I have a garden...

OKAY okay saying I have a garden is a massive overstatement, I actually have a back yard and cannot wait until the weather is better and I can be out pottering around the yard all the time.

I spent the weekend planting lots and lots of things. Trouble is if even half of the seeds I planted take hold I will have no room to potter, (the dog is already complaining); it will be an explosion of green things. So far there are tomatoes, lots, carrots, again lots, all sorts of flowers, herbs as well as potatoes.



Nanny picked me up a little greenhouse which I put up last week and appears to be doing the job, if slight steamy/condensation when it rains is anything to go by. In fact I opened them earlier to put in stuff and there was almost a puff of warm air coming out. If you have a small space and fancy one too the greenhouse cost £9.99 in Poundstretcher and I also saw them this weekend in Aldi for 20 euro and very handy and fairly sturdy they are too.





You may also remember the bulbs I planted in a pot before I moved and which started to sprout as I didn't get them outside quick enough. I put the pots outside when we moved in and promptly forgot about them until I realised that in the middle of all the long green shoots all these lovely things have been appearing and yes I planted way too many things in one pot. But who cares. There were also daffodils in this growth but they have obviously been strangled.





No container is safe from planting either. And this definitely ticks the container criteria for me, I bought these minging things for the Young Wan for a outdoor pursuits weekend with school only I brought home two left, or was it right, feet. So I have cut holes in the boot here and there and stuck some herb seeds into the holes. Who knows if they will take but time will tell.





So where on earth am I going to put all this greenery? Well at the moment there is still stuff from the move to be shifted from the back so a good portion of the yard isn't usable. Once it is gone I am gonna look for a handy wo/man to help, I am a pretty handy woman but there are somethings I am not going to attempt or should I say should not attempt. I tried to hang my hanging basket of strawberry plants from a bracket which I attempted to hammer into the yard wall with a masonry nail but I just couldn't manage it. So they are hanging on the clothes line hook for the moment.



I think it will probably need a drill and as handy as I am I don't have a drill preferring for someone else who knows what they are doing to do it. And I will need more of using the walls if all my plants take because there won't be enough floor space.

This post (and the garden/yard) is something that I have wanted to do for a while having spent the last couple of years showing off my window boxes from the flat on the blog, the idea of having a larger outdoor space is just fantastic.

I should also hat tip S who had an idea that is perhaps being leaned on in this post but as we have had many discussions on such things I hope/believe he'll understand. (Sorry for being cryptic perhaps S will enlighten everyone at some stage.)





The above pix show my garden/yard before we moved in and the last and bigger pic shows nearlyish the same view of the first pic as it looks now. It looks dramatically different now, the first pic would be very different now as I have a pile of stuff to go stored there; stuff like bin bags of rubble, our recycling and rubbish bags which I have been storing in the coal shed until I have space for an actual bin. I will have to have a bin as there are loads of cats who tear the rubbish bags apart.

As a result the back is organised chaos, one side has stuff for the skip and the other side is coming down with pots and plants. So until the skip stuff is sorted I can't really find permanent homes for what has already been planted, never mind where to put everything that will be coming up in the next couple of weeks.



I intend to get some steel shelves to put the vegetables I'm growing and as I said earlier hang other things around the walls. At some stage as well I intend to get a table and two chairs, anymore is being wildly optimistic, actually a table and two chairs is being kinda optimistic already but I will somehow squeeze them in.

So for now I am coming down with growing things, outside, in the bathroom and all over the kitchen and its great. Roll on the summer.

Honey and the balloons

I told you before how Honey loves balloons and I caught some of her playing with one this afternoon.

Fashion rewind

OVER Christmas Nanny bought the Young Wan a waistcoat which was practically identical to one I had in years past. I had many at different stages and the one the Young Wan has came from a man's suit just like my favourites did.

She hasn't worn it yet because she was waiting to get a large white shirt to wear under it and she came in with one tonight. She also came in with skin-tight white pinstripe jeans and coloured hair extensions.

