Mrs Comerford's April Diary Page
Day 46-Day 49 Monday April 27th-Thursday April 30th
Back to school today. It was such a busy week with meetings everyday and even evening time meetings, that I haven’t had time to write in my diary. I didn’t do very many interesting things either! All schools have to draft a new Admissions Policy and it has to be submitted by April 30th so that is taking all the spare time. Fresh Start tomorrow May 1st.
Back to school today. It was such a busy week with meetings everyday and even evening time meetings, that I haven’t had time to write in my diary. I didn’t do very many interesting things either! All schools have to draft a new Admissions Policy and it has to be submitted by April 30th so that is taking all the spare time. Fresh Start tomorrow May 1st.
Day 45: Sunday April 26th
I was looking at Mr Hoyne’s padlet today and it cheered me up no end to see all the photos of his pupils at work, baking, dancing, hunting Easter Eggs , playing Hide and Seek etc. You all look well and happy.
I also saw some screenshots of families at the Dicksboro Quiz on Friday night. Plenty of our present families featured-Dowlings, Walkers, Deegans, Brownes, Cunninghams, Gibbs, Fitzpatricks, Ormonds, Mahers, Raggetts and Carrolls.
Again, it is great to see everyone having a good time and keeping well.
I was looking at Mr Hoyne’s padlet today and it cheered me up no end to see all the photos of his pupils at work, baking, dancing, hunting Easter Eggs , playing Hide and Seek etc. You all look well and happy.
I also saw some screenshots of families at the Dicksboro Quiz on Friday night. Plenty of our present families featured-Dowlings, Walkers, Deegans, Brownes, Cunninghams, Gibbs, Fitzpatricks, Ormonds, Mahers, Raggetts and Carrolls.
Again, it is great to see everyone having a good time and keeping well.
Day 44: Saturday April 25th
It is a glorious day here today. It is great to have a day off to get some cleaning and gardening done. I’m glad to be away from the laptop too.
My horse chestnut trees are now fully in leaf and the blossoms have started to appear. The blossoms look like lanterns or candles. They will eventually turn into conkers. These trees are over 120 years old.
I listened to Mary Lou McDonald on the Late Late Show last night talking about having the virus. She said that it was very scary and it sounded like it was. I’m glad she recovered. It is great to see so many people getting better after having the virus.
It is a glorious day here today. It is great to have a day off to get some cleaning and gardening done. I’m glad to be away from the laptop too.
My horse chestnut trees are now fully in leaf and the blossoms have started to appear. The blossoms look like lanterns or candles. They will eventually turn into conkers. These trees are over 120 years old.
I listened to Mary Lou McDonald on the Late Late Show last night talking about having the virus. She said that it was very scary and it sounded like it was. I’m glad she recovered. It is great to see so many people getting better after having the virus.
Day 43: Friday April 24th
I know I have been very poor at posting up my diary pages this week. I think, like most people, I find this week tough and I haven’t as much energy as other weeks. We all miss our families and friends. I will catch up over the weekend and then get going with fresh energy next week.
I met all the Resource teachers today and then the whole staff met for a tutorial on G Suite, which is a Google Education Suite.
We also had a Principals’ Meeting today.
I saw Malcolm Noonan on the news last night with the leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan. They want 20% of transport spending to be spent on cycling and walking. It would be great if we could get a proper cycling lane and pedestrian crossing outside our school. The County Council have said that we will but that it might take a while.
I know I have been very poor at posting up my diary pages this week. I think, like most people, I find this week tough and I haven’t as much energy as other weeks. We all miss our families and friends. I will catch up over the weekend and then get going with fresh energy next week.
I met all the Resource teachers today and then the whole staff met for a tutorial on G Suite, which is a Google Education Suite.
We also had a Principals’ Meeting today.
I saw Malcolm Noonan on the news last night with the leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan. They want 20% of transport spending to be spent on cycling and walking. It would be great if we could get a proper cycling lane and pedestrian crossing outside our school. The County Council have said that we will but that it might take a while.
