A story to remember
For those who enjoy jokes, songs and stories, the Sneem International Storytelling & Folklore Festival might just be for you. This Kerry event started off in 2011 as an idea by chairman and local Seanachai Batt Burns, coming to fruition the following year.
Since then, the festival has grown year by year, attracting storytellers from the USA, Australia, Wales, Scotland, England, and of course Ireland. Stories are told in barns, public houses, hotels, and even the local creche, and with story swaps, workshops and performances for adults and children alike.
Enjoy folklore, hear great live music, follow pub trails, relax at the Saturday evening play, and listen to the tales of the youth at The Young Tellers event – captivating those who are future Seanachai in the making. It takes place in Sneem village from November 9-11.
A mat that matters
Everybody is prone to slipping, especially during Winter, when it’s much colder and icier. The risk factor only increases when walking up or down steps, which can prove fatal. To help avoid this problem, it would be wise to get HeatTrak.
This electric heating mat melts the snow and ice off your stairs at a rate of two inches per hour, preventing potential injuries caused by slip-and-fall accidents. Made exclusively for home use, the product only requires a standard 120V electrical outlet and can be left outside for the entire cold season.
This alleviates the stress of having to shovel or salt the front of your house, and also the knowledge that the outside steps are safe to stand on.
While suitable for everyone, the elderly or those with walking impairments will find this extremely beneficial for the winter season.
Whiffing Wonders
Some people have the impressive power to recognise even the faintest of scents, much to the bewilderment of others. But there may be an explanation for this curious skill.
A new study carried out by scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, shows that breathing through the nose, rather than the mouth, improves olfactory memory.
Artin Arshamian, a researcher at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience and team, asked male and female participants to learn 12 new smells on two occasions. After each ‘sniffing session’, they asked the participants to breathe either through their noses or through their mouths for one hour.
When the hour was complete, the participants smelled the old 12 scents along with the dozen new ones and then decided which smells were old and which were new.
Overall, when people breathed through their noses, they memorised the smells better than when they breathed through their mouths.