girls' night in

When they go to beds, mums sometimes get naughty...

few things in our home made from oil

Aspirin, sticky tape, trainer shoes, lycra socks, glue, paints, varnish, foam mattresses, carpets, nylon, polyester, CDs, DVDs, plastic bottles, contact lenses, hair gel, brushes, toothbrushes, rubber gloves, washing up bowls, electric sockets, plugs, shoe polish, furniture wax, computers, printers, candles, bags, coats, bubble wrap, bicycle pumps, fruit juice containers, credit cards, PVC windows, lipstick... and that is just some of the things made directly from oil, not those that needed fossil fuels and the energy they consume in their manufacture (which is pretty much everything).

Rob Hopkins, (2008) The Transition Handbook, From Oil Dependency To Local Resilience; Green Books Ltd.

speechless

I am out of words.

Finished my yoga course with big bang in the heart, head and what else is there. Whatever I try to say sounds silly. Can't share it, sorry guys!

To all of you who helped on the way:




To all my yogi friends. Namaste.

neti pot

I really wanted to share with you the neti pot thingy, but as I started doing research for my final permaculture project I found something of much more interest.

I often use Wikipedia as a dictionary. Some words can't be found in a regular dictionary, or it is just difficult to be so specific about things. So I was looking up open-pit mines and came across two articles: one in Polish, the other in English on the same thing. Generally Polish people are happy with their mining resort and power station and they state it is perfectly safe and pollution free. The English version was rather pessimistic and condemning. I checked the Polish website for the above power station and they were even more positive about their solutions. Hey, they do not even mention CO2 as a threat or output! They state that they protect natural environment and its endangered species.

OK, guys so what is your plan for 2038 when you are running out of coal? Jaysus, they do not even plan for it! Just keep smiling and pat each other's back.

Meanwhile I'll write my project on transition towns and promise to use my neti pot every day.

pikey family

Today, site in Swords - helping Stuie start his farm. Parents: putting up polytunnel & planting seeds. Children: playing in front of da caravan - pretty as a picture.

pink rhubarb

There is one place in Dublin where you can buy pink rhubarb. We are lucky enough to live near it, so whenever I pass by, I always get a bunch.
Irish love rhubarb. I never did, well only when I was a child I used to chew on red stems in my granny's garden rinsed in outdoor tap and dipped in sugar. For some reason kids love sour stuff, don't they?

Pink rhubarb is different. It is silky smooth, delicate and melts in the mouth. It also looks divine and the cooking liquid out of it has the most sublime pink colour ever.

I made this polenta cake for my permaculture crowd on Tuesday.

apocalypse

Our compost went all wrong. It is slimy, it is stinky, it is soggy. We know why, we never put much dry matter in it. We have leaves just out of two little trees, and no grass cuttings at all. We tried adding some paper but as we do not read newspapers thats rather not enough too. Also our compost bin is a silly product - there is not enough ventilation in it.

So yesterday it was an apocalyptic day for millions of tiger worms, who we shovelled out of the bin and onto the beds in the direct sunlight. They hated it and so did we. It is impossible not to break their necks while moving them around.
I was never aware that they all come in so many sizes and forms. There were wiggly baby ones white and thin as a thread. There were noble pale pink ones up to 20cm long and about 8mm thick. There were millions of regular dark red ones. It was all moving and eating that slush. God bless them all.
Now, even though the weather is gorgeous, we sit inside with the door closed, the smell is unbelievable. I guess our neighbours hate us, fair enough. They'd better hate the City Council for selling bins that do not work.

OK, so here comes a picture (I made it on the preset Food Mode):

You'd better be grateful that I haven't posted a film here.

jinny joes

Spring is here for good. I found these two at the playground.

home, sweet home

Cały dzień próbowaliśmy wynająć ten dom. Nerwy mamy zszargane, a dom ciągle jeszcze nie zaklepany. Siedzimy na paczkach, dzieci latają niedomyte, ja z kołtunem i w piżamie. Alkohol na stole, ręce mi drżą bez kawy. Olaf sprząta w swojej szufladzie i wojowniczo wyrzuca skarpetki. Łusia wyje jak syrena i ciągle żąda 'didi'. Patologia i melina.

Ale, ale: dostałam dziś przecież od Olafa to:

Pozbierał sam w parku. "Fłałers for mummy". Nie jest źle.

mystery

Can anybody there help with identification of the object shown below?

