RM colum April 4 - Picking the Leaving

RMcolumn April 4 - Picking the Leaving

THE TIME has come for the Young Wan to pick her subjects for the Leaving Cert. As important as this is the preparations into it all feels a bit hit and miss to be honest. Aside from the fact that reaching this stage is urrghh, I can already feel the pressure of LEAVING CERT EXAMS starting to rear their ugly head.

I found the pressure of the Junior Cert dreadful and it was only once it was all over that I was able to give a half sigh of relief, the full sigh didn’t come until the results arrived in September. And the thought of two more years of constant fretting about how much work the Young Wan is or isn’t doing leaves me absolutely cold.

Of course the Young Wan was also under pressure but at times you wouldn’t have known it at all.

So now we are at the choosing the subjects stage and the proceedings were kicked off with a parents meeting in the school during the week.

Oh God don’t get me started on parents meetings; the fact that they are held during the day is one of the most ridiculous and lazy things I have ever heard in my life. I have the utmost respect for teachers, I think they have a very hard job, but take a fecking night and talk to parents, believe it or not some of us work and believe it or not it can be hard to get time off work to attend this things.

And in some cases I am quite sure if a parent can’t make it there would be some who think they are not interested in their child’s education.

The Young Wan’s parent teacher meeting this week started at 12.30, so I was in work a couple of hours before I had to leave. It was due to finish at 3.30pm so it is not even a full morning or a full afternoon, it was half and half meaning that I was only in work for about two hours that day as there seemed little point in trying to head through all the traffic to get back into work for the last hour/half-hour.

I am lucky that I am allowed the time to do this, flash back to a couple of years ago and another work place and that would not have been an option at all.

Anyhoo back to the meeting; we sat there as each teacher got up and in English and Irish and explained about each of the subjects.

“Biology is the study of living things…” When I heard that or something similar, I thought ‘shoot me now’ but I sat on and listened to all the different subject descriptions, how much work they have to do and then my ears pricked up at the mention of a lottery.

All the chosen subjects have been placed into three lines with about three subjects in each. Each student has to pick one from each line but nothing is guaranteed. So far two of her preferred subjects are on one line ruling one of them out. That in itself was bad enough, but I understand that.

However it turns out because so many kids are in her year there will be a lottery for some of the subjects. And most of the year seem to be leaning towards biology which is one of the Young Wan’s best subjects and now she will be competing in some nonsense lottery and may not be able to take her best subject!

I understand the school is understaffed and doesn’t have enough teachers to cover all the subjects but if she doesn’t get subjects she has more interest in and is better at I will seriously be re-evaluating whether or not she can stay at that school.

After all surely it is also in the school’s interests to have their students get the highest results they can, but maybe that just makes complete and utter sense to me. I’ll keep you posted…

RM column March 28 - Fashion Full Circles

RM column March 28 - Fashion Full Circles

IT IS funny how fashions come back around. Back in the 1980s when I was a teenager I would have never thought that flares would come back, they were the ultimate bad taste item from the 1970s; how on earth would anyone ever want to wear them again.

Then I thought the same thing when standing in a train station in Manchester in the late 1980s and saw some teenagers walking by in some crazy flared trousers, I couldn't help myself I laughed out loud. They were back, and with vengeance and are still to be seen in one shape/style or another how many years on from their come back.

Of course there are lovely things that come back, such as the sleek and sexy 1940s or parts of the hippy 1970s but at some stage everything comes back, no matter how much we think it never will. Who would have ever thought the 1980s was a fashion time that would be revisited with all those garish colours, back-combing and shoulder pads; yet we have seen puff ball skirts and some of the worse things being recycled in the noughties.

Some of it looks even better than it did 20 years ago, some of it is well eh better consigned to the wardrobes of the past.

From slagging me as a bit of a hippy in my teens, the Young Wan has gone turnabout and now there have been loads of clothes I see the Young Wan go mad over which I had worn something similar as a youngster.

