The post Oscar night blog will be here later this afternoon (GMT)

Oscar Sunday

I see doomed not to be able to enjoy this years Oscar ceremony tonight, firstly I was unable to view it via SKY TV, which was a big worry, only then to find that they are officially being streamed on line tonight for the first time. It can be viewed at http://oscar2012live.com/

So just as I get excited, I get a text message from our broadband supplier informing me that our connection will be off line from 12 midnight about two hours due to maintenance. I can't belief my luck, so I will probably miss a lot of the show.

Hopefully, it will only be two hours, I will still be able to enjoy some of it, and will be able to Skype with my sister during the awards. 

So, is The Artist really going to win everything tonight?. Basically, probably, yes...lol. Now as usual I have not seen the films up for awards tonight, but I always do my prediction list based on film reviews and interviews with film critics, so here is my list for the 2012 Oscars, some of course were just randomly chosen.

Best Picture=The Artist
Best Director=Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Lead Actor=Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Lead Actress=Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor=Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress=Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Adapted Screenplay=The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay=Midnight in Paris
Best Animated Feature=Rango
Best Documentary Feature=Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Foreign Language Film=A Separation
Best Animated Short=The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Documentary Short=Saving Face
Best Live-Action Short=Time Freak
Best Art Direction=Hugo
Best Cinematography=The Tree of Life
Best Costume Design=Hugo
Best Film Editing=The Artist
Best Makeup=The Iron Lady
Best Original Score=The Artist
Best Original Song="Real in Rio", Rio
Best Sound Editing=Hugo
Best Sound Mixing=Hugo
Best Visual Effects=Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The Academy launched its Funny or Die produced promo Tuesday, "Oscar Etiquette," and it finds past winner Kevin Kline getting schooled one how to treat his trophy from Mike Myers.

The latter seems to channels an unrealized Austin Powers character, wearing the world's worst comb-over as British Oscar expert "Sir Cecil Worthington." He berates Kline for his mishandling of the statuette won in 1989 for his supporting role in A Fish Called Wanda.

"Left hand under the base, right hand on the statuette... below the knees," Myers yells.

Anyway, I've lots of cooking to do, so I wish everyone who loves the Oscars, a great show tonight, I will be adding comments on the show here during the show all being well, so might see you here tonight.
I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far.

See you all later

Rob

xx

Its beginning to look a lot like eurovision...

It has been a couple of days since my last post, we have been a bit busy here at the cottage, nothing really exciting to report, but we were just out and about, and I did not get a chance to write here.

The newest member of the Morgan & Mac Donncha household, Beeny has been unwell. Nothing serious thankfully, but it had us a bit worried for a while, and it meant another visit to our friend Connor, the local vet.

 

Beeny had been of his food for a couple of days, and was having great trouble with his eyes, they were running and looked swollen, I first worried that he might of got something like cat flu of the wild cats that roam around the farmland, but after a visit to Connor, it turned out to be conjunctivitis, nasty but not dangerous to him, or Dolly.

So he had two injections, and we have to put drops in to both eyes for a week. Beeny is a brave little soul, and was soon back to his normal loony self. He does not mind us putting in the drops, I think he knows its doing him good.

We have been busy getting in quotes from people to clear the whole of the land at the front and back of the cottage, one guy locally has come out the best, and we give him the go ahead shortly, to start the work of graveling the front, and totally clearing the whole of the back field. We also have a man booked to fence the whole perimeter of the back, so to make it secure for the arrival of the goats and pigs later this year.

Its a big project, something that Donncha and I could never do ourselves, it will look fantastic when the whole back is sorted into the various sections for growing crops, a section for fruit trees, and the a lawned area with a big pond where the ducks will live.

Tonight Donncha and I will be watching a Late Late Show special to see who will represent Ireland in this years Eurovision Song Contest. A combination of juries and televoting will determine which entry will become the next Irish representative at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.

A total of five acts will perform their songs tonight in the Irish National Final. Only one of them will get the ticket to travel to Azerbaijan and therefore represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku.