During the hour and a half it took her to get the dishes done, she had back-combed her hair madly, put in the green, electric blue and pink extensions; and I can't help but think when she gets the waistcoat and shirt on she will look just like Russell Brand. She is better looking of course, but still she will look like Russell Brand. I'm eh so proud.

Its a kind of magic

The Young Wan does magic with some help from her beautiful assistant Honey.

St Patrick's Day, Dublin 2008

WELL the weather held for St Patrick's Day yesterday in Dublin and although it was cold the sun was shining on the thousands of people lining the streets for the parade.

Unless you have a good vantage spot the parade is actually a frustrating time of being squashed and looking at the back of people's heads. I have also never been able to work out those adults who push their way to the front. Okay if you have children and want to keep a close eye on them but if you are an adult and by pushing to the front have prevented a child from seeing all the fun, shame on you. You might as well start mugging children for their sweets.

The Young Wan may be 16 years old now, but is still entitled to see some of the action and not the back of this very inconsiderate man who couldn't keep to the one spot. Any time there was a break in heads meaning that we were actually able at points here and there to see the parade, he, despite being at the front, would shift his head to the only available free spot. Nice. This is a yearly occurrence and one that I find amazing each year.

I was also floored by the very large older man who brought a step ladder for the kids with him. He was behind the Young Wan, the next time I looked he had shifted her over until she was behind him. Seriously what is with that?

So after a frustrating 45 mins we headed home and had a better vantage point at one of the barriers put up to stop people cutting onto the parade route.

But fair play to all the participants, those who made the costumes and floats and all the organisers. Despite not seeing that much, what I did manage to catch a glimpse of was fantastic. Some images are already on Flickr and I'll finish uploading the rest this evening as well as putting some up on pix.ie.

RM column February 22 - Work Experience

RM column February 22 - Work Experience

THIS week the Young Wan has been doing work experience as part of Transition Year and is doing it with the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA).

Part of me cringes at the thought and part of me thinks it is brilliant. It is not as if there are things that she will learn that I wouldn’t want her to I have always tried to be honest and open with her.

My cringeness is more to do with the fact that she is 16 and I do not want to admit that she is a young woman, she is still my baby but growing up fast.

Her work experience is also testament to how far we have come that her Catholic convent school allowed her to do her work experience there. And she is not the only one a pal of hers a fella is also doing it.

The things they are learning could well put them off sex and bodies for life.

The Young Wan saw the equipment needed for a smear test the other day and came home horrified saying when she grew up she would never have a smear test. I told her that all women must have smear tests but remember don’t cough or you’ll break yourself! After laughing at her even more horrified face I told her the truth that smears are not nice but necessary and they don’t hurt but are uncomfortable more because of the nature of it than how it feels.

Then they had to update the IFPA’s Bebo page and a pamphlet about periods, the fella cringed and repulsed from start to finish but fair play to him and the Young Wan who both seem to be taking this all very maturely while doing their best.

Our conversations in the house this week have been colourful to say the least, lots of talks about STIs (sexually transmitted infections), pregnancy, health check-ups and contraception.

I can imagine some readers may be aghast that I would allow her to go to do work experience in the IFPA but I have always felt that openness and honesty is whenever possible the best way to teach your children.

She was about seven or eight years old when she asked me ‘I know the sperm fertilises the egg but how does the sperm get there in the first place’. So while on one hand I may up to that stage not felt her old enough for the birds and bees talk when your child asks such a direct question it requires a direct answer.

One of the best things about telling her at that age was that she wasn’t embarrassed to talk about it with me, she was horrified at what I told her but she was full of questions.

A few years on would be a completely different story altogether, the last thing kids in their early teens want to hear is their parents talking about genitals and nookie. By then anyway it is too late, they have heard all sorts of things from their pals. I wanted the Young Wan to have the real facts and not nonsense spread by her peers.

The Young Wan has one more week to do with the IFPA and she has really enjoyed it so thanks to them for allowing her to come on board for the two weeks and to her school for being forward thinking and to my baby for being such a grown-up.