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

We went even further. From I was 13 to eh a near grown up, the most coveted item of clothing was a man's tuxedo jacket. My pal had a fantastic silk jacket, it was black with this beautiful navy silk lining and we all borrowed it at some stage or another.

You never felt cooler hitting the town than when wearing this jacket.

So now the Young Wan has the waistcoat, all she needs is the tuxedo jacket and we would be like twins at the same age.

She hasn't worn the waistcoat yet because she was waiting to get a large white shirt to wear under it. But she came in with one tonight. She also came in with skin-tight black and 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, a female red-headed version. She is better looking of course, but still she will look like Russell Brand. I'm eh so proud.

RM colum March 22 - Smokin...

RM column - March 22nd - Smokin...

JUST a few weeks ago I wrote about psychic moments in our house and there have been even more but none so mad as one I am about to tell you.

Over the weekend I took the dog out for a walk out to the shops. About three or four streets away from our house I was walking along and looking down I saw a box of matches and a well-smoked cigarette butt sitting neatly beside it and I knew it was the Young Wan; there was no question about it at all in my mind.

Earlier that day when doing the laundry I had discovered an empty wrapper from a cigarette box and up until that moment of looking at discarded rubbish on the street (being a litter bug is another crime to add to all this but probably one for another day) I had wanted to just wait and see if more evidence presented itself.

And walking along the street I found it.

I was pretty dumbstruck walking onto the shop. Seriously was it not mad to pinpoint rubbish and know it was herself? But I just knew.

So whether rightly or wrongly I went home, went straight to the Young Wan and told her what I found, how she was not to tell me it wasn't her - I knew it was, and how because it was Nanny's last night with us before travelling home I was not going to push it. She was being given a by-ball and the best thing she could do was to stop it, to take the get-out clause I was throwing her.
I told her I was deciding to pretend that I didn't find what I had otherwise Nanny's last night would feature shouting and yelling, the gnashing of teeth and a generally yeuck atmosphere that I could just do without.

Unfortunately teenagers sometimes fail to see the bigger picture. However she did listen and didn't even try to say it wasn't here but her eyes were the size of saucers when I told her.

And did she learn, not in the bloody slightest.

The next day after leaving Nanny to the airport, we headed back to the house before heading into town to buy her the new phone she has saved up for through babysitting. Sitting on the bus chatting away I noticed something gold and shiny shoved into one of her pockets and I reached over and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Before she knew it, the Young Wan was dispensed back onto a bus home. I was absolutely livid.
And it didn't stop there, oh God no there were more incidents.

Sometimes and I really don't understand the smartness of this move at all, but like a rat backed into a corner, she feels like she might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and on she continues putting the two fingers up to me.

So we have had a week of the constantly updated grounded calendar, the confiscation of personal items, shouting and a-roarin and some talking. Peace would appear to have been restored and compromises have been made.

I am not stupid enough to think that she will stop trying to smoke, far from it. But what else can I do, I have spoken to local shops which is something I just didn't want to do and well all we can do is wait and see. I will write again about the responsibility of shops and those friggers who think it is okay to go into a shop and buy alcohol and cigarettes for young people, but that is a whole rant in itself.

Garden update

WHEN I moved recently into our new house with a little back yard, I could not wait to get growing in the little back yard. And I've gone a bit mad but I am loving it. I have written about this already and figure this is a good a place as many to chart my progress or lack of here, you can read my first post from March 30th here.

The first thing I did, even before we moved in was plant bulbs in pots but I left them too long before transporting them outside and they began to grow. So I left them out the back in the new place over the winter and up they came again which has been a lovely surprise as I had completely forgotten what I planted. I have had beautiful blue flowers which I cannot remember at all what they are, the tulips are coming up now and I have really enjoyed the beautiful crepe-like flower, again no name there sorry.





