WW - Long ago and far away...

(c) 2009 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

WW - We USED to live someplace where Feb looked like this!

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

February 8, 2006

Happy St. Patrick's Day

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Things I miss about living in Ireland (in no particular order)
(But more may be added later as I think of them)

• our friends, especially Pumpkin's best buddy A.
• the bacon
• seeing stone ruins just everywhere
• being an exotic vacation get-away for friends and family
• living within walking distance to Blarney Castle
• the cozy pubs
• the smell of peat
• the many, many rainbows
• not shoveling snow
• Clonakilty black pudding
• the green
• the fabulous and fun St. Patrick's Day parade in Cork
• being able to walk to the store and/or library and/or butcher's pretty much any day
• visiting all kinds of castles and such
• the English Market in Cork with its wonderful cheeses and olives
• watching Dora the Explorer in Irish (Yay for TG4!) (That'd be "tee gee cah-her" to you.)

P.S. Thanks, TNGreatAunt for the matching shirts and other St. Paddy's Day stuff!

She just doesn't sound like a Midwesterner

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Things I've heard from Pumpkin lately:

• I'm not keen on a nap today.
• I'm EVER SO incredible! (said while running 'round and 'round the downstairs.)
• Look! [Penguin] is keen on those cheerios!
  
• I'm abso-yute-yee going to be careful with my crazy straw.

Yeah, not sure how to divide up the credit between her two vocabulary-formative years in Ireland, the number of books we read, or excessive exposure to Kipper and Charlie and Lola (love 'em!) (official Charlie and Lola site) on DVD, but she just doesn't quite talk like the rest of the kids in her Teacher & Me class!

International greetings!

(c) 2007 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Ok, this is just a post to say "Hi! How are ye!" to my dearest, dearest friend from Ireland who called me this afternoon! I told her about this blog in a letter (had to send photos of the girls, you know), and she said she's been enjoying it.

So, "Hello!" Your call made my day, and you'll have to let me know if you want me to use your real name or a nickname on here, ok?

Slainte!

Still re-patriating...

(c) 2007 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Even after 4 months of being back in the USA, some things still jar my sensibilities a bit.

• It seems weird to not put USA at the bottom of addresses.
• The river ALWAYS seems like it's at high tide.
• The roads are still so very, very wide.
• The grocery stores are HU-GIGANTI-MUNGOUS! And the selection - oh my god!
• More people comment on Pumpkin's hair... but none on our accent. :)

And my most recent favorite, from the Farmers' Market this weekend, when I was so excited to see locally produced cheese!

• In Wisconsin, you can buy goat cheese curds.

Mr. Kluges adds:

• He no longer gets a tea and scone break at work.
• Everything is cheap, even gas.
• He has to drive everywhere.
• Where are the rooks?
• It's always hot and dry. (And we have central air.)
• The oatmeal and dairy products blow.
• He can go shopping AT ANY TIME.
• He can understand everybody (except the northern Wisconsonites.)
• The TV [We don't have cable] is crap. [I think that's because they only showed the good US and British shows in Ireland.-MHH]
• He can get BBC radio here.
• Oh, the beer! (But no cider or perry.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Everybody loves a parade!

We went to Cork this afternoon to see their big parade. You might remember that we went last year and enjoyed it, despite the terrible weather. Today was not rainy at least, but still rather chilly.


We met friends there. Good friends to know, 'cuz they staked out a great spot early and we were able to join them on their large granite block/seat/traffic stopper. That meant I could sit while waiting for the parade to start and Pumpkin could get a wonderful view perched on top of Daddy's shoulders while he stood on it.


Here are some shots from the parade. Mr. Kluges and I both thought it wasn't quite as good as last year, especially because there weren't as many big impressive floats with groups of coordinating people, but this monster group was WAY cool and definitely our favorite from either year!






Not a great shot 'cuz she was across the street, but a WAY cool costume!!!









These lads are getting told to get down from the top of the phone booths by a Garda. This is after they'd gotten their photo taken by about 4 or 5 news photographers in the time before the parade started and during the first 1/2 or 1/3 of the parade itself.








And Pumpkin got to ride in the spinning teacups! She LOVED it and we had to do it again after the parade!


So that was our St. Paddy's Day. Here's hoping yours is as fun! Slainte!

Wait, I thought the sign said "DRIVE-Thru..."

****************

copyright 2007 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Ok, folks, here's your cultural moment for the week.

