It had to be Shoe....

Today's a good day, for not only is it Friday which always gives it an edge over, say, a Tuesday, but I had coffee, craic and home made muffins with good friends-a perfect combination, don't you think?  Friday also means NO HOMEWORK which we ALL love, so I've just popped in 'Stuart Little' for the little 'uns and now I'm about to catch up on those 'Housewives of NYC.' Better and better, non?

And if THAT'S not enough, Himself and myself are off out on a date tonight. Yay!!  There'll be candlelight and steaks and wine and with no nappywipesbibtoycarssippycup,  I'll even get to carry that little fancy handbag instead of my usual  enormous sack. I know! My cup runneth over and I'm excited-can you tell?

Yes, they ARE hairy too!

So, with all that going on already, you can imagine that it was almost TOO much to bear, when I came home to find these little beauties waiting patiently for me. Sparkles, spikes, zebra print AND in the sale. Sure, it would surely have been a sin not to!
 Come to Mamma, my precious darlings.....Now the only question is, which ones to wear tonight??

More is more, I say!

Have a fabulous, frivolous Friday, my Loveliesxxx

The Big Meet

Recently Luke and myself have started going to a  JO Jingles music class on a Friday morning in Moira, and I gotta tell you, its's a big hit. ( Check him out throwing a few moves to the endlessly popular 'Sleeping Bunnies'!)



 Beforehand though, to suitably fortify myself (caffeine drip anyone?), we often  go to my very favourite spot in Moira-The Fat Gherkin- for a smoothie (him) and a latte (me).

Last week, I had arranged to meet, for the first time IRL (In Real Life!) the lovely Dara who writes the fabulous crafty blog- Mum of all Trades. We've been buddies on Twitter until now, and I LOVE her blog- she's so creative and inspiring-you wouldn't believe the things that girl can do with a spray gun! (In stark contrast, you'll be a long time waiting to see any crafts on my blog- I'm so rubbish at them, I start to twitch when the play dough comes out). Coincidentally, she too has four boys and a girl, so we'd loads to chat about and I even got to meet her adorable three year old daughter Olivia. (Although as toddlers do, she and Luke steadfastly ignored each other the entire time!)

(L-R)  Me, Dara and Avril and no, the floor isn't ACTUALLY at that angle!

Then, quite by chance, we heard that Avril Keyes who writes the wonderful School Gate Style blog was ALSO in da house! Who knew The Fat Gherkin was such a magnet for bloggers? I adore Avril's blog,  and amongst other things, I've learned how to tie a scarf in numerous different ways, got a heads up on the upcoming  Boden and M&S sales, and had my say in the ongoing wedge trainer debate. (In case you're interested, IMHO they're so wrong, they're right.)

 So of course, being blog divas, we had to capture the moment for posterity, and thankfully Olwyn, the proprietor, was on hand to snap this shot, which then I instagrammed just for the fun of it.

Staaaaap Already!

 You can't see it, but Dara and myself have a little stash each of The Fat Gherkin's famous caramel squares to take away. Now, I realise that I've told you about them before, so look away now if you're on a diet, because these bad boys are every bit as gorgeous as they look.   (Don't deny it, I KNOW you're having a wee sneaky lick of that screen right now!)
 Ciao bella xxx

Every Picture tells a Story!

Hello dearest peeps, and what have we here on this bright, cold November day? Well, bless my soul, it's a candid little shot of me writing a blog post, surrounded by all my dearest children, who are clearly hanging on my every word while peeking lovingly over my shoulder, just so. How touching! How heartwarming! How........... far fetched and utterly untrue! 

But hey, that's show biz for you, because this is one of the photos that Cliff, the crumpet eating Irish News photographer took when he was here nearly a month ago. Yes, you did read that right, A MONTH AGO! It's been so long now that friends and family have actually stopped asking me when I'm going to be in there, because they've obviously assumed, naturally enough, that,
a) I'm so boring that The Irish News decided AFTER interviewing me and taking photos- 'Thanks, but no thanks love', or 
 b) I'm obviously delusional and made the entire story up. (Although, in my defense, if I WERE to 
make it up,  I'd definitely have plumped for a slightly more glamorous Hello or Grazia interview instead.)

