March 17, 2014 ~ Shamrocks!

Shiny Shamrocks

Last week Teagan brought me home some shiny shamrocks as a present, because I wasn’t feeling well.

Today, we sent the girls off to day care with shamrocks on their cheeks.  They were so excited! We had put them on before the St. Patrick’s day Shamrock run which NayNay and PopPop ran in.  The run was followed by a parade.  Yay!  Both girls were happy to cheer on the runners, and then settle in for the parade.  They are fans of firetrucks and bagpipes.  Lots of the floats and marchers threw candy and snacks at the onlookers.  That’s also a big draw.

Shamrocks

Stu didn’t get to stay around for the parade, unfortunately.  He had to get back home and work.  But the girls were mostly good, and LaLa, PopPop and NayNay were lots of help.

The girls missed him, and couldn’t wait to tell him about the race, the firetrucks and the bad man who threw half a cookie at them.  A crazy, drunk man dressed up as St. Patrick on a float for a bar.

Today, they got to wear their shamrock shirts – wear green day at day care! – and Teagan came home with a green derby.  And she found gold (chocolate) coins at the end of the rainbow!

Also, her bruise is turning a lovely shade of green.

Lucky Charm

Ashlin got some tomato sauce on her face, and looked like a back up singer for Adam Ant.  She had a good day, though didn’t get gold coins.  She said the leprechaun didn’t visit her room, though there was some talk of a rainbow…

Back-Up Singer

Ashlin got some tomato sauce on her face, and looked like a back up singer from Adam Ant

September 2, 2013 ~ Hooley!

Thrall

Yesterday we went to the Hooley up at my parents.  Yay for Irish festivals, especially a free one, where one of my favorite bands to see live plays.  One of the reasons we made sure to go was so the girls could see some Irish step dancing.  We had missed the local Irish fest this year for one reason or another.  Teagan has always been fascinated with the step dancing.  Up till this year, Ashlin just liked watching.  This year was different, she was completely enthralled.  Even when we couldn’t see the dancers feet, she was hyper focused on the stage, the music, the spectacle.

After a bit, the girls started dancing.  Ashlin was up first, dragging her sister along.  She did her take on the step dancing with some kicks and spins.  Soon enough, her moves evolved into spinning like a dervish and getting dizzy.  Teagan spun too, but her hands moved from being down and stiff armed to up and ballet like.

We were sure to get better seats, and the stage was lower, for the second show.  Even though Ashlin was tired from the heat and lack of nap, she couldn’t stop watching, though she did it from the stroller, until it was time to dance.  Then she had to go up, but this time, she was all “flashdance,” running in place.  Teagan was working on her ballet moves.

Waiting to dance

Both girls weren’t quite ready to leave after the second step dance show, they wanted more.  So, we stayed to see one of the bands, Hair of the Dog.  Both girls stayed on the stage the dancers used while the band played on the “upper” stage behind them.  For the second time that day, Teagan was called out, by the lead singer of the band this time, for “having the map of Ireland on her face.”  Someone had said that earlier in the day, just after the first step dance show.  But it was wild to hear the guy from the band say it over the microphone!  Teagan was surprised, and then pleased, and then shy once she realized he was talking about her!

Map of Ireland on her face

Today, Teagan and I went out to get currants or gooseberry bushes. There weren’t any, so we got some black raspberry bushes instead.

Black Raspberries!

I wasn’t planning on raspberry bushes, but the nursery didn’t have anything else.  And these should give fruit, if only enough to snack on, next year.  The currants should produce a bit more harvest in the first year, even if they go in the ground in the spring, so, hopefully I can find some next year.

Teagan wanted to eat them today, even the tiny dried ones on the old canes.  She’s going to need to learn how to be patient!

Related articles

• July 24, 2013 (lisasff.wordpress.com)
• April 23, 2012 (lisasff.wordpress.com)

March 5, 2013

Garland

A few days ago I finished crocheting up my Shamrock Garland.  I found the pattern at the same site as for the hearts, Skip to My Lou.  I used some of the yarn from the Green Pig to make the lighter colored ones.  The dark green ones are a mix of three and four leaf clovers.

The pattern was quite simple, the clovers worked up super quickly.  I put a second round of single crochet and a slip stitch on them, just make them a bit bigger.

I think they look pretty good!