This photo was taken (not by me - Mr. Kluges got it at work from somebody) at a ubiquitous fast food restaurant on Ennis Road in Limerick recently - or so we've been told. We're guessing that they're members of the Traveller community... and that they've apparently decided this MickeyD's has a Ride-Thru! *grin*

Love/Hate Relationships

****************
copyright 2007 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

I love reading blogs,
but I hate when I can't think of any good ideas for posts myself.

I hate being so far away from friends and family,
but I love that so many of them have/are going to come to visit!

I love The Planet,
but I hate when other parents don't adequately supervise their rough-playing kids.

I hate cleaning the goopy stuff out of the drain after doing dishes,
but I love that Mr. Kluges will do it for me. (*smooch* Thanks, hon!)

I love naps,
but I hate waking up groggy and feeling like the world shifted two degrees while I was asleep so everything is just slightly askew.

I hate heartburn,
but I love Gaviscon.

I love the library,
but I hate that they have a ton of second or third books of series without carrying the first one!

I hate (ok, dislike is a better term, 'cuz I accept that it comes with the territory, but that doesn't fit the pattern) changing Pumpkin's dirty diapers,
but I love that she'll let us know she's working on one by saying, "I just like to poop in my diaper." (Guess she's not ready for training yet, huh?)

I love that here it's considered ok to have a single beer or glass of wine a week while pregnant, which I savor on the weekend,
but I hate that it's Monday and I've got a craving for red wine...

I hate writing a post and then seeing that "0 comments" thing,
but I love getting online later and seeing it with a new number! (HINT, HINT!)

Banana Pumpkin Kiwi What?

****************

copyright 2007 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

So I've blogged before about the strange chip flavors you can find here in Ireland, as well as the "exotic vegetable" of butternut squash, but I came across this product the other day and had to share it with y'all.

It's a little tiny (hand for scale, you know) bottle of pureed fruit and vegetable. Now, I've been trying especially hard lately to increase the amount of fruits and veg in my diet, both for baby-on-the-way and general health, so I picked these up thinking, "Hey, these are easy and look interesting!"

They're... not bad... but a little odd. In case you can't read the label very well, this one is Banana Pumpkin Kiwi. Yeah, strange combo, I know. It tasted mostly like pureed pumpkin or squash baby food thinned down with tropical juice. Not great, but not bad, and tiny, so it's not like I had to choke down a ton if I wanted one.

Pumpkin herself loved them, so since then we got the slightly more normal (& yummier) version of Orange Banana Carrot. Equally bright orange, if not more so, but tastier!

**This blog entry brought to you by the CFAoMHI (Cultural Food Alliance of Ms. Huis's Imagination). Thanks for your support.**

The bottom-most entry in the strange chips flavors, no matter how many others I try

****************

copyright 2007 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Here's another entry into the "Strange Flavors of Chips" category. Previously, I'd mentioned Roast Ox , Steak & Onion Fajita, and Tiger Prawn with Crushed Garlic and Cheddar with Mango Chutney flavored chips.

They were all infinitely superior to this one.

According to my taste buds, Peking Duck & Hoi Sin Sauce potato chips are an abomination upon the world.

That's it - you heard me right. These chips should never have come into existance. I base this on the fact that I have eaten a grand total of two. (The first unsuspecting one to try them; the second a few days later just 'cuz I couldn't believe that I was accurately remembering the awfulness of the taste.)

They taste like... duck.

(Ok, yeah, hello, that's what the label says, I realize that, but...)

Not good duck ('cuz I have had yummy duck before). It's more like the overly oily, "how old is this?", gamy, suspect duck pieces you might get at a not-great Chinese take-away that you reheated in the bacterial-laden work microwave in the styrofoam container.

...


Yeah, that good.

So good, in fact, that none of us in the Huis/Kluges household like them - NOT EVEN PUMPKIN (who will eat some strong cheeses that us two adults won't).

So you know what? For the first time in my life, I think I'm going to be throwing away perfectly good (so to speak) potato chips.

'Cuz I'm never letting one of those chips cross my lips ever again. Blech.

You Know You Live in Ireland When...

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!

****************

My FIL was looking out the window at the weather.

Pumpkin came over. "Grandpa, what are you yookin' at?"

"I'm looking to see if it's raining. Is it raining?

"Not yet."


Always the right answer for this country!

GP - 'elp! 'elp! I've lost me hayches!

