ELAINE PRUNTY

Another field trip

2012-02-09T15:25:00.002Z

Work in progress 23-01-12

2012-01-23T17:09:00.002Z

New Look Blog

2012-01-19T18:21:00.000Z

Me, front row, far right. [ see ABOUT ME ]

Tulips and Orchids in my house

2012-01-17T20:58:00.002Z

mosaic hydrangeas

2012-01-16T23:28:00.000Z

Morrisey in the bedroom

2012-01-11T13:07:00.000Z

New Project ........

2012-01-07T13:40:00.001Z

Collage

2012-01-04T12:52:00.002Z

Recent field studies

2011-12-18T16:15:00.000Z

kitchen floor- finished

2011-12-12T16:14:00.000Z

Kitchen floor- fitting

2011-12-10T16:12:00.000Z

Kitchen floor coming along nicely

2011-12-08T15:51:00.000Z

New Project

2011-11-29T22:43:00.002Z

Studio :

2011-11-11T11:11:00.002Z

momentary lapse

2011-11-02T13:57:00.000Z

Crop circles part 1:

2011-10-20T15:02:00.001+01:00

The mould on the tile adhesive has taken on the characteristics of a previous project ?

Considering options

2011-10-19T14:44:00.000+01:00

Fairisle flooring ?

2011-10-05T15:56:00.001+01:00

reading

2011-10-01T15:55:00.001+01:00

Repairs to the base of The Realt na Mara memorial statue

2011-09-20T15:38:00.001+01:00

Repairs carried out in July

Harvest

2011-09-05T15:51:00.001+01:00

The 'Ripple' Mosaic : Part 3 : Ready for Export

2011-09-01T14:03:00.000+01:00

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

The 'Ripple' Mosaic : Part 2 : work in progress

2011-08-30T13:48:00.000+01:00

Part 1 here

The 'Ripple' Mosaic : Part 1

2011-08-20T15:42:00.012+01:00

Vacation

2011-08-14T16:17:00.001+01:00

Designs for the K&C window

2011-08-12T15:40:00.001+01:00

self portrait as a Light-box

2011-08-03T15:37:00.002+01:00

my cabinet of curiosities

2011-08-02T15:36:00.002+01:00

The Castles of Twickenham

2011-08-01T15:25:00.003+01:00

studio today

2011-06-30T15:40:00.001+01:00

The Real flowers from the St. Brigid Mosaic

2011-06-21T15:15:00.004+01:00

I* recently got to photograph all the real flowers
behind the magical flowers of the St. Brigid Mosaic

The 4 year old flower

The 5 year old flower

The 6 year old flower

The 7 year old flower

The 8 year old flower

The 9 year old flower

The 10 year old flower

The 11 year old flower

The 12 year old flower

Almost all the flowers in a row

Their drawings have a permanent home beside the mosaic .

* Cáit Fahey

A progress report on the work in my garden

2011-06-06T21:44:00.001+01:00

The work is progressing, and the above photo shows a little of that ,
Frustratingly, The other photos are not my garden,but some of my
favourites from the BLOOM garden festival June 2011

Photo 1: A PLACE OF BELONGING Damien Costello for Focus Ireland
Photo 2 AOS SÍ Talamh Landscapes
Photo 3 PORTACH Hortisculptures and Anu Green

In a completely unrelated aside,
Click here If you'd like to hear the saddest song EVER ?

Are you waiting there long?

2011-05-22T19:51:00.008+01:00

Portrait of a Jaboopee blog reader.

The work on the garden isn't quite finished, it had to stop for this commission ...

The 'New York' lightbox....

The Rathfeigh National School project I mentioned here had their official opening ,

The pleached hornbeams now looking exactly as they should....

Almost exactly one year to the day that I promised it....

I finally finished Ciara's family portrait as toy characters...

AND... I've been working on this top secret project .

It's a tough job fellas

I think you might like to have a little dance to THIS now?

Recent happenings.....

2011-04-26T22:52:00.002+01:00

I'd started clearing and sorting in the studio.

Those bits of wood you see leaning against the window top right are the off cuts
from this project, so I thought I'd make something with them that slightly references this project

but then the weather turned into something worthy of another project ......