Either way though, it's a lose- lose for me, so last week, I took the bull by the horns and feeling COMPLETELY wick,  rang the number Crumpet Cliff had given me to get copies of the photos he'd taken. I spoke to the lovely man himself, and not only did he send me the photos, but he reassured me that I would indeed make it into the paper before 2012 is out. 
I asked him straight out too. 'Cliff', I said, 'I'm a big girl AND an unfit mother to boot, if it's been put into the old circular file, just tell me. I can take it!'

'Absolutely not', he insisted. Apparently, it's scheduled to be in the weekend Features section, which always has a backlog, so it's often months before an article appears. Oh my goodness! The relief that I wouldn't have to pretend that I'd dreamt the entire thing, like Pam in Dallas was huge, (HUGE, I tell you!), so I assured Cliff he was welcome here for buttered crumpets anytime. 


But back to the photo- even though it may look like a relaxed, chilled moment, nothing could be further from the truth. This was the last photo taken, so nerves were frayed, noses were running and clean clothes were steadily getting covered in jam. Poor Cliff must've taken 50 shots before he got this one- when he did eventually manage to get everyone looking at the Ipad, Rory decided it was the key moment to pick his nose, or Luke the ideal opportunity to squeal and wriggle off my knee, or Cormac, the perfect time to graciously share a 'silent but deadly' with all of us. Ah, good times....

Thank God for Mr Tumble!

So, as it was, the only way to keep Luke on my knee was to put Cbeebies on the iPad, so in the photo we're actually all deeply engrossed in Mr Tumble's cheeky antics! 


Oh, and out of interest, any idea how Cliff cleverly got the screen to light up our faces like that? Well, insider knowledge alert!!! Because there's actually another flash hidden behind the iPad and a piece of white paper on it's screen, (which unfortunately restricted Luke's full appreciation of Mr Tumble so he kept pulling it off),  but still, how cool is that!? Don't say you don't learn stuff around here!
Have a good Monday my loveliesxxx


 
I've joined up with Sarah Miles at Hello Wall today-go on over and take a peek at the rest!

Silent Sunday #30

Christmas Pudding

Granny and me

When I look back at Christmas' past, (and is it just me, or do we look back MORE as we get older?), an integral part of it all was Granny's Christmas pudding. Not just the eating of it, although that was pretty great, but the annual ritual of preparing it, mixing it and cooking it.
Growing up, Granny was like a second mother to me - it didn't matter that she had 11 children of her own, I was her first grandchild and she always made me feel special and important - unsurprisingly, I spent as much time there as I possibly could.
Every year about mid November, Granny started the mammoth task of making Christmas puddings for her children and their families. First, there was the buying of industrial quantities of ingredients, and then the soaking of  fruit in Guinness and brandy overnight.  Next day, there was the weighing, mixing and stirring of several huge basins of pudding mixture, followed by the filling of the bowls, then covering them with greaseproof paper and tying them up with string. Finally, and most time consuming of all, was the 12-14 hours steaming of each one. This took MAJOR commitment -  she often got up several times during the night to top up the water in the saucepans. When they were eventually distributed to each family, I often wondered if they all knew just how much effort had gone into each and every one.
Of course, the best part of all was the eating of it. After being steamed again on Christmas Day, it was almost black in colour, (on account of all that Guinness!), and  heavy, rich and delicious when served up with fresh cream and brandy butter on the side. A veritable heart attack on a plate.
My three brothers in particular, put away vast quantities of the stuff - they LOVED the fact that as an added bonus it made them fart... a lot. Even more than usual, in fact,  which was quite a feat - to them it was a gift that kept on giving,  if you like. The leftover pudding (we always got an enormous one), was wrapped in tinfoil and gradually eaten over the holidays. Actually, it was often just nibbled straight from the fridge and Christmas wouldn't have been the same without it.
Granny died in March 1999, just a few months before our Anna, her first great grandchild was due. There had been great excitement on both sides of the Atlantic when she agreed to come and visit us that summer in Virginia, but tragically it just wasn't meant to be. Later when Anna was born, I found it comforting to think that she had lovingly held her even before we did. I miss her still.
So it's a little bit special to have her handwritten pudding recipe in front of me now and it's an honour to follow in her footsteps with this Christmas tradition.  I'll not lie -there's been a few disasters - for instance,  several years ago, I committed the unforgivable error of letting the pans boil dry. That combined with the use of plastic pudding bowls meant an unprecedented pudding disaster. Unless you prefer your pudding with melted polymers, of course.  Thankfully, the birds didn't seem to mind - I just picked out the plastic and they feasted like kings and that year we had the fattest robins for miles around.
This year I wisely stuck to glass and ceramic bowls, and thanks to Mr Google I also finally worked out how to steam them in the Aga - sooooo much easier, no pesky topping up required and now I'm kicking myself that I didn't realise this before.
And On Christmas Day I'll take a piece and remember my Granny and if it tastes half as good as hers did, I'll be very happy ...(that said, with four boys, we could possibly live without the 'hilarious' side effect of enhanced flatulence!)