Come spring I began sowing seeds in earnest and spending too much money in the local Woodies and so far I have planted tomatoes, carrots, sugar-snap peas, courgettes, kale, various salad leaves, spinach, strawberries and all from seed. I also bought a berry bush, mini crab-apple tree, rhubarb as well as a cucumber plant.

Most things came up pretty quickly between the heat of the house and the cracking little greenhouse everything except the tomatoes which have only in the last week put in an appearance. The following images were taken last weekend and things have even come on so much since then. I will include the before photographs just to give you an idea as well.

Tomatoes, carrots and sugar-snap peas...







Even since this was shot last week, all the tomatoes have come up now and everything is looking great. I have also planted some sweet pea flowers which I hope to guide up a trestle to grow with the sugar peas and the runnerbeans I'll be planting next month. The sweetpeas are doing brilliantly and are in serious need of being planted outside, unfortunately until I get the 'stuff' moved from the other corner, there is little I can do except hope they don't give up the growing ghost.






Meanwhile in the greenhouse...







Salad leaves, spinach and sunflowers.








Berry bush





Not everything has done well though, the pots below were doing great and then I went to the States and the Young Wan, who became a mini Dermot Gavin, I think beat these to death with the water spray. I do have other chives and coriander happily growing away in the greenhouse though.



More again soon, as I said things are coming along even more since I took these pictures last weekend, I'll update again later in the week. I am also documenting this on Flickr.

The Young Wan gave a talk...

THE Young Wan did a talk in her school this week about how good Transition Year is and how much she has enjoyed it. The evening was for held for the third year students and their parents to tell them all about the forthcoming Transition Year and they had three students talk about their experiences, one of whom was herself.

Just listening to her tell me about it, it sounds like she did brilliantly. I am VERY proud of her. If she keeps going on this vein I won't have anything to write about her or in my column ;) I asked her to tell yourself about the evening and over to herself.

Howya? Well tonight i was talking in front of the whole of third year =S <----That described my stomach before i went on,and of course i had to go first just my luck, but it was fun when i got into it :D.

See i wrote a really good speech before hand sitting in my friend's kitchen with her adorable kittens sweep and simba (Who spent half the time clawing his way up my skirt onto my knee).

I was really quite happy with it, and relaxed on the bus back to school. All the parents were going into the hall when i went to look for it...Yep you guessed it i lost it and had to rewrite it again, I wasn't a happy hippo i'll tell you that much. So anyway i finished it in good time with the principal's fancy pen :)

So we listened to them blab on for a good bit and then the fourth year coordinator called me up first, I was a bit shakey at first but i got into it quick enough and i was comfortable after a while, I was telling them about all the courses we did and the courses i enjoyed and what being in 4th year was like. But i didnt know how to end it so it kinda went like *ehhhh......Tadaaaaa?*

That got everyone laughing :)

So yup i'm quite pleased with myself at the minute

Isn't she great ;) Well done Honey. (Ooh and this is post number 700)

As promised a flash of the Blurb books

AS per a previous post when I said I would show you the books I ordered, here's a snippet. And the Blurb books really are wonderful, really beautiful quality and I am delighted. I suspect I will be ordering more before long and the Young Wan has already put in an order for her 18th. In fairness giving her something memorable has been on my mind for a really long time and maybe this is it. If you have been thinking about doing one, gowaannnn gowan gowan. They are beautiful.

I gave the first one to its owner and I hope she is happy with it. The Galway one will have to be delivered in person, I so want to see her face when she sees it. I showed it to another pal and she thinks our pal will cry... Now that is a reaction I want to be one and one of the few times I ever want to make a friend cry.

My lovely flowers

These beautiful flowers have given me weeks of pleasure, I think they are on the wane now, but wow aren't they just beautiful. I'll post again shortly on my little garden's progress shortly as things seem to be going great. I'm delighted with it all.

Spotted in the Tribune

I SPOTTED this in the Sunday Tribune today...