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Last week, Mrs. Kluges [aka Ms. Huis Herself] and I were out for the evening after having lined up our favorite [aka only] babysitter. It was a lovely evening out with dinner and some Christmas shopping. Upon returning, we sat and chatted with our baby sitter, which is not an uncommon occurrence. She's 19 or 20 and a second year college student so we do have a few things in common, certainly more than we would if she were your typical 14-year old.

Anyway, as we were sitting there chatting, she suddenly looked at me and said "You've picked up an Irish accent." I can't say that I was surprised, but still it got me thinking about how my speech has changed in the last year and a half. I know that my American "accent" softens considerably around other Irish so I actually listened carefully to myself at work.

I now spend a lot of time "tinkin about tings" (like the number "tirty tree"). If I see someone doing something stupid, I might say "Jaysus, what an eejit" and that "Maybe a good baitin' might knock some sense into 'em." And naturally when somebody does something wrong and I want to let them know it's OK, it's a quick "Nay bother t'all" or more likely "Ah sure, yer grand." [Note from MHH: Pumpkin will also say, "You're grand" on occasion.]

For those of you back home, be sure to talk to us as soon as we get back, because I'm sure the tiny brogue we've picked up will evaporate in weeks before the flat, clear Midwestern dialect.

Slainte.

Photo Essay on 3M Removable Hooks

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Mr. Kluges's parents are coming to visit us for Christmas. Hooray! We're excited to have them, and I know Pumpkin is going to especially love having Gramma Yori and Grampa Jem here. Since they're my "source" at 3M, I requested some more removable hooks. Gramma Yori wanted to know if I was eating them, she'd gotten me so many on various visits. Well, I told her they were a godsend to renters who are nice and don't put in a bunch of nails... and that I'd do a photo essay for her on where in the heck I'm using all the hooks.

So here it is.

They're used in the entryway to hang up Pumpkin's coats where she can reach them.
(And also for umbrellas and the mesh bag o' gloves-n-stuff.)
(Oh yeah, there are also two more in the entryway, kind of hidden behind our coats, that hold my purses.)

One keeps her robe on the back of her door, also at toddler height.


They hang up my broom, mop, and dustpan in the laundry room so that they don't fall over and block the door so I can't get in.
('Cuz that's what they used to do pre-hooks.)

They hold things-to-be-ironed on the back of the laundry room door so that they don't get more wrinkly and so that I don't forget about them.

They string up two laundry lines above my washer and laundry room sink so I can hang up delicates and little things like Pumpkin's socks that get stuck in the lint trap otherwise.

They're now on the back of the guest room doors to hold towels since we have a scarcity of towel bars in the bathrooms.
(As in, the main bathroom with shower and tub, had a grand total of ONE towel holder when we moved in... and that was one of those little round hand towel ones. We found some at the Dunnes Store that have suction cups on the back. They work fine, and only fall down maybe once every couple of months. Oh well.)

Also in that main bathroom, one holds our clock up on the all-tile wall.

This one holds one end of a string (the other end attaches to the curtain rod) that holds a mobile above Pumpkin's changing spot.
(More necessary for distraction when she was younger, but still pretty.)

This is one of two stuck to the top of Pumpkin's window... opening? (recess? un-sill?) upside down with a string running between them. Several suncatchers, mostly just plain crystals, hang down and make the most lovely rainbows when it's actually sunny here. Pumpkin LOVES rainbows.

And they can be used to hold up Christmas stockings!

So there you go, Gramma Yori! See how useful they are!!! :)

And P.S. to 3M... feel free to mail me a check for my advertising on your behalf, 'k?

GP - Top 10 Things the Lads Like To Do (or How to Become a Hooligan)

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************
Top 10 Things the Lads Like To Do
(or How to Become a Hooligan)
by Mr. Kluges

As some of you know, Ms Huis is occasionally kind enough to let me do a guest post on her site. This means that I get to ponder all kinds of fun and amusing things to write about; most of which never make it out of my head to see the light of day.

The other day all of us were wandering around the grocery store picking up our weekly supplies of soda bread, bacon, cabbage and Guinness and I was in charge of keeping Pumpkin entertained while Ms. Huis ran about grabbing aforementioned items.

I started thinking about how pushing the stupid shopping cart was a great allegory to moving overseas and how that would make a great post. Well, one thought led to another and next thing I knew, I was coming up with "The top 10 things the lads like to do on a Friday night."

How did get from point A to point Q? Read the list below and you should be able to puzzle it out.


As an introduction, when I talk about "the lads", I'm talking about boys aged 15 to early 20's. Most of these men start out as garden variety young drinkers and after several years of hard study and practice, they graduate to outright hooligans.


