Today, I had to buy some things, and it made me feel physically sick to spend that money. In the end, Lexy did it for me. We decided to do without the outside storage container, and we will just wrap our suitcases in plastic and put them in the broken down shed outside.

We found a dual floor/carpet steamer on Amazon, and a sort of broom/brush that removes animal hair from carpets, but would be just as good for human hair.

We still have to buy her a sewing machine, and there isn't a single store in Cork that sells sewing machines.

I bought a screen/room divider to separate the kitchen from the lounge. The kitchen is so small, and becausee it has so much essential stuff stuffed into it, it doesn't look nice when you walk into the front door. So I felt sick having to buy that, but I knew I have to live in a place that looks decent.

I ordered and paid for 2 heaters in Dublin, only to be called 10 minutes later to be told that they were out of stock, and they may return my money either tomorrow or Monday.

I'm concerned about winter. ireland gets 7% of gas from the UK. Guess what is going to happen. We are also going to have black outs. I don't want to freeze to death, but I don't have a car so I have to order online.

And yet, people lived in this little cottage where I am living for many generations, and all they had was a fire in the sitting room. Of course, that is all boarded up now...