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Ireland

Out and About


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Mr. Waffle, Reading etc.

There’s a new Turner exhibition in the National Gallery which I went to see. Genius or no, I didn’t love it. I went to a talk after my tour of the exhibition which was pretty good actually. The audience, on a Wednesday lunch time was composed entirely of elderly women. For once, I felt positively youthful.

I went to the Hugh Lane gallery – always a delight though small, sometimes that can be part of the delightfulness. My visit coincided with that of the Portuguese President who was on a State visit and at the Garden of Remembrance across the road. The members of the army band took shelter in the gallery and I must say they have quite the uniform. A little cape and a kepi – who knew?

I went swimming again with my friend who is a daily swimmer. It was a beautiful day but a bit windy. We got in on the beach side of the swimming shelter and there was a very strong undertow. We were less than two metres from the rocks when my friend said, “Start swimming for the steps.” I did and I made very little progress but eventually got back to the steps and hauled myself out but not before being pushed over the metal banister by a powerful wave. It was really surprising and I thought I was pretty lucky to be with a friend who did so much winter swimming as otherwise, I don’t think I’d have noticed how quickly I was being pulled out to sea. Two older men got in after us and one of them got into trouble. A young couple grabbed the life belt and he went down to the edge of the water (getting his trousers wet) and tossed it into the sea. I could see that the swimmer (maybe in his early 60s) was torn between a macho desire to manage without the ring and self-preservation. Eventually he grabbed the ring. Exciting times, I can tell you.

Mr. Waffle and I went on a Dublin walking tour. I was a bit worried it would be basic and, at best, I expected to learn a couple of things I didn’t know already. I was quite wrong. It was definitely the honours course. The guide took a lot for granted. For example when talking about Dublin housing stock he said in passing, ” I presume you all know about the Church Street Disaster“. There was a general murmur of assent and, indeed, I am familiar with it but I wouldn’t call it mainstream knowledge in Dublin and what on earth the four American tourists on the tour could possibly have known about it, I don’t know. However, for Dublin residents, I thought it was fantastic and I am definitely going to go on another one of his tours.

Several people I know have taken in Ukrainian refugees. I am so impressed by this but mostly they tend to, at least, mention it. I think it is stratospherically virtuous and you could at least get some well-deserved praise. I was amazed when one friend of mine sent out a message asking whether anyone wanted to come to her house for a wreath making workshop with a young designer from Odessa who is living with her. I had had no idea. On inquiry, I found that this young woman has been living with them for the past six months. In fairness, they do have a big house but they also have two primary school age children and it’s a big commitment to bring a stranger into your house with no fixed end date. I am really lost in admiration. Also my wreath? My wreath is amazing.

Covid – Some Wins


Posted in: Family, Ireland

I’ve been trying to think about what we gained during the pandemic; I know a lot about what we lost so I’ve been tying to think of some positives.

Food

I got into bread making. My sourdough was a disaster (we will not speak of it) but my sister-in-law gave me a recipe for a pretty foolproof no knead bread and it works for me. You really need to be working at home for it to work because it takes ages but it is very low labour.

I started eating porridge for breakfast. It has changed my life. So filling. So delightful with various toppings. Who knew?

Geography

I now have a detailed knowledge of almost everywhere within a 2km radius of our home. I’ve been really surprised at how much I didn’t know before, small parks and tiny estates. I’m also pretty well up on everything within a 5km and to a lesser extent 10km radius. Old churches, parks, the whole village of Chapelizod, which is just lovely.

I have a much more in-depth knowledge of the island of Ireland having spent a much greater proportion of my holidays there than I ever expected to. The children have been to almost all 32 counties which I am sure will stand to them in some obscure as yet unimagined way.

Neighbours

I got to know a lot more of my neighbours. The neighbourhood whatsapp group was started and although it can be a bit of a mixed blessing, it is, on balance, positive.

Entertainment

I really enjoyed our film nights with the big screen. The children tired of them but at a time when we had relatively little to look forward to, I looked forward to our weekend screenings. I might even get the projector out from under the stairs again at some point.

We became subscribers to the Irish Times in hard copy. I mean, I know we’re a dying breed here but I do enjoy a hard copy newspaper first thing in the morning. Usually the children glance at it on the kitchen table but the other day I saw Michael trying to turn the pages of the paper in the air. I’ll tell you this, if his performance is anything to go by, the art of safely turning the page of a broadsheet newspaper is definitely endangered.

Transport

It’s a slow burner but cycle infrastructure has definitely improved in Dublin. It’s great to feel a bit safer on the bike and I think that Covid accelerated what was already a trend.

Time with my children

This is a bit of a mixed blessing. At a time when they should have been away from home, meeting their friends, socialising, growing up, they were suddenly confined to barracks. On the whole, it was pretty awful for them and I would hate for anything like that to happen to another cohort of teenagers. However, it did mean that we saw lots of them and maybe got to know them better than we ever would have otherwise. I am pulling what I can from the burning building here.

