http://www.facebook.com/pages/Online-Auction-for-the-Paul-Curran-Trust/347658848608244
Sorry, but I still have to figure out how you get a link to print on here so that you can actually just click on it and not have to copy it out...
I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment as I am trying to organise this auction on facebook...it's all for such a good cause.
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''Paul Curran is 40 years of age. He is married to Karen and they have three daughters, Sara (17), Clodagh (13) and Caoimhe (11). They live in his native Valentia Island.
Paul has had an outstanding career in Gaelic football. He played all underage levels for Valentia. He started playing for the Valentia Senior Football Team at 17. He represented Kerry at Minor, Under 21, Junior and senior level. He has two Kerry Co. U-21 titles (1991 and 1992) which he won while playing for the divisional side, South Kerry. He received the man of the match award for his display in the ‘91 final against West Kerry. Paul was on the Kerry U-21 panel in 1991for the All Ireland semi final and played for Kerry in the 1992 All Ireland U-21 Final, on both occasions Kerry were beaten by Tyrone
He moved to Dublin in 1993 and while he lived there he was a very prominent team member who helped Ballyboden/St. Enda’s to win their first ever Dublin County Title in 1995. He also played with St. Olaf’s in Dundrum for three years. Paul and family returned to live in Kerry in 2000 and he continued to play with Valentia until 2009. He has six South Kerry senior championship medals.
Paul is also a member of the Valentia Pipe Band
In 2010 Paul was diagnosed with bowel and liver cancer. He underwent surgery at Kerry General Hospital in March 2010 but he needs further life saving surgery as soon as possible. He can only get this specific surgery in the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. It is currently scheduled for April 2012.
The cost of this surgery and associated costs may be as high as €80, 000.
The Paul Curran Trust Fund committee has been set up and various fundraising events will take place around Kerry in the coming months. We would be very grateful for your support.''
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it's all a bit crazy but is coming together really well - it all started off with me thinking about auctioning off a crochet rainbow-coloured cowl on my Selkie facebook page...then that seemed to be going quite well so I thought ''why not try and do this on a bigger scale?'' and now we already have about 15 lots and the running total of the current bids is about €200, which isn't bad at all.
The total amount needed for Paul's operation is approx €80,000 (I just can't get my head around that much money) so this auction will only raise a tiny drop in that ocean, but I keep telling myself that it's better than nothing.
In the meantime I'm afraid my own Etsy shop has kind of gone off the boil, but I've racked up over 90 listings there now, which isn't too bad. I'm still making items for it, though I don't have as much spare time as I used to have as I seem to be perpetually sending emails and facebook messages! Besides, my etsy shop will still be there, it isn't going anywhere and will be waiting for me when life gets more back to normal :D
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
A very important guest
Simon the traveling gecko's visit to us was a bit fraught at times I'm afraid...it all got off to a bad start when, quite soon after his visit, he offered to help with the vacuuming (having previously been helping at Purls of Colours house, he thought he was an expert)
Sadly this is what happens when a teeny tiny gecko 'helps' -- yes, dear readers, he was no match for the suction of the mighty DYSON 'ANIMAL': we had to dismantle the machine to rescue him!
Luckily he survived the experience and was just a bit battered and bruised and had a bad case of dented pride!
Just as he was recovering from the trauma of this with a nice cup of tea, he had an encounter with a native of Waterville -- as you can see the natives are EXTREMELY friendly and welcoming. Sometimes a bit too much, but Simon didn't like to complain.
After all this, we thought Simon deserved a day out and we thought he might like to trace his ancestors with a trip to the tetrapod track in Valentia Island.
Oh how excited Simon was at the thought of this! There were so many photo opportunities along the way -- there's quite a family resemblance, don't you think?!
Simon's little heart was beating very fast as he was lucky enough to literally walk in his ancestor's footprints! How many geckos are lucky enough to do that?!!
Of course, while we were there, Simon just had to do a bit of posing for the camera - he isn't camera-shy in the slightest and loves the lime-light!
Finally, to keep Simon entertained on a rainy day (it is SUCH hard work to entertain a bored gecko!) I showed him some of my holiday photos from Barcelona - oh how Simon enjoyed this; seems like there are geckos and their relatives all over the place!
Simon is desperately hoping to go there one day himself :)
Sadly this is what happens when a teeny tiny gecko 'helps' -- yes, dear readers, he was no match for the suction of the mighty DYSON 'ANIMAL': we had to dismantle the machine to rescue him!
Luckily he survived the experience and was just a bit battered and bruised and had a bad case of dented pride!
Just as he was recovering from the trauma of this with a nice cup of tea, he had an encounter with a native of Waterville -- as you can see the natives are EXTREMELY friendly and welcoming. Sometimes a bit too much, but Simon didn't like to complain.
After all this, we thought Simon deserved a day out and we thought he might like to trace his ancestors with a trip to the tetrapod track in Valentia Island.
Oh how excited Simon was at the thought of this! There were so many photo opportunities along the way -- there's quite a family resemblance, don't you think?!
Simon's little heart was beating very fast as he was lucky enough to literally walk in his ancestor's footprints! How many geckos are lucky enough to do that?!!
Of course, while we were there, Simon just had to do a bit of posing for the camera - he isn't camera-shy in the slightest and loves the lime-light!
Finally, to keep Simon entertained on a rainy day (it is SUCH hard work to entertain a bored gecko!) I showed him some of my holiday photos from Barcelona - oh how Simon enjoyed this; seems like there are geckos and their relatives all over the place!
