Monday Mail Out: The Christmas Post.

[Christmas greetings ready to be posted]

What a busy time of year Christmas must be for the post! Perhaps the only time that many people send snail mail wishes.

The postal service always seems to rise to challenge, though, with the delivery of mail being much faster at Christmas time than at any other.

I always look forward to this time of year and the arrival of cards to decorate the mantel: A kind of snail mail shrine.

Written correspondence has been a hobby of mine for a long time, & Monday Mail Out is a weekly feature whereby I can share my love for the lost art of letter writing. I hope my experiences will encourage others to send out letters on Monday too, and have them rediscover the joy of sending and receiving mail. If you have a blog, feel free to join in.

Meeting the Other Crowd by Eddie Lenihan

Meeting the Other Crowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland by Eddie Lenihan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Faeries, come take me out of this dull world,
For I would ride with you upon the wind,
Run on the top of the dishevelled tide,
And dance upon the mountains like a flame".
~ William Butler Yeats

I'd like to start this review by making it clear how much I absolutely L-O-V-E-D this book!

Meeting the Other Crowd is made up of faerie (Sidhe) stories collected by traditional Irish seanchai, Eddie Lenihan. The stories focus on the interactions between humans and the faeries, and many are not as old as you might expect: Many Sidhe encounters recorded in this book have taken place within the last 100 - 150 years.

This book examines common themes about what faerie contact might mean for a human; why the faeries either seek human contact or do not wish for it; faerie traditions; human superstitions; how the church has influenced the current understanding of the faerie world; and why, with the increasing influences of the modern world, the instances of faerie encounters appear to be dwindling.

Every story in this book held me spellbound: From faerie Kings and Queens, to changelings and the mysterious existence of vessels such as Biddy Early, it was almost impossible to put down. Well-written and easy to understand, I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Irish folk and faerie lore. It is a topic I am eager to learn more about.

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An appreciation for simple things...

[Mail out: 3 letters, 1 postcard, & a book]

No mail went out yesterday. Can you believe it? I still cannot comprehend how I managed to go through the day and not make it to the post office. I'm blaming it on a morning appointment that ran overtime. By a lot. And an evening meeting at work that took longer than expected.

But of course I spent a portion of my weekend writing mail: It wouldn't have been a weekend without it! The mail just had to go with this morning's post instead.

[Bailey-dog chasing geckos - Entertainment for hours!]

After a hot week, closing with a scorcher on Friday (41*C), it was such a relief to wake Saturday morning to the sound of rain. Rain, might I add, that hung around all day and gave the garden a good soaking. It never ceases to amaze me how much plants prefer rain water to the stuff from the bore.

[Laundry on the line]

The weekend also included a Christmas dinner with my work colleagues: An hilariously fun evening packed with good food and good company, a great way to start the festive season.

[Chopped veg ready for a casserole]

But most of all the cool change was a great opportunity to enjoy the simple things: Spending time outside with Bailey-dog, the birds and the lizards; tending to the garden; doing the household chores; writing mail; and utilising the oven for some hearty, home cooked meals.