Happy Christmas Granny   xxxxx

Delivery!

So, there I was this morning,  iPad on knee, coffee in hand, when the house beepers alerted me to someone arriving outside.
 Turns out it was my friendly, local, delivery man who appears to do ALL the internet deliveries around these parts, and as a result,  I've got to know him per-itty well.
As usual, he happily popped round to the back door,  had a good old nosy through the kitchen window and clocked me on my iPad.
He's a bit of a cheeky chappie, you see, and we always have a bit of craic- the last time I opened the door, he greeted me with, 'It's a big one this time. Get it away up the stairs before yer husband sees it!'
 So this morning, when I opened the door to to sign the electronic thingy,  he quips,
' Penning your big novel, are you?'
' Oh yes,' says I, ready for him, How'd you know?'
  'Sure, didn't I read all about it in the Guardian! ( Steady now- that would be the Antrim Guardian, not the ACTUAL Guardian, but still, it took the wind right outta MY sails.)
'What?'  I stammered back.
 'Yep', says he, grabbing the upper hand, 'You were away in London for something or other? Housewives? Or something? Anyway, congratulations!'
'Thank you!' I gathered myself, 'I didn't even know it was in there! Maybe if I actually bought the Guardian now and again, eh!'
 He laughed and then off he went but closing the door, I quickly discovered that the package WAS'NT actually mine at all, so I ran out after him, but he was already careering off up the lane at a fierce rate.
 Five minutes later though and the beepers went again, and there he was back with my ACTUAL package- a plain brown 'Toys R Us' box, (Shhhhhh!), so I handed him back the 'Next' one.
'Oh Aye', I accused him, 'You just assumed that one had to be for me as well, didn't you? Hmmm?'
He laughed agreeably, totally caught on,
'Yeah well, YOU should've known you didn't order anything from Next!'
Drat, he was right...I'd quietly assumed it was a tipsy late night purchase.
'That's true', I conceded grudgingly, 'Sure, I thought I had and had just forgotten about it!'
He laughingly shook his head, clearly relishing his moment, and then headed off, calling over his shoulder as he went,
 'Christmas is coming- I'll be seeing you again soon,  I'm sure.'
 Cheeky sod- Right again. AND he knew it too. Drat and double drat.

Silent Sunday #29

Friday Quick Takes

• Remember my iPhone? The one that had the broken screen that then SOMEHOW, (ahem), ended up with everything except the screen broken? Well, the saga continues because apparently, the new screen was, (as luck would have it!), faulty and that's what's been causing all these problems... but now a new screen is winging its way here as we speak, so by the end of this weekend all should be tickety boo on the old iphone front. At least that's what my resident repairer of iPhone screens confidently assures me, and as I don't actually have a plan B at this point, I'm running with the 'faulty screen theory' as well.... Stay tuned for a (hopefully positive) update.

