Drattit anyway!
Despite being extremely careful, after 18 months and double vaccinated the Covid Bug struck the cottage.
I’m so grateful for the vaccine, as I dread to think what the result of it would have been if we’d not had it. The effects are unpleasant, no doubt about it, and i did spend four or five days feeling fairly grim, but I’m on the mend now for sure. I still cant taste or smell anything which is a bit depressing. I love food, and texture without taste is a bizarre sensation. Hopefully the pointlessness of of it all will help shed a few extra covid kilos!
Meanwhile, life goes on, thankfully. I couldn’t bear to look at a screen last week but I’m back at it again now. The great news is that I expect to have Roaring Liberty for you much earlier than originally anticipated. I allowed myself plenty of time to get the edits and so on done, but the stars have aligned and it looks like the final Harp story will be with you sooner than I thought. You can preorder it here:
PREORDER ROARING LIBERTY BY CLICKING THIS LINK
This week, as well as the bug, we’ve been sad at the passing of Paddy Maloney, the Uileann Piper and mastermind behind the Chieftains. If you’ve never heard them, check them out doing all sorts of collaboration here:
Paddy Maloney and the Chieftains
As some of you may know, my husband Diarmuid is an Uileann Piper and so feels Paddy’s loss very keenly. He was a tremendous influence on most pipers in this country and beyond. Paddy was a wonderful musician who encouraged collaboration and loved all kinds of music, not just our own. Mick Jagger called him the best Uileann Piper on the planet, (Mick has yet to meet my husband ;-))
So rest easy Paddy, you have left your country and the world with something so special. You will be missed.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis, (May he rest at God’s right hand)
Le grá agus buiochas,
Jean xx