belgianwaffle

The Sick Man of Europe

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Posted in: Mr. Waffle, Twins, Youngest Child

The youngest child has been sick all week. Yesterday morning he dragged himself out of bed at the crack of dawn to go to a 9 o’clock lecture on the Ottoman Empire. Term is over but this lecture had been deferred. I suggested he skip it but he said that he thought he would be the only person there (so it proved) and he did not want the lecturer to have turned up for nothing. Very virtuous.

Today I got a text from Mr. Waffle saying that the student was quite sick in bed. The Ottoman Empire may have claimed its last victim.

Alas

5 Comments
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

My hairdresser is great. He remembers me. I go once a year in December and as he said today “It wouldn’t be Christmas, if you weren’t here.” So true. My hair grows really slowly and the cut is generally good for 9 months and not great for three.

I had my annual haircuts today and despite my very best efforts he would not at all take off as much as I wanted. It’s grand but I wouldn’t call it a huge change. I’ll have to go back to him in July. Sigh.

Harsh but Not Unfair

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Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

My cleaner asked me this morning whether we would be getting a Christmas tree this weekend. “Certainly not,” said I, “it would be dead by Christmas let alone January 6 (statutory day for taking down your Christmas decorations etc. I will brook no argument in this regard).”

“I wouldn’t think so,” she said, “your house is so cold.”

I Have a Suggestion

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Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

On Sunday the parish priest said that for the next 12 months we will be praying for one vocation in Dublin. Yes, one. Setting our ambition level low, I see. I wonder would it help not to cut out half of the potential candidates?

Bah Humbug

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Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Mr. Waffle, Twins

The Trinity Christmas tree was lit this evening. I left work a bit early to be at the front gate where I had arranged to meet husband and one child at 5.30. Chaos ensued: child turned out to be at a lecture; husband was carried away by the crowd; rain lashed with real enthusiasm; the Trinity choir tried some challenging numbers instead of going for crowd pleasers; of the anticipated mulled wine and mince pies there was no sign (to be fair, my expectations were low on that front anyhow, were they planning to feed the 5,000?).

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“Feeling Christmassy?” asked Mr. Waffle when we eventually found each other. We went to find our own cup of tea. The Westin had an event in the atrium and directed us to a noisy pub downstairs; the Palace Bar was heaving (full of men in suits drinking pints); the Joy of Cha, despite indications otherwise on the internet, was closed. We cycled home in the rain and I lost my hat of which I am very fond (herself models the hat below in a shot from this time last year, idle to deny that it looks a lot better on her than me). When we got home I went back to the shed to cycle in to try to find the lost hat but then I got a work call which I dealt with in the shed (glamour) and then somehow, I’d lost the will to retrace my steps.

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However, when I finally got home, as part of my gradual Christmas prep, I got out my Spode ware and found my Christmas tablecloths and tea towels (“Oh my favourite Christmas tea towel,” I exclaimed as it emerged from where it had been nestling since last January. I am now the kind of person who has a favourite Christmas tea towel, apparently.) Mr. Waffle turned on Christmas FM, lit a fire and made me a cup of tea. Perhaps I am feeling a little bit Christmassy after all. You?

Updated to add:

Look what I found this morning!

Analogue is On Trend

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Posted in: Reading etc., Siblings

My brother came to stay and gave out to me about our (tiny) CD collection. “It’s all on Spotify,” he said reprovingly, “You should throw out those CDs”. I wouldn’t say that he is the king of organisation himself so this was particularly annoying. Yesterday afternoon, I went through all the CDs and put them in alphabetical order (this is how I get my kicks) and I found ones I hadn’t thought of, let alone listened to, in years. Since then I’ve had them on rotation on the CD player which I am enjoying very much. Over the years Mr. Waffle’s tastes and mine have merged in many areas but I would have to say that his CD choices have stood the test of time (Ben Folds) better than mine (Emilia); still I am enjoying both the cool and the naff music choices. It’s somehow much more satisfying than waiting for the Spotify algorithm to throw out something.

Since Covid we have had the Irish Times delivered to the house daily; it’s pricey but I love it. And all my children are more or less on top of the vanishing art of how to turn the pages of a broadsheet newspaper. Middle child was reading the paper one day and said to me, I paused at that article and I thought, “Oh no, my algorithm will send me loads of related content on this but then I realised that I could safely pause anywhere.” Time permitting we all flick through the paper in the morning and pick up yesterday’s news (you are always 24 hours behind everyone else, if you get the news from the paper, I am afraid). Mr. Waffle does the cryptic crossword, I do the Sudoku; each to his own. The Irish Times has just announced a price increase and Mr. Waffle is inclined to jack it in but I am arguing for its retention. I’ll keep you posted on developments.

2025-03-13 20.02.31

Anyway, I was pretty pleased to come across this podcast in praise of the analogue world (though the definition of analogue is broader than most people would allow and the title of the episode – Everyone Online is Going Analog – does raise some questions); maybe daily newspapers will outlive me after all. What’s that? Did I send the podcast to my brother? You betcha.