Pew Sheet – 20th October 2024

Dates for your Diary

Thursday 24th October

Fashion & Fizz Fundraiser in the Parish Hall at 7pm with Emily O’Donoghue of Instagram fame ‘@FashionablyFortyish’ Plus a sale of pre-loved clothes on the night (please contact Pamela Newenham if you’d like to donate clothes – 086-3961770) You can book a ticket on eventbrite.ie, search for ‘Fashion & Fizz’

Sunday 3rd November Parish Gift Day

Saturday 16th November Youth Group Bowling

Sunday 1st December Tractor Run , details nearer the time

The Owenabue Garden and Flower Club will host

A Floral Demonstration by Malcolm Kitt AOIFA, titled

“Autumn Splendor” Includes our Autumn Decorative Show

On Monday 21st October 2024 at 8pm in St. Mary’s NS, Waterpark, Carrigaline,

all welcome, visitors €7.

Random Notes CDLXXII

I just love this time of the year. Come four o’clock in the afternoon, you start to smell wood smoke and get a sense that people have lit their fires and are settling in for the evening. Although its not really cold yet, and the clocks haven’t gone back, the evenings are getting darker and there is a real sense of pure Autumn! The act of “lighting the fire” is so satisfying. I feel sorry for people who live in houses and apartments without a fireplace. Preparing dinner, hearing the fire crackle in the background is immensely gratifying. And it’s legal, as long as we (quite correctly) use smokeless coal and wood.

A few years ago, I visited Huntington Castle, County Carlow in February. The crocuses were just coming in to bloom, and there was a real sense of spring in the gardens. But of all the senses from my visit, the greatest memory is the smell of wood smoke in the air. Huntington Castle is owned by the Durdin-Robertson family and was home to the utterly eccentric Olivia Durdin-Robertson (1917-2013).

The current owner showed us around the castle, closely followed by the family’s busy curious dogs. Roaring fires and stoves burnt brightly with logs from the estate, and walking through the gardens later, I thought how wonderfully sustainable the place was. For centuries, the wonderful trees have kept the family warm, but also provided bio-diverse homes for birds, insects and other wildlife. The afternoon ended with warming soup in the kitchen. Then a bit of a drive home.