Year of the Rabbit click here to go to Hot Dang!

February 3^rd welcomes the start of the Chinese New Year.

This coming year is the year of the Rabbit. Don’t be fooled by the diminutive nature of the Rabbit, a sign that sits in between the more ferocious Tiger and Dragon in Chinese Astrology.

 It is the sensitivity and sophistication of the rabbit that belies the strength of its inner nature. This coming year stands for a quite sophisticated period with gracious manners and sensitivity, it will be an intuitive year, a reflective one, maybe even self indulgent, one to tread slowly and cautiously and that’s no bad thing. Happy New Year!

Pictured: Some of the Rabbits available from Hot Dang @ Bedlam Sat 29th and Sun 30th Jan 2011. 

People born in the year of the Rabbit have grace, culture and beautiful manners and are creative, sentimental, compassionate and romantic. The Rabbit can also be snobbish, secretive, pedantic, complicated and haughtily indifferent.

Some famous Rabbits include: Ingrid Bergman, Lewis Carroll, Cary Grant, Oliver Hardy, Whitney Houston, John Hurt, John Keats, Julian Lennon, Arthur Miller, Roger Moore, Tatum O'Neal, George Orwell, Jane Seymour, Dusty Springfield, Sting and Orson Welles.

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Better stop rabbiting on and hop off and do some wok.
Thats all folks

Keeping Faith in Times of Adversity

My heart is sore. Ever since the news broke about the untimely death of Michaela Harte, my heart has been sore. I did not know Michaela, but her parents are both loving friends and colleagues of my devastated younger brother. Through my brother, In recent years the Hartes have become intwined into the background of my family, they have touched my family in gentle ways, at Christmas, Marian’s annual gift cake does not get time to rest before its gone,  and despite their own losses Marian and Micky have both offered their support and prayers dutifully in times of trouble, death and in times of sickness. The first time I had the ironic pleasure of meeting Micky was in one of these such times of loss.

It’s the only Wake I’ve been to where the grieving family lined up to shake the hand of the visitor. At my grandmothers Wake in 2001 Micky arrived with Marian’s cake underarm. Tyrone royalty had entered the building and the mourners in turn paid their respect to a man that brought Tyrone to the All Ireland. This is the effect of the man and his achievements. It was at this time I realised there was more to Micky than his sporting legacy. It is how he wears his humanity that sets him apart, he is the living embodiment of the bible verse, ‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud” Corinthians 13:4. He reminds me that there are other ways to live life. Perhaps, I too should open the Bible once in a while.

There is no doubt over the last few tragic days, the wider public have also felt the mark of the man: his humble demeanour,  his quiet strength and the gentle force of the faith of his beliefs emulating from his every word and gesture.  Clearly his love and service for God, his family and the wider community is something he aspires to and does not claim to own. Marian too is a lady, beautiful, gentle and compassionate, gifts she obviousily passed on to her only daughter.

It is no secret that Micky and Marian Harte are deeply religious, and it is evident this is a mantle they passed onto their children. There has been much in the press about Michaela’s own beliefs, her converstations with her priest on the meaning of life and death. “We often talked about the struggle between good and evil in the world and the importance of faith and coping with tragedy and grief and giving some kind of shape to our lives”. “To think this is the fate that awaited Michaela is beyond us.” Fr Gerard McAleer

Through the annals of history, it has shown that in times of great sorrow and loss that faith is questioned and tested. The heartache and pain are all too real for both the Harte family and for John McAreavey and given the circumstances it is hard to see how faith can endure. I only hope that the family can hold on to their spirit, wear their faith like a mantle, wrap it around them in protection and take comfort from the belief that Michaela’s spirit did not die, she is at peace and is a guiding light onwards in the dark days they have before them.

My heart is sore for a girl I did not know, my heart is sore for her new husband that was looking forward to the rest of his life with his beautiful bride, my heart is sore for her brothers to have lost a shining light in their lives, and  my heart is sore for Micky and Marian’s loss of their only daughter, their treasured gem. If my heart is sore, and the hearts of the country are sore then we can only empathise and imagine the pain Michaela’s family are all going through. For a parent to lose a child, in any circumstances is beyond the realms of my imagination, a place I never want to visit, but for parents to lose a child in such tragic, futile circumstance is unfathomable.

