Dublin

An Evening of Contrasts

12 November, 2024
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Mr. Waffle, Reading etc.

When the children were small, the parish priest asked me to be on the baptism preparation group. I was extremely reluctant (do you think I’m a fool?) but agreed in the end and 15 years later here I am with my children all grown up and still on the baptism preparation group. One of the other members is a grandmother so I am basically doomed to stay there for all time.

It’s quite straightforward there’s a rota and we are sent out in pairs (biblical). We meet in one of the rooms behind the church. The parents who are getting their children baptised that month come in and we go through the service and also talk about the practicalities (when to arrive on the day of the baptism, who does readings etc.) and make sure they have their paperwork (church bureaucracy is surprisingly efficient). We also do some very light proselyting (you might think that this would be unnecessary with people who are bringing their children for baptism but you might be surprised) and try not to scare them.

I had baptism group last night and we had 6 families with first babies for baptism. Mostly people don’t tend to bring the babies but one couple did and she was adorable. They were all lovely and agreeable and the whole thing was grand and as speedy as we could make it.

The speediness was necessary as Mr. Waffle and I were going to the cinema (booked when I had forgotten that I was on the rota for the baptism prep for November and did not know that he would spend the day driving to and from Limerick for a funeral). We saw Anora which has got rave reviews. It’s about an escort who has a relationship with a young rich Russian guy. The first part is very graphic (thank God I hadn’t gone with the children) and I found myself frequently wondering what you have to do to get an 18s cert in this country (it was 16s). Then the middle part when the Armenian henchmen become involved is played for laughs (and is very funny). When the Russian’s parents (who are excellent) fly in on their private jet towards the end it’s still funny but it’s also a bit sad.

Overall, it just seemed sad to me and I could have done without a lot of the graphic detail; I found it a bit exploitative and did not love it. I thought that the cast were outstanding though. In fairness, it was laugh out loud funny in parts and it definitely did not drag. There was lots of Russian which I enjoyed (coming as it did with subtitles). Many, perhaps most, of the actors were Russian and I wonder how this works with the sanctions on Russia at the moment. It’s set in 2019; is that supposed to be a solution to this particular problem?

Season of Mists etc.

7 November, 2024
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland

We had another bumper apple harvest this year. Falling fruit came and stripped the trees and took away 75kgs. But still, I have made enough apple jelly to sink a battle ship. I have also made apple sauce and apple tart.

And I still have loads in the shed. And I put a box at the gate in which the children going to the school at the bottom of the road showed a rather tepid interest. They were free but they were apples. There are still loads of windfalls rolling around the back garden as well waiting to be swept up when I am feeling strong.

This is on top of my jam production from earlier in the summer. Sadly the rhubarb and ginger was not a success. The rhubarb came from my mother’s friend’s garden in the suburbs and by the time I got my mitts on it, it was a bit past its best. I never really thought that I would be a jam and jelly maker but circumstances alter cases I guess.

Patron of the Arts

5 November, 2024
Posted in: Cork, Dublin, Ireland, Mr. Waffle, Twins, Youngest Child

The autumn is a very exhausting time for those of us who are arts enthusiasts.

Kicking off the season is Heritage Week in late August. The clue is in the title and there is a brochure of activities nationwide. Since the children have grown up, I’ve largely given up on this one. My loss but time is finite.

Then it’s straight into the Dublin Fringe Festival in September. This year we went to see Killian Sundermann; a man who wrings quite a bit of humour out of being half-Irish half-German.

Sometime during September is Open House where various buildings not normally open to the public throw open their doors. Some that are already open to the public also get re-badged as open house venues. You’ve got to love architects, I saw a volunteer in front of Phibsborough shopping centre, quite possibly one of the ugliest buildings in Ireland and that is, regrettably, a competitive field. Again, I have gone into interesting buildings in the past but not this year. You have to pace yourself.

Then it’s the theatre festival. I went to three, yes three, plays this year. Exhausting. I went to see “Reunion” in the Gaiety. I generally find Mark O’Rowe plays just a bit too edgy for me. You would really want to be in the whole of your health to see, for example, “Howie the Rookie”. However, although this play was a bit edgy, it was also very funny and really well done. The Gaiety audience is a bit less sedate than the Abbey or the Gate and they gasped and laughed in ways that I found quite refreshing. Robert Sheehan was in it and pretty good I thought. Were the kids impressed or even a tiny bit interested that I saw a play with the guy from the Umbrella Academy which we watched on Netflix? You know the answer to this.