The terrifying Jedward are trying to enter again, last year they did OK, and they are now very popular through out Europe, so I reckon they will be chosen, or though Don and I do like them, they are very cute boy-band lads, and are absolutely bonkers when they are interviewed, they seem nice Irish lads, so we wish them well tonight.

It will be interesting to see who Ireland chooses for the contest this May. To get the whole Eurovison party under way, I have added the official radio station on the right of this page, so if you think your ears can cope, you can hear this years entry and past classics, if there is such a thing..lol

This Sunday is a big one for me, its Oscar time again. All the sadly it seems I might not be able to watch it on the television, as I can't get access to SKY, the only network who are showing it live here in Ireland, so I'm hoping I will be able to watch it via the web,I'm looking for a site that will stream it live over the web.

It will be such a shame again if I can't view it live, I just wish it was on a free TV network, but sadly SKY seem to have it now permanently.  Donncha and I were so looking forward to have a party at home, while watching it, and Skyping with my sister Melanie in the US, as she always follows the show too.Fingers are crossed here. We even bought a new television for the kitchen so I would not miss any of it if I was cooking party food, sad but true..lol, actually our old small portable had been on the blink for ages, so it was a good excuse to get a lovely new slim flat screen LCD television, it really is lovely as we have it fitted on a wall bracket so it can move around and can be tucked away under a shelf when its not being used.

 

Today Donncha has been busy cooking a whole duck, Chinese style. Its quite a process, you first have to boil the duck in stock which includes Chinese five spice, then you hang it up over night to drain all of its fat, before roasting it for hours in Hoi Sin Sauce, and other spices.

Donncha cooked one years ago, and it was wonderful, just like the ones you get in a good Chinese restaurant, served with pancakes, cucumber and plum sauce. We will have that tomorrow night. I can not wait. I've made a lasagna for tonight's dinner, lovely with a simple salad and garlic bread.

So finally, I just want to wish family and friends here a lovely weekend, and I will be back here tomorrow, hopefully with news that I can enjoy a big Sunday night party. Take care all.

Rob

xx

Happy Shrove Tuesday

Hi everybody, I just want to wish everyone a Happy Pancake Day..lol, I'm not able to write a full post today, as I'm very busy with things here at the cottage.

It’s Shrove Tuesday, the day of fattening before the sacrifices of Lent begins for some. Here is a simple recipe for them and a video of Donncha and I cooking them last year at the cottage.
If you are cooking them tonight, enjoy, but don't eat to many...

For the pancake mixture:

110g/4oz plain flour, sifted

pinch of salt

2 eggs

200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water

50g/2oz butter

Toppings:

caster sugar, Nuttella, Maple Syrup, lemon juice…

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.

Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl anduse it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.

To serve, spinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or else simply roll them up. Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.

I will be back tomorrow, Here is a video of us making pancakes last year..lol.

See you all later

Rob

xx

Sunny Sunday

One glimpse of the sun and Donncha and I act as if it was summer already, it really is lovely here today, so we have spent the day outside working how best to work the back field. We have been planning where should be just lawn, and where would be best for vegetable planting, and the project I'm most excited about, the new duck pond.

The back field

Little Beeny and Brin stuck with us like glue as we walked around the over grown land at the back of the cottage, while Dolly, just slept indoors, she is certainly getting an old lady.

Beeny is off to the vets tomorrow, as he has problems with his eyes, they are constantly weeping, he does not seem unwell otherwise, hes not sneezing or off his food, all of which are signs of cat flu, we hope its just a little allergic reaction, anyway he's going to the vets still.

With us being outside all day, I original plan to have a full roast chicken dinner seemed not such a good idea, it was so mild and sunny, Donncha suggested instead that we have a roast chicken salad, that sounded great, so I have been busy making various salads, a mild curry rice, a hot pasta salad, and Donncha has made coleslaw and potato salad, and we are roasting the chicken with garlic a chirozo sausage. So it should be a lovely light healthy dinner later.

Boats at Balinasloe

 Tomorrow, we are off to Balinasloe, there are a few carpet and furniture shops there, so we are going to see what is available for the stairs and the den, plus checkout wooden flooring for the bedroom. We are going to make a whole day of it, Brin will come with us too, as we will take him for a walk by the river if the weather is as lovely as it was today.