Day 42: Thursday April 23rd
We had a nice treat today. My son and his fiancée sent us some Brownies and they arrived in the post this morning. There is a coffee company called Moyee, who try to source ethically produced coffee. That means that the growers are paid a fair price and the coffee is roasted in the same country that it grows in, to provide more employment for the people in that country. At the moment, if you buy a kilogram of coffee from Moyee, they will gift another kilo to a health care worker. I had ordered a kg and gifted one to my daughter and her boyfriend who are both working in hospitals in Cork. The coffee arrived today also. A kg of coffee is A LOT of Coffee!
So our coffee break this morning was very nice indeed.
We had a nice treat today. My son and his fiancée sent us some Brownies and they arrived in the post this morning. There is a coffee company called Moyee, who try to source ethically produced coffee. That means that the growers are paid a fair price and the coffee is roasted in the same country that it grows in, to provide more employment for the people in that country. At the moment, if you buy a kilogram of coffee from Moyee, they will gift another kilo to a health care worker. I had ordered a kg and gifted one to my daughter and her boyfriend who are both working in hospitals in Cork. The coffee arrived today also. A kg of coffee is A LOT of Coffee!
So our coffee break this morning was very nice indeed.
Day 41: Wednesday April 22nd
Today was another busy day for meetings. I met with 1st & 2nd class teachers in the morning and 5th & 6th in the afternoon. They are all well. In between, I had another Webinar on School Policies.
On Dicksboro Camogie, I have been following the Hurling /Camogie tips. Tommy and Katie are doing a great job. They will be superfit and skilful. I hope you are all practising your hurling skills.
Ms McPhillips told me that Dicksboro had a Quiz night last Friday. Her family entered and it was very enjoyable. I think there is another one next Friday night.
Day 40: Tuesday April 21st
There are 40 days in Lent so even if we had given up school for Lent, we would be back tomorrow.
I started trying some of the activities on our website today. I tried out some of Ms Flynn’s Maths Club problems and found them interesting. I also tried Ms Tallis Maths Problem of the day. The one about the animals and sixths and twelfths took a bit of thinking out.
My only meeting today was with Junior and Senior Infant teachers.
I follow Dicksboro GAA and Camogie Club on Twitter so I was delighted to read Mikey Brennan’s Story about being a club member. It was a great read. Well done Mikey!
My own Granddad, who died before I was born, was a founder member of Dicksboro GAA club. It was founded in the house where I grew up.
Day 39: Monday April 20th
Back to school today. When schools first closed, we all thought that we would be back today.
It was a busy day for meetings. We had a staff meeting at 11. Everyone was busy posting up your work before that. Then at 11, I had to join a Webinar on Cisco Webex on how to hold remote meetings. It is very similar to Zoom but we are told that it is more secure.
I am getting used to doing Webinars now. They remind me how hard it is to just sit and listen for a whole hour! It is very easy to get distracted. I will remember that when we are back and pupils are looking out the window or chatting when we think they should be listening. We all need plenty of movement breaks to keep up our concentration.
Today was another busy day for meetings. I met with 1st & 2nd class teachers in the morning and 5th & 6th in the afternoon. They are all well. In between, I had another Webinar on School Policies.
On Dicksboro Camogie, I have been following the Hurling /Camogie tips. Tommy and Katie are doing a great job. They will be superfit and skilful. I hope you are all practising your hurling skills.
Ms McPhillips told me that Dicksboro had a Quiz night last Friday. Her family entered and it was very enjoyable. I think there is another one next Friday night.
Day 40: Tuesday April 21st
There are 40 days in Lent so even if we had given up school for Lent, we would be back tomorrow.
I started trying some of the activities on our website today. I tried out some of Ms Flynn’s Maths Club problems and found them interesting. I also tried Ms Tallis Maths Problem of the day. The one about the animals and sixths and twelfths took a bit of thinking out.
My only meeting today was with Junior and Senior Infant teachers.
I follow Dicksboro GAA and Camogie Club on Twitter so I was delighted to read Mikey Brennan’s Story about being a club member. It was a great read. Well done Mikey!
My own Granddad, who died before I was born, was a founder member of Dicksboro GAA club. It was founded in the house where I grew up.