..an outdoor one....

and so, the garden restoration/rehabilitation finally begins...... the brief....." an abundance of greenery"

For nearly two weeks we've toiled ....

and it's still not even nearly finished....

These last two photographs show my first ever outdoor mosaic ,
It was made in 1999 and I painted over it about 4 years ago.
THAT information dear blog reader allows me to segue effortlessly into
introducing you to the seldom to be repeated new blog post feature that is..
... THE INTERESTING MOSAIC LINK FEATURE .......
One of the winners in the Mosaic Art Now 2011 exhibition in print is
Jo Braun and she plasters over her work .
Do you have anything to say about that?

The next post after the 'last' one

2011-04-05T22:09:00.001+01:00

Yes , that last one was a big fat lie....

That photo is from my studio last year and not directed at you at all ,at all....
See, the E and transparent P , as always...it's all about me.

Now, to get back to normal here,
This is what I've been up to .....

Seeing sunshine

Working on a new proposal

and finally sending it off..... ( this song title says it all )

Joe and Elaine : Self-portrait as the books we're reading : part 2
(part 1 here)

Nothing more to report here , How are things at your end?

the last post

2011-04-01T00:08:00.014+01:00

For unfathomable reasons the 'folks' at blogger , have now insisted I display
the 'adult content' warning on my blog,
They say 'someone ' has complained of 'objectionable content' ?
They won't tell me who or what ? ?
It seems I have no redress. ?

So, for that reason, I'm out....

Goodbye blogger.....

I don't want to end on a completely bum note,
so let's you and me have a little dance to this .
[play it loud y'all ]

And after that ,why don't you come see me at my new blog ....here

Tutorial : How to make a sofa in 5 easy steps

2011-03-25T14:07:00.003Z

1: Draw your design

2: Transfer your marks to wood and then cut them out

3: Make patchwork piping cord

4: Make some loose covers

5: Cover framework with fabric

6: Et Voila !

After you've finished that you might want to use your newfound knowlegde to perhaps ,
like us, make a smaller one seater version .

Bon chance mon amis.

happy birthday dotter

2011-03-15T18:13:00.003Z

This is what we made the in-house photographer for her 21st birthday.

As a "self-portrait as a corner of a room" ...this photo says it all really....
Happy birthday C***
This is her song d'jour .....it's not supposed to make you cry

The RÁTHFAICHE [Fort and Wood] commission : The installation

2011-02-27T21:30:00.002Z

Last week the sun finally shone and we got to install the mosaic element of this project .

I'll just let the photos do the talking here .

Final photo shows Joe at the grouting stage , unfortunately
my camera battery ran out so I'll be back to take more photos .

Martin Curran is a genius Landscape Designer and it was a real pleasure and inspiration
to work with him on this project .

Each class will have their time-capsules installed in the coming weeks and there will be an "official"
opening sometime soon thereafter.

Just a few more in-house photos....

2011-02-15T21:17:00.002Z

Next post.....It's back to the present...
Hold on to your seats....
~~I'm~~ We're making a couch.

[all photos by the in-house photographer ]

A photo with Heart shapes... for the day that's in it : the 2011 version

2011-02-14T00:11:00.000Z

I think I've set a precedent now for acknowledging this day with
heart shapes in photos from the previous years work ..... 2009 here 2010 here

Happy Valentines day to YOU, my dearest darling reader

our house....before we wrecked it.....

2011-02-08T12:25:00.002Z

I’m waiting for a change in the weather before I can install the latest ‘ Fort & Wood” commission

So, I’m going back in time for this post

The day after we had the photographer here for the HOUSE & HOME magazine

photoshoot I took advantage of that never since repeated tidiness and had the in-house photographer take some more in-house photos

Here are some of those photos , the text in italics is some of the unprinted questions and

answers from the article

What are your main inspirations ?

It's probably quite relevant that as a mosaic artist and surface decorator it’s the mosaic art form of

Pique assiette that has greatly informed my Artwork, my interior design sensibilities and my style.

Pique assiette is about reusing materials in a different way ,It’s about thinking laterally ,it’s about

humour, the art of recycling ,the significance of found objects and it’s about using what you've got.

I 've also found that Necessity is indeed "the mother of invention."

