Enterprise and Proms

7th Feb
A very busy afternoon yesterday, though very rewarding, as this time of year is the Half Year review stage for the 6th from Junior Achievement (previously Young Enterprise Companies) and as usual I was asked to act as one of the judges to give them some idea of what it’s really like on finals day. It also gives them a chance to practice their presentations with an audience and learn how to deal with their nerves. Julie, Christine and I give them feedback on our observations to improve their displays, stands and presentations and as they have a limited time we use the stopwatch and tell them how long they took. Three very strong companies, this year with real effort and commitment showing and I did feel very proud of our youngsters this year. It did make the judging very difficult though – last year we had only one strong company so it was easy to pick out best presentation, product etc. This year it really has been shared out more as they all had some great products and ideas and were all successful companies running at a profit. Makes me glad to belucky enough to work in education and see so many promising young people fulfilling their potential, as so often they get a real bad press.

Crop night last night, our last one where we could go to the bricks & mortar store for scrappy goodies, so sad that the shop is closing down! I know I can still shop on line but there is nothing like seeing & stroking stash in real life before you buy it!! We had a great turn out - 15 - and it was fun to see so many of my friends again who I haven’t seen for quite a long time. Lovely to see Amanda – I do miss her now she has moved schools. I also told everyone about the Royal Manx Show and having a Scrapbooking class in the Craft section and everyone seemed pleased that this hobby is getting some deserved recognition, and all said they would do at least 1 page, and I have actually got 2 entries as a result of last nights work! How cool is that – such great ladies! love crop night as I go home feeling really chilled and relaxed – and I actually did some scrapping last night. I finished a page,(see my previous post) and almost completed my Valentine for DH.

Driving down the promenade into the village this morning the waning moon was still so bright, hanging there in the sky like a silver ball with broken edges. It reminded me of a Christmas Tree bauble that had fallen and shattered, leaving one half completely intact. Still very cold and lots of frost - mulberry bush weather as we called it when I was a small girl and I have stepped of the car out into a world dusted with icing sugar, everywhere I look is covered in frost. Jack Frost was a very busy painter last night – the only bit he failed on was painting patterns on my windows, but that might be because my cottage is tucked into a fold in the hillside, very sheltered - the Manxman who built my crofters cottage over 200 years ago knew what he was doing, building it here. I expected to see snow on the Mountain this morning - but no sign of any yet, though they have given us a weather warning locally - so maybe tomorrow!

Went with my younger daughter Rhiannon to see (and pay for!!!:)her Prom Dress after school ended today. She has chosen well - it suits her and she looks both youthful and elegant. It needs fitting and shortening for her, so she has to go back with her shoes etc. so will need to make an appointment for her fitting, probably at the end of March. Suzanne, the seamstress, says about a month before the Prom is best. I will enjoy scrapping this!!!!!

Coming up through the village to get home the sky was churning with heavy, grey clouds, swirling and rolling in from the west - so the weather man might be right about that snow! Will await developments.

Manannan's Cloak again - -

Manannan Mac Lir spread his cloak thick over the island last night with a covering of thick fog! Doug and I went out last night to Erin Arts Centre to a PTA event. They were having a Cheese & Wine Evening with a showing of the film Stormbreaker, a lot of which had been filmed on the island and lots actually in Port Erin on our beach!! After the glory that had been ours in the day, it was quite a shock to step outside our door to find thick mist surrounding us. As we moved out of the lamplight at the top of our steps it became clear that this was really thick fog! We couldn’t see across the road! And it is always so silent – what is it about mist and fog that muffles sound? I did notice though that the sound of the foghorn was missing. Doug says it is because all boats are now fitted with GPS that it isn’t needed any longer so has ceased to be used (he’s probably right as he has lots of dealings with the
skippers in his work) – anyway I missed it – being a real traditionalist kind of girl I think it should still blow its warning!! It was actually quite spooky walking into the village, hearing the sea on the shore and being unable to see it! It is the first time since we moved here that I have been unable to see the lights across the harbour as I walked to the village! And it was so COLD.


Manannan’s Cloak is still wrapped around us this morning and the bare branches of the fuschia bushes are shimmering with droplets of water hanging from them like soft silver beads. And a cobweb necklace of the same soft silver beads, hanging from a rusty lantern - such a lovely combination of colours - another MUST scrap photo!! So glad that I spent yesterday in the garden - I tidied the pots and cleared the border, moved all the dead leaves that get blown down our steps and as a reward for all my hard work – I had a visit today from Jenny Wren! So tiny she is and so busy, she has bustled all over the cleared border this morning from one end to the other – catching garden pests I hope – and has given us a lot of pleasure watching her. I love having the little birds in the garden and we do have bird feeders hanging in our tree to encourage them, and am fortunate to have blue tits, coal tits, great tits, chaffinches, green finches, sparrows, a robin and of course the wren visiting us throughout the year. Living so near the Glen means we are very close to hundreds of nesting places, so the whirr & flutter of little wings is one of the sounds of my home – the Manx Glens are steep wooded valleys dropping down to the sea, usually with a stream tumbling down and are havens for wild life – very beautiful and each one unique in its character.Sometimes I feel as if my garden is just a small clearing within the glen, and am sure that the little birds feel that way as so many visit us. The small hamlet that makes up my bit of the village consists of just 4 homes, and we are the only inhabited building at the moment, making the area a real sanctuary for wildlife.

My winter garden has more colours in it than I thought and I love the shape and form plants create when all you can see are their skeletons.

I have blossoms beginning to appear - my primulas are showing some colour, my snowdrops of course, and the forsythia, so there is a feeling of new life everywhere. My big girl is visiting today as well, so what more can I ask for!!I even think the sun is trying to break through.