• November is traditionally the season of parent teacher meetings around here. A few years ago with four in the primary school, I had to run frantically from one ten minute slot to the next, with six month old Luke in tow, and I'm not sure that I heard very much at all. So this year, with just the two middle boys at primary, and a more manageable toddler, it was easy peasy. It would be fair to say that I was a teensy bit more apprehensive about what I'd hear about one boy in particular-his approach to the whole school thing in general is 'Less is more', but I needn't have worried, it all went swimmingly. Next up are the older two at the big school and that's a whole different kettle of fish. Gone are the laid back chats of primary school -this is an endless wait in a winding queue for 1 minute of teacher facetime, x10. The only possible way is to divide and conquer, and here's a tip-watch out for the opportunistic queue jumping that goes on among some of the parents-totally shameless!

• Staying on the school theme for a moment, I overheard six year old Rory asking this question about Jude's head teacher- 'Is Mrs Animal Tin a very strict teacher, Jude?'  To which Jude spluttered 'It's Mrs Hamilton, Rory!' 'Yes, I know,' says Himself surprised, 'that's what I said!'

• Finally, here's a picture. It's an escaped cow on the road to school this morning and it caused quite a bit of drama-The steady stream of cars (relatively speaking, you city folk!), slowed down and gave her a wide berth on their way past. Presumably though, the farmer was eventually notified and Daisy returned to her field to chew some cud with her buddies again.                                           

• Finally finally, I thought I'd let you know that I'll probably not be around here as much over the next few weeks. The truth is, the Christmas preparations are SERIOUSLY getting in the way of shooting the breeze with you, and I don't want blogging to become a chore or something that I HAVE to do, because then it all starts to feel a little stale. And who am I kidding, you'll probably be so busy yourselves, that you'll not even notice, but I just thought I'd mention it anyway. Have a good weekend, my lovelies, Em xxx

Hump Day

Just lush..

No words needed...

Never underestimate the power of blue leopard nail foils to lift one's mood on a wet Wednesday in November... Or Grazia magazine.... Or a new series of The Real Housewives.... Or a caramel square....




 Whatever it is that floats YOUR boat may, (like mine), be trivial or silly in the great scheme of things, and wonderfully different for everyone certainly, but IMHO, it's these mini milestones that  make an ordinary day all the sweeter... or at the very least, a little more bearable!
So go on, do share... tell us what's sweetening YOUR day today?

Monday Moan

I'm tired today and I really don't feel like chatting much. My mouth is sore- I got that dental surgery that I was telling you about last Friday, and although not in terrible pain, I  feel a little bit rundown.

There's lamb mince in the fridge that needs  to be somehow woven into shepherd's pie for tonight's dinner but I just can't face it...not yet. Maybe after another coffee.

My iPhone's currently broken and I feel like I've lost a limb, which makes me annoyed at myself for caring so much, and very pissed off at a certain Loverboy who broke it in the first place.

But there I go, you see, because that's actually not quite true. I broke the screen and not for the first time either - it was on my knee, I forgot it was there, and when I stood up, the concrete got to it first. What an utter klutz.

So Loverboy went online and ordered me a new screen (£25), which he fitted yesterday using the specialist tools he'd bought following my  previous breakages. Only this time it wasn't so simple, and three hours later the screen looked great but now the rest of it didn't work. Which, of course,  I took REALLY well. (Translation-I was a complete bitch)

Later I apologized, (kind of), and then he cheered right up when he clocked Ginger Spice on Piers Morgan. Which obviously was my 'kill a fantasy' cue, because the next words out of my (sore) mouth were,
'You DO know she's not a proper redhead, don't you? That hair's dyed off her-she's actually mousy brown.'  And I then proceeded to ignore the look of surprised disappointment on his face. And felt not even the tiniest prick of guilt.. Nothing. ...Nada.