Worthwhile purchases

The hammock and the rocking wooden seat that we bought for the back garden – purchased when the back garden was playing a very large role in our lives – have given us all hours of pleasure.

Money saved

I am a spendthrift but my spendiness is largely in relation to in person spending, it transpires. While I was working from home and not able to buy anything in person, I saved a lot of money. I was surprised, and it’s hard not to sound unbearable here, but it just kind of mounted up. I appreciate that we were very fortunate in this regard but so it was.

Time Out

The money saved in Covid, gave me enough of a cushion to try taking a year out of the work force. That clearly wasn’t the only reason but, obviously enough, it gave me an option that I never thought I had before. And I am loving my time off. It’s amazing.

What about you? Anything positive to report? Anything at all?

Updated to add: How could I have forgotten, the Government has given us a whole new public holiday- St. Brigid’s Day, the first Monday in February – to help us all recover. In perpetuity. Now that is a definite dividend.

Boosted


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

Yesterday the HSE sent me a text message beginning: “Anne age 53 years, keep well this winter.” To be honest, it’s not the perfect greeting. Nevertheless, it was a reminder to me to book my Covid booster appointment which I did yesterday. I got the jab this morning and the whole thing was seamless from start to finish. My vaccinator was an Italian from Bari and I got to practice my Italian to boot (he moved to Ireland, to a small town in Galway in late 2019 – oops). I did not even feel the needle go in and so far so good on side-effects other than the standard sore arm.

To be honest, I kind of wish that I hadn’t decided to take the door off the bathroom cabinet this afternoon but other than that, all is well. And the weather is beautiful. An opportunity for another builder to attempt to fix our gutters at enormous expense. Expect more of this exciting content over the next month.

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A Carnival of Delights


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Reading etc.

So here I am several months into my work break and I am still loving it. I thought once the boys went back to school in September and herself went off to Paris and then back to college, I might get bored. Not at all so far. Last time I had this much time alone was when I was six months pregnant with herself and we had just moved back to Brussels. I can remember being a bit bored. But, I am not pregnant now and it turns out that the increased mobility and being in Ireland rather than just back in a country where everyone I knew was working full time makes a big difference.

My initial plan to re-join the tennis club has been thwarted by an 18 month waiting list. I am outraged. I am half thinking of trying yoga. Is this crazy talk? I have never yoga’d before and I am a bit nervous about starting now. Your thoughts are welcome. In the absence of other forms of exercise, I have been cycling around with enthusiasm. I was particularly proud of a very long cycle I made to a distant suburb beyond the Dublin ring road to meet someone for lunch. I was a bit late for lunch though. It’s a long way. I took Michael for a tamer cycle through the park a couple of weeks ago and he was almost enthusiastic. He finally got a new bike and this has contributed to his enthusiasm levels I think. It positively sails over the ground compared to his clunky old one.

I went for a swim in the sea in September with a good friend who is also not working (she took a redundancy package pre-Covid and is pretty clear she’s not going back). She swims in the sea every day of the year. Not quite sure I am up for that yet. I was surprised how nice a dip in Howth in September could be. She has a lot of kit though. I’m not sure I’m ready for the level of investment required. Still I enjoyed our swim with fellow crazy people and then a lovely lunch in Howth afterwards.

I am finding cooking more enjoyable now that I have more time to do it. I made, yes made, a very successful batch of hummus. I was distressed to find that all this talk of chick peas is nonsense and the main ingredient is basically olive oil.

I was able to visit a good friend of my mother’s from college. She’s probably the only person left on earth to whom I can turn for tales of my mother that I don’t already know. Having known this woman literally all my life she’s probably the only parent-like figure left in my world. This is doubtless why she felt it appropriate to greet me with the words, “You’ve got fat.” True, alas. As we talked about my sister who is buying the rest of us out of the family home and the paper work she is womanfully ploughing through as my father’s executor, my mother’s friend commented on how good she was to take all this on. “Of course,” said she, “she was always the nicest of the three of you, that’s her problem.” Indeed. Weirdly, am quite keen to go back for more of this as she is absolutely great fun and I really like her.

My newfound plenty of time status means that I arranged for a birthday cake for a friend whose birthday fell on a book club date. Unfortunately, it turns out that those of us not gifted with plenty of time are good organisers and there were no fewer than three birthday cakes on the evening. Is too much cake really a problem? I refer you to my mother’s friend’s comments.

I’ve had a lot more time to spend in cafes. I love a good cafe. I have been very impressed by how nice the young people in cafes are to elderly customers. They appear to have almost infinite patience and turn a blind eye to those who furtively unwrap Marietta biscuits from tin foil while sipping their tea. Well, things aren’t getting cheaper, are they? I was particularly impressed by a young woman (his companion not a waitress) listened to an older Polish man describe his colonoscopy in detail. To be honest, I could have done with being seated a little further away.