THE 'OLD' DINING ROOM

In your answers, it would be great if you can make reference to the following items which may be selected in photography:

Your art

Over the last 20 years my home has been the blank canvass for my artistic experiments and expression .

I work mainly doing glass and mosaic work but I make lots of other things.....and I collect things.

One of the walls in the dining room houses my toy-portraits collection, they are my "self-portrait as a cartoon character"

pictures,also known as " Events in our lifes as depicted by kept and found chlldrens toys "

Every year I try to learn at least one other new technique/medium/skill. This fruit bowl resulted from

a glass slumping workshop, the ‘two flowers’ print over the light switch below came out of another

textile and screen-printing workshop

Tell us about colour choices in your home - for example, the darker colours in your living room, the blue floor, and the turquoise.

Why do you like them?

I absolutely LOVE black, It's my favourite colour,like white , it complements every other colour,

I've had a black feature wall in my home for over 8 years now. I was inspired by an article on the English

architect Edward Luytens who believed every home should have at least one room painted black.

I've also painted one of the walls in my sons bedroom black and that doubles as a chalkboard,

With black its just win win .

THE OLD SITTING ROOM
Tell us about the most treasured things in your home
Cáit’s drawings : In the front room on the wall to the right of the guitars are two pictures my daughter Cáit drew when she was 8 .
They amaze me .
treasured things [cont.]
There is a ceramic car on my mantlepiece in the front room , it was the first christmas present
Joe gave me, He's bought it off a Nigerian street dealer outside Clarendon St. church in Dublin
in the early 80's , he'd said it was a Nigerian 'kitch' car, apparently that's a Nigerian
wedding car??? We never felt the need for a formal ceremony after that......
In your answers, it would be great if you can make reference to the following items which may be selected in photography:
The items on the open sideboard (turquoise background) and the photo on the wall
I think of these open shelves as a piece of collage/ assemblage work, a temporary art installation
if you like, . everything on it and around it pretty much tells you a lot about us as a family ,
There’s a little bit of every one's stories on these shelves . Things that are personal ,
favourite and meaningful .
It’s a work in progress and it keeps changing.
The photo on the wall
I mentioned my daughter Cáit's drawings as an 8 year old as being one of the treasures ,
This photo is on the opposite wall and is another one of her artworks.
We only have it on loan though as it’s part of a forthcoming photography exhibition."Legacy"
Very soon after these photographs were taken we started on the new
extension and now, all has changed , changed utterly ......
The new rooms are too shy for their close up just now,.....but
one day.....one day .....

Everything you need to know about the second year of the jaboopee blog

2011-01-27T00:01:00.003Z

It feels like it was only this day last year I was doing a post titled
everything you need to know about the first year of the jaboopee
blog.

So to ~~commisserate~~ celebrate , some blogging highlights from the second year.

   Our Family Holiday 1972

Photographic juxtapositions here

The proposal application outfit here

The proposal application result here

This " seven aesthetic themes to my work "  post had a very prophetic ending.


Skulduggery here

The collage and assemblage results here

The invisible wardrobe here with a moving one here

A guest post here

The smoke and mirror report here

The reasons why I've not been blogging so much here

Being in House and Home magazine here

Being St.Brigid here

Seeing St.Brigid here

All the St Brigid work in progress posts are here

There is one further highlight that I was too shy to blog about ,
I think it may astound you ,

I knit a hat

Thank you

Any excuse to show a photo of another famous footballing connection

2011-01-12T17:57:00.001Z

I hope Roy is taking comfort from his recent sacking with this
plaque I was commissioned to make for him a few years ago ....

Roy is the patron for the IAYPIC ( Irish association for young people in care)
This plaque was presented to him at the official opening of their premises in smithfield
It's a smaller version of this door signage commission .

next week.....zinedine zidane is photographed hiding in my invisible wardrobe.

The unacceptable face of TV3 : Part 1

2011-01-10T23:10:00.003Z

Hello , Are you still sitting there ?

I'm still here, but I'm still not still here .

Consequently,there's been very little time for this blog we call Jaboopee....

Your visit is very important to us , please stay on the line and we'll be

with you as soon as possible .

Happy ANNIVERSARY actually ! Part 2

2010-12-31T20:30:00.000Z

I've said it before, and I'll say it again ,

It's Happy ANNIVERSARY actually !