So I DEFINITELY wasn't going write anything today, because who needs to hear from a grumpy cow like me on a Monday morning anyway? But then, with typical contrariness I thought, 'Well tough luck, it's MY blog and I can write whatever I want on here and it doesn't have to be just the fun and happy stuff and no one HAS to read it anyway!'......... and it'll put off the ironing and shepherds pie making for a little bit longer too.  And wouldn't you know,  the stupid thing is, I feel a bit better just by getting it all down on (virtual) paper.

And if you've stuck with me to the end of this snarky bad tempered rant, then you're a much better person than I am....so thank you. Normal service will, (if I feel like it) resume shortly.

I've joined up on this post with the fab Sarah Miles at Hello Wall for her Monday Club link.

Silent Sunday #28

Friday Quick Takes

talkin' the talk....

1. Now, I know you've been on the edge of your seat wondering how potty training has been progressing around here, so I'll put you out of your misery...it hasn't.
After a stressful few days, (me, not him), when every floor in the house was piddled upon (and worse), I made the executive decision to put further training on hold until the New Year.
Oh yes indeed, although perfectly content to SIT on his Rolls Royce of potties, (the one with the spongy seat that looks like a proper toilet- VERY comfortable..I tried it), when nature called, he would just wander off  and do his business elsewhere. Usually on the carpet, as luck would have it.
I did all the right things - read him 'potty' books, bought him big boy pants in bright colours, and promised 'special treats' for success. He actually grasped the theory part easily, and would happily parrot it back to me, but when push came to shove, he clearly just wasn't ready to put his money where his mouth was. (I'm mixing my metaphors now but you know what I mean!) So, it's bye- bye big boy pants for a little while longer!  *breathes huge sigh of relief*

2.  I was rummaging through my tardis of a handbag the other day, and amidst the usual debris of nappies, wipes, phone, raisins, toy cars etc,  I discovered a slice of toasted wheaten bread, completely intact. The embarrassing, and slightly worrying truth is that I have no idea how, or even when, it got  there... Now I'm thinking, I'm not even sure I want to know!

3. Speaking of toy cars, (I know it's tenuous, but run with it), we've had to draw a line when it comes to Rory, and the impressive stash of them, he's been smuggling efficiently into Mass on Sunday.
 When the kids are very young I DO bring a selection  of distractions like books, toy cars, food, dummy, alcohol (I'm joking!), to just 'get through' that hour without a meltdown. (Theirs and mine). And I'll be honest with you, sometimes we've managed to pull it off, other times it's been the old walk of shame back down the church.
 Anyway, Rory will be seven in January, so it's high time he was participating instead of playing, but he still likes to amuse himself with the odd toy or book that we've brought for Luke. And we've sort of turned a blind eye, except that of recent weeks, he's obviously decided to ramp it up a bit.
 For instance, as Mass began two weeks ago, I watched in amazement as he removed from his coat pocket, a car transporter with it's full complement of 6 cars. Last week, it was his toy plane, a mc Donald's toy and three dump trucks. This week, there's nothing else for it... he's getting frisked before we go.

4.  Finally,  I've got a confession to make and it ain't pretty. I'm completely and utterly addicted to 'The Real Housewives of New York'. (And while we're on the subject, I also peruse Orange County, New Jersey and Beverly Hills).
I don't know how this happened.  I tuned in once to simply shake my head at the cut of them, and the next thing I know, I'm sky plus-ing the entire series, and googling the outcome of Jill and Betthany's long term feud.
I can't help myself.... and thankfully I know now that I'm not alone, as a few friends have murmured quietly that they too are hooked. It's been a tremendous relief to realize its not just me ... and to then be able to share a detailed analysis of Alex and Simon's weird relationship.
 Take my advice when it comes to RHNYC - just say no!  
Happy Friday, and have a lovely weekend my lovelies, Emxxx

Just Another Date

 This week I've decided to give the 100 Word Challenge a go. It's a creative writing exercise run on Julia's Place where you respond to a particular prompt-this week it's a picture of a tree with an orange spot on it-a sign that the tree was to be felled. It can be interpreted in whatever way you like, as long as the words 'ORANGE SPOT' are included. Of course, me being me, I'm already thinking I've done it all wrong, but here's my humble little offering anyway. Go easy on me, it's my very first time!



