Still wearing a tiara

The first day back after an outrageous 10 weeks off!! This wonderful portrait seems to sum things up - a bit spaced out, a bit over-loaded, a bit giddy but still sporting one's tiara. The red blob is the drawing pin - I got severely told off for originally sticking it in the tiara - what was I thinking of!

The little house from yesterday sparked lots of interesting comments and many people though it should become a holiday home, or occupied in some way. Sadly old houses tend to be just allowed to be quietly submerged by nature. I think this one will end up as a storage for hay. There was a disturbing report in the Irish Examiner as to just how many empty houses there are in the Repbulic and the next village down from us had a staggering 59% unoccupied. Some of these are holiday homes, some are 'closed' ie the owner has died and the house just shut up, but most are new houses lying empty - a sobering outcome of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. The most astonishing victim is this one I think the Puxley Mansion . This colossal Gothic pile was originally built in the 1860s, the family earning their wealth through copper mining. The house was blown up by the IRA in the 1920s and left as a romantic ruin. A couple of years ago it was brought and vast amounts of money poured into its renovation to turn it into Ireland's first 6 star hotel. The money ran out just before competion and once again it is stands forlornly empty, a huge and expensive alabatross.
PS the little specks are not flies but other places I have stuck the drawing pin!