THE HENWATCH BLOG

                                                           Apologies for my inactivity over the past two days . Monday I was creating a masterpiece of home improvement . I painted the bedroom , and as always as you all understand and know , it when finished will be a stand alone one off . Designed and created by myself . Throughout this difficult process it is practically impossible to get any sort of conversation out of me . I concentrate a lot on my creations , so much so everyone just keeps out of my way when I am being creative . I generally raise myself to such a pitch , that ignoring everyone and everything would be par for the course . Normally I am given that space to do all this , simply because the outcome will always be worthwhile . Apologies again .

                                                            So here we are in the summer of 2015 , and already , this year has been blighted by disaster after disaster . Savagery after savagery , all inhumane acts . Now you've got to ask yourselves , who or what in the world is pushing us toward that disastrous brink . I mean its not an illusion , its not some imaginary abyss that someone keeps talking about , but there is no evidence for . There is evidence everywhere , in every newspaper you buy in the mornings and in the evenings . You open up your media page , and everywhere you look its campaigns against this and campaigns against that . Support this and support that .                                                           I don't think the people we are sending our protests to are listening . I don't really think that they give a damn . For them war and savagery go hand in hand . If you want someone to blame for the way the world is shaping blame them . Blame tho

                                                                  As you are all now aware of the terrible tragedies and slaughter Tunisia and Kuwait have experienced , I am finding it increasingly difficult to match those actions with any form of understanding . There is no understanding or reason for wholesale killing on that or any other kind of scale . You can't justify it , you can't explain it away as being some sort of religious message needed to be sent to the West just so they'll understand exactly where you are coming from .                                                                  I fully understand that the majority of muslims would and could never condone such actions . But it does beg the question , where do these radicals get their instructions from ? Someone is recruiting them , someone is shoving hate down their collective throats . How in the name of whoever , can one book be so easily misinterpreted by so many of its followers . I am asking very

                                                               I find it amazing , that just when you think after a very short time (approx. 30 years ) , people who you didn't want in your life , suddenly start behaving in a very strange manner . They start looking into your media activity , they start sending friends requests to your own children , and basically think that's fine . They had been de-activated as maybe a sister or brother for that same short period because of something which in my opinion is just plain nasty . But they obviously think , that with the passage of years , you either have become a little more mellow , or you just plainly forgot how they made you homeless .                                                               I don't know what their motive is , I don't want to know , and I would very much appreciate it , if they would just piss off .                                                               I don't want to repeat the det

                                                      What is it about repeating yourself that people don't get ? What is it about when someone asks for direction , you give it and that direction is totally ignored ? You seem to be banging your head off a brick wall and they can't see it . They don't even realize the pain they are causing you by all the ignoring that's done . There you are listening to all their sad stories and woes , lumping it all on to your lap , you give the help and wisdom that's required only for it to be pissed on again , and again .                                                      Do I have fu..... doormat written on my head ? Have I trained to be a councellor in the human condition ? No is the answer to the above . But some people seem to think its a good idea to pass their inability to make decisions on to you and lay it full square at your door . I am sick to death of people doing this ! I have really had enough of all this so calle

                                                         So you are part of a whole complete one hundred percent happy family unit . You from the moment you were born had brothers and sisters who always had your back in whatever mischief or dangers you might have been exposed to . Your whole world centered around mammy , daddy , and the rest of the family unit . There was never an instance of panic , there was never an instance of downright terror inflicted on your everyday adventures or outdoor pursuits . Your household was happy , it was in tune with all the good things in life , and you prospered . As they would later say in the movies , you became a made man/woman and you thrived .                                                         So you are part of the most dysfunctional family the world has ever seen . You are zero percent happy , as is the family unit . From the moment you were born , for everyone things always were a struggle , so much so you could never rely with confi

                                                                   So what's gonna be the new event that will catapult us into the future ? What is gonna be the greatest thing since the rubik cube ? What great happening is going to make us sit up and take notice about the way our world is being messed up by huge corporations and institutions ? Will it be somebody's sudden assassination ? I mean the more someone speaks out about oppression and how we are all being screwed , the more likely they are to become just another loaded passed away statistic ..                                                                   From past experience , of course not personally , if someone of influence poses a threat to the status quo with their comments and views in relation to economic events , moral issues , and general humanitarian issues . The more likely they are to be silenced . Its not as if assassination is something new . Its not as if it would be the first time that because some