 Just Another Date

She was impressed- Orange Spot had got great reviews since it opened AND it wasn't cheap. She liked that. At this point, she had endured so many rubbish dates in naff bars, that she'd considered cancelling her membership altogether...but she hadn't. Maybe it was because underneath the layers of cynicism and light-reflecting makeup, was a skim of hope. That this email, this one, would be different. Maybe. Then, all the warm Chardonnays and exit strategies would be worth  it. But as her taxi pulled up, and her eyes lit upon the man waiting outside, they widened in shocked disbelief.

Playing Catch Up!

It's been a bit of a mad week- not bad-mad just busy -mad and honestly? Pretty exhausting. You see, Loverboy was in the US with work and the kids were all off on midterm break, so I didn't get much of a chance to touch base with y'all. So brace yourself, my lovelies, cos I  feel a download coming on...

All ready to go!

Despite Loverboy being away, and therefore not hosting our usual crazy Halloween bash here, the kids and I had a great time gatecrashing other people's parties. (Thanks Angie and Bronagh for all the yummy food and great craic!)  Truthfully though, my very favourite part of the whole night was seeing my great friend Jen & her lovely fam again. They've just (bravely!) returned to Glenavy from California after a 2 year stint, and although we kept in touch pretty well while she was gone....it's just ain't the same. So I  feel very blessed indeed to have her back, and I KNOW there's lots of others who do too. So from all of us,  welcome home,  Babe!

Then, the very next morning, I had the Irish News here for an interview about the MAD awards. Yep, just an ordinary Thursday. (Whoops, did I just drop something?!)
Of course, after frantically showering all the kids, choosing suitable clothes for photographs, issuing threats about getting dirty, tidying the house in preparation, AND finally making myself halfway presentable, I was bloody wrecked.  It certainly didn't help things that as soon as a camera comes anywhere near me, I unerringly produce the fakest, most forced smile you've ever seen. I think it's hereditary. Between that, and  trying to coax five hungry children to look at the camera at the very same moment AND smile, the poor photographer had his work cut out for him.
Of course, it was Sod's law that fisticuffs would then break out between two of the boys, and I'd have to referee them IN FRONT of the journos. I couldn't have hoped for a more  perfectly timed 'opportunity' to showcase my discipline techniques?
'Now,  now boys, I think that calls for a time out, don't you?' through clenched teeth, while REALLY coding ' Just wait'll I get my hands on the pair of you later!'  Oh the fun of it all.  (And just a tad randomly, who knew journos were so partial to toasted crumpets? )

 Shortly after they left, Loverboy arrived home from his trip, and I'm not ashamed to say that I was very, very glad to see him. A few days away makes me realize how utterly indispensable he is. Not only is it lonely parenting on your own... it's all the wee things, like locking up the house at night, and checking on the kids last thing, and fixing the computer, and jump starting the car, and making the tea, and doing the school run, and watching 'The Housewives of New York' together. (Yes, really). The companionship of it all. When he's away, it not only makes me appreciate him all the more, but I always marvel at how single parents manage to do it all the time on their own. Hats off to each and every one.

Then, at the weekend we went and closed the caravilla up for the Winter, or winterised it apparently.  (My sister Mary pointed out that that makes it sound like some vast country mansion somewhere, which gave me an LOL. ) Thank you so much for all the top tips and pointers from you seasoned Caravilla owners out there-we put the mattresses on their ends, cushions in the middle of the floor and salt in all the rooms. And left with a car packed to the neck with duvets, pillows, laundry and kids.  I can hardly believe that our first season is at an end- next stop St Patrick's Day! Walking around and checking everything before we left, I felt very grateful for the memories we've made there so far, and hopefully the many others still to come. Looks like it was a good move for us after all, and next year with a shed and a washing machine all of my very own, life will surely be complete....Who knows, I  may never come home! Adios, amigosxxxx

I've joined up on this post with the fab Sarah Miles at Hello Wall for her Monday Club link. Check out them all out here.

Silent Sunday #27