Day 39: Monday April 20th
Back to school today. When schools first closed, we all thought that we would be back today.
It was a busy day for meetings. We had a staff meeting at 11. Everyone was busy posting up your work before that. Then at 11, I had to join a Webinar on Cisco Webex on how to hold remote meetings. It is very similar to Zoom but we are told that it is more secure.
I am getting used to doing Webinars now. They remind me how hard it is to just sit and listen for a whole hour! It is very easy to get distracted. I will remember that when we are back and pupils are looking out the window or chatting when we think they should be listening. We all need plenty of movement breaks to keep up our concentration.
Day 38: Sunday April 19th
This is the last day of the Easter holidays. Even though Granddad is 94, he is not the oldest person in the parish. A lovely lady who lives at the other side of the parish celebrated her 100th birthday at the start of December. She had several parties and she sang her party pieces at most of them.
I sat beside her at the All Ireland Hurling Final in 2011 when Kilkenny beat Tipperary 2-17 to 1-16 and I still remember us jumping around at the final whistle. Will we have any hurling matches this year? Who knows?
This is the last day of the Easter holidays. Even though Granddad is 94, he is not the oldest person in the parish. A lovely lady who lives at the other side of the parish celebrated her 100th birthday at the start of December. She had several parties and she sang her party pieces at most of them.
I sat beside her at the All Ireland Hurling Final in 2011 when Kilkenny beat Tipperary 2-17 to 1-16 and I still remember us jumping around at the final whistle. Will we have any hurling matches this year? Who knows?
Day 37: Saturday April 18th
Today is an exciting day because my father-in –law, Granddad John has his birthday today and he is 94! He lives beside us on the farm. We called over to see him this morning and I had arranged a Zoom call with all his children who cannot visit him even today. He has six children, nineteen grandchildren; aged from 36 to 7, and three great grandchildren aged, 3, 2 and 4 months.
It was very funny when we all sang Happy Birthday on Zoom because we were all at different times and I think all our singing voices were rusty too! He enjoyed the virtual party and afterwards he had tea and birthday cake-chocolate of course-he loves chocolate!
During the day his brothers who are 91 and 88 and his sister who is 90 all phoned to wish him well. If you were 94, what age would your brothers and sisters be?
I think he was glad to go for an afternoon nap after all the excitement.
It was quiet then in the afternoon. We let out half a dozen more calves. There are only 8 left to go out now. They will probably be out on Monday and then all the clean up and maintenance work will start.
Today is an exciting day because my father-in –law, Granddad John has his birthday today and he is 94! He lives beside us on the farm. We called over to see him this morning and I had arranged a Zoom call with all his children who cannot visit him even today. He has six children, nineteen grandchildren; aged from 36 to 7, and three great grandchildren aged, 3, 2 and 4 months.
It was very funny when we all sang Happy Birthday on Zoom because we were all at different times and I think all our singing voices were rusty too! He enjoyed the virtual party and afterwards he had tea and birthday cake-chocolate of course-he loves chocolate!
During the day his brothers who are 91 and 88 and his sister who is 90 all phoned to wish him well. If you were 94, what age would your brothers and sisters be?
I think he was glad to go for an afternoon nap after all the excitement.
It was quiet then in the afternoon. We let out half a dozen more calves. There are only 8 left to go out now. They will probably be out on Monday and then all the clean up and maintenance work will start.
Day 36: Friday April 17th
Today was a busy day. I had some school work to do as there are still emails and bills coming in and people are still planning to move to Kilkenny during the summer. Parents are looking for school places for their children for when they move to Kilkenny.
There is rain forecast for tomorrow so I am trying to do a few more jobs in the garden. Actually, I will be glad of some rain as I have to water the vegetables everyday and natural watering from the rain is better. The flower beds need water also.
I spent an hour on the phone with Three trying to sort out my new phone package. I’m trying to transfer my old number to the new SIM card and it looks like it should be simple online but at the very end each time it just says that it can’t be done at this time. It is very frustrating ! My old SIM works just fine in the new phone fortunately but Three are now sending me two bills: one for my old package and one for the new package with the new number. It has my head wrecked!