                                                                Ok am home a week , and to be honest we are still feeling the effects of such a dramatic and energy sapping two weeks . We find ourselves having to nap in the afternoon just to catch up on some sleep , but to be honest we're getting there . So with that in mind , I am going to raise the bar in an attempt to keep this blog shining . I will endeavour to raise points of interest that effect us all . I am thankful for minor miracles that keep the brain exercised and wanting to write . Having the brain working in line with the keyboard is nothing short of true mysticism . Having said that , let us proceed........................

                                                    Today is father's day as we all know , and I would like to express my thanks to all my children for making my life simple and not as difficult as it could have been . As parents when you have children , you are so pre-occupied with their development and their well being , that sometimes you forget what parenting is all about . Then time flashes by , and your children are no longer children and have become adults . It goes by so fast its really hard to remember exactly what just happened .                                                     So today I would like to wish all the father's out there the best for today , and the future of course , because as we all know tomorrow you will get back to your job as being their mentors , their developers , their guardians , and basically someone to whom you would hope they can aspire to . If you're lucky . Children will say hurtful things to their parents because they are not gett

                                                           Where among the deepest recesses of your mind do you find the will to carry on after an extreme traumatic experience in your life ? I am not talking about something minor in value , but something extremely traumatic . I haven't ever experienced the like , and I really don't want to even if its just to understand the experience and the process. But what really fascinates me is the strength of human endeavour and the human healing process .                                                           We can never really understand what someone else goes through when faced with complete disaster in their lives . Be it losing everything you've ever had because of an economic downturn . Be it the loss of someone young and close to us . or having to watch close up the withering away of someone you quite dearly love .                                                           I have never had such a loss in my life , and to

                                                                       Good afternoon everyone , I have just noticed a large contingent of readers from Portugal have joined our band of interested parties . I would like to welcome you all and would like to thank you for the support . As anyone who has read my posts before will explain , I write for me , and if my ramblings and writing gives you something however small to think about , well then I have served the purpose that was present when I decided to do this .  I don't take my blogging too seriously , but there are times I just need to go off on one , and believe me that is and will be quite often . It serves to remind me that whenever something of substance happens , or is said by someone , I will berate , I will congratulate , I will compliment , but will always give my honest opinion for what its worth . You may not agree with me , and that's ok too. Feel free to chastise me if you think something needs highlighting o

                                                                    We are creating a world of very unsympathetic , uneducated , ill mannered , disinterested human beings . You can see them in every little village and city that you might just come upon . You can see them laughing and joking at someone else's disabilities , colour , creed or sexual orientation . Correct me if I'm wrong but it was never like that when I was growing up . So what and who has effected this change and shift in public morality and attitude ? I have my own opinion , but maybe to share would be a mistake on my part . You see it may appear to be biased and controversial . And God forbid that that might happen . We do need to appear to be politically correct .                                                                   Taking away responsibility for your children is one such reason for the decline in humanity . Giving out sentences so ineffectual when someone breaks the law is definitely another p

                                                           You're just an ordinary human being like us all . You are no better than anybody else , and that is something you need to remind yourself of . Well at least some people need that type of reminding .                                                            You see them everywhere , and you can spot them from a distance . They lurk behind counters , they can be seen in supermarkets , to be honest they are everywhere .These are the nightmares you encounter from time to time , and thank heavens it doesn't happen too often , but then that depends on your luck at any given time . But when it happens to you your defence antenna's stand boldly up and they prepare you for anything that these beings throw at you .                                                           You're wondering exactly who and what I am describing , well if I said someone who just bumps into you and assumes every bit of space on the planet

                                                        Is it ever safe to say that you know someone ? You will define certain people as friends , acquaintances , really best friends etc. You know who you can call upon in times of stress . Then there are those who you wouldn't trust the other half of your sandwich with , but they would still be in the outer circle of those you would describe as friends . But your really best friends are witness to your every emotional outburst , your ups and downs , and when you want to share some particularly good news they would be the first to know . And then.........................                                                         You spend more time with them than you normally would , be it through a holiday shared , a week-end away , or something similar . You start out all joy and the happiness of life due to your being free of normal routine , and things are humming along .You go out to dinner , have a few drinks , do some shopping

