You are faultless
You are whole
You are righteous
You are blameless
You are pardoned
You are mine

You're not guilty anymore
You're not filthy anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours
You're not broken anymore
You're not captive anymore
I love you
Mercy is yours

You're not guilty anymore
Not guilty anymore

If you would like to see the post from last year that this is based on please click on the graphic below

The Secret of Chimneys - Book Review

I am trying to read through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and write a review on each one.


  

The Secret of Chimneys. 

1925.  
A Novel involving Inspector Battle.

Shelfari Description

A bit of adventure and quick cash is all that good-natured drifter Anthony Cade is looking for when he accepts a messenger job from an old friend. It sounds so simple: deliver the provocative memoirs of a recently deceased European count to a London publisher. But the parcel holds more than scandalous royal secrets. It contains a stash of letters that suggest blackmail--and lead to the murder of a stranger who's been shadowing Anthony's every move. Discovering the dead man's identity means retracing his steps--to the rambling estate of Chimneys where darker secrets, and deadlier threats, await anyone who dares to enter.

My Thoughts

This is the sixth book by Agatha Christie.

I read this over a period of weeks and not days so I think that this gives you an immediate indication of how this one did not hook me in quickly.

Overall I found that there seemed to be too many characters for me to keep track of, yet in another way there weren't that many but some seemed too similar or well just confusing me so that when some were mentioned I had to think hard about who it actually was.

Normally I almost visualize the characters I am reading about but in this one this was not the case and having immediately got mixed up between the two guys at the start of the book I think I continued to get mixed up the whole way through.  
Perhaps however a good deal of this was due to not reading this book in consecutive ssessions but picking it up every 3/4 days and not reading too much in each sitting.
Then again maybe this was the way I read it because I was not so interested - not sure which way to fall on this.

The story was a bit far fetched for me, too many leaders/politicians and upperclass talk.

I would liken myself to Lord Catheral who is the owner of the grand house the book is named after when he expressed the desire to get away from all these people because they were not interesting to him and were more of an intrusion in his home, but then to each of them he would be the ever congenial host and friendly Lord.  Yes I was quite happy for the book to be finished and not have to read all the conversations.

Question I have to ask myself is:

Did the fact that it did not have Poirot or Miss Marple affect my enjoyment?

 Here is a link to a list of her novels on Shelfari
Books by Agatha Christie

Chatting on the couch - A Dose of Encouragement

So I was sitting beside my husband the other day on our new couch and oh how happy we both are that we changed our suite a couple of months ago (but that's another story).

This is a post about encouragement not one about home decor but we just happened to be sitting on the couch at the time this conversation took place.

Ok where was I?

Yes sitting on the new couch happily chatting away with the TV on in the background because we had just watched an episode of one of our favourite series.  I said something to him and knew immediately from his response that he hadn't heard what I had said.

Instead he had just presumed what I was going to say.

I stopped and turned to look at him because -Yes, as is quite usual we were both on our ipads at the time.

I accused him of not paying attention to what I was saying but he was adamant that he had been paying attention.

No you weren't 

I replied

because I can tell from your comment to me after I said it.

But he said

you were telling me what you had told me before, you know I do remember!

But that was the problem

Yes he remembered what I had said the previous time I had talked about that subject 

BUT

 not what I had just said.

I suppose I had started off talking about it in the same way as before but I did want to consider a different idea this time and he had just heard the start and presumed I was repeating my same previous thought so he really did think he had listened to me and heard what I had said.

This is very annoying for anyone and not just me.

We all like to be listened to and listened to in full.

So I was rather annoyed at him.

In a way it seemed to me like he didn't want to bother talking about the subject again or listening to anything else I had to say on it.

So I definitely was annoyed at him.

Later when I was working on the Sunday School Curriculum for our church I was once again at one of those passages we will often refer to as being very familiar.

You know those ones that when we hear or read the start we are so tempted to skim over because we have read it or heard it so many times.


Well as I always tell people

I can learn something new every time I prepare for a Sunday School Class

BUT

 I need to be prepared to do so.