Oh what a beautiful morning

I DON'T need to say anymore, I think the image does the talking.

Commuting

More commuting pics.


Waiting on the bus and pull out my camera


Getting bored and planting stickers


Seats are not for feet

RM colum February 15th - Internet safety is still an issue

RM column - February 15th - Internet safety is still an issue

Not that long ago parents’ biggest problem concerning the internet was probably concerning what their child was looking at, now there are many more issues involved and checking out the more lets say colourful side of the internet probably ranks along the bottom of the list.

Research now shows that one of the most wonderful evolutions of the internet, social networking sites pose one of the biggest problems for young people. Social networking sites include sites like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook and I have written a lot about them before.

Don’t get me wrong I love the social networking phenomenon and have gotten so much out of it but I have always been astonished and disturbed to see how much information our young people are putting on the internet for all to see and save.

We can see photos of the young people, we can sometimes see phone numbers, we know where they go and who their friends are. That is something I am not at all comfortable with.
This is leaving them open to all sorts of things like identity theft, abuse and bullying not to mention the potential of harming choices they will make in the future.

While it would appear there is a certain amount of ‘it won’t happen to me’ it does appears that some of the safety messages are getting through to young people but we do need to do more and remain vigilant about our children’s internet activity.

One of the things about the internet which many people overlook and it is a biggy is that all the information is saved for future reference and can be used against you.

Recently a college admissions staff member admitted to going into potential students Bebo and MySpace pages and checking them out. So if the student has things about themselves that are less than favourable they can probably rule out that college.

And what constitutes less than favourable? Well probably talking about getting drunk all the time with the pictures to prove it.

This can also follow through to work so for that reason alone it is seriously important to watch what you say and publish about yourself.

Webwise.ie (which provides advice on safely using the internet) has found that 71 per cent of young people have public profiles on their sites. So anyone anywhere can check them out.
Being added as a friend also poses problems where people accept friendships online from people they have never met. And bear in mind how easy it is to go online and lie about who you are.

So even if your profile is not public and only available to friends, if you add a stranger as a friend your previous safety action is breached. Webwise has also found that 27 per cent of Irish nine to 16 year olds have met someone new on the internet who has asked for information such as their photo, phone number, address or the school they go to.

In some cases this is innocent and just teenagers meeting online but it is clear there are those who want this information for sinister purposes.

Scarily 12 per cent of Irish young people admit to posting their phone number, 8 per cent display their address, 49 per cent their date of birth and 79 per cent their full name. I have to admit to making mistakes myself, it is an area where we are all still learning.

We need to drive home the message of being safe on the internet to our young people. This isn’t about not being cool and not understanding the interwebs or indeed enjoying the benefits the internet has to offer. We teach our children all sorts of safety rules from they are small and the internet is no different.

Dawson Street Reflections

TAKEN on Dawson Street on the way home the other evening.

Irish Blog Awards - long post

WHAT a weekend. This post has been two days in the writing all the fun and frolics of Saturday's Blog Awards saw me take to my sick bed/sofa for most of Sunday so a little was written then and then rewritten today.


Maman Poulet organising the registration


Maman Poulet, Ellybabes highfiving and Mrs Chicken

My weekend kicked off lunchtime on Saturday with the photo meet where nine of us met up at the Spire, headed to Trinity, then up Grafton Street before retiring at O'Donoghues. Rymus, Mcawilliams, 73man, Gingerpixel, Ellybabes, Phil, Andy and Keith were all present and snapping away. Hopefully this can become a regular thing, there are great meet-ups but it would also be great to meet up with other photobloggers more.


A wistful moment on Grafton Street


WWMD? in Trinity


Mcawilliams and Rymus

One thing that was really cool about the photo meet is that there were four nominees from the Best Photoblog category including the eventual winner and we didn’t scrap once.

At the end of the afternoon we had a competition to guess how many images we collectively shot, everyone put in a fiver before guessing the total amount. Then we reported on how many we actually took and it amounted to nearly 900 shots, not bad for an hour and a half's shooting. It is a bad show when the proposer of the competition wins so eh sorry about that everyone.