Close up of shamrock

 Now…  what do I make next…  Easter follows St. Patrick’s Day…

Trio of Shamrocks

December 16, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

So, Teagan didn’t do too badly last night – only woke up once around 5am.  She was cold and a bit tangled in her small blanket.  Stu got up and set her to rights, and she was back asleep quickly.  Unfortunately, though, she did get up a bit earlier, before I got to start my coffee.  I didn’t get more than two sips or so while it was still hot.  Not the normal e-mail over coffee morning we usually have.  Still, she slept well.  And Stu had made the coffee, so it was there :)

Anyway,  lets just do some fun bullets today…

• The people that made the Zombie game that Stu got me for Christmas last year  has a new game – Invasion from Outer Space.  LOL!  Looks like fun!  You can have zombies and aliens in the same game!
• Although I knew it was based on a true story, it’s nice to see The Big Blue referenced in a news story, that Jacques Mayol actually did have a record.  And that it’s been “beaten” recently.  Trubridge’s story is amazing – 100 meters down, with no apparatus like Mayol used.  He basically held his breath for four minutes.  Incredible.  BTW, The Big Blue is one of my favorite movies.
• It’s nice that Lisa Ling has started a website to help women cope with miscarriage.  It’s not something to be embarrassed about, or whisper  behind closed doors.  It’s not something that is the woman’s, or anyone’s, “fault.”  I hope this helps take some of the stigma off of miscarriage.  Makes a few women feel better about themselves.
• I totally love The Bad Moms Club.  This was one of their entries.  LOL!  “Good night blue-eyed Fremen who call Arrakis home.”  And you have to love the idea of the Very Deadly Bounty Hunter book.  I wonder if it’s more like the Hungry Caterpillar or Brown Bear.
• Mama Pop counters with awesome movies that didn’t need CGI to kick ass.
• Oh, and Teagan has asked for this video two nights in a row:

She’ll put her hand to the side of her face when the dancers do.  The second it’s over, she will ask for “moh peesss” while signing a very emphatic “More” and “Please.”  You can also distract her with YouTube videos from Riverdance, or well any Irish Step Dancing.

September 8, 2010

So, we took the new car and went to the Hooley this weekend.  The new car drives soooo nicely.  It was a fun drive.  I really like the new car.  We played a bit with the satellite radio (it came with free Sirius for three months as well as the iPod hook up that I had put in.  Fun stuff.

Anyway, we ended meeting up with friends and then walked down to the Hooley.  It was much more crowded than I remember, although it’s been a few years since I’ve been able to go.  Still, delicious food choices (OMG Salt Potatoes!) and good music (Seven Nations!).  Teagan had a blast, it was hard to contain her, she wanted to dance dance dance!

 

Teagan was dying to get on the stage – she almost did for the second set of dancers, but my friend kept her off during the show.  We let her up after the girls were done, while they were still changing band set-ups.  It was so sweet that one of the girls came up to dance with her.  Shame that the other kids crowded Teagan out, but that didn’t put my kiddo off, not one bit.  She just clapped to show her appreciation and went on to dance by herself.

March 07, 2007

 

Finally! Something about non-latino immigration! Not that I mind, but there are other people out there than latinos trying to get into the US. And it’s nice to know that there are more people creating a ruckus.

Just a few paragraphs that struck me:

The immigration debate has swept through Mexican canteens, Argentine bakeries and Caribbean music shops in the United States. Now, it has a new home: the local Irish pub.

Thousands of undocumented Irish immigrants, including many in Florida, are joining the drive to grant legal status to some 12 million immigrants residing illegally in the United States. In their most vocal demonstration so far, some 6,000 supporters are expected to show up at a Washington, D.C., rally today organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. They’ll sport “Legalize the Irish” T-shirts and cast the bitter and polarized immigration debate in shamrock green.

 ~ Of course they need to be shamrock green. They’re IRISH! <snip>

Under the current system, advocates insist, the Irish ancestors of Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy would not have been able to legally enter the United States.

Those working to reduce immigration to the United States said no group should be singled out for special treatment.

“The Irish are no different from anyone else,” said Caroline Espinosa, a spokeswoman for the grassroots group, NumbersUSA. “It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from but how you came here, and if you came here illegally, you broke the law.”

Although, it makes me wonder if we’ll be seeing the NINA signs around…

Today’s list of inquisitors (no one could look at the sign, as the cube isn’t mine anymore, and the sign isn’t up):

1. Veronica
2. Broc
3. Matt S
4. Matt M (yeah, and they do work with eachother)