If I decide
not to bother reading it because I have read that Bible passage so many times before that I know all about it then I will not learn anything new.


If I decide
to skim over it then again I will not learn anything new.


If I decide
to read it but not keep my full concentration on it then how can I learn anything new?



Notice that word in each of those last 3 sentences?  

Decide

It is a decision we make to actually pay attention when we read.


It is a decision we make to actually listen properly when God is trying to speak to us.


Most likely if we decide not to bother reading and listening attentively we will end up having to depend on our memory of before and our memories are not usually perfect.

Let's not be annoying to God.

Let's not depend on our memory of the last time.

Let's not start talking before we have listened.

Let's not presume we know it all already.

Let's not have the attitude that we don't need to hear from God again even if it is the same subject.

Let's make the decision to read and listen and pay attention.

10 Gift Ideas for your Brother-in-law / Brother / Father / Grandfather + TIP - Need Help?

As the years come and go we women are always complaining that the husbands leave us to do all the gift buying and isn't that true ladies?

Even when it comes to buying for men.

So TRUE!!!!!

But it is not just the buying it is the thinking of new gifts to get all the time that causes us the headache.

Yes EVERY Birthday & Christmas us girls are just expected to rack our brains for new ideas for the men.

So what do we do when it comes to those events when we need to celebrate the men in our lives? 

   Birthdays, Christmas, Father's Day etc.

I have no brothers but I have a really great brother-in-law.  

He met my older sister when I was only 6 years old and he's been part of the family ever since.

So from thinking about my brother-in-law, father and my husband all these years I have had to come up with many different ideas for gifts.

Well I thought I would share 10 of the ideas I have had in the past for gifts for my Brother-in-law and of course these can be for any man.

NOTE:  In our family we do not usually spend a lot of money on gifts so none of the things listed below will cost ££££s




10 Gift Ideas for your Brother-in-law 
(or father, brother, husband, grandfather .....)

1.  Groupon Voucher  (or Living Social etc.)

   

A couple of years ago I got him one for a free lesson with a Golf Pro.

This was for his birthday in February and he decided to use it a month or so later.

So he and my sister came to stay with us for a few days and we dropped him off for the morning for his lesson and picked him up when he was finished and then we all went and did a bit of shopping together.

Keep an eye on the offers and if one of them makes you think of your brother-in-law then it could be his next gift from you.

2.  Dvds of old Western Films or other types of movies.

My brother-in-law is a fan of old westerns but my sister is not  -  so it's a great gift which is just for him.

I have actually used this idea a few times now.

You can view a selection HERE

Or if he's into action & adventure like James Bond etc. he may prefer something from HERE

3.  Amazon Voucher/Gift Card so that he can get books or ebooks.

Yes I know we often say that guys are hard to buy books for so if you have a problem with thinking of suitable books let him choose his own books or ebooks.

My brother-in-law and I and my husband have a somewhat similar taste in detective novels so sometimes when we have found a good one we will then get a copy for him but then there are other times when it would be nice for him to pick his own.

And the lovely thing about Amazon vouchers/gift cards is the fact that you get to choose a design that suits the occasion or the person - you can see a selection HERE

They even have an option for one that comes in a tin like a gift in itself, Just click on the pic below if you want to investigate this idea.

4.  An Interesting Box

Now this is an idea I had a couple of years ago.
I like boxes and at different times I have bought nicely decorated boxes - see Storage Bargains
But  I also found this box one time which I just adore

 it is not a very girlie box so it gave me the idea of looking for a similar type of box and putting in a few small things that my brother-in-law might appreciate and then he could use the box for keeping odds and ends in, which he did.

It still sits in their kitchen being used on almost a daily basis.




5.  Mugs 


My brother-in-law loves tea and we always tease him about drinking it all day long.
In the past I have bought him funny mugs or large mugs  -  so that he doesn't have to keep refilling them too quickly.

A packet of a special tea or coffee would go well inside a big mug oh and a biscuit too.
I love the great pics and phrases we can get on mugs these days and we can even design our own.

Credit to Fotofunia

I think a lot of guys like humorous mugs and we have indeed given my brother-in-law mugs similar to THESE in the past.