Scores on the doors/ brown envelopes

At least I bought a round with my winnings before Elly, Gingerpixel and I headed back to my place and then hitting the Ladies tea held in the Market Bar. I couldn't even begin to list them all here, even without my brain being mashed following the weekend madness. And wow what a yummy spread and so many women bloggers I didn't know before but I did meet Debs (sorry Debs I had to duck out of Sunday's bunch but I was rendered completely useless), Sabrina (we met once before though the first time was brief) and Sinead. I met Aoife and Una which was excellent as well as taking a pic suggested by Mary Rose of all the women from above, thanks for that Mary Rose.



Then it was time for the awards and we gasped at the size of the room, the decorations looked great and the video announcements before each category was really cool; the awards have really come a long way since 2006. I brought Nanny and the Young Wan and we all had a really great night.

I was delighted to meet up with so many new faces/blogs as well as catching up on others whom I read regularly and haven’t had the opportunity to meet before now people like Curly K, Darragh, Grandad and Granny lost the plot and of course Granny Mar and I was raging to have missed out on meeting Flirty and many others. It was lovely to chat with one of the girls from Beaut.ie, then there was Caitriona and Ken . I nearly met Conor O'Neill who came hooting down the room before standing in front of me with a manic grin and jazz hands before moving/running/hooting on but I did meet his wife Catherine who like everyone else was really lovely.

There were also a few funny/embarrassing/shameful moments such as my giving out for not being salsaed, my ahem joy at winning one of Fustar’s manky toys, Maureen the barbie, only for a stewards inquiry to be called by Elly who wrestled me to the ground for Maureen or when I heckled Rick O’Shea as he thanked the Young Wan for her beautifully executed trophy handing over – eh sorry about that, I’m just a proud Mammy.


Ellybabes and Maureen

We had a great crowd around us and we were all absolutely delighted when the lovely and fellow Nordie Sharon from the Family Voyage lifted the Best Specialist Blog, I got a great cheer during the photoblog category (thanks family) and was delighted for Claire when she took the honours in the category for her beautiful images. We claimed to have been robbed in the Group Blog category wearing my Dublin Blog hat but hey Beaut.ie are a huge force to be reckoned with, and as clichéd as it sounds we were really delighted to make the shortlist.


Sharon, Grannymar and Grandad

I had hoped to rob my print from the wall, but in the blurriness of alcohol we staggered out without it. Or maybe we weren’t allowed to do that… I also forgot my Twenty book for signing so I must get that sorted.


Checking out my pic

Towards the end of the evening I kept a beady eye on one of the Kilkenny musicos who was chatting away to my beautiful Young Wan just in case there were any ideas there.

I know I will have missed a load of people in this post and I apologise for that, I met so many people and unless I noted them down there is no way my memory + alcohol would hold onto everything. So if I have missed you out after bending your ear I am really sorry.


Rick O'Shea and Damien

So finally thanks to Damien for another cracking night/weekend and thanks to all of you who helped create the incredible buzz in the hotel. So here’s to all this year’s winners and to 2009 :)

Oh and Thats Ireland (someone else I wanted to meet and didn't bump into) has a brilliant box list of all 400 blog nominees, pre shortlist, head over there and do a pot luck on any number of wonderful blogs, you never know what you'll find.

Irish Blog Awards - a top tag on Flickr

So keep uploading those images and tagging them irishblogawards!

Irish Blog Awards 2008 - short post

A POST on the Irish Blog Awards is coming soon. Too. tired. Now. To. Do. Anything. ZZzzzzzz. But here are a few taster pics, I have a post in progress which I'll upload post when I feel more human again and am sure I haven't written complete and utter rubbish.

I really enjoyed meeting up with everyone, new and not-so-new faces and the heartiest congrats to all the winners and well done Mr Mulley for another crackingly good evening. But as I said more later...

Ladies tea 

Photo meet group