So with no further ado...

10. Get pissed - because we all know that getting drunk is a good precursor to doing stupid things.

9. Turn signs the wrong way - I can't tell you the number of times we've come to a pole in the middle of a three, four or five way intersection with all of the signs pointing the wrong way. Great for getting the "foreigners" lost.

8. Piss on the Blarney Stone - Now you know why the Blarney Stone tasted funny if you were the first one to kiss it in the morning. (Note from Ms. Huis Herself - I do believe (and hope) he's kidding on this one... and I've kissed it myself without any known ill effects!)

7. Throw traffic Cones into ANY body of water over one foot deep. We've seen orange traffic cones in rivers, lakes and even fountains. Since the River Lee in Cork is tidal, it's good fun to count the traffic cones once the tide has gone down. One point for each cone found.

6. Throw shopping carts into ANY body of water over one foot deep. See above. This is even more fun than traffic cones. They're larger and they have wheels! Anything with wheels is a prime target of the lads. Again, one point for each shopping cart spotted.

5. Steal signs - As tourists get closer and closer the lair of the lads, it becomes necessary to steal the signs rather than just turn them the wrong way. With no signs at all, the foreigners have no idea where they are headed.

4. Get langers - At some point, it's not enough to be pissed. You have to really be drunk to proceed onwards.

3. Steal cars - Make sure the car is always locked and in front of the house, otherwise it'll be a learning aid for the local hooligan-to-be.

2. Joyride in stolen car - Once said car is stolen, what better fun than to race through the countryside (langers), until finally the car runs out of petrol.

1. Light stolen car on fire - and for the pièce de résistance, trash said stolen car.

And that's one way your typical Irish lad can move his way up to the top of the hooligan ladder. From there it's just a short journey to being a criminal.


(Note from Ms. Huis Herself - Hope you all enjoyed that semi-tongue-in-cheek account of Irish "lad-ism" from Mr. Kluges. If you've ever been here, I know you've seen the shopping carts in the water!)

Santa in a Helicopter

****************

copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

[Edited to add - to the people who are coming here by searching for something about Cork Blarney Woollen Mills Santa, this link is probably what you really want, but feel free to have a read here, too.]

Last week I completely forgot to blog about this. So I'll make up for it now! Every year (apparently on the last weekend in November), Santa flies into Blarney by helicopter. It's a big thing with tons of people, the local radio station blasting Xmas music, and lots of driving around the parking lot looking for a place to park. (Except for those of us close enough & smart enough to just walk down.) Last year Pumpkin napped a little too long, so we missed it, but this year we were there!

See the crowds o' people? Good thing Mr. Kluges is tall enough that Pumpkin could see over them all.

Santa circled a few times so that everybody could wave at him.

He is landing (and we're all standing) in a large field that, according to the status of our shoes and stroller wheels, must usually contain cows and possible also horses.

There he is! The man of the hour. Mr Kluges had managed to get closer and he said Pumpkin was able to see him easily. I was with the stroller further down, so this is on max zoom.

Afterwards, while the hundreds of people in the cow pasture were trying to all squeeze through the single-person-wide gate to follow Santa (now riding a fire truck) over to the Blarney Woolen Mills parking lot, we climbed over the fence to the road and got some really nice pictures of the castle from an area not usually accessible to the public.

See? Pretty, huh.

And that's the story of Santa and the helicopter. We plan to bring Pumpkin to see him "in person" at a mall or the Woolen Mills or someplace this year, so she can see him a little more up close. She's very excited about Christmas already and loves looking at Santas, snowmen, and Christmas trees as decorations go up all around town.

Confessions of a Nighttime Worrier

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Looking back over the last few post I gotta say I've been a bit heavy on the Pumpkin side. Well, I guess she's just been a funny girl lately, and I do spend virtually all of my time with her, so it's not too surprising. But tomorrow night a bunch of us moms who go to Gymboree and The Planet together are going out on the town for the night - and leaving the kiddies with their daddies. Yay!

But that's not what I was going to write about. You see, I have a confession to make.

I am a nighttime worrier.

I don't know about the rest of you, but if I wake up in the middle of the night, my brain just starts going on and on and on. And it's not counting my blessings - no, it's dwelling on my fears and concerns.