I logged into Paddy Beggan’s Youtube animation launch tonight at 7pm. It was exciting to watch the count down and then to see the clip. I even “subscribed”which I think means something like “following” on Twitter. Paddy is in Mr Hoyne’s 5th class and his brother Charlie, who did a voiceover is in Mr Lennon’s 4th. You can find it under DragonSlayer Animations on youtube.
Paddy loves drawing and animation and has put huge work over the lockdown into this project. Congratulations Paddy.
Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day!!!!!
Today was a busy day. I had some school work to do as there are still emails and bills coming in and people are still planning to move to Kilkenny during the summer. Parents are looking for school places for their children for when they move to Kilkenny.
There is rain forecast for tomorrow so I am trying to do a few more jobs in the garden. Actually, I will be glad of some rain as I have to water the vegetables everyday and natural watering from the rain is better. The flower beds need water also.
I spent an hour on the phone with Three trying to sort out my new phone package. I’m trying to transfer my old number to the new SIM card and it looks like it should be simple online but at the very end each time it just says that it can’t be done at this time. It is very frustrating ! My old SIM works just fine in the new phone fortunately but Three are now sending me two bills: one for my old package and one for the new package with the new number. It has my head wrecked!
I logged into Paddy Beggan’s Youtube animation launch tonight at 7pm. It was exciting to watch the count down and then to see the clip. I even “subscribed”which I think means something like “following” on Twitter. Paddy is in Mr Hoyne’s 5th class and his brother Charlie, who did a voiceover is in Mr Lennon’s 4th. You can find it under DragonSlayer Animations on youtube.
Paddy loves drawing and animation and has put huge work over the lockdown into this project. Congratulations Paddy.
Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day!!!!!
Day 35: Thursday April 16th
I told you last month about my New Year’s resolution to make one change each month to be kinder to our planet. I was nearly going to take a break this month as I was thinking that now that I am not travelling anywhere except for shopping once a week I don’t use very much diesel. However, I decided that that would be cheating because as soon as we are back to school I will be filling up as normal. So last week when I was shopping, I bought these vegetable and fruit bags. Now when I shop, instead of having to use a plastic bag for loose fruit and veg I can use and reuse these.
Today is shopping day this week. I make a list when I’m going shopping now because it’s not like when I’m going to work in school and I can pop into the shop or the supermarket on my way home. I am really trying to only go to the supermarket once a week.
My Eco Egg from last month is going very well. The clothes all seem clean after washing and they smell nice too.
I told you last month about my New Year’s resolution to make one change each month to be kinder to our planet. I was nearly going to take a break this month as I was thinking that now that I am not travelling anywhere except for shopping once a week I don’t use very much diesel. However, I decided that that would be cheating because as soon as we are back to school I will be filling up as normal. So last week when I was shopping, I bought these vegetable and fruit bags. Now when I shop, instead of having to use a plastic bag for loose fruit and veg I can use and reuse these.
Today is shopping day this week. I make a list when I’m going shopping now because it’s not like when I’m going to work in school and I can pop into the shop or the supermarket on my way home. I am really trying to only go to the supermarket once a week.
My Eco Egg from last month is going very well. The clothes all seem clean after washing and they smell nice too.
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Day 34: Wednesday April 15th
I spent a good bit of time on the trampoline today. I can see all the traffic up and down the road from that part of the garden. It is mainly tractors and farmers going about their business. I showed you the new buds on the Horse Chestnut trees. Now look at how many leaves they have. The second tree lost a huge branch in Storm Ophelia. It just ripped off. Luckily it didn’t do much damage just fell across the lawn. We cut it with the chainsaw for timber to burn in the fire. 
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Day 33: Tuesday April 14th.
About six years ago at Christmas, I bought four pear trees from Irish Seedsavers. They are a company who try to keep all the different species of native Irish trees and plants alive. I bought two for my brother who lives in Castlebar and two for myself. Since then, we have been comparing notes about our trees. For three years, none of the trees had any blossoms in spring. This meant then that there were no pears in autumn as the pears grow as fruit of the blossoms.