Last night while checking all my favorite paranormal sights, I was amazed to fin d Galway mentioned on two of the biggest, I had to laugh as I read the story, as I know the area so well.

Local photographer Jonathan Curran was taking a series of 13 photographs of the picturesque area in an attempt to create a panoramic view when he came across something very unusual in one of his shots.

One of the images, which were taken less than a minute apart, appears to show an isolated female figure with the appearance of a 19th century Claddagh nun. Mr Curran said he was “freaked” to discover the strange appearance on the camera and checked the other 12 images but the elderly woman did not appear in any of the other pictures.

“The image was not visible either before or after the photograph was taken and was not captured in any of the other photographs, either going or coming. She just seemed to appear for a moment and then disappear. There were other people on the Long Walk that day, but they seemed oblivious to her presence,” he explained.

The unnerving photo obtained by the Galway Independent clearly shows a distinct ghostly female figure and speculation has been rife since the photo emerged as to whether this is simply a optical illusion or a representation from beyond the grave.

Galway historian William Henry said there had been many stories of hauntings around the Claddagh, Wolfe Tone Bridge and Long Walk over the years and stories of the ‘Lady in White’ were told regularly in the past.

 “An elderly man once described seeing a lady dressed in medieval clothing near the bridge one night, long before our festivals began. Other stories of hauntings were told in the old Claddagh and many young people were warned to avoid Wolf Tone Bridge after mid-night. This had the added advantage of ensuring that they were home before 12 bells,” he said.

Mr Henry said the image at the end of Long Walk is striking and “certainly stands out as clearly out of place in a modern context.”

Well, it does seem hard to deny something is standing there. Is it some sort of stunt or something much stranger?, but I do not reckon its anything really, as Donncha says, "Galway has some colourful characters", people who wear wacky clothing, its probably just another local gazing out to see, but it was fun to see Galway making it on to the top paranormal sites on the web.

I best get busy again, lots to do for tonight's dinner still. I will leave you with even more paranormal happenings on the video below..Lol.

Have a great week ahead friends, and I will see you here soon

Rob

xx

Hello everyone, hope your all well, We are just enjoying a quiet weekend, not a lot happening here, so I will see you tomorrow, but I will post a silly cat video I found earlier today.

See you later folks.

Rob

xx

Thursday, another day thankfully!

Well, it is great to be back after what all I can say was a horrid and very frighting time yesterday. It began very well, with me helping Donncha clear out the boiler shed which is just outside the front of our cottage. We are cleaning it out, as we are going to be moving the washing machine and dryer from a cupboard that is in our bathroom, to make way for us to build a new shower there, something we have wanted to have since we did the original refurbishment.

Shortly after coming back inside the cottage, I was making some coffee when I felt my chest get very tight, and was having problems breathing, I knew straight away this was the start of a bad asthma attack.

I went into the living room and just sat down, hoping that just relaxing and breathing slowly, would along with my normal inhaler make the attack subside.

This normally works, although I must say, I have only ever had one bad asthma attack since we moved out to the cottage, I normally just get a bit wheezy and cough, and the Ventolin inhaler does the trick, so I can just get on with things as normal.

This was very different, and it was not long before I realised that I might be in some serious trouble, so without wasting anymore time, Donncha got me in the van, and we went straight to the hospital, which is a good 18 miles away, but I kept calm as I could, and Donncha rang the hospital to let them know that someone with a serious asthma attack was coming in.

Hospitals work on a triage system, where people who are in as serious way get seen straight away, and asthma is a condition that has to be treated quickly. On arrival, a nurse came out and put me in a wheelchair, and took me straight into the resuscitation room, a name that has always put the fear of god in to me!.

Within seconds, I was being seen by a lovely young doctor, who gave me an injection of a steroid, that he had to administer very slowly while listening to my heart, I know this form the past, as if they inject to quickly it can cause stress to the heart. All very scary.

I was then put on a oxygen nebulous, which gave me very fast relief, it is wonderful when you feel your breathing coming back to normal.