I also saw “Agreement” which is about the Good Friday Agreement and has been garlanded with laurels. I am sorry but I found it a bit dull. The playwright is from the North and it is always interesting to see a Northern take on things but I felt it was a bit unfair to Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair and positively sanctified Mo Mowlam. I was unconvinced. I went with Michael who thought it was great so maybe it was better if you hadn’t watched it all on the news in the 1990s.

We went to the latest Anu production “Starjazzer”. I generally like an Anu production; immersive and a little alarming. This one didn’t totally float my boat though. It was about two women dealing with poverty and domestic violence a century apart. In many ways it just wasn’t immersive enough or something. Suspension of disbelief was a bit of a challenge. Still I have a soft spot for Anu who gave me what I am beginning to think will be the most memorable theatre experience of my life.

Also in October is the Festival of History. It always has a fantastic programme of talks but I couldn’t face it on top of the constant plays.

Bear in mind that my programme of cinema attendance continues unabated during this difficult time for the culture maven. I saw an Iranian film, come on, an Iranian film called “My favourite Cake” which was sad and funny. I saw “Small Things Like These” at the weekend. A cousin is in it and she was fantastic, we are all very proud. She also met Ed Sheeran at the premiere so we were all thrilled for her by proxy.

Mr. Waffle and I went to a very disappointing exhibition of the bridges of Dublin in Dublin port; I would not recommend but I did enjoy exploring the new Dublin port greenway which was, the day we went full of walkers and cyclists admiring the new vistas opened up across the bay.

Then there’s the Dublin book festival this weekend. A truly excellent line up (including Jan Carson who I nearly saw before and who is a wonderful writer) but a part of me is relieved that I will be in Cork for the weekend and can’t even book anything.

Speaking of Cork, the Crawford gallery closed on September 22 for renovation and extension and won’t reopen until 2027. I anticipate slippage and the proposed extension looks horrific. Woe. I’d say it will be grand from the inside but the outside leaves a great deal to be desired.

And in final update from the arts there is a new Sarah Purser exhibition in the Hugh Lane Gallery which is lovely. I recommend.

Is it any wonder the blog was languishing with this full cultural programme?

Summer – At Last

7 September, 2024
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Twins, Youngest Child

Today was a beautiful day and instead of doing lots of domestic admin (which I’m not doing now either, you will note), I seized the day, hopped on my bike and took the commuter train out to the seaside.

I stopped in town to have a look at the Liffey swim. At least they had nice weather but, mmm, is that water clean?

I must say, the seaside was looking lovely.

As we frequently (rather inaccurately) say on a fine day here, “You could be in the South of France”.

I had a lovely swim. Poor Michael was in a college clubs and socs meeting all day (he is on the committee of a society) where they told them how not to embezzle money. Herself had gone back to London for a party where it was raining. Daniel opted to stay at home and play on the x-box. I can tell you, I was winning here. Though Mr. Waffle, who was in the hammock in the back garden, may have been giving me a run for my money.

It would be too much to hope that I could also take a flattering picture; doubtless some kind of karma as I took it to post smugly in the family group chat and now I am posting it smugly here. As I took the picture, I did reflect that all my life I have been leaving bags full of valuable possessions on beaches and they have never been stolen. A happy thought. The cover the bag with a towel trick really works, I guess.

Mmm, is that water clean? Probably not very, I fear. Never mind, I am testing my immune system.

I then joined the very long queue for an ice cream.

Worth it.

In fact, all was well until I got back to the station nearest home. Alas. Three flights.

And, after a day filled with excitement, I’m going to the cinema tonight. Thrills. It’s the new “Beetlejuice”. I re-watched the 1988 one last night in preparation. I will report back. I know you’re on the edges of your seats out there.

I feel I have got excellent value for this year’s summer.

What news?

14 July, 2024
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Mr. Waffle, Princess

I am very much enjoying the shop window display for the new perfume from Cloon Keen. It’s called Báinín which is a kind of knitted jumper. Mr. Waffle buys me their Castaña for Christmas and I am a big fan. Cannot really speak for Báinín but worth a try, I would say. Look at her little hooves!

Herself having played Trivial Pursuit while on holidays in France asked whether we had it. Well, this was the moment I had been waiting for, I had rescued it from my parents’ house in Cork. The questions were perhaps a bit dated but it worked all the same. We also found (unopened), what the young people would call an expansion pack. A set of questions (in French – obviously bought by my parents with pedagogical intent) from 1993 still pristine in their cellophane. “Perhaps they are worth money! ” I said. Available for €6 on the internet, in case you are interested.

We also played a game called poetry for Neanderthals. It relies heavily on you knowing whether a word has more than one syllable. I am quite terrible at it (nobody wanted to be on my team) but I found it enjoyable all the same as you get to hit fellow players on the head with an inflated rubber club.

