House-roasting Imminent

Isn't it pretty?

We've been the house 2 weeks now - we've registered with ESB, Bord Gais, have booked our Sky package, have put up our Galway Arts Festival posters and have even procured some bedding plants for our tiny back garden (thanks Mom).

We're settled. I'm properly at home somewhere for the first time since I left Drogheda (no offence to Phoenix Manor but it never felt like my home). We've lived up to our promise to cook for each other (well two of us anyway...not look at any Mitzy in particular...ahem), share the cleaning, have long chats over tea way into the night...and now it's time for the housewarming.

This Saturday night will see us opening the doors of Hope Cottage to an assorted jumble of friends and co-workers curious to see what house could possibly have won our fickle hearts. We've invited way too many people including lots of dancers who will weep at the criminal lack of dance space afforded to them. We've billed it as a barbecue although the rainy weather forecast will probably put a kibosh on that.

We have, in fact, yet to start any preparations for this party whatsoever (it's tomorrow) so I really hope that all 130 invitees don't show up....

We really should warn the neighbours about this one.






Cinematically speaking:

Gone Baby Gone South Boston thriller about a missing child-- really rather good flick--can't tell the story cos I'd end up giving away twists and plot spoilers but good job done by both Ben and Casey Affleck who directed and acted respectively (and respectably). Worth a look.

The Weir @ the Gate

Wonderful.

Excellent.

Argh superlatives are letting me down here....

I was going to review it properly but I don't think I can top Helen Meany's review here.

Basically - it's great.........go see it.

A Midsummer Night's Day Dream

Another summer Monday...another day of feeling dazed and confused in a half-empty office wishing I was anywhere but here. In summer all office work seems to move more slowly. With so many people taking holidays decisions take longer, it's harder to 'touch base' with people and to get feedback.. (Don't ya just love office jargon?)

Why don't more offices just shut down for a month in summer? It would give everyone a decent break without having to worry about what emails they might be missing. It would be something to look forward to and would rejuvenate the workforce in a big way. So little work gets done in summer anyway - seriously I think I'm on to something here.

Saying all of that - if I had this June off and was spending it in Ireland I'd be pretty ticked off - the weather has been anything but summery; chilly temperatures, heavy rain and, over the weekend, howling gales. I made the brave step of actually walking to work this morning (a pleasant 30 minute walk) - for a car-dependent like me this was big. I want to do this every day, both to give me more exercise and to quit using the petrol-guzzler so much, but the forecast for the rest of the week? 'Spells of heavy rain in many areas'. Why must the weather gods taunt me so?


Midsummer night has come and gone - the days will be getting shorter from here on in - there's a cheery thought. We spent the 21st doing a pub crawl along the Red Luas Line for a mate's birthday - 7 pubs in 7 hours taking us from Goldenbridge in as far as the Jervis stop. Living by the Luas is great - an all day ticket costs a mere 5eur. I could go to Tallaght, Smithfield or Dundrum all in a single day...it might be more excitement then I can handle.

The folks came up to check out the house on Friday and were duly impressed by its 1940's Dublin splendour. They also got to meet the beau and, despite the efforts of mates to scare the Yank off with talk of my mother, all got on well. Phew. He pretended to be interested in sport so as to win over my brother and father, I gently kicked my mother under the table anytime she said something like: 'Why is it Americans are so fat anyway?'.

Duty done.


For now anyway.



Culturally speaking:
Theatre: Going to see The Weir in the Gate on Tuesday - directed by Garry Hynes with a terrific cast. High expectations for this one.
Reading: Innocent When you Dream - collected interviews of Tom Waits. One to dip in and out of but full of Waits-gems and journalists trying desperately to describe his voice: "...like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car"...
Listening: Tom Waits - Real Gone - how had I not heard of this album before now? Fantastic.

Hungry for Bread Like This

Cooked my first meal at the new place last night. M & M were both in Galway so it wound up being an all male affair for the breaking of bread in Hope Cottage. Five guy mates and the new beau all ravenous having come straight from work and laying into multiple bottles of wine.

I chose an old favourite that I can cook blind folded which was a wise move considering I was operating in a new kitchen. Apart from one minor crisis involving the absence of a strainer for the rice the meal was cooked with ease. I wasn't all that worried about what the lads would think--they're pretty happy with anything hot placed in front of them; one of them layers his food with an inch of salt prior to tasting it...

I was anxious however to impress the new beau who has already cooked me a really excellent risotto and who has displayed a taste for fine dining. I can cook better than a lot of my friends but I'm happy to cook basic meals in general and I'm no expert in herbs/spices/vintage wine/mouldy cheese etc. I can do a mean casserole and mashed spuds but duck a l'orange? No.

He said he liked my Rogan Josh but I don't think I blew his head off with a gourmet bazooka... Probably for the best - no point him thinking I'm something that I'm not. I won't burn the scrambled eggs but I also won't be making blue cheese sauces anytime soon. Hopefully he won't dump me for a chef de partie from L'Ecrivain in the near future.

The wine continued to flow post-meal and the conversation turned (as it inevitably seems to do these days) to American politics. Obama was lauded, Clinton was dissected and the beau's penchant for voting Green was attacked. Well used to the accusation of 'wasting his vote' he deflected criticism easily - isn't the biggest problem in American politics the two-party system? Isn't this what democracy is all about?

A 90 degree shift in conversation led to dissection of all the latest blockbusters at the cinema; poor Indiana Jones 4 got bullied to death and Sex and The City isn't even on the radar of possibility for the lads. Then we moved on to TV series of the last 5 years. Conclusion: Lost is back on form, 24 has lost it and The Sopranos will never be topped.

It being a Thursday night the lads had the good sense to motor home shortly after midnight leaving myself and the beau to tidy the kitchen while musing on the evenings ramblings.

I love cooking for others. I love bringing people together in a relaxed environment and soaking up the craic and interaction that follows. If I could afford to fork out for the cost of food for 6 people every day I would do so. Humans are social animals and eating alone is the saddest thing in the whole world.

The girls will be moving in properly on Sunday and from then on social eating is the order of the day. We've discussed this a lot and they feel the same way I do. No more meals-for-one or fast food; just proper meals at a proper dinner table with gallons of wine and bottomless buckets of conversation.

Man does not live by bread alone.

Da 'Core

Well three months down the line; countless lost hours on daft.ie; many new grey hairs later and our search is finally at an end - tonight the 3 House-keteers move into a bee-yute-tee-ful 3 bedroom house in Inchicore.

Thank flip.

The house in Tyrconnell Park has just be renovated and has tasteful decor, brand new appliances and old-world 1940's charm. It's perfect. From the yellow roses over the door to the skylights in the kitchen I couldn't have designed a nicer house.

It will be a bit of a squeeze--these houses have little in the way of storage space and the bedrooms are compact but the girls and I are determined to make it work.

It's also further out of town than we had hoped for but with several buses serving the area and the Blackhorse luas stop nearby we should be alright.

The main thing is: I'm moving into a pretty house with friends. I haven't been this excited since the days of the Fairy Princess Castle in Drogheda with my old teaching buddies. Living with friends is like being permanently on holiday: always cooking and making tea for each other, cracking open a few beers after everyone's had a hard day at work, planning parties and movie nights, and, of course, the pillow fights in our underwear.....

(Husky tones: that fantasy moment is dedicated to all my male and lesbian readers out there...)

In all likelihood I'll be ready to strangle one or other of the ladies in a matter of days for using the last of my milk or leaving masses of hair in the shower..........but for now I'm basking in the bliss of optimism and beautiful possibility.

Hope Cottage is now open for business.