Things got busy last month.

I started with a pre-booked week in Annaghmakerrig at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. It’s a miracle I got there – the latest addition to the McDonnell household cost me the week’s stay in vet bills!

Meet Nutmeg – 

Well, Nutmeg was left in the care of her ‘auntie’, and I headed off to Monaghan in the hot but glorious early summer to do some concentrated work on my next collection. This time I was staying in the ground floor Morning Room. Stick with me long enough and I may show you photos of every guest room in the Big House!

 

Aren’t the shutters and the panelling beautiful! Unusually for Ireland, I had to close the blinds to keep the sun off the laptop screen, and it was too warm to sit out before lunch. Some of the hardy lot went swimming in the lake. As always, the food was delicious – especially the salads. We all met up in the conservatory on the Friday evening for a read through of work, and chat of course. The moon had risen over the lake as I made my way back to the Big House. A magical stay.

I stuck to the desk for most of the time; closing the laptop on evening after 10pm. One morning I lifted my head and looked out the bay window to see a hare sitting on the lawn in front of me. More magic.  So much got done: at least 14 new or redrafted poems and more submissions than I had thought about. (But of course some rejections have come in already – har, har.) Also, prep work on a bursary submission which I finished off at home. Fingers crossed, loveens!  

My last full day there happened to be my birthday. I headed into Newbliss for the paper – they were busy in the fields making the most of the sunshine and dry weather. I drove a few kilometres up the hill to drop by Tyrone Guthrie’s resting place. (Actually, it was his birthday yesterday.)

The next day, I broke my journey home; staying with two dear friends who live in Longford. They spoiled me rotten: espresso cocktails and a deee-vine homemade chocolate birthday cake. What a perfect way to end a working holiday. Where would we be without our friends?

                        

And it was back to work, big time. I had to prep and deliver a talk/reading for Clare County Libraries to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Yeats being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The event was a part of the national Decades of Centenaries project. It took a bit of figuring out – Yeats in an hour, anyone? In the end, I went for some themes: looking at his time in London, his family, Maud – of course – but also his George and his children. And, given where I live, the West – Coole, Lady Gregory and all of his friends, Thoor Ballylee, and finally Sligo and Ben Bulben – with poems to accompany the slides. We had a good crowd. I challenged myself and am glad I did.

             

The last day of the month found me in Kilrush, in west Clare.  Sally Vince has opened another branch of Banner Books in the town, and it’s thriving. The space lends itself to being a venue for readings and they have started monthly open mics on the last Friday of each month. Worth keeping an eye out for on social media, especially if you happen to be holidaying in the area. It was a shame the weather had turned – it was non-stop rain last week. Even though I couldn’t get out of the car, I drove up to Shanakyle graveyard and waved a greeting in to my great-grandmother. Back at Banner Books, I read a poem about her from my first collection, one about her father that was published in the Irish edition of Coast to Coast to Coast, and new poems relating to my Kilrush ancestors and holidaying in Kilkee. ‘Hanging out with Che’ got its first hearing – as I said to the listeners, it came with terms and conditions. It’s always a bit scary bringing a very new poem out into the daylight!  There may be a few tweaks, but it’s nearly there. There was a good turn out and a great variety of work – in style and content. It was lovely to meet up again with Thomas Lynch – who read two poems. He’s over from the States, in the ancestral home in Moveen at the moment.

So, yes, a busy month. Another project was slotted in too, but I think it needs a separate post. June’s The Western Skyline was also my final show for Kinvara FM. I have a lot on my plate between the work I do to pay the bills, family commitments, and trying to make my next collection the best it can be. Something had to give and, for now, it was the radio show. I’ll miss the studio and I thank my fellow volunteers for their friendship and all the radio fun. But, you never know: maybe when I’ve retired …. 

As I used to say at the end of every show, Take care of yourselves. ‘Til next time.