6.  A Guy's Night in Selection Package


Didn't I mention how he likes Western Movies?
Well my sister doesn't, in fact she isn't very keen on sitting watching a movie at night so she would go to another room to read and my brother-in-law would settle down and watch a movie himself.
So this is where the selection pack would come in.

A nice drink,
 something savoury to snack on like pringles or popcorn,
 something chocolatey,
 and maybe a bag of wine gums all to enjoy while watching his movies on a few different evenings.


Of course we'll not wrap it up in a basket - guys don't do baskets!

Maybe a nice box like the type in  #4 above instead




7.  Treat him to a night out at the theatre for a comedy.


Now this is the one you definitely have to keep him from seeing because this is one I'm hoping to use soon.  He enjoys a comedy and so do the rest of us so all four of us can go out to this together.

8.  Gift Voucher/Card for his favourite shop


I know that we always think of girls as keen shoppers but men do usually have a favourite shop whether for clothes or gadgets.
My brother-in-law is a keen walker and he is always looking for thermal lined coats or waterproof items.
Just have a little think about which shop your brother-in-law might prefer to go to depending on his interests.




9.  The Takker.


This is something that I discovered on AMAZON by accident a while back and bought for my husband and then later we got it for our son because it was so easy to use and so useful plus NOT expensive.

I even wrote a blog post on it when I was trying to do something about the decor in our home.  Truly I do think this is The Best Thing for Bare Walls


Well I should get on and explain what it is - The Takker is the easiest thing to use to attach something light weight to your walls.  Click on the link above and you will see how easy it is.

There are actually two types of these Takkers and my husband has used both and he had a smile on his face each time.


This first one  THE TAKKER PICTURE HANGING KIT  is for when you would try to hammer in a nail and you don't want to annoy the plaster on the wall.

The second one is The Hard Wall Takker for the occasions when you would normally think of needing to get out the electric drill.

As I said above my husband was very happy using both of these Takkers and not only that but he actually asked if I wanted anything else up on the walls.
That's a win win situation for us girls.






10.  Sweets (preferably something in Chocolate)


Well my brother-in-law and I may not share the same tastes in drinks  -  I am definitely a coffee drinker and NOT a tea drinker but we both DO LIKE Chocolate.
In the past I have got him some form of chocolate and probably will do so again.

Honestly there are not many people who will not appreciate chocolate and it is the ideal thing to enjoy with your mug of Tea/Coffee, while watching a Dvd or reading your ebook.

10 Gift Ideas for your brother-in-law / brother / father or any man in your life.

and the TIP?

Well just DO NOT buy him hankies.

My Brother-in-law and I have a thing about hankies as presents and it goes way back, yes way back to a certain Christmas over 40 years ago.

Some day I just might share that story with you all.



Now don't forget these suggestions when it comes to Father's Day as well.

If you have other gifts to buy why not click on the link to have a look at my Gift Ideas Pinterest Board

Or try these links:
The 5 Best Board Games
10 Gift Ideas for a Baby Girl's first Birthday / Christmas
10 Gift Ideas for a Baby Boy's first Birthday / Christmas
10 Gift Ideas for a Guitar fanatic

Oh and 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICTOR

because someone is bound to direct him to this blog post

Disclaimer:
I am not an affiliate for Amazon so if you buy anything after clicking through from this blog post I will not benefit from it.

Songs for Worship #8

Welcome to the Sunday Series

Last year from January to June I wrote a series on

Why We Worship  where I considered an attribute of God each Sunday.

At different times people mentioned to me about a song that a post reminded them of so I thought that I would now go through those attributes again with a song for each one.

So I'm following the weeks of Why We Worship from last year and I hope you will follow along 

with me.

                         Looking today at 

God is Unchanging

Faithful One

Faithful one, so unchanging
Ageless one, you're my rock of peace
Lord of all I depend on you
I call out to you, again and again
I call out to you, again and again

You are my rock in times of trouble
You lift me up when I fall down
All through the storm
Your love is, the anchor
My hope is in You alone

If you would like to see the post from last year that this is based on please click on the graphic below