Happiest talking rain, hail or shine!

Talking about the weather is a national obsession, and there was plenty of conversation starters with storms across the country. The storms didn’t stop Emma getting involved in the Ireland Lights Up walks, though!

THERE was only one thing to talk about this week and that was the weather! I think I had around 345 conversations about the weather before I lost count. As a people who like to talk, especially about the weather, we were all, myself included in our element ... living our best lives, as the young folk might say. The general feeling was that we all loved the blue skies, dry roads (no one likes those scary icy roads) and cool, crisp air.

• There was also agreement that the cold snap was great to kill-off all those nasty bugs and germs that have been circulating since before Christmas (that didn’t quite tally though as a few of my pals caught Covid this week and were quite ill, but still), and while a bit of snow might have been fun, we concluded we were better off without it (that was the sentiment from the boring fuddy-duddies like me).

• But, and there’s always a but, as we headed into day four or five of the cold snap, there was a growing cohort who admitted we’re not all that wellequipped to deal with harsh conditions (-6 was recorded in my village), and that was especially true for anyone who had a burst pipe, including my poor mum. It was quite the miracle I discovered the leak when it was just going up a gear from a trickle through the ceiling to major deluge but my nerves still aren’t the better of it.

• Water is quite the unstoppable force. It was a pity, too, that I only discovered I had a button in my car that automatically defrosted my windows, on the very last day of the big freeze. Before that I had been skating on thin ice with the jug of tepid water (is the windscreen going to crack/isn’t it?). Sure, I’ll know for the next time. In the meantime, though, we had Storm Isha. Wisha, Isha was more of what we are used to here, rain and wind (a weird hot wind too). Bring back the blue skies, please.

Jodie Foster (above) impressed columnist Emma Connolly in the latest series of True Detective.

• I’ve started watching the latest series of True Detective, which is set in Alaska. Now that’s what you’d call a cold spot. I was watching it with my husband and I suggested that we retire there as I’ve a strange love for the cold and dark (I’m a January baby which could explain it, or it could be something weirder?) He looked at me like I was properly mad (nothing new there) and suggested Denmark as a compromise but to be honest I think he was just humouring me. Anyway, I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous True Detective series, but this one stars Jodie Foster and it’s off to a great start. Just one episode a week is being released which is only adding to the enjoyment.

• I wish you could say the same thing about RTÉ’s Dancing With The Stars. I’d gladly sidestep (get it?) the show but my smallie loves it so our Sunday nights now go something like this: we all start out full of excitement at 6.30pm when the programme starts. We’ve the water bottles filled up to stay hydrated, the shoes are kicked off and the couch is pulled back so we can get in on the cha-cha-cha action ourselves.

• By 7pm my husband has disappeared (actually he’s usually gone by 6.33pm, leaving me with no other option but to hold my post). By 7.30pm I’m lying on the floor feeling a bit sweaty, dazed, and confused, wishing there was something besides H2O in my glass, and begging for sweet release from the never-ending hell, and constant reminders not to vote until the phone lines are open because my vote won’t be counted.

• By 8pm, delirium has set in and I wonder if I could enter myself next year, and by 8.30pm, when it’s finally over, and smallie sambas her way to bed, I say a silent prayer that there’s a whole six days before we have to do it all over again. It runs until March, with the finale not until March 17th (Jesus wept) so I’m going to have to figure a way to get through this ... or maybe get a part-time job from the hours of 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Sunday night? Then, after all of that, there’s still Room to Improve to sit through, although it seems most of the drama on that show is happening off air this season.

• I’m still not a fan of Operation Transformation (it’s not the show, it’s me!) but I am a fan of the GAA’s Ireland Lights Up initiative in partnership with the show. It encourages GAA clubs to light up and bring communities together to walk and talk in a safe environment on these winter nights.

• My local club Argideen Rangers (c’mon Rangers!) is taking part and I’m loving the Monday night walks and chats around the pitch. A club participating in Ireland Lights Up will be showcased each week on Operation Transformation and with Karl Henry living relatively nearby we’re hopeful we’ll have our moment. I’ll be looking for plenty of advance notice, though, to make sure I’m not wearing one of my many woolly hats that make me look like Nora Batty.

• And Oliver Callan has got Tubridy’s old radio slot show? I think that’s a good choice. Personally, I enjoyed Brendan Courtney when he was in the hot seat, and I really liked Shay Byrne when he had a recent stint, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the Monaghan man does with the hour-long show. Good luck to him.

• Just reading back over this (and obviously missing my many typos!), you might well be thinking that I watch a lot of TV, and ... you’d be right! Sure what else would you be doing of a January night (when you’re not walking around your local pitch)? Luckily, my lovely aunty Mary came to my rescue and got me a gift of 2024 diary after reading of my chaos last week so here’s to getting organised and to more exciting days ahead!