Then two years ago, we both had a small number of blossoms on the trees but the frost killed them off. Last year was very exciting as both my trees and my brother's tree were covered in blossoms but then disaster struck and one of my trees had the blossoms completely burnt off by frost one night and the other had most of them burnt. My brother’s were the same which was a bit strange as usually there is more frost in Kilkenny than Mayo. In the end, I got one tiny pear, about the size of my thumb! He got none.
This year both my pear trees are covered in blossom and I think the danger of frost has passed so I am really hoping to have pears in autumn. I haven’t checked with Paul my brother yet how his are. I think that it is natural for pear trees to take a good few years to produce fruit. A wise, old gardener said to me that you plant “pears for heirs” meaning that it will be your children or even your grandchildren who will be eating most of the pears from the trees you plant.
These are the blossoms from today.
About six years ago at Christmas, I bought four pear trees from Irish Seedsavers. They are a company who try to keep all the different species of native Irish trees and plants alive. I bought two for my brother who lives in Castlebar and two for myself. Since then, we have been comparing notes about our trees. For three years, none of the trees had any blossoms in spring. This meant then that there were no pears in autumn as the pears grow as fruit of the blossoms.
Then two years ago, we both had a small number of blossoms on the trees but the frost killed them off. Last year was very exciting as both my trees and my brother's tree were covered in blossoms but then disaster struck and one of my trees had the blossoms completely burnt off by frost one night and the other had most of them burnt. My brother’s were the same which was a bit strange as usually there is more frost in Kilkenny than Mayo. In the end, I got one tiny pear, about the size of my thumb! He got none.
This year both my pear trees are covered in blossom and I think the danger of frost has passed so I am really hoping to have pears in autumn. I haven’t checked with Paul my brother yet how his are. I think that it is natural for pear trees to take a good few years to produce fruit. A wise, old gardener said to me that you plant “pears for heirs” meaning that it will be your children or even your grandchildren who will be eating most of the pears from the trees you plant.
These are the blossoms from today.
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Day 32: Easter Monday April 13th
When I was in primary school, we used to get an egg on Easter Sunday and another one on Easter Monday. Mind you, they were both small eggs. They used to have the sweets inside the egg too. Usually we got Smarties or Buttons eggs and then when we got a bit older Roses or Milk Tray ones.
We gave up sweets and crisps for Lent so our Easter eggs were a big treat.
When I was in primary school, we used to get an egg on Easter Sunday and another one on Easter Monday. Mind you, they were both small eggs. They used to have the sweets inside the egg too. Usually we got Smarties or Buttons eggs and then when we got a bit older Roses or Milk Tray ones.
We gave up sweets and crisps for Lent so our Easter eggs were a big treat.
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Day 31: Easter Sunday April 12th
Happy Easter everyone. I got a Cadbury’s Daim Easter Egg. I never had one before but it was delicious and I enjoyed the lovely thick chocolate. We put away all our work stuff and all the newspapers and set the table nicely for a proper Easter Sunday dinner. I hope you all had a good day and that nobody got sick from eating too much chocolate. |
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Day 30: Easter Saturday April 11th
We needed something to cheer ourselves up today so we swept off the trampoline and fixed it up to use again after not using it for a year.
I had forgotten how much fun it is. The forecast says that it will rain tomorrow so this afternoon I just sat in the sun and read my book.
At 9 o’clock, we lit our light to shine with the rest of the country.
This is my light and then some of the lights from Ms Casey’s class. The last one is a picture I saw on Twitter of a husband and wife aged 98 and 101 who lit up their front porch.
I’m looking forward to my Easter Egg tomorrow.
We needed something to cheer ourselves up today so we swept off the trampoline and fixed it up to use again after not using it for a year.
I had forgotten how much fun it is. The forecast says that it will rain tomorrow so this afternoon I just sat in the sun and read my book.
At 9 o’clock, we lit our light to shine with the rest of the country.
This is my light and then some of the lights from Ms Casey’s class. The last one is a picture I saw on Twitter of a husband and wife aged 98 and 101 who lit up their front porch.
I’m looking forward to my Easter Egg tomorrow.
,Day 29: Good Friday April 10th
It was another lovely sunny day here today. I weeded and cleaned out all my herb pots on my patio. That was another job I had put on the long finger and now it’s done.
