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Mr. Waffle

The Hearth has its Reasons


Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Mr. Waffle, Siblings

The other day I was reading a column by this new (to me) Australian journalist in the Irish Times (Brianna Parkins, I like her). This column, which you may read at the link, should you feel so inclined basically says that because I would do a better job at cleaning is not a reason to do all the cleaning and have your (male) partner do none.

Mr. Waffle and I are in the happy position of being able to pay someone to do our cleaning for us. This morning I asked the cleaner whether she could do something about the sooty tiles at the front of the fireplace. She did. They are sparkling. I am delighted. I summoned Mr. Waffle to look. “Um, what am I looking at?” said he. “The tiles in the hearth, look at them!” “Are they different, good or bad?” he asked nervously. Brianna Perkins has her work cut out I would suggest. Yes, I did do this for the pun in the title. We are a third of the way through NaBloPoMo and inspiration is not what it might be.

In other news, saintly Daniel made dinner tonight. His cold (hopefully not Covid – test tomorrow to be sure) is much improved. My brother has two spare tickets for the Ireland – New Zealand rugby match on Saturday and spread joy by giving them to Mr. Waffle and Dan.

And finally, have I come down with a cold? Yes I have. Am I having a Covid test at 8.30 in the morning? Yup. Can’t wait. Anyone else worried that their cold might kill someone?

Illness Stalks the Land


Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Siblings

Mr. Waffle and Daniel both have colds. They’re also both double-vaccinated. I decided that it might be worth getting Daniel a Covid test to be on the safe side. Appointments for tests are hard to get at the moment – cases are high it appears and testing higher, the system is clearly at capacity. I’ll keep him home from school for the rest of the week and we’ll see where we are. Daniel is delighted at this turn of events as his father’s reading of the HSE website is different from mine and he thought Daniel could go back to school tomorrow – unwelcome news which was conveyed earlier but overturned on appeal. I might pick up an antigen test in the chemist tomorrow. Mr. Waffle thinks I’m crazy. Mr. Waffle is firm in his belief that he (himself as opposed to Dan) definitely doesn’t have Covid. Michael and I are fine, you will be pleased to hear.

Meanwhile in Cork, today is my sister’s birthday and she took the week off work to celebrate in a mild way and promptly fell down the stairs yesterday and twisted her ankle. Alas.

Your own seasonal illness stories would be welcome.

A Head Start


Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Princess

Saturday, November 6, 2021 (continued, yes, continued, this is what I have been reduced to)

We went out to dinner with friends last night and had a really wonderful time.

A definite highlight was their reaction to my apple jelly. I had given them a jar previously and they loved it. I mean really loved it, God I was delighted. I only regretted I hadn’t brought some more as there is lots more where that came from.

Our hostess opined that I was a closet Protestant given my jam making proclivities. I am not sure whether this is thing elsewhere but in Ireland Protestants are generally assumed to be good at crafts, baking and jam making. Although my mother’s family is descended from the Palatines who came to Limerick in the 1700s and my father frequently described her instincts as puritanical (“always leave when you are enjoying yourself most” was one of her catch phrases), I don’t really think that’s it.

She was in a position to have a view as her mother-in-law (our host’s mother, try to keep up) was a Scottish Presbyterian who, because of ne temere brought up four Catholic children. It was their own choice to send the boys to a Jesuit school but, I suppose, in for a penny, in for a pound. It was interesting to hear our host talk about going to Presbyterian services with his mother a couple of times a year; they were long but they had Sunday school. Once, when he was a child, there was some all-Ireland Presbyterian jamboree taking place in Dublin and members of the congregation were asked to put people up. His mother, explaining that she had a Catholic husband and children, put up two Presbyterians from Northern Ireland. Our friend said they were very pleasant men but terrified: they had never been in Dublin before and they had certainly never stayed in a house with Catholics but it all seemed to pass off peacefully. We had a chat about religion and he said, “I do it for the local Catholic community not for Rome.” Talking about “Rome” like that was so strange to me. I don’t really think of Rome at all or certainly not in the same way, it seems to me. I think having parents with two different religions must make you think about religion much more than if both your parents are Catholics and it feels like everyone else in the universe is too (Cork in the 70s and 80s).

We had a chat about our weekend in the Hague and it turned out that the gin production woman was their next door neighbour before she and her husband moved house. Because Ireland is tiny and we do, in fact, all know each other.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

In other religious news, our parish priest began this morning’s sermon with the words, “Remember, remember the 5th of November.” Does that strike you as at all odd? I mean he went on to talk about November being the month of the dead but I thought it was an unusual opening line even (or maybe especially) for someone who spent a long time working in England.