I wish YOU a MERRY Christmas

2010-12-24T22:24:00.000Z

Happy christmas to YOU ,my lovely blogging buddies,
But MOST especially you.....
mise, dee, jennifer, ciara, laura, phillipa,suzie, mel,wend,

flora, richy,speccy,lorna,cynthia (s)
you've been the best commentators EVER! and it's been lovely having you round.

That's a little bit of the new extension that I've had no time
to finish and decorate...though.... I did make that christmas tree out of lampshades??

I'm sorry to be such a neglectful blogger of late, I'll be dropping round to yours
in this coming week of pure doing nothingness that i've been longing for.....
.....so get that champers on ice !
XXX
Elaine

A New Project : The Ráthfaiche commission

2010-12-20T14:43:00.003Z

It's been really busy here,

As soon as we installed the St.Brigid Mosaic it was straight into work on

another commission that I was really happy to get, I'd hinted at it here .

It's another school project , here's a little sneak peek....

There's a time capsule element

A living sculpture element,

A Mosaic element

With lots of blues

and circles .....

The snow and frost have put paid to our getting it finished before the year was out ,

It's just as well really, christmas is coming and I better do something ...........

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 10: Creating the magical flowers

2010-12-09T15:03:00.015Z

I mentioned the pupil participation element of this project here.
Every pupil was asked to draw a magical flower and I chose one from each
age group (4 - 12 ),which I then attempted to replicate as closely as possible in glass .
The following photos detail that process ,
if you wish, you can click on links below the photos to see each one in greater detail

1: ALL THE MAGICAL FLOWER DRAWINGS

1. The 12 year olds magical flowers, 2. The 11 year olds magical flowers, 3. The 10 year olds magical flowers,
4. The 9 year olds magical flowers, 5. The 8 year olds magical flowers, 6. The 7 year olds magical flowers,
7. The 6 year olds magical flowers, 8. The 5 year olds magical flowers, 9. The 4 year olds magical flowers

2 :MAKING THE MAGICAL FLOWERS IN GLASS

1. Making the 4 & 5 year old flowers, 2. Making the 6 year old flower, 3. Making the 7 year old flower,
4. Making the 8 year old flower, 5. Making the 9 year old flower, 6. Making the 10 year old flower,
7. Making the 11 year old flower, 8. Making the 12 year old flower, 9. the magical flowers wip

3: COMPLEX GLASS CUTS AND SURROUNDING DETAILS

from top, left to right
1. complex glass cuts 1, 2. flower heads in place, 3. the leaves,
4. my flowers 1, 5. my flowers 2, 6. my flowers 3,
7. age detail, 8. making the name plaque, 9. sparkling in the sunshine

4: THE PRE-GROUTED FINISHED MAGICAL FLOWERS

from top, left to right
1. finished 4 year old flower, 2. finished 5 year old flower, 3. finished 6 year old flower,
4. finished 7 year old flower, 5. finished 8 year old flower, 6. finished 9 year old flower,
7. finished 10 year old flower, 8. finished 11 year old flower, 9. finished 12 year old flower

and finally a photo of the finished St. Brigid Mosaic showing the flower detail .

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 9: Photographs of finished mosaic

2010-11-20T22:22:00.006Z

The legends of St.Brigid read like an amazing fairy tale ,
I was inspired to create something fantastical for this commission.

All the following quotes are taken from my proposal.....which i detailed here

"The shape of the mosaic is cruciform and mirrors the shape of a St. Brigid’s cross."

"I have portrayed St. Brigid as life -sized and have placed her to the forefront of the piece , she is standing , arms outstretched ,
Her stance and expression are welcoming and caring . She is surrounded by a fantastical and extremely colourful landscape.....
...The school’s association with the Liﬀey Valley is represented in the fantastical landscape that stretches behind St. Brigid."

St. Brigid is wearing a beautiful magical cloak . It’s intricate design
is a magniﬁcently decorative and elaborate patchwork that shimmers and sparkles........'

"......and extends out to envelope the ﬂoor before her."

"I have incorporated the many legends and stories associated with St. Brigid within the mosaic."

" the magical cloak "

"The clasp holding her cloak together denotes her connection to Smithcraft".