Like, for example, our house in the States is currently unrented. But of course, the bank still expects the mortgage to be paid. And when we decided to rent out the house when first moving here we knew it might be empty sometimes, so we made sure we had a bit of a cushion. Well, our first tenant ended up only paying his damage deposit and first month's rent, then living there for some time after that until finally breaking the lease and taking off! And he didn't leave it in mint condition either. Yeah, a scumbag no-rent-paying tenant will eat through your cushion pretty dang fast, you know! And we have yet to see any money out of that situation, and who knows if we ever will... And of course if we'd have to sell it, well, that would involve a trip back ($), doing some fix-ups ($), and hoping it doesn't take too long to sell... Oh, and did I mention that we replaced the entire roof in July? ($$) So that's a favorite topic for my nighttime worries.

And then there's the whole moving-back mess to dwell on. We never planned on this being a permanent move, but we wanted to give it a try since we'd always talked and dreamed about living overseas. Well, I'd like to move back before too very much longer goes by. I'd like Pumpkin to get to see her grandparents more. I miss our friends and family. I'd like to have a house of our own again. And it'd be different if it were just us two here 'cuz we could take long weekends and drive all over the country or pop over to the continent (yay for cheap flights) and really take advantage of being here in Europe. But with Pumpkin... well, she's not a bad traveller, but it just gets a lot more complicated and the amount of time you can spend in the car goes down drastically.

So when, where, how to move back? Mr. Kluges's company is in the process of being bought out. His division might not see as much change as some other parts, but even so, it really lessens the chances of him managing to convince them to relocate him back (to WI, but still, much closer). So then we'd have to deal with a long-distance job hunt, plus the expense of moving ourselves back, thinking about where we want to settle down and live for the next long time...

And my brain churns and churns and churns through all this stressful crap. And then I can't sleep. And then it just keeps churning.

*sigh*

So I guess this much-heavier-than-usual post is a combination of venting and sending out a plea for your good thoughts and wishes. I mean, they helped Ang's permits come through, so maybe they'll find us a good renter.

And thanks for slogging through a much more depressing than usual post. To those of you who just popped over from Kittenpie's blog based on her flattering recommendation, I apologize for the downer post, but feel free to buzz through some archives for more of an upper, 'k? And to those of you who have been reading for a while (and most of whom know me from real life), thanks for sticking it out and for your good thoughts.

(And man, can you tell I'm overdue for a night out and de-stress evening? Good thing I'm going out with the girls tomorrow night!)

Two more chip flavors

****************

copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Ok, sorry I haven't posted for a bit. Been trying to catch up on laundry, etc. The Xmas cards arrived today, so now I'll be busy writing those for a while.

BUT, just to tide you over, here are a couple of other potato chip flavors. I haven't found anything as strange as Roast Ox Flavor, but here's a couple I don't know if you can find back in North America...

Sizzling Steak and Onion Fajita

and

Tiger Prawn and Crushed Garlic Flavour

Sorry this isn't more entertaining or informative, but somebody needs a diaper change, so see ya later!

Someday we'll find it...

****************

copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

One of my favorite things about where we're living is the great view from the kitchen and back yard.

This is what I got to see this morning.

Do enough random thoughts count as an entry?

****************
copyright 2006 by Ms. Huis Herself
Please read this at www.musenmutter.blogspot.com
because that is the REAL site. Thank you!
****************

Survey says.... yes!

Mr. Kluges's sourdough bread turned out very well, except that he could have slashed the top deeper (it ended up splitting) and it needed to bake a while longer because it tastes a little underdone. Otherwise, very yummy! He's started a sponge again tonight from the starter (and tied up BOTH of my mixing bowls) so that he can mix up another loaf tomorrow and one of us can bake it the next day. This is a multi-day process, you know, and one that involves planning ahead.

I bought a Xmas tree today. We wanted a small one 'cuz I don't know where we'd put a big one, plus have I mentioned the absolutely no storage in Irish houses? I got a 80cm, 10 euro one (bargain shopper me!) that has fiber optic lights. Woo-hoo! It's a far cry from the fairly realistic (and lightless) 6 footer in storage in our basement in MN, but Pumpkin thinks it's awesome. Mr. Kluges says we should put it away until after Thanksgiving, but I put it up tonight so I can try to get Xmas card photos taken of Pumpkin today or tomorrow.

Our Pumpkin has developed quite the imagination. This week she pretended she was milk. And we didn't mishear her when she said, "I'm milk!" because then she told us to take her lid off. *shrug* I didn't know dairy products were so fun to impersonate.

And I'll leave you with this...

Before I had a child...
I never thought I would say, at the dinner table, "Nothing eats dog poop."