The Old Schoolhouse

Ballinamore Festival 2009 and Schoolhouse Allsorts

Here we have a pot pouri of pics taken during the week when Pam and I were down at the Old Schoolhouse, Aughawillan for the Ballinamore Festival last week.

 

 

 

 

 

Two sweet old nests that Ed found when he was chopping logs from the fallen trees in the garden. Gotta love nests especially the real thing. We are always finding treasures in the garden of the schoolhouse. We found a collection of YR sauce bottles that the children used to bring to school filled with milk.

We had a great time at the festival down in Ballinamore with Pam and Zinda and Paul. We had a pub crawl on Wed. night as there was entertainment on all over the town....Jazz and Swing, Country and Western, Dj's, Karaoke, Rock, and more.....

Zinda, Paul and meself at Bobby Joe's

Zinda bought me this glam form in Mullingar Pewter. OOh la la. Love it Zinda!

 

 

Pam, Zinda and me...

At that giggly age....(50-ish!)

Scottie begs nicely for a cup of tea! These two adorn the right hand side of my halldoor inthe Schoolhouse.

The Webmaster.....On my windowsill is this little man in need of a good dusting!

An old milk churn makes a good garden ornament especially with a doty plant on top.

 

 

 

On the left hand side of my hall door are these two lovelies.

 

 

 

Now what do you think this is??

Well - it is part of a frame from an old school desk that Ed dug up when he was gardening in the girls side of the dividing wall in the garden.(Boys and girls were separated for classes) Just one of the school related things we have unearthed since we have been here.

Here is the rest of the girls' yard now growing apple trees and fairy toadstools!

 See the trees at the end of the garden? Well, one day when I was having a leisurely breakfast a knock came to the door. I opened it and a bunch of old ladies walked in!

"We planted the trees at the end of the garden during the thirties and we are having a reunion"

Well, they were already in ....and weren't looking like they were going to leave......so what could I do?

I let them wander all over and enjoyed their stories about the various rooms and the memories they brought up for them.

Yes, we actually found a red mushroom with white circles. ...  I meant to add a fairy figure and take a pic...when...batteries died. Oh well, another missed photo op.

Aughawillan Walls

My very dear friend and talented musician/singer/songwriter, Kevin Molloy came to visit us here in The Old Schoolhouse. He was so touched by its atmosphere and history and having read the book it is featured in, Memoir by John McGahern, that he penned this beautiful song...

(John McGahern went to school here and his beloved mother was the teacher)

 

Aughawillan Walls

 

 

 

Teacher tell me once again

The wonder of your world back when

How it was for you back in

your childhood Leitrim days

 

The singing of the barrack keys

Still floating the Coothall breeze

I see your face high in the trees

Your ghostly footsteps fall

 

Down leafy lanes, in Leitrim streams

Your spirit ebbs and spreys

Your heartbeat still - your silent quill

Your whisper in the trees

 

On down the corridors of time

Your childhood echo calls

Stored here for now, forever

In these Aughawillan walls

 

I feel your rhythm in the rain

The wind still whistles your refrain

That we may face the rising sun

A new dawn's spirit crawls

From Aughawillan walls

 

Teacher teach me one more time

The wonder of your every line

Let your astral wisdom shine

Till dusk as darkness falls

on Aughawillan's walls

Ssshhhh...look at the quiet

Sometimes when I am in The Old Schoolhouse alone...I can "hear" the quiet. Total peace and tranquility. How to photograph it though?..to share with others...I think I have managed it...sssshhhhhh...look...and listen.......

Most Beautiful Words

When a survey was done to find the most beautiful word in the English language the winner was the word "Mother"

I asked my group of English students for suggestions to see what other words they would come up with and the results were...(in no particular order)

Melody

Whisper

Gossamar

Poppy

Fairy

Silver

Misty

Birdsong

Butterfly

Gentle

Pearl

Can you think of any others that should be on this list?