"The tree is a representation of the oak tree beside which St. Brigid sited her monastery ".

"The imaginary mythical vegetation surrounding her represents spring ﬂowers
and the healing herbalism she is associated with ".
These flowers replicate exactly the 'magical' flowers drawn by the schoolchildren.

There is a flower from each age group from 4 to 12

"St. Brigid was named after the goddess of ﬁre and her glowing/golden halo
is symbolic of this . A ring of golden spring ﬂowers will form a part of the halo motif,"

"Her love of all creatures on earth will be represented by ‘hidden’ depictions of
these creatures ,thus adding a playful element to the piece."

Next post I will try to detail the pupil participation element...
.i.e THE MAGICAL FLOWERS

photography by cáit fahey

( you can see photographs in more detail here )

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 8: THE INSTALLATION

2010-11-16T17:14:00.000Z

It took 4 days to install....

Installed : Ready for it's close up....
Better photos and more details to follow.

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 7: Work in progress:

2010-11-13T21:20:00.001Z

Just for continuity purposes these are the last of my work in progress photos .

St. Brigid is happily ensconced now...all will be revealed very VERY soon .

I've turned off the comments on this because I want you to save up all
your commenting energies for the next post....the big reveal...

A real life poet is guest blogging here today and she speaks truth.

2010-11-01T13:38:00.005Z

{This all quite on the Jaboopee front is about to change,
because today, ....*drum roll please*
.... the cavalry has arrived.....Could everybody please be upstanding ,
Mise is in the room and she has something crucial to tell you all. }

Hello. I'm Mise from Pretty Far West.
What a joy and an honour it is to be here today,
like winning the lottery without the money, only better.
Here's a little poem for Elaine. I've always wanted to be more like her.

MORE LIKE JABOOPEE

Not only are you truly a whizz at doing mosaic,

you know a famous footballer and taught your son to bake.

Every time we read your blog we console ourselves with cake

as we look with constant envy at the lovely things you make.

We'd like to be as pretty as your famous lampshade dresses,

we sympathise with you on your renovation messes,

we want to see St Brigid and admire how she progresses

but your roundy light up above leaves us with only guesses.

We wish we quilted like you and owned a bed of gilt

but our own meagre creations always clash and tilt.

A glimpse of Joe and his guitars would surely make our day

If those pesky stained glass panels weren't in our way...

...when we perch outside your windows, gazing sadly in,

gaining extra height from the Marigold tin

that we bought the day we spotted one upon your kitchen shelf

and vowed at least to copy your ingredients and delf.

Jaboopee, you're rightfully revered throughout the nation;

We thought we'd pay you tribute with this art installation

of shades and feathers, flowers and such

-- Yes, you're right, it isn't much,

particularly

compared with your tree;

It's clearly true:

We're not like you.

{ Thank you very much Mise ,
I am honoured and humbled in equal measure , will you be my agent ? }

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 6: Work in progress:

2010-10-12T21:20:00.003+01:00

WHAT is the question ?

2010-10-08T22:13:00.001+01:00

St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 5: Work in progress:

2010-09-27T21:13:00.002+01:00

Before I went off on my holidays this was how things were looking,

soon, I'll be posting how things are looking now,

Here's a little taster .

Hello, is it me your looking for?

2010-09-16T20:31:00.002+01:00

It's been so long now , I've gone all shy.

Normal service will be resumed shortly .

Photos from top to bottom

Our summer holidays
Cait was inspired by this song to make that t-shirt for joe
Portrait of the new extension as a work in progress
A corner of the studio today.

the way we were

2010-08-03T00:47:00.004+01:00

Can it be that it was all so simple then

Or has time rewritten every line

If we had the chance to do it all again,

tell me, would we ,? could we ?

Photo 1 joe and elaine : self portrait as items currently on the dining table thats now in the sitting room
Photo 2 joe and elaine : self portrait as a sander and a hoover.
Photo 3 joe and elaine : self portrait as the items on the mantlepiece in the back room.