The flap was found in our house in the recycling bin in the past week. No one claims to be familiar with the origin of the above. Meanwhile we all love it, and we want more!

equinox

To celebrate it we went to see Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns, but the sun was hidden behind the clouds.

Someone might get lucky tomorrow.

very sad

We went to say goodbyes to our friends who are going home. We are all feeling very emotional.

paddy's day

Our Paddy's Day Parade:

The pretty girl in green - meet Anna, Florian's pick for Olaf's future wife.

last supper in Dublin

I discovered this artist just today, and I am full of admiration.

His work reminds me of home.

When is our last dinner in Dublin?

this town ain't big enough for the two of us

Jak Olaf idzie do przedszkola, to Łusia ma wolną rękę. Rzeczy zakazane stają się przystępne. Perły przed wieprze - jak by powiedział Olaf gdyby umiał, a tak to wrzaśnie tylko:  

NO BABA, MINE!

MY TRAIN TRACK! 

MY WOODY!

MY BLOCKS!

Czasem doda też:

MY MUMMY!

MY DADDY!

MY BABA! - i tu się trochę pogubiłam...

following the recipe

As my kids do not eat, as a rule, I tried to trick them into healthy muffins. Instead of prunes I used dates and nuts. Instead of molasses I used maple syrup. Instead of buttermilk I added a glass of milk. Oh and I didn't have any eggs, so I just skipped that bit.

Results? Eaten.

rebel

Now that I can walk - I will not eat a thing! Back off!

You didn't think it was going to be that easy, Mummy?

end of the world and other prophecies

After buying a supply of iodine, I went to see Woody Allen's new film, but it only made things worse. Now I am starting to believe in 2012!

Meanwhile life goes on and Baba makes her first steps...

in the fog

Spring in Sonairte.

bird watching

No kidding, busy unemployed life and off we went bird watching.

chilli day

I accidentally bought a green papaya fruit. I was sure I was buying a sweet papaya, whose flesh is red and kids love it (that is what the wise book states). My kids, well one of them for sure, don't eat at all, so I wanted to give it a go. So, when I cut it open it looked like this. As the problem is your solution, I came up with this not very child friendly recipe:

Thai Papaya Salad

1 shredded green papaya

1 clove of garlic 

1 green chilli

2 tbs tamari sauce

1 tbs dark sugar

1large chopped tomato

Crush garlic and chilli.

Add sugar and soy sauce. Add papaya and tomato. Grind well. The final result is absolutely delicious food that we devour with bread and ripe camembert. Although it doesn't look too appetizing, believe me it is.

I never appreciated too very spicy food, I never used chilli in my cooking too eagerly, but this is a masterpiece and a turn-around point for my taste buds. Make sure though your kids don't come near it. Go on try it, you can find the full recipe here.

no diggin

Today we went to Carraig Dúlra. The day was beautiful.

We did some observation. 

We made some lazy beds with chicken manure and seaweed.



I learned about eucalyptus nuts.

I planted some horsemint, oregano and comfrey. I made some keyholes. I mulched. I did no digging whatsoever. 

That was such a good day and we all got a tan.

photo shoot

Thanks to our gorgeous and talented friend we have now a professional photographic portfolio. In case we want to be models. We love it! Thank you Beta!

meet my parents

no comments, please...

to see or not to see

So, we went to the zoo this morning. After the great election campaign we wanted to see the candidate selected to the parliament. Dublin Zoo has gone wild in the run up to Election Day 2011.

Simbu is the winner.

First we haven't seen the tiger:

Then we didn't want to see the gorilla (We are still trying to forget it - look closely: what is the monkey eating? Isn't that her own poo by any chance?):

We loved the meercats if we had a chance to see them. 

Olaf, when asked what animals he had seen in the zoo, said: DINOSAURS. 

There you go.

darth toddler

May Patience be with you...

the season is open

Well guys, spring is here! And as we are getting ready for Patrick's Day, moods are up while Ireland wins against England in cricket World Cup game. We are having rather different sport preferences.
Rules are as follow:

The team wears green T-shirts.

Everybody is equal.

Dynamics are important.

Cheering audience.

Good strategy is the key to the success.

Now, you get the ball rolling!

feeling better

After today's Applied Permaculture Course my morale went as low as usual. Facing the truth is all I can do about it. While doing my homework I found this:

So it seems we are not too bad, huh?