Simon is desperately hoping to go there one day himself :)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Another Update
Heh, I'm really in the swing of this blogging thing now - two posts this month and we aren't even half way through the month!
Things are going brilliantly - both on Etsy and in real life too. Peter and I have known each other for 21 years now (imagine that!) and things are still wonderful :)
In crochet related news, I've got some lovely new yarns
The lovely Jana brought me all of these back from Germany this month - wool is so much cheaper over there compared to here (or the UK) so it was great to have a big stash like this arrive :) I love it all and have already made four pairs of wrist warmers from it, with another pair on the go. It's a range of different fibres and thicknesses, which is great - I like a bit of variety and change!
I really LOVE this one - it's acrylic but looks and feels like a cotton rather than acrylic. She brought me back this yarn in several different colour-ways but this is my favourite (of course because of the turquoise and purple!)
And then she brought me three different colours of cotton for scrubbies! This one's my favourite but there's a gorgeous purple and a teal as well.
I forgot to say in my last post that I'd been to the wool shop in town and she was open! YAY!! Usually when I'm in town she's on her lunch break or is closed so I was really delighted that she was open. I'd only gone in there on the off chance that she would have some cotton (for scrubbies) but of course came out with a load of yarns that I hadn't intended to buy...
I think this is my favourite - it's a Dutch yarn and is aran weight and a bit thick and thin...I absolutely ADORE the colours in this blue. The colours remind me quite a bit of Tivoli Ocean (which is now discontinued) and it's something I would buy again.
Since my last post here I've actually listed my first ever crochet pattern!! Yes, dear reader, you too can now make your very own pair of shell edged wrist warmers!!! I can't believe it but I've sold the pattern seven times already!!!
Oh I don't think I've mentioned this before but this is my winter project while I'm not working in my day-job (my job on the ferry runs from March/April to October) - it was a bit of an ambitious undertaking but I've started to clear some of the graves in the local Church of Ireland graveyard. So many of the graves are very neglected and uncared for so I got permission from the church to go in and make a start on tidying it up. It's very hard work but I love it. It will take YEARS to work my way around the whole graveyard but never mind.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
First Day of Spring!
Today's the first of February, which makes it the first proper day of Spring! YAY!! January always seems like the longest, darkest month of the whole year so I'm glad to be able to put it behind me :D
So how about a quick bit of an update on my life?
First of all, this is the new addition to the 'family' -- meet Oscar!
He's been with us for over three weeks now already and is just adorable. He's desperate for the other cats to have a play but they aren't so keen yet. He actually snuck up behind Dinah for a sneaky cuddle while she was asleep (in the photo) - she wasn't very happy when she woke up and realised who she was cuddled up with!
Meanwhile, over on Etsy, I had my 200th sale last month!! Who would have ever thought I would have reached such a milestone?! I still have to pinch myself sometimes to really believe it all.
In the last few weeks I've started making some new items for my shop -- I think change is good and I guess you have a better chance of getting more customers if you have a bit more variety in your range.
So I have started making cotton bath mitts - for exfoliation and body polishing etc. So far I've only sold one but hopefully they will sell - though they might sell better when I go to craft fairs, perhaps? I've only got three listed in my shop but must make a few more, just to have them 'in stock'.
Another new item, and one that I'm quite excited about, are my beach pebbles! It's a bit of a novel idea and I'm not too sure how well they will sell either - but nothing ventured, nothing gained (this should be my motto!). I'm thinking these might sell very well coming up to Christmas - something small and Irish, that is a bit of a quirky gift, but also quite pretty and unusual...
best of all is that it gives me an excuse to get out and go beach combing - like I need an excuse, ha ha!!
Finally, I've 'evolved' my wrist warmer pattern so that the ones made from double-knitting or finer yarns now have a half-thumb! I am really happy with this change - also it gives a bit more variety (again!) in my shop.
So how about a quick bit of an update on my life?
First of all, this is the new addition to the 'family' -- meet Oscar!
He's been with us for over three weeks now already and is just adorable. He's desperate for the other cats to have a play but they aren't so keen yet. He actually snuck up behind Dinah for a sneaky cuddle while she was asleep (in the photo) - she wasn't very happy when she woke up and realised who she was cuddled up with!Meanwhile, over on Etsy, I had my 200th sale last month!! Who would have ever thought I would have reached such a milestone?! I still have to pinch myself sometimes to really believe it all.
In the last few weeks I've started making some new items for my shop -- I think change is good and I guess you have a better chance of getting more customers if you have a bit more variety in your range.
So I have started making cotton bath mitts - for exfoliation and body polishing etc. So far I've only sold one but hopefully they will sell - though they might sell better when I go to craft fairs, perhaps? I've only got three listed in my shop but must make a few more, just to have them 'in stock'.
Another new item, and one that I'm quite excited about, are my beach pebbles! It's a bit of a novel idea and I'm not too sure how well they will sell either - but nothing ventured, nothing gained (this should be my motto!). I'm thinking these might sell very well coming up to Christmas - something small and Irish, that is a bit of a quirky gift, but also quite pretty and unusual...
best of all is that it gives me an excuse to get out and go beach combing - like I need an excuse, ha ha!!Finally, I've 'evolved' my wrist warmer pattern so that the ones made from double-knitting or finer yarns now have a half-thumb! I am really happy with this change - also it gives a bit more variety (again!) in my shop.
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