                                                  Its a grey skied , blustery , typical Irish summers day today , and in a way I am happy to have it that way . I , for the moment have had enough vitamin d , and not vitamin c written in a previous blog ,apologies for that oversight . Am still trying to get my head together F.F.S , its happening but not as fast as I'd like . So be patient and bear with me . If I make some mistakes don't call me an idiot , be a little understanding and I will eventually ( hopefully ) get back to where I was previously . In the mean time , wake the f... up and pay attention , its gonna be a scorchingly long hot summer , and you need to get the ice made and the B B Q cleaned . That grey musty stuff on the cooking tray is not the least bit healthy . So do yourself a favour and clean the bastard . You don't want your friends and family getting sick do you ? So hop to it .

                                                        So , you have this hypothetical situation , two friends of yours are having a particularly difficult time of it , and you have been made aware of the difficulty . One of the two is so so wrong in what they perceive is the way to go . The other person is just so so hurt by the others fairly selfish behaviour . As you are friends to them both , you decide and confirm with your partner exactly who's right and who's wrong . And in this instance it's fairly obvious .                                                        So with that in mind you make yourselves available to them both , trying to help in any way possible . A timescale of a whole two weeks is set aside for trying to help these good friends . You give up your time in the hope that there will at some stage be a resolution to this awful predicament , to no avail .                                                       From previous experience , I know that bei

                                                           The list is endless , the themes are excruciatingly technicolor . The searches are never ending , and you feel exhausted . You try to look past whats normal for this type of situation but when you are experiencing this there is never anything or anyone to compare it to . You have definitely walked yourself into a cul-de-sac , and you can't turn round . You have effectively entered your version of the twilight zone . What a strange place to be , like Alice through the looking glass you are encountering all of your heroes and villains , and forget heroes now , they are all just villains .                                                           You know this is not real , but it still doesn't help when you try to escape from your nightmare , you then think you've woken only to be accosted by some other hallucination that's even worse than the previous one . This goes on all night , and there is not an exit in

                                                   When the temperature rises to 34 c in the shade , and you just can't bear to be out in the sun , I think its safe to say you have been re-charged . I spoke of this earlier last week , and my need for vitamin c , and so it has come to pass I am full of it , and some might say yes he is full of it . I feel reborn , I feel alive , I feel f...... exhausted . I need a rest !

                                                         As you've probably seen over the last week or so my mood and my writings have been fairly pedestrian , and there's a good reason for that . I promised myself that I would be kind courteous and above all else mannerly . These are traits I was taught a long time ago and I find it necessary to remind myself every so often that this is the best way to go . You have suffered my annoyances , you have been eye witnesses to a few strops along the way , you have endured my hatred for normality and convention , and I always justified my ramblings with fairly accurate descriptions of where everything according to me went wrong .                                                         Its quite easy at times to just spew out your feelings on a subject that has touched a nerve here or there . Its simple when the subject is easily understood and the information given is accurate . But sometimes you have to dig a little , sometimes it

                                                           You just know everything has been done that was needed to be done , and yet its never enough . You've dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's and you still feel that something is just not right . So you re-examine all of your actions and deeds over a long period and you try and make sense of it all , or try to see if there is a pattern to all that has gone before . There are some things you know you could have improved upon , and yet there you sit wondering where it all went wrong .                                                            Most times you can just point your finger and accuse , or the problem was so patently obvious that you just couldn't ignore it , but ignore it you did . You may not agree with the assessment , but that really doesn't matter anymore , all that matters is the here and now . The here and now is something that is frightening you , the past is exactly that the past . And

                                                     Good day to all of you connoisseurs of food , wine , and anything to do with the culinary arts .Today my wife and I are still recovering from excellence .Today we have forever painted in our memories one of if not the best food we have ever had the privilege to eat . You can have your oysters , you can have your caviar . You can even have your fish and chips , but there is nothing compared to The Perfect Chateaubriand .                                                     We have been friends with a certain Maria in Gumbet Turkey for many years , and she has presented to the Irish citizens who frequent her restaurant The Anna Livia nothing but cuisine par excellence for so many of those years . Her menu is a diners book of mysteries , and she has achieved all of this by herself and her wonderful staff .                                                     When complimenting her about The Anna Livia , it would be so easy to forget ho