After mass I went into town and bought the head. I am delighted with her.

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Michael and I had a mild walk in the Botanic gardens leaving Daniel at home to finish his homework. Poor Mr. Waffle was a bit under the weather and went to bed for a nap.

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“And finally,” as they say on the news before they come to the human interest good news bit at the end. Thirty years ago, I moved in to a house share with a French girl in Brussels. In all the intervening years, we’ve stayed in touch and we’ve exchanged children and visited each other reasonably regularly. Today our daughters, of their own volition, met in England where they are both studying. Herself sent me photos. I am quite delighted.

Hope you had a good Sunday yourself. More tomorrow, God help us.

Totally on the Ball


Posted in: Boys, Michael, Mr. Waffle

Michael has online history class on Saturdays.

Me: What did you do today?

Him: Lots about Cork in the War of Independence. You, know, Terence MacSwiney and that other Lord Mayor who was shot.

Me: I cannot believe that you can’t remember his name.

Him: Well, sorry, I can’t, what was his name?

Me: Actually, I just can’t summon it to mind right now.

Me to Mr. Waffle: What’s the name of the Lord Mayor of Cork who was shot?

Mr. Waffle : Oh, I can’t think, I know it.

Me: Remember they shot him in front of his wife and children on MacCurtain street.

Mr. Waffle : Ah, is it Tomás MacCurtain?

Smart girl wanted.

In other news, I finally planted the tulip bulbs I got as a present. Will they grow, is it too late to plant tulip bulbs? Update to follow in April.

I went into town and bought various dull items but I fell in love with a head that I want to buy to put above the front door. My menfolk are solidly against it. I am considering. Your views would be welcome.

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Mr. Waffle and I are off out for dinner tonight – v thrilling – leaving the boys home alone. I don’t think we’ve done that before, actually but I am quietly confident all will be well.

Right Up to Date


Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Siblings

Monday, November 1, 2021

Return to school after mid-term break is always a bit of a challenge. Not helped by the weekend away. It was pretty chilly as well. Finally glove weather has returned; I was perished on my cycle in to work.

Before the October 22 announcement that everything was going backwards, I had volunteered to host in-person book club in my house and then, when things were a bit grimmer, I asked whether people still wanted to come and four said yes. Look, five is a quorum. It was a bit of a scramble to organise as we had only returned from Holland the previous evening but, happily, the culinary standards for bookclub are not high and people seemed happy enough with the frozen pizza. And we were all very happy to see each other. I am delighted to report that the talented women in both my Monday night and my Sunday afternoon book club appear to be taking over the world and we were all in very congratulatory mode and analysing media performances, if you don’t mind (it’s fair to say that we were not a tough crowd). I can’t help thinking about our mothers and how they stopped working or worked part time or generally had less good careers than our fathers and I wonder about all the expertise and brilliance that was lost to the world. But then we – and our husbands – are also all flattened and stretched in ways they may not have been.

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

I drove Daniel to training. I couldn’t bear to let him cycle. It’s just too tense; I’m terrified that he will be run over in the dark. Mr. Waffle posted herself her skiing gear in a large box (7kgs). I suspect she may not relish flying down the slopes with her new friends in her Lidl ski gear but it is perfectly effective, I will have you know.

I dutifully took down the Halloween decorations. If you think I should have cut up the pumpkin before putting it in the compost heap, your views are not welcome here.

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Wednesday, November 3, 2021

While I was queuing for my lunch in a sandwich shop, I heard a radio DJ announce that U2’s “Achtung Baby” is thirty years old this week. This made me feel ancient so I thought I would spread the love.

In the evening I overheard Dan speaking in the kitchen, considering our fizzy water supplies, “How can five middle-aged women drink so much water?” It is true that my book club is a bit of a water into wine miracle: everyone only drinks water and they each bring a bottle of wine so at the end of the evening, you are definitely ahead on the alcohol content.

Daniel was in great form because the Dublin County Board (the GAA ruler in our kingdom) has determined that there is to be a new league for U17 boys and his team instead of disbanding has another year of playing together. He is thrilled.

I spent a full three weeks agonising about whether to apply for a job and tonight was the last night I could do anything about it and I let it go. The guilt was outweighed by the relief. Exhausting.

Thursday, November 4, 2021

I have my first social diary clash in years. I am going down to Cork for dinner for my sister’s birthday on November 12 and now I have also been invited to a dinner in Dublin. I welcome the return of the social whirl.