After about two hours, they were happy that all was well with me again, and I was discharged. I have to say it was a very frightening time for both of us, I felt for poor Donncha having to wait outside while this was all going on, he has been with in this situation so many times in the past, mainly when I was living back in the UK, the London pollution used to always set of an attack.

I was so glad to just back home and see all my little furry friends, and I just kept warm, while lying on the sofa in front of the fire.

Donncha and I reckon there must of been some horrid type of mold in the boiler shed, after all it was an old cow shed before we put in the water pump and heating systems, so I'm banned from there until it has been cleared out and aired. I do not want to go through that again.

Today, I awoke early, feeling great considering I had been unwell yesterday, even the MS was not giving me any trouble, so I got up, had some lovely coffee, and then took Brin for a walk along the lanes, while taking in as much of the clean fresh air as I went.

I have been busy working on various changes to this blog recently, and have spent the day continuing tweaking and adding different things.

One of the main things I'm excited about it that Donncha and I are really getting ready to start running our small online shop from this summer onwards.

It will be a completely different designed site, unlike the one that links from here at present, which has been quite successful really considering it only really sells blog related products.
We have sold a few caps, aprons and T shirts with our logo on, plus a few mugs, which is great!.

Donncha and I are now going to sell a small range of our own products on the new site, these will include a range of our own spiced cooking oils, dried herb mixes and rubs, along with a small selection of pickles and condiments.

Our store which is called, Morgan & McDonagh, after our catering company will also sell a range of other Irish artisan foods, Donncha has had very positive feedback from small manufacturers, who would be happy for us to sell their products via our site.

The great thing about this online business, is that there is no significant cash outlay, only the cost of the software that we use to take orders and money transactions, this is a off the shelve software and is very easy to set up, also the great thing is that we do not have to buy stock, as we can obtain any goods as the orders come in.

Now, do not get me wrong, this is not going to make us millionaires, or even a good income to begin with, but it will be something for us to work on, and we will see how it goes, and hopefully it will grow.

This spring there are two very big trade shows that are happening in Dublin, so we are going to take a trip there for them, just to see what else we might be able to offer online. 

Donncha reckons as so many Irish people have been forced to leave Ireland and work abroad, due to the current economic climate here, that there could be room for a business like ours, to supply some tastes from home to those living away.

Ireland has some wonderful products, not just food, but also natural drinks, beauty products, crafts, books etc, so we can certainly diversify.

We are both very excited about this, and we have had good help from local enterprise boards too, so we will really start working on this as soon as we have our funds cleared.

There are other blog changes too, I have been able to get my old music player working again, which means I can share whole albums here once more, both current and older albums, I'm starting today with ABBA, much to Donncha's disgust lol, he has never been a fan, but I do love them, so I'm playing the album Number Ones, from 2006, a collection of all their hits.

I have also added a new radio player, that has various stations that play, Ambient, New Age and Classical, so if you like that kind of music, tune in and have a listen, there are some dodgy stations there though, but it is easy to re-tune!.

My site hosting partner provides a online survey service, so I have tried it out with a few questions for people to answer if they do not mind and have a spare five minutes, this helps me see what people like or dislike here, also its all good research for the new shopping site, you can even win one of our lovely baseball caps for filling out the survey!.

The final addition is the facility for people if they like this blog, and are feeling flush, to donate to the blogs running costs, every penny helps anyone who runs a blog or website, so we'll see, maybe some lottery winner might be a regular visitor and will want to a make a donation..lol.

Tonight we have our friend Martin coming down for a drink and something to eat, he is giving us a load of hay for us to use for new bedding for the chickens, so hopefully next week we will be going to get more little ladies to keep the last hen and cockerel company, we might be lucky and will get a hen with some spring chicks too.

I'm cooking a chili con carne, with homemade flat breads, so it should be a lovely evening, It has been a great day, so unlike yesterday.
It is only when your unwell like I was yesterday that it makes you appreciate everything in life. It certainly made me think about life and those who we love so much. I'm a very happy man.

Have a great evening my friends, I have posted a lovely video of our beautiful planet to leave you with tonight, I will see you later.

Rob

xx