Since the news, I myself have been waking in the dead of night jumping out of bed to check the breath of my own two children in their sleep.  I then fall into bed and pray for Micky and Marian’s family and for John  McAreavey, I know I am not alone, and I have spoken to people who  whether they  know the Harte or McAreavey families or not, they too are touched by the tragedy, and their prayers along with mine are with them.

We can only pray, whatever our creed or whatever our spiritual beliefs and hope that the collective prayers and thoughts of many will help them carry this heavy cross.

A Sweet little makeover, storage/keepsake boxes.

A simple project, can be done in a day; fun for kids to do too, up-cycling the left over sweet tins into decorative boxes, as my 8 year old would say "Sweeet! "In this instance the boxes were for the two boys, somewhere to store the smaller toys Santa brought them, Lego, toy soldiers etc. With them in mind I decoupaged two empty sweet tins with old Beano and Dandy comics. You can easily cutomise your tin to suit its purpose, IE. print off pictures of buttons and zips for your sewing box, or decorative flower images from nursery brochures for keep-sakes, or with pictures of batteries and nails because thats what usually ends up in our old sweet tins!

What to do? All you need is spray paint for tin, scrap paper of choice, PVA glue and paintbrush and a hour or so! (spray tin earlier so its dry before decoupage). Layer you torn paper coating liberally with PVA as you go. Stop when Finished! and leave to dry.The hardest part is eating all the sweets....  needless to say boys helped me ;) Might have to make a couple more...

What's Another Year

The diet books are out, the running clothes are valiantly struggling to make their way to the top of the drawer, the trainers are slowly but surely edging their way out from their long winters hibernation under the bed, to take their rightful place on the bedroom floor, just by the door where they like it, ready to trip me up with guilt every bloody time I step over them. The resolutions are resolute as the echoes of last empty wine bottle clinks and clanks (against the other 20 empty wine bottles) on the way to the bin (ahem, recycling unit).

Yip, its the start of another year, another battle of the bulge begins as the 'to do' this year list gets fatter and fatter.

So here we are 1.1.11, we've emerged from frozen artic conditions, burst water pipes (which thankfully I escaped) a country that's teetering on bankruptcy, a shattered economy and a Tory government. 2010 was some year!

Yes, 2010 was some year, both on a personal level and for my adopted city, a year that saw Justice for the families and victims of Bloody Sunday, a year that crowned Derry/Londonderry the 2013 City of Culture (and to all those that dispute the UK City of Culture title, check out where your DHSS cheques have been issued from), the short list for the European Youth Capital (not to be unfortunately), the Turner prize announcement, the building of the peace bridge and not to mention the hoards of people representing their city and excelling in their fields, here and afar.

Derry, is an enigma, a city that survives against all odds, a city that's proud, a city that pulls together and fights, shouting and complaining and kicking all the way. As one man on Stephen Nolan says, 'Derry people don't have a chip on one shoulder they have a chip on both shoulders!' but you only have to look at the economic and social history of the place to see why. Derry works, even when there's no actual employment. Derry works because it is a grass roots city, a city made up of people that don't take 'no' for an answer, a city that demands answers, a city of grass roots organisations which sprouts forth organic green shoots which entwine to explode in a riot of culture, art, music, education, community initiatives, projects and festivals. So more of the same please Derry for 2011, It will be interesting to see how City of Culture directors shape up. As long as City of Culture make sure you don't go too mainstream and bureaucratic, it's the people of Derry that worked for the award, so remember to take them with you. But, I know the people won't let that happen!


So what can I expect personally from 1.1.11,  despite the doom and gloom forecasts of Cameron and his buddies and despite their best efforts to beat us all into a impoverised submission (or maybe because of it) I myself see 1.1.11 as the year I finally grow up and decide what it is I want to be! lets see,  I know its going to be in the social media, events management, crafts, painting, photography and arts field, probably all of the above!

What ever it is, I'm going to do it for myself, enjoy it and be good at it. Thats my resolution. (that and running!)

Happy New Year, may it bring, health, happiness, love and prosperity to us all.