In other glamorous news, before I went to bed, I took something out of the freezer for dinner and I noticed that the drawers were filthy so I took out everything and washed the drawers in the sink. I think this may be crazy behaviour but the drawers look amazing.

Friday, November 5, 2021

I scampered out of work for my half day at 2.30 and spent the rest of the afternoon at home with the laptop open working on and off on something urgent – updating this post in the gaps between document drafts – which is not exactly an afternoon off but not fully on either. Look, we take our wins where we can.

You are fully up to date with my life. This is everything that has happened to me. I have no idea what I will post tomorrow. And it’s only November 5. It’s going to be a long month.

Updated to add: the car failed its NCT but my saintly husband is sorting it. Some problem with the headlights. Sigh.

Going Dutch


Posted in: Boys, Daniel, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Travel

Friday October 29, 2021

Over the summer we were invited to a friend’s 50th in Holland and we booked flights in what we thought might be an excess of optimism but here we were, actually going. The airport was quite busy but travelling through to our gate was relatively painless. The flight was completely full – every seat. Aside from masks, it felt very normal indeed. Our friend met us at the airport in Holland and dispatched us to our accommodation in a taxi which felt pleasingly decadent.

I was delighted with the Airbnb I found us in the Hague.

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It was beside the beach (fine, technically Schevening) and although it was definitely not beach weather, it was nice to see the sea. It had the extraordinarily steep ladder like stairs which come as standard in Dutch houses. I have no idea how old people manage. Maybe all the cycling keeps them super fit?

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We went to the supermarket and we were the only people wearing masks. The Dutch only have to wear masks on public transport and everyone has abandoned elsewhere.

That evening we went to our friend’s 50th birthday party. Lads, a hundred people, a buffet and not a mask to be seen anywhere. It was like the before times: I loved it. The boys went off to play cards with the birthday girl’s children and Mr. Waffle and I mingled. We had a grand old chat with an old friend of the birthday girl who has left a very successful career in the law to move into gin production. Do you think I am making this up?

The venue was delightful: a big old house in the middle of a park with a lake. Apparently it used to be owned by Shell for the purposes of entertaining Shell bigwigs before becoming a venue for hire. All going well with Shell eh?

At 9 I took myself off to the airport to meet herself off her plane from England. This was fraught with difficulties due to my imperfect understanding of the Dutch public transport system. I found myself cowering on the tram rehearsing the lines I would give to the ticket inspector when it became clear that my transport card had insufficient funds. Happily the moment never came and I scurried into central station in the Hague and on to my train to Schiphol without further difficulties.

God, it was so nice to see my first born child. She was in terrific form and wanted to go straight to the party which we dutifully did and I am happy to report that we were among the very last to leave.

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Saturday, October 30, 2021

We had a quiet morning and then went for a ride on the big wheel by the beach before taking ourselves off to our friend’s house where the boys continued their game with their Hiberno-Dutch friends and a neighbour’s child. Our friend fed all of us, her own family and her two sisters. Quite heroic. And one of us is now a vegan. As well as her own party the previous night and all the attendant relatives in town, she also had a friend’s 50th dinner party that night and her third child’s confirmation the following day. It was a lot but she seemed in great form in fairness.

Sunday, October 31, 2021

We decided to go to the Escher exhibition in town which was pretty good and the boys found it mildly interesting too which is always a bonus.

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Herself was keen to go to the Mauritshuis. Off she trotted on her own. She was supposed to have booked a ticket but she hadn’t. The doorman liked her earrings and let her in anyway.

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Earrings are visible above in the accidentally Wes Anderson shot of herself and Michael.

The Mauritshuis was free in for young people and she was delighted with it; full of old friends. She went wild in the gift shop: that’s my girl.

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We had a final lunch together at the airport. We had to abandon herself half way through to run for our flight. I was sad to say good bye and leave her eating alone in an enormous international airport but it was probably for the best: we made our flight but it was a bit tight. Schiphol is quite a large airport, isn’t it? And two of us were selected for a very slow and deliberate random bag check which did not help matters. There were tense times in our little group. Separately, our 18 year old made her flight with lots of time to spare and a slightly superior attitude.

We got home to lashing rain, a delighted cat and a stream of trick or treaters for whom we had neglected to buy any sweets. Alas.

“It’s starting to get a bit cold, finally,” I said to Mr. Waffle, “Will I switch on the Aga?” “Not the weekend of COP 26,” said he. Everyone’s a critic.

I must say, it was nice to be away, away. I’ve really missed going to different places. I had forgotten how absolutely charming Holland can be. I do feel lucky to have been able to go: I fear restrictions may be back again later in the year so the timing was good. Will Covid ever end?

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