Every year, July is a disastrous month for Mr. Waffle. It is consistently his busiest month. I did not know that this would happen when I elected to get married on July 28. Every year our anniversary celebrations are a little fraught.

Mostly poor Mr. Waffle has been working all weekend but he did take last Sunday off to cycle out to Howth which was pleasant and where, miraculously, we missed the rain.

Now, stay with me here. A colleague of mine went to a funeral last week. This being Ireland, one of the sons of the deceased actually lives across the road from me. My colleague realised this and said to the son, “Actually, my colleague lives across the road from you” and mentioned me by name. He (the colleague) knows my road because his aunt lives there – are you still with me? Anyway, the colleague said, no sooner had he uttered my name than – much to his surprise – the elderly woman who had been introduced to him as the deceased’s next door neighbour, grabbed his arm and said, “Her mother was my best friend from college”. He thought she was crazy, but, she most definitely was not.

So anyhow, having had her rather surprisingly brought to mind, I felt I should go and visit my mother’s best friend which I did yesterday. She’s broadly fine, thanks for asking. She told me she had met a colleague of mine at her next door neighbour’s funeral. Colour me unsurprised. She grows rhubarb and, at her urging, I took her remaining supply which she felt she would be unable to use (jam season is upon us, I have just made my first batch of plum jam, rhubarb to follow).

She lives near the seaside so I went for a quick swim before heading home. My first of the year. Chilly. A very robust elderly gentlemen jumped in while I stood on the steps contemplating my options making me feel very inadequate but I got in eventually and, of course, it was lovely once you were down etc.

Today Mr. Waffle and I had a low key adventure cycling to Chapelizod along the river. Pleasant in a mild way. God, I am really looking forward to my summer holidays though. I am contemplating my return to the salt mines tomorrow with low levels of enthusiasm. I trust you had an enjoyable weekend yourself.

Bank Holiday Round Up

7 May, 2024
Posted in: Dublin, Ireland, Middle Child, Mr. Waffle, Princess, Reading etc., Twins, Youngest Child

I had a bank holiday filled with domestic admin and I now feel filled with virtue but I can’t say that it was my best weekend ever.

We made some effort to tidy the garden (to be honest largely unavailing) in advance of Mr. Waffle’s mother’s cousin coming to fill us in on family history. As befits an engineer, he had a tabbed lever arch file to go through with us. Interesting, in fairness, but a lot of information.

May always reminds me of Marian processions when I was in school as a child and all the Marian hymns which I love. I was not let down at Sunday mass when our (pretty conservative musically) former elderly choir mistress got up at the end of mass and told us all to sing along to “Bring Flowers of the Fairest”. Satisfactory.

In general I believe that May is Ireland’s loveliest month but that has been a challenge to believe so far this year. There has been a surprising amount of rain.

Daniel who finished his end of year exams last week has been out non-stop (sample text received at 5.50 am -“Staying at M’s house, won’t be home” – some of this think that if you’re not in by ten to six, you’re already not home for the night) living his best life undeterred by the rain. He thinks that his exams went ok bar one. We remain optimistic. He said that although the exams may be harder, the stress is far less than the Leaving Cert. This does not reflect well on the Leaving Cert, I feel. God knows, I don’t begrudge him his fun, he has worked like a dog all year.

Mr. Waffle and I went to see “The Fall Guy” on Sunday night. Despite poor reviews (the Irish Times, for example, called it a “tragically unfunny spittoon of bad ideas”), I enjoyed it. I used to love the series with Lee Majors when I was a child (remember, people, we just had one channel and we took what we got and liked it) and mortified Mr. Waffle by singing along to the theme tune when it was played at the end of the film. A win.

On Monday we cycled in the park in the rain (maybe not the outing I was hoping for), I took both boys for driving practice and we spent hours trying to figure out the logistics of our summer holiday and who will be coming and who won’t (herself may have an internship, Daniel may have resits). Preliminary work has been completed. I also booked a ferry to pick up herself in England at the end of term; a hotel for a 60th (I know) we are attending in Donegal; and a flight to go on a weekend away organised for the end of the Princess’s exams (if you were not keeping up, her finals are this year). You think this leisure activity organises itself? #mymiddleclasshell

I now find myself home alone on a Tuesday night because Daniel is out again; Michael is at the cinema (though exams start Thursday, is this wise we ask ourselves?) and Mr. Waffle is off at football. Is this the future? I have to say it has its positives but something will have to give on dinner arrangements.

And how was your own bank holiday weekend?