My next door neighbour, which here in the country means about half a kilometre away, was walking up and down the road today. She has a new baby since November and it is really difficult not to lean in and pick up the baby for a cuddle. Her other daughter is in 4th class. She cycles up and down on her bike with her Mam and we chat over the wall. She is bored and really misses her friends, just like most of you.
I wasn’t expecting the Taoiseach to say that we had to lock down for three more weeks. I thought he would say another fortnight. It is going to be very hard for all of us to keep the rules but we will just have to so that we can keep everyone as safe as possible.
I’m sure some of your big brothers and sisters are getting very anxious about their Leaving Cert. Probably the Junior Cert students are happy.
So, we still don’t know when our school will be open again.
It was another lovely sunny day here today. I weeded and cleaned out all my herb pots on my patio. That was another job I had put on the long finger and now it’s done.
My next door neighbour, which here in the country means about half a kilometre away, was walking up and down the road today. She has a new baby since November and it is really difficult not to lean in and pick up the baby for a cuddle. Her other daughter is in 4th class. She cycles up and down on her bike with her Mam and we chat over the wall. She is bored and really misses her friends, just like most of you.
I wasn’t expecting the Taoiseach to say that we had to lock down for three more weeks. I thought he would say another fortnight. It is going to be very hard for all of us to keep the rules but we will just have to so that we can keep everyone as safe as possible.
I’m sure some of your big brothers and sisters are getting very anxious about their Leaving Cert. Probably the Junior Cert students are happy.
So, we still don’t know when our school will be open again.
Day 28: Holy Thursday April 9th
Today was mainly a gardening day. I can’t plant anything more now as I don’t have any plants left. All the online shops are sold out at the moment too, but there’s plenty of weeding to be done.
We let out 5 more calves into the field that was on the video yesterday. That field is full now. I asked Mr Nolan how to put up the video and he told me, but then he said that he’d put it up for me if I sent it to him. Thank you Mr Nolan.
Before the calves go out in the fields, they have to be injected to be vaccinated against different diseases like pneumonia and black leg. They don’t really notice when they get an injection so it mustn’t hurt .
I think that when there is a vaccine for Covid-19 we will all be happy to be vaccinated and will not complain about the injection!
I forgot to ask you if you had seen the “pink moon” the last couple of nights? It looked huge.
Today was mainly a gardening day. I can’t plant anything more now as I don’t have any plants left. All the online shops are sold out at the moment too, but there’s plenty of weeding to be done.
We let out 5 more calves into the field that was on the video yesterday. That field is full now. I asked Mr Nolan how to put up the video and he told me, but then he said that he’d put it up for me if I sent it to him. Thank you Mr Nolan.
Before the calves go out in the fields, they have to be injected to be vaccinated against different diseases like pneumonia and black leg. They don’t really notice when they get an injection so it mustn’t hurt .
I think that when there is a vaccine for Covid-19 we will all be happy to be vaccinated and will not complain about the injection!
I forgot to ask you if you had seen the “pink moon” the last couple of nights? It looked huge.
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Day 27: Wednesday April 8th
More calves going out today. We moved some from one field to another and then we put 5 extra in the field with the 15 we put out yesterday. I took a video of those ones. The quiet ones are the ones we let out yesterday and the black ones jumping around are todays. I think they look like black cocker spaniels or labradors. They are a breed of cattle called Aberdeen Angus which I presume came from Scotland originally. They are a lovely colour. I haven't managed to upload the calf video. Sorry! My WiFi signal is poor at the moment so maybe that's why. I will try again tomorrow. I saw Yvonne today too but only to wave at as she was in the distance. She is doing some office work from home too and is keeping well. Day 26: Tuesday April 7th Lots of farm work to be done today as we are letting out some of the smaller calves. We were very pleased with the grass yesterday so the fields are ready for the cattle to graze. Today we let out 15 calves and a load of bigger cattle. I don’t have as many calf houses now to clean and in a week I might have none at all. After lunch, I went to the supermarket . It was not very busy so it wasn’t too hard to keep 2m from everyone else. I also went to the post office to post some Easter treats to my two sons who are working from home in Dublin and my daughter who is working in a hospital in Cork. I met the postman collecting the parcels. He is a past pupil of St. Canice’s and I taught him when he was in 5th class. He was extremely busy as lots of people had decided to post Easter parcels. He was happy to be so busy. |
Day 25: Monday April 6th
So today is really the first day of the holidays. It is another lovely fine day but the garden is wet after yesterday’s rain. I finally plant the rest of my plant plugs. Now I have beetroot, spinach, turnip, peas, lettuce, beans and onions planted. I’m looking forward to some fresh veg. I visit my neighbour who is cocooning, to see if she needs anything from the supermarket tomorrow. We have a big chat, with me outside and her inside the porch. In the evening, we go for a walk again to check how the grass is growing in the fields. After Odd Socks Day, we will be making a donation of €500 to Kilkenny Down Syndrome Association. Thank you for all your support. |
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Day 24: April 5th.