I caught this last night when LUCY KENNEDY not Davina McCall stayed with Samantha Mumba and it was fairly good. A couple of weeks ago I saw her with Senator David Norris and they were filming for this so I'll be sure to try to catch that one. Anyway that the typo of the day so far.

I'm a bad mummy (number 2)

The doggie has been needing groomed for quite a while and our nearest place is booked up for six weeks in advance so she was finally done yesterday. The poor thing is baldy, sheared, like a cross between a miniature greyhound and a rat; at least for a couple of weeks before she'll grow out and look like the very bottom picture. And maybe, just maybe I won't be brushing crazy hairs off the floor, or maybe that is just wishful thinking.

It has been quiet here

IT HAS been somewhat quiet over here due to being busy in work and being away. More on that again. Part of that involved me going to Washington DC for a conference where I had a ball and in the meantime here's one or two photographs from the weekend. What a beautiful city.

I've also been doing a bit of messing about on photoshop, trying to upskill. Though at times I am a bit guilty going that bit further on the post processing than I should, I am learning and enjoying it. I don't like to do too much, usually just brightening and a little colour balance, no more than I would do in a darkroom while printing. But I have also trying a little experimenting with burning in to varying (laughing at that) degrees of success. Eh I can't say the same about my panoramas :( There doesn't seem to be many successes. But I keep trying.

Some of these varying degrees of success are down to the splendid screen on my Mac, how things look here are not how they look on my PC in work. Still it is all a learning curve and nothing at all that isn't repairable.

Over the last couple of weeks I have also bought a lot of stuff, course I did some spending while in the States, nothing too major but involving an ipod for the Young Wan who is delighted and part of the noise that saw her banned to her bedroom in the last post. Before heading to the States I bought a reflector on ebay, more moo cards (I will blog about that in the next day or two and the excellent customer service) and some Blurb books.

I have been toying with getting a Blurb book since I saw them promoted on Flickr. Making a book is easy, it can be time-consuming but easy. You download a programme to your computer and with a little fiddling and some fun layout your own book. It is quite easy to use, the programme tells you when images are too small, you can layout pics across pages, have whatever colour background you want, add text; the programme really is cool.

I was talking to Elly one night when she mentioned about getting her wedding pics done and how to get them done and I mentioned the books and only recently saw that she did order them and they look wonderful. I took photographs at my brother's wedding many years ago and I was thinking recently how better the pics would have looked in such a splendid book. Anyway as it was it looked good.

The books I ordered are gorgeous, I did one for a pal featuring herself and her near two-year-old, one for me :) and one for pals in Galway. My Galway pal was somewhat suspicious when I texted her a couple of times asking about the spelling of one her kid's name and even if I give you a quick glimpse she will still have no clue that I did the book as she doesn't swing by here ;)

I was going to post it down to her but I think I will save it until I can give to her face to face because I am proud of it and want to see her reaction for myself. I have many plans for more of these books, they are a joy to behold and if you have been thinking about making one, do; and if you don't know what I am talking about, check them out for yourself. I'll post pics of the books tomorrow.

I'm a bad mummy

I CAN'T believe it but I have just banished the Young Wan into her bedroom, not for bad behaviour, eh for texting. She absolutely loves her new phone and it has become an extension of her hand.



This isn't a surprise to me, it is just because she has a new phone and because her last phone was cheap, basic and prone to simply not working; she seems to be on it more and more. The straw that broke the camel's back tonight was the click, click, click, click, click, click of the two-handed teenage texter and it drove me nuts. Between the clicking and the tinny sound of her ipod I told her to 'gowan away and play in your room'.

That is probably a phrase I didn't think I would be saying to her again. But I did tonight... I'm a bad mummy and to be honest right now, being that or hearing the click, click, click, click there is no contest.