Elaine : Self portrait as a box

We're off on our holidays very soon, away from all this dust and debris..
Until September ...........Hope it's a lovely summer for you

St Brigid mosaic : part 4: Work in progress:

2010-07-28T01:03:00.002+01:00

blogging lethargy abates momentarily

2010-07-13T22:44:00.002+01:00

Taking a little break from the dust ,debris , decisions , delusion and disillusion

to bring you a little bit of my week ,last week.

oh! the irony ( and thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the last post)

another studio reflected shows a little of the work in progress...emphasis on the word little

another studio view ( recognise anyone?)

part of my job this week was chief of 'making sure all the clouds have silver linings'

but more important than any of that

something momentous happened this week .....

It was my birthday .

Thank you in advance for the beautiful presents .

A House and Home magazine article I'm in and it's not even April 1st

2010-07-05T22:11:00.005+01:00

I alluded to it here and now it's out...
This months House and Home magazine features an article on "My style " ,
and 'I'm' the 'My'.

I've yet to get the real -life hard copy , and in case you don't believe me
after this , the entire article is here and the house and home blog article
is here ,

I DO HATE the photo of me in the article though ,

only because it probably does look like me,

this one , by my very own in house photographer is much better,

only because it probably doesn't look like me ...

but it IS my bathroom and it DOES showcase some of my mosaic work

and that, I tell myself is what it's supposed to be all about .

Another big reveal ....

2010-07-02T17:18:00.001+01:00

this time, it's my inner voices

they've warned me ,
" If you've nothing good to say, say nothing "

St Brigid mosaic : part 3: work in progress: a post with lots of this's

2010-06-28T23:20:00.001+01:00

From this .....

to this,

to this,

the 'chosen' ones.....

I don't think I can show you those just yet, I think the children themselves should see them first
so until the big reveal in september, I'll just be posting the occasional sneak peeks of the work in progress

like this

and this

i've lost that blogging feeling

2010-06-22T23:07:00.000+01:00

well, truth is, in the grand scheme of things,
at the moment,
blogging is taking the opposite of center stage ,

Here's a little bit of what's been going in ,

continuing the before and after thing.....
before...

after

whats the collective name for a group of lampshades seeking refuge ?

and on the outside ...

something about wood for the trees , trees for the wood....

it does smell divine though ......

joe's shed studio is getting an extension too...

my studio .....

but more important that any of that,
this is what I wish I looked like when I danced .

the truth is far too cruel

dust & debris

2010-06-15T21:19:00.001+01:00

I mentioned over a year ago here ,about our extension plans.
Well, finally, It's all systems go .

In a reversal of the usual before and after interior shots , What was this,

is now this.

I'm going to spare you the photos of dust , debris and trenches .
Instead , here's a photographic portrait,

Joe and Elaine : Portrait as the extension work in progress.

Only another 8 weeks to go .
Thankfully I can hide in my studio with this little lady and all her friends

The Meath afternoon continued ...

2010-06-11T08:00:00.010+01:00

Whilst in Meath we also went to visit the 15th century ruins of St columbas church in Skreen

and , just down the road,

especially for philippa

An afternoon in Meath.

2010-06-09T08:00:00.003+01:00

I was in the 'Royal' county of Meath last week , hopefully I'll be able
to tell you why later but it was a beautiful day and after my meeting
we went to the gorgeous Bellinter house for lunch.

It was my first time there and I loved everything about it ....here's a little bit of the drawing room

another bit ..thats us in the right corner...

and another bit that shows the cow hide flooring ....especially for Richy ...

The games room, with a mini grand piano in the corner and the lights are a really clever use of the silver service .

In the grounds, up close and personal to Diarmuid Gavin's lollipop pod ( chelsea flower show 2004)

and then,

on the way home , we saw a much more suitable setting for cow hide.

The Bloom garden festival 2010

2010-06-07T21:26:00.002+01:00

Well, it was never going to be as good as last year , seeing as my work wasn't in it this year,
but despite that and the fact that there were fewer show gardens it was still hugely inspiring.

Here's some of my highlights.

This was my favourite, Anne Hamilton's 'Islands' ,the judges obviously
thought so too as this was a gold medal winner.

I loved how natural the formal , structural planting looked in this garden,
"Patterns of change" by Ronnie Nevin and the Landscape and garden design
students from senior college Dun Laoghaire.