Today was a quiet day. It was lashing rain for most of the day so we couldn’t go out much. I think we all realised how much we were missing the rest of our family. I showed my daughter how to play the game Qwirkle that some of you play with Mr Delaney, so now there are three of us here to play. We’ll probably end up fighting about it. :) I was looking at some of the “Working at Home “ pictures. Those are delicious looking pancakes Kieran! Day 22: April 3rd We had a staff meeting again today before our Easter Holidays. Everyone looks well but their hair is getting long--most people anyway! All the teachers have been working hard on improving their IT skills and they are getting very creative with all their new ideas. Later on, I had a meeting with all the principals of the town primary schools. We always meet once a month to discuss work stuff and we had missed our March meeting. We had a Google Meet-so now I know how to have Zoom meetings and Google meetings. We wished one another a Happy Easter and I hope all of you have a Happy Easter too. Day 21:April 2nd
It was a lovely sunny day here today. I phoned Mrs Sheehan to prepare for our staff meeting tomorrow. I also spoke to all our SNAs. Earlier this week, I asked the teachers to email their March Work Reports to me and then I realised that I still had a bundle of February ones to read so I made a start on those. Ms Casey’s class have shared some of the work they are doing at home. Aoife, your writing is fabulous. Keep up the good work! In the afternoon, I started planting my vegetable plants in the garden. They are tiny now. You can hardly see them in the photo but by the end of May, I hope to have some spinach, lettuce and rocket ready to eat. My pea plants in the picture should be very tall by then. Day 20: April 1st.
It was a very quiet April Fool’s Day here. In the morning, I paid some more bills. When the Minister for Education wants schools to do something he sends us an order called a “Circular.” We have to do what the circular says. In the morning, people started putting up a circular saying that “ All schools will have to work in July and August and all pupils will have to repeat a year/stay back a year.” It was a fake circular but some people were getting very cross about it, especially the 6th class students who are looking forward to going to secondary school. Then they realised that it was a joke because it was signed by “Amadán O’Aibreán”, which means “April Fool!” Then to make us all really confused, a REAL Circular was issued. The Minister wants all the SNAs to do other jobs to help out while the country is under pressure. Our SNAs are delighted to be able to play their part. Once school reopens they will be back to us. |
Day 23: April 4th.
Today is the first day of the Easter holidays and it is just as well because it is a really busy day on the farm. Today, lots of the animals are going out into the fields so it is “all hands on deck” to get them out safely. We were due to start at 10.30 so my husband went at 10.15 and opened the gates of the fields to be ready. None of us noticed that we were not the only ones letting out cattle-one of our neighbours was at the same job. As he passed, he kindly closed our gates so that his cattle wouldn’t go in. You can imagine the panic when we saw that our cattle were out and galloping towards a closed gate. We all sprinted to get it open. When the cattle are let out first in Spring, they are like wild horses and they tear along the road like mad things. They are so excited. I thought I would video it for you but believe me there was no chance to take out a phone! When we are letting out the smaller ones I will take a shot and post it. They love getting into the field and they dance around like big pups. I spoke to Fr. Jim later and he said that his nephew was letting out cattle on his farm also. 
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