As covered in an earlier post, I have been to Paris and I’ve also been to England and Wales (more details to come, something to look forward to as I like to say). What I enjoy about travelling in the new dispensation is how much freer it feels when trying to pick travel dates – a day earlier, a day later, it makes no difference.

I’ve had a nasty cold I am having trouble shaking for the past three weeks (not Covid, I tested, other colds exist). I am very nearly better now though I still have a slight cough (makes one feel like an absolute pariah in the current environment) and I have quite enjoyed being sick on my own time. If I’m sick, no one needs to cancel a meeting. I can go out one day and stay at home the next without feeling guilty. Though I do think that I am more noticing of my illness without the stress and adrenaline of work crises to distract me.

I had dinner with a friend the other night. We were supposed to go to a play but it was cancelled due to illness. It’s the first time in years I haven’t gone to the theatre festival but we may have dodged a bullet as our chosen play got, at best, mixed reviews. She asked me whether I was missing work. I really am not. I have had a tough couple of years and maybe I am just decompressing still. But, due to an extensive lunch programme, I’m still getting the best parts of work – the gossip, the gossip obviously – without the normal accompanying pain. I am a bit surprised and a tiny bit sad – I mean what have I been doing with my time – that I don’t miss it at all. There is no pleasing some people is all I can say.

Jam: Class of 22


Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

We have had a bumper apple harvest this year. We have three, yes three, apple trees.

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I have made so much jelly. Previously, when I made apple jelly, it was completely foolproof. It always set. This year I have had to throw away a batch which just refused to set. Disastrous. I found by dint of careful experimentation that actually even if it seemed like it was not going to set after a couple of days it mostly did. Peculiar. And unwelcome.

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Anyway, there’s only so much unset apple jelly you can make and our friends from falling fruit came around at the start of October to assist. It’s a volunteer organisation and they come and pick your fruit, give it to a food producer and the producer makes a donation to charity.

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They were there for two hours and picked nine of those large potato sacks worth of fruit and there are still loads of apples in the trees. I’m half sick of jelly said the Lady of Shallot.

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Updated to add:

This is what I have been reduced to. And no evidence that the primary school children who go past my door have been at all tempted by my witchy tactics.

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Relationship Status: It’s Complicated


Posted in: Boys, Cork, Daniel, Ireland, Michael, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Siblings

Mr. Waffle and I were on a lovely walk (well lovely in parts, parts were a bit inhospitable, but the views were generally nice and the weather was fantastic) in Carlingford the week before last when my phone started pinging.

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It was my Sunday afternoon book club speculating about the health of the Queen of England. They weren’t wrong, we arrived home in time to see the BBC read out news of her death. I was startled by how shaken I felt up there on the mountain. I mean, she was 96, it was hardly a complete surprise.

I suppose she reminds me a bit of my father who was of the same generation, just a year older; the old order changeth and all that. I remember my father telling me about the death of the old King – George V – in 1936 when my father was 10. There are few enough people now who remember that. I am surprised that, 100 years after independence, the death of a British monarch still has so much relevance here including for me

The Irish papers were full of the symbolic importance of her trip to Ireland in 2011. The children were in primary school at the time and the school closed down for the day as it was a bit close to the Queen’s visit to town. People were pretty nervous, I remember (presumably not as nervous as she was). It all went off peacefully though. She went to Cork (“Rebel County” snorted Mr. Waffle as gangs of school children waved flags to greet her on the Grand Parade). The fishmonger in the Market made a career from his brief encounter with her much to my brother’s ongoing chagrin. He feels that the fishmonger may have gone overboard on the marketing. He got a book out of the two minute encounter which was featured all over again in the Irish coverage of her death.

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On the Sunday after she died, I was surprised when the priest prayed for her at mass. “We pray now for Queen Elizabeth II and that she will be forgiven her sins, and received into the Kingdom of Heaven,” intoned the priest. “That’s what we do when people die, we pray for them and for God to forgive them their sins,” he informed the slightly startled congregation.

This Sunday, I noticed on the missalette under the list of mass intentions (a list of people for whom parishioners have paid for masses to be said – don’t talk to me about the Reformation – for special intentions, anniversaries, exams, dead family members, whatever you’re having yourself) that on Monday, 19 September, somebody was having a mass said for Queen Elizabeth II (RD). RD stands for recently deceased. Like we didn’t know. There she was sandwiched in between Bennie and Maisie (anniversary) and Pat and Mary (deceased) and sitting underneath the information that it was the feast day of Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr.

The second reading from St. Paul (something of a pragmatist) to Timothy was timely:

My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions, and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.

It really feels like the end of an era.

Updated to add: this appeared in today’s Irish Times. My brother is going to get a hernia.

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