Clerke's

We headed in to Skibbereen today as himself needed hinges to fix back the kitchen cupboards and I was looking for a snazzy new bin suitable to throw all our recyling in and a doormat, the old ones just won't do in the sparkling newly painted kitchen. The hinges were obtained but the bins were deeply disappointing and I came away empty handed.

Skibbereen is a strange place, but it does have some interesting old shop fronts - like this one and this one. And this one has always attracted me. Apologies to my friend Finola whose excellent blog inspired me to revisit Clerke's today.  I love the mad colours scheme, the hand painted sign, the eclectic stock and as Finola has discovered is still run by a Miss Clerke. Sadly it was closed today.  Interestingly, a bit of detective work and I discovered that a rather posh house across the road was the birthplace of two slightly famous Clerkes- Agnes and Eleanor who were lady astronomers in the 19C. Agnes even has a lunar crater named after her.  Miss Clerke must surely be a relative. In fact I think I might even be a relative as I'm a Clarke - 3rd cousins twice removed  at least!