                                                             What a great afternoon we had . There you are sitting , having met up with a long standing beautiful friend of over ten years , chatting and getting up to date with how everyone is . She brings along with her , her daughter and her daughter's friend who are quite beautiful too . As always the children play in the swimming pool , and that's their entertainment . Then we have a nice lunch under a very warm sky ,I think you get the picture . Everyone eats well , and then its back to the pool area . At this stage we are informed as to the childrens love for ballet , not something I have had access to over the years , but with an open mind I decide to ask the two young ladies to dance .                                                              At first there's a little nervousness about them , and then out of nowhere they begin to shine . They float across the air with so much ease and fluency , that you can't

                                                                  Today has been a very liberating day for me . Things I haven't dreamed about touching upon have been spoken openly about for maybe the first time in over twenty five years . You see anytime I have had parties ,christenings , confirmations , or any other type of celebration in my life there has always been something missing . Something so fundamental that was always lacking in my celebrations . And certainly not something that is replaceable . So anyone who has or is in my position will understand the true extent of that hole in your life that is called family .                                                                   To people who don't know me its sisters , no brothers , and the extended family . These are the things that have been missing throughout my life , and throughout my childrens lives . They have been deprived of aunts , uncles , cousins , I think you get the message . Because of that to a de

                                                 I got a message last night from someone who I haven't heard from or seen in over twenty years . This person in a message reminded me that when certain members of families and their relationships break down , it is possible to re-connect in some shape or form . He also reminded me that not all family members are nasty , and if you can separate the bad from the good it is possible to talk to someone who would be outside of that nastiness . You see there lies my dilemma , Because without having your family present for most of your life its difficult to even consider breaking a promise you made to yourself many many years ago . A promise that was undertaken for reasons of sanity , and self protection .                                                  If you have read previous blogs you will understand exactly what I am referring to , and how that episode of my life haunted me . But sometimes you have to leave that locked pandora's

                                                        When Musa was in his early twenties , and still coming to terms with his English , and still working as diligently as ever . he formed this exclusive club called " The Umbrella Club ". Without giving too much away , it was exclusively his , and whatever female he set his eyes on for that evening .                                                         As he would be working in the restaurant serving food and cleaning tables , there was always a little mischief afoot . Sure enough his duties would be carried out as always without fail , but he always found time to exercise himself within the Umbrella Club . As it was night time and the beach opposite the restaurant was closed , and the only thing swaying in the breeze were the beach umbrellas . Towards the end of the night when it wasn't that busy , he would invite a new female to join the Umbrella Club if they were of that nature . Being a good looking guy ,

                                                   Last night it was our privilege to meet an old friend of ours . His name is Musa , a Turkish man , though to be honest knowing him as long as we do its hard to see him as more than a young Turkish man trying to learn English . You see we know him maybe fifteen or sixteen years , since he was a mere boy trying to learn the restaurant trade and business . We brought him simple English books from Ireland so he could learn the language , my how industrious he was .                                                   Anyway we met him last night and had dinner in the restaurant he now manages . The welcome we received as always was so warm and memorable . We spoke about old times , previous acquaintances good and bad . We asked about a certain man who used to walk up and down the beach with his goose following behind him . We found out fortunately that he was still alive , but the goose , wasn't so lucky . That poor goose was well and t

                                                              Apologies for being inactive ,you see I've been quite unwell , I have been suffering from a complete lack of vitamin D . You see the minute I see that thing we call the sun , shining in the sky all of my other distractions tend to shut down and become somewhat insignificant . No that's too harsh a word , lets just say a little less important . Vitamin d and the sun are inextricably linked , you can't have one without the other . And so I am always low on vitamin d , and also very low on sunshine in my neck of the woods , and so when that beautiful orange ball shines it comforting rays , its just impossible for me to ignore it .                                                             The benefits of sunshine are a million fold . For me personally it raises my spirits , it gives me so much energy and joy just to sit in its fabulous light . So I hope that you understand that I am not ignoring my call to blog ,