Wow ten years already

I CAN'T believe it has been ten years since the Good Friday Agreement. It took so long so to get that stage let alone how far things have come along since. I would have never imagined that I would Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness sitting side by side sharing a joke. None of this was ever going to be easily-got or quickly attained, but does that matter as long as things are moving forward.



Like many others I grew up in Belfast having known nothing else, the things that we lived through were normal everyday life. I remember an incident in school where a bomb went off in town and our teacher made us say a prayer in case of casualties before bursting into tears about how sad it was for us being born in 1970 and not knowing what it was like to live in Belfast without all this going on. At the time we were embarrassed for her and joked about it later but if I am honest her words have stuck with me to this day.

I should at some stage write down all the things I remember, a pal and I would always say that we would have loved to have kept succinct diaries of those times. Judging by the diaries I remember keeping it would have read like a normal teens and probably wouldn't really provide a true snapshot with entries such as 'I really fancy (insert as appropriate) we met walking home from school after the buses were off because of a riot'. Still and all I suppose it still paints a picture.

I do have some pics I took in the run up to the Good Friday Agreement which I should dig out at some stage and put up. One other thing I should point you to is the UTV programme The Troubles I've Seen, it is finished now (but some clips are available at the previous link) and was fascinating for me to see places I know from being a child, streets that while still there look different now. It is also interesting to see how reporters like Trevor McDonald and Kate Adie remember covering northern Ireland.

I forgot that Sir Trevor covered the North and it must have been mad for him to see people's reactions to a black reporter, like the rest of the country there were very few black people living in Belfast. He told a funny story in one of the shows where he recalls talking to a man on the Shankill saying he was in a mixed marriage and the man replied 'you married a Catholic' to Trevor's amusement. "No I married a white woman." Priceless.

Kate Adie also told a story where during one riot she was lying facedown on the ground as things went off all around her. She ended up falling over a hedge and was lying in a garden with her legs in the air looking up at the sky when a window above her opened. A wee woman stuck her head out the window, looked at her, before asking her did she want a cup of tea.

Anyway regardless of people's perceptions or misconceptions, I love Belfast and I love the people and I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else. Sure hasn't it shaped who I am. I am thrilled that we are where we are now. So here's looking forward to what the next 10 years has to bring.

The Field

Check out RTE for more here.

We are three

I JUST had a thought earlier and I was right, this little spot of the interwebs is three years old. And I missed it. The anniversary was two days ago. Ah well, but hitting the anniversary is spurning into action. I will in the next couple of weeks sort out my new/old domain which I haven't moved completely into yet. Obviously the trauma of physically moving house took its toll, thats my excuse and I am sticking to it. I also intend to get a dedicated photoblog established soon, I am just dreadful at picking templates.



Anyway back to the anniversary, here is post number one, In Disgrace, Yet Again, I don't even remember now what had gone on in the house to fuel the post and indeed the blog. Overall since than of course there are posts I cringe at, for both content and glaring typos, grammer whatever, but I wouldn't change anything. I once made a deal with someone whom I was writing too in the days before puters that once a letter was started it would have to be finished and posted, no matter what the feelings about it in the cold light of day. I suppose I feel that way about here too, if I felt it was okay to publish at one time, whether or not influenced by the odd glass of wine, then it stays.

Thats not too say that I haven't started posts that I never got to finish, they are all there in the drafts, but finishing something is something else altogether and says more about the demands on my time more than anything else. Anyway this is dedicated to herself, thanks Young Wan, eh for at one stage anyway being a pain in the proverbial and an inspiration, my muse none the less :) and bringing me to blogging. Thanks darling.

Bye Bye Bertie

Bye bye Bertie

Did you miss that? Here's the report from Ireland.com on Bertie's resignation (subs required) and a video of that speech.











EDIT: 3:09pm Got my first Bertie email



EDIT: 4.54pm and another one

Yer mans been at it again

Yer mans been at it again, only he was even more cheeky this time and posted his campaign right in front of the Dáil.