I loved the planting in Jane McCorkell's 'The Rain Garden"

and this seating in Deirdre Penders "Nementon"garden

Frazer McDonogh's "China Garden"

I got lots of ideas for my own garden,
and two bits of valuable advice from KHS landscaping ...
Danish oil is what makes this cedar look so well

and this tree in their " Californian Courtyard" garden is called
Cornus Kousa , and is so beautiful I have to have one too.

This is all I saw of the "Urban Oasis garden "

I thought it was a bit of a lost opportunity to hide this garden behind a huge slate wall ,the sweltering
midday heat and the very long queue to walk through it meant I never got to see it .

This GIY( grow your own ) Edible garden by Fiann Ó Nualláin had everything for sustainable gardening.

I 'd like to think I could do something like this in my tiny back
garden ..( maybe minus the hens ) ( not quite sure what those big blue things are ?)

I'm really sorry I can't find the name of these garden designers, I loved their idea of incorporating the
driftwood into the pebble path.

This wasn't part of the festival , A door way into the Phoneix Park on our way out .

I bought myself some lovely herbaceous perennials for my very tiny front garden ,
As soon as I got home I planted them up in the lovely boxes Joe made during the week .

...all they need now is a little coating of danish oil .

on another note entirely ,
The story of a valiant young Spanish woman's struggle with a big ball of Aran wool is here.
You must check it out.

smoke and mirrors.

2010-06-03T23:51:00.003+01:00

I never believe those perfect interior shots ....

There's fantasy

and there's reality .

The St. Brigid Mosaic : Part 2 : The Pupil participation .

2010-05-31T23:11:00.007+01:00

Part 1 here

The main thing I'm asking the pupils to do is to draw a "Magical" flower.

I'd also like to see how they might design the cloak,

and do some colouring in .

So I prepared some school work for them .

This was the OUT tray

and it's now the IN tray

It's getting very busy round here.

Having a nosey @ Dee and Rory's House

2010-05-27T23:05:00.004+01:00

Whilst I was having the imaginary visit I told you about here,
I was really visiting here...

The house where Dee and Rory live.

A treasure trove of all things lovely,

beguiling,

and cozy.

Every where you look there's something to fascinate

and Dee's special treasures

and her true loves, her dressing rooms

and her shoes .

Thank you so much Dee and Rory , I love your home .
You can see the nosey I had around Dee's shop here and
You can visit Dee's blog here, Say hello to her, she was once the
Rose of Tralee you know and she really is super lovely.

3 book piles

2010-05-24T20:49:00.006+01:00

Is it true that you can tell a lot about a person by their book piles?

Here are 3 of mine

1:The Inspirational pile for a recent project .

2:These are the books I was supposed to read on my
summer holidays last year , I managed only 3 non-fiction,
I seem to have lost the ability to read fiction?

3:Some of my cookery books, Can you spot the odd one out ?

Jaboopee's five faves

2010-05-18T21:42:00.001+01:00

I'm playing along with Pip's Five Faves here.
It's been a good bit hectic round here this week , emphasis on the good.
Here's a few of the things making it so.

I used to have just one of these mugs, now I've gone all posh and gotten the lot.

Work in progress : Another lampshape project

Work in progress: Another decoupage project

Work in progress : A photographer

My sitting room : Ready for it's close up ( That's a little hint as to why it was so hectic round here , more later )

Happy EVERYTHING you beautiful reader you.

Photographic Juxtapositions : 4 : Who is the real princess

2010-05-17T00:15:00.005+01:00

Need to hone your regal identification skills ???
Ones of these photos is the real Joe et moi sur la lake,
Can you tell which one ?

Although, my lovely friend Laura's recent post has

made me realise , it is she , who is the real princess

and the winner is ........

2010-05-12T10:30:00.002+01:00

It was the in-house footballers cup final on Saturday.

There he is , Number 4 .

In the next second, he would score his second goal of the match

by shooting that ball straight into the back of the net to even the score to 3-3.

Two seconds later, primal elation turned to abject devastation.

The referee disallowed the goal .

In that 3 seconds I finally got what Bill Shankly said about the ‘beautiful game’ ,

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you,

it's much more serious than that”

Anyway,

Speaking of winners....

The random generator thingy has ordained the winner of

the Jaboopee give-away to be ......

Ciara at Milkmoon, congratulations Ciara, I’ll be in touch .