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When farmer’s daughter Maggie Deering started her Instagram account @wisteriatreehouse two years ago, it was to share her family’s journey of living in - and restoring - an 18th century home in Co Carlow.
But almost 25,000 followers later, the mother of two also uses the account to showcase her original oil paintings and fine art prints, having decided to pick up a paintbrush later on in life after taking a class in her local community college.
We are particularly taken by this pheasant, inspired by the countryside around her home.
This week, we share a poem from reader, Fiona McMahon
Sheep
Behind the wall they graze,
Minding each other,
Content in spirit,
Gentle by nature,
Shy to strangers,
Friendly to kindred spirits,
Dressed in woolly coats,
Patiently manoeuvring their way across the green pasture,
Moving clockwise,
Nibbling,
Sometimes kneeling to feed or laying to rest,
Accepting of cold damp weather,
Huddling together under the stars at night,
While they sleep, dream or guard.
In our 2020 Christmas food magazine (included in last week’s edition), I shared a recipe for a warm crab dip. I love a warm dip at Christmas - they’re usually made with a base of sour cream, cream cheese and mayonnaise. Once you mix those three components (equal parts sour cream and mayo; double the cream cheese), you can add in whatever you like. Aside from crab, I love a hot spinach and artichoke dip made with mozzarella, artichoke hearts, a squeeze of lemon, garlic, wilted spinach and a dash of chili flakes. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, bread sticks or crisps.
Local priest was in top form at mass tonight. "We can see the light with the vaccine but mind yourselves still. Nobody wants to be shot on the last day of the war!" Place erupted ??
— Brian O Halloran (@brianoh91) December 5, 2020
65
The number of years, NORAD (The North American Aerospace Defense Command) have tracked Santa’s flight around the world.
From our Ringside stories
Westport is booming with tourism. What happened was, we had a great town council,. You could be Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, Sinn Féin, it didn’t matter. Everyone worked together and that